Well I did receive a custom patch from a cheap site and it turned out, well, cheap. So since I have a winner that I now have to get something to I am probably leaning towards the button,since it will actually look good and not poorly printed. But I kind of want this to be for every invitational so once Bill gets his invitational rolling I am going to have him name it and if he has a logo in mind get that from him and get buttons made for mine and Bill's. That's the thought right now.
1 2014-11-02 16:21:12
Re: Alphastrike Invitational 2 - Twice the Power, Twice the Fun (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
2 2014-09-23 04:30:01
Re: Alphastrike Invitational 2 - Twice the Power, Twice the Fun (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
I will play this time as well. I will give you yet another shot at the throne.
I think the formats I have planned this time won't be like the draft where if I did it the way I really wanted to build the packs I would have a major unfair advantage. But like I said, the way this should shake out I shouldn't have any advantages coming into the tourney.
3 2014-09-22 22:28:30
Topic: Alphastrike Invitational 2 - Twice the Power, Twice the Fun (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
As victor of the inaugural Alphastrike Invitational it is my duty to host the next invitational, which will dubed the Alphastrike Invitational 2. The original was very successful and I look to build upon that success with good food and great company. I will even try to throw in some good magic gamery. Over the next few weeks I will be updating this with more information on the formats as there will be some "teamwork" that may be involved. So keep an eye out for the updates. I will also be sending emails out as well in conjuction with updates to this post. I look forward to this next invitational and the many that will follow
Date and Time
Saturday November 1st @ 5:00 p.m
4 2014-07-21 20:31:18
Re: Alphastrike Invitational - Schedule and Information (12 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
Edh, tomorrow(Tuesday) 7:00, your place?? I am game.
5 2014-07-21 20:22:47
Re: Alphastrike Invitational - Schedule and Information (12 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
During our last outing Bill suggested pauper edh and since Tom and I are magic needs about formats like this it kinda stuck. Plus I was looking fur fun formats that we could play that were fun, unique, cheap and required very little resources that we didn't have access to. So I added it to my trial invitational.
I would like to get the date set, but am still waiting to hear back on peoples availability. Rough thought is a week from this Saturday or the Saturday after that (26th/2nd)
I was hoping to play some magic tomorrow and was originally going to draft at pfg but if we get people together I am down for some edh..
6 2014-07-21 17:27:45
Re: Alphastrike Invitational - Schedule and Information (12 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
#1 - Traditional Multiplayer, in regards to Elder Dragon Highlander, uses rule 803 which allows for the selection of attack left or attack right. Usually you would elect to use just 1 of these but we will be allowing each person to select at the beginning of the combat step. This is the traditional multiplayer that i was refering to.
#2 - Whether a spell or effect is "global" or not, it will still fall under the range restriciton of 2 seats in either direction. For example, if there are 6 of us sitting at the table and you activate pestilience, it will only affect your creatures and the 2 players to your left, and the 2 players to your right, leaving one player unaffected by the effect.
7 2014-07-20 17:06:54
Topic: Alphastrike Invitational - Schedule and Information (12 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
The first Invitational officially kicks off with the Alphastrike Invitational. The Alphastrike Invitational will consist of 3 seperate formats to determine the winner and subsequent lead for the next invitational. So, without further ado, I present to you the schedule and formats for the Alpastrike Invitational.
Schedule
Date and Time - Saturday September 6th - 5:00 p.m
Dinner - This will be hosted by myself and will most likely consist of a spaghetti feed with bread and salad followed by dessert. The only things that you will need to provide is a beverage if you prefer something other than water and perhaps a snack for the evening.
Event - As soon as we have finished dinner we will proceed upstairs for the event. You will need to bring a Pauper EDH deck, which we will discuss below, some dice, and a desire to have fun. The event will take approx. 6 hours to complete, though this is just an approximation and the duration could be plus or minus an hour.
Formats
BigBox
We will play a large melee free-for-all match of BigBox. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the BigBox format, there are 6 large libraries that each person can play from. There is a library for each color and one library for colorless and multi-color cards. Each player will also have a "land library" what will consist of 12 basic land that he or she chooses before the round begins. Each player will draw their opening hand by drawing card by card, one at a time from any library that they have access to. During the draw step or any other time that you would be required to draw a card, you may choose which library to draw from. If you are to draw mulitple cards from one spell or ability, you may choose different libraries for each card drawn. Play from there goes as normal multiplayer melee where you may attack any individual and target any player or other legal target. The winner of the event will determine the seating for the Pauper EDH round, which will be a very important task as seating will be a huge factor in the round.
Pauper EDH
For this round players will be playing with a Pauper Deck. A Pauper Deck is construsted using a uncommon creature for your general (does not have to be legendary) and the remaining 99 cards must be common or have been printed as a common in a set. Players life totals will start at 30 and the general damage rule will be 15 and the poison rule will be 15 as well. This will be a traditional multiplayer game and not a melee free-for-all. Players will only be able to attack the person directly to their left or right and spells can only affect up to 2 people to the left or right of you. The seating will be determined by the winner of the BigBox round. Scoring will constist of points for kills as well as BigBoard Accomplishments which will be listed on the big board and will also we added to this forum as soon as they are set. Points will be important as they will hold value for the final format which will determine our Invitational Winner.
Achievements ($$$ values to be posted at a later date)
Command and Conquer
Deal 15 points of General Damage to a Player
Amass an Army
Control 10 or more creatures from more than 1 source
Overkill
Deal 15+ more damage than required to kill opponent
TWOfer
Kill 2 creatures with 1 spell
Assasin8
Kill 8 or more creatures in 1 turn
Saving Grace
Save a Creature and a Player from dying
General Consensