N.Y.S.E. Open - Power Eight Vintage Tournament - 6/14-6/16

[quicksilvervii]

I'm going to be in attendance. As well as to the first qualifier (I won't need to go to the others

I'm glad you know I'm going to beat you so bad you won't even want to come back

[Prospero]

I missed a PM at 5pm yesterday from Mark Hornung, requesting that he be put on the list.  He's been added. 

[Prospero]

I'm looking into trying to increase capacity for the event without undue sacrifices.  Every player will have table space, a seat, and room to breathe.

[BC]

Nick, first of all I would like to offer my early congratulations on this tournament being so overwhelmingly successful.  I think it is a new and different idea that could help bring some excitement to the format.  That being said, if you continue to offer tournaments with this format, would you ever consider going to zero proxy, sanctioned tournaments?  Paying $100 and potentially traveling a long way is already a significant commitment, so acquiring or borrowing power seems like a reasonable requirement.  Non-proxy sanctioned tourneys may add a little something that would be attractive for some people.  My guess is that there are enough players with access to power that you will still have no trouble getting well over 50 people.

[Smmenen]

It may be possible, however, that the capped event size is part of the draw.  Having no more than 50 players means that you have a roughly 1/7 chance of walking out with a piece of power. 

I agree that this kind of tournament structure could be part of the future of the format.  Sounds great. 

[Prospero]

Nick, first of all I would like to offer my early congratulations on this tournament being so overwhelmingly successful.  I think it is a new and different idea that could help bring some excitement to the format.  That being said, if you continue to offer tournaments with this format, would you ever consider going to zero proxy, sanctioned tournaments?  Paying $100 and potentially traveling a long way is already a significant commitment, so acquiring or borrowing power seems like a reasonable requirement.  Non-proxy sanctioned tourneys may add a little something that would be attractive for some people.  My guess is that there are enough players with access to power that you will still have no trouble getting well over 50 people.

Thanks, Blaine.

I would consider it.  I considered it for this event, but I wanted to first see if there was enough demand to have this event be a success with proxies. 

I'm going to pay serious attention to the proxy count in the various decks.  As Vintage players grow older, and more successful, I believe that we are generally in a better position to invest in the format. 

It may be possible, however, that the capped event size is part of the draw.  Having no more than 50 players means that you have a roughly 1/7 chance of walking out with a piece of power. 

I agree that this kind of tournament structure could be part of the future of the format.  Sounds great. 

Steve, while I believe that there is a draw in having a capped number of entrants, I also believe that there is demand for an American style Bazaar of Moxen event. 

If this event is a success then I'll see what I can do to turn it into an annual American event for power, with the intention of growing it to be something that could, one day, maybe, rival the success of BoM.  I think it can be done.

[mr.grim]

You can call it " The Lotus Workshop".  A better way for vintage players to acquire power .

[Prospero]

You can call it " The Lotus Workshop".  A better way for vintage players to acquire power .

I think I'm going to re-name the tournament the N.Y.S.E. Open, or something like that.

I loved that name, and I hate that it isn't used anymore.

Edit: I renamed the event.  That didn't take long.

[boggyb]

BTW, I have a Canon 7D, and a 35mm f/1.4L and 50mm f/1.4 for it. I don't know how to stream video from it but it can't be too hard to figure out. If someone's got a hefty tripod and/or experience in this domain, and wants to try and record this bitch, PM me please. We might even try having expert commentary going on..? Just trying to match the ambition, here

[Grantselrich]

BTW, I have a Canon 7D, and a 35mm f/1.4L and 50mm f/1.4 for it. I don't know how to stream video from it but it can't be too hard to figure out. If someone's got a hefty tripod and/or experience in this domain, and wants to try and record this bitch, PM me please. We might even try having expert commentary going on..? Just trying to match the ambition, here

As freaking awesome as this sounds, Depot is a pretty tight space, I don't know if it can pulled off. (Though pictures throughout the event would be a great thing_

Nick I think you forgot to add my name

[Prospero]

Looks like we lost about a day's worth of posts in this thread.  Can't help that, but if I missed anything, please feel free to bring the point up again.

Grant, to reiterate, your name is on the list effective when you requested.

[JACO]

Nick, please add me to the wait list of player attendees. Thanks.

[Mith]

Please add me to the wait list.

[emidln]

Please add me to the wait list. My name is Brandon Adams.

[aahz]

Nick, first of all I would like to offer my early congratulations on this tournament being so overwhelmingly successful.  I think it is a new and different idea that could help bring some excitement to the format.  That being said, if you continue to offer tournaments with this format, would you ever consider going to zero proxy, sanctioned tournaments?  Paying $100 and potentially traveling a long way is already a significant commitment, so acquiring or borrowing power seems like a reasonable requirement.  Non-proxy sanctioned tourneys may add a little something that would be attractive for some people.  My guess is that there are enough players with access to power that you will still have no trouble getting well over 50 people.

+1

I have no interest in traveling long distances and paying a substantial entry fee to play against sharpied Plains. However, I would definitely consider it if it were non-proxy (I don't care about sanctioning per se, just proxies).

With a limited number of spots, there might even be room for players with power who aren't participating in the event to sponsor non-powered players and give them the opportunity to win power.

[Prospero]

Everyone has been added.

[strip miner]

Sorry if this was already brought up (wasn't able to find a post about this, by I am looking from a smartphone).

Is there any possibility of upgrading to a larger venue? I understand that there are many costs involved from venue fee, to staffing, to providing proper play arrangement, etc. That being said, at $100 a head, if you had another 20 people that would be an extra $2000 to allow for increased expenses.

If you could take pre-registration $, it would preclude you from being burned attendees from showing up. Ideas?

[Prospero]

Sorry if this was already brought up (wasn't able to find a post about this, by I am looking from a smartphone).

Is there any possibility of upgrading to a larger venue? I understand that there are many costs involved from venue fee, to staffing, to providing proper play arrangement, etc. That being said, at $100 a head, if you had another 20 people that would be an extra $2000 to allow for increased expenses.

If you could take pre-registration $, it would preclude you from being burned attendees from showing up. Ideas?

I have considered it, and I have looked into it.  

There is, as ever, a trade-off.  As a general rule of thumb, the closer that you get to N.Y.C., the more expensive the real estate becomes.  The more expensive the real estate becomes, the smaller the spaces become.  Mark's Comics is just past the Queens/Nassau border, and it would be stressed at 30 players.  I have a space that is available to me (Brothers Grim) that could hold 200 players comfortably (and probably 250 if you needed it), but it's an hour farther out on the Island.  Depot is usually set up for about 40 players, and will be using all its space that day in order to accommodate everyone.

Depot is the middle ground in this decision, neither having the cramped spaces of Queens and Western Nassau, nor the expansive space (and accompanying long drive) of Suffolk County.

It is important that this event be accessible to players who are looking to make the drive that day; the drive from Boston to Comic Book Depot is just under four hours, the drive from Boston to Brothers Grim is nearly five hours long (4:41 according to Google Maps) if you don't take the ferry.  If you take the ferry, it's 4:20.  Given how late the event will end, the ferry is not an option for the trip home.

It's a lot to ask players to do ten hours of driving in a day for a tournament.  Asking players to do seven hours of driving is pushing it as is.  There are going to be guys coming from spots in Pennsylvania that nearly mirror the amount of driving that the New England crowd will end up doing.  Having the event at Depot will save at least two hours worth of driving.  

I've battled with the idea of an American Bazaar of Moxen for a few years now, and I've made my thoughts on this public in the last few months.  I want to be the T/O who figures out how to make that event happen, and I want it to rival the Bazaar of Moxen in prize support as the years go by.  I've spoken with a few leaders in the Vintage community, and if the event is as successful as I hope it will be, then I'm going to look to grow with demand.

Perhaps more than any other American T/O, I've seen the ups and downs of Vintage in the United States.  I've run Vintage events in the U.S., on and off, longer than just about anybody I know (Ray probably has me beat, but I've been at this since 2002).  I've gotten blown out on a 13 man Beta Mox Jet tournament and I've hit some home runs, like with the 90 man Grudge Match.  You never fully know what your event is going to look like until an hour before the event starts, when the crowd is either starting to grow, waiting for registration, or non-existent.  I have over $4,000 tied into this event, already, and I want to know that I'm in line to turn this into what I want to turn it into before I turn it into a $6,000, $7,000 or $8,000 (or more) commitment.  

Pre-registration could potentially handle some of those pratfalls, but I'd rather not be in a position where I have to hound players who've registered, and haven't yet paid to pay me, all a month or so before the actual event.  I don't mind laying out the money, time and effort to put this in place, but I've set this up to succeed; I have capped attendance, and having the response that I've had so far means that if anyone drops out, I should be able to replace them fairly easily.  Having 52 people looking to play, before we've run even a single qualifier, blows my mind.  Still, as much as I believe that this event is the real deal, and as much as I will work to make this event the real deal, I don't want to overextend too quickly.  

For the time being, I want to have at least one of these events successfully completed before I look to do more with this style of event.  If this event does what I think it's going to do, then look to save some vacation time for June 2014, as I'll be running an event with multiple Black Lotuses as the first major draw of the prize support (which will go through at least top 16, will include a lot of power, have expensive giveaways, and have a full weekend of Vintage awesomeness).

[KingSquee]

Looks like I could have picked a better couple days to not read TMD...

Put me on the waiting list, I suppose.

[Prospero]

Looks like I could have picked a better couple days to not read TMD...

Put me on the waiting list, I suppose.

There will be a qualifier at Top Deck Games and two qualifiers at The Player's Guild, as things stand.  I highly recommend winning one of them.

[KingSquee]

There will be a qualifier at Top Deck Games and two qualifiers at The Player's Guild, as things stand.  I highly recommend winning one of them.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

[Calvin240sx]

Looks like I could have picked a better couple days to not read TMD...

Put me on the waiting list, I suppose.

There will be a qualifier at Top Deck Games and two qualifiers at The Player's Guild, as things stand.  I highly recommend winning one of them.

will there be a possibility of anymore qualifiers?

[Prospero]

will there be a possibility of anymore qualifiers?

Responded to you via PM.  Doing my best to get you a qualifier or two.

[Argopelter]

WL me.

[Prospero]

The qualifier list has been updated.

Also, we have our first N.Y.S.E. Open qualifier happening this Sunday at Comic Book Depot, with an 11 am registration and a 12 pm start.  I hope to see you there!

EDIT: Also, don't forget that Daylight Savings Time is a thing, and that it's happening this Sunday morning.  Showing up to the event an hour late is a bad idea...

[Prospero]

Greg Fenton has won the first N.Y.S.E. Open qualifier!  Because Greg had pre-registered for the tournament, the first person has come off the wait list.  Congratulations to Phillip Bergeman, you're now pre-registered for the N.Y.S.E. Open!

I'm still working on getting a larger venue.  If I do manage to get a larger venue, there will be levels at which the prize support gets bumped.  Having run the numbers, the rough outlook for prize support at 90 players would be something like this:

1st - Unlimited Black Lotus, Unlimited Ancestral Recall
2nd - Unlimited Black Lotus
3rd - Unlimited Mox Sapphire
4th - Unlimited Mox Sapphire
5th - Unlimited Time Walk
6th - Unlimited Time Walk
7th - Unlimited Mox Jet
8th - Unlimited Mox Jet
9th - 12th - Mishra's Workshop
13th - 16th - Bazaar of Baghdad
17th - 20th - English Mana Drain
21st - 24th - Undecided

On top of that, there would be a significant amount of prizes given for proxy-less decks, non-powered (non-Dredge) decks, random prizes, door prizes, etc.

I want this event to be a monster, and I'm working on making that happen.  I'm also looking to give away an altered card, to the victor to denote their win.

I'll keep updating as things keep happening.

[Cruel Bargain]

I would be more than willing to drive the extra hour for that kind of prize support and I'm already at just about 3 to the Depot. Fact of the matter is you just don't see that kind of a prize structure for vintage and I'm sure it's well worth it for a lot of other people as well.

[Cunningbeaver]

Sooo someone pointed this out to me and now I'm going to have to be on the look out for qualifier dates. Time to dust off the vintage deck.

[Prospero]

Sooo someone pointed this out to me and now I'm going to have to be on the look out for qualifier dates. Time to dust off the vintage deck.

It looks probable that this event will be held at a larger location on Long Island at this point.  I hope to have the details cemented by the end of the weekend.

Once that happens, I'll be able to pre-register anyone who wants in, and we'll run more qualifiers.  The prize structure will have a minimum guaranteed, with it reaching additional levels once certain numbers of entrants are hit.

[Smmenen]

Greg Fenton has won the first N.Y.S.E. Open qualifier!  Because Greg had pre-registered for the tournament, the first person has come off the wait list.  Congratulations to Phillip Bergeman, you're now pre-registered for the N.Y.S.E. Open!

I'm still working on getting a larger venue.  If I do manage to get a larger venue, there will be levels at which the prize support gets bumped.  Having run the numbers, the rough outlook for prize support at 90 players would be something like this:

1st - Unlimited Black Lotus, Unlimited Ancestral Recall
2nd - Unlimited Black Lotus
3rd - Unlimited Mox Sapphire
4th - Unlimited Mox Sapphire
5th - Unlimited Time Walk
6th - Unlimited Time Walk
7th - Unlimited Mox Jet
8th - Unlimited Mox Jet
9th - 12th - Mishra's Workshop
13th - 16th - Bazaar of Baghdad
17th - 20th - English Mana Drain
21st - 24th - Undecided

On top of that, there would be a significant amount of prizes given for proxy-less decks, non-powered (non-Dredge) decks, random prizes, door prizes, etc.

I want this event to be a monster, and I'm working on making that happen.  I'm also looking to give away an altered card, to the victor to denote their win.

I'll keep updating as things keep happening.

If you made this a 90 player tournament, I would have to attend.  It would be the new waterbury.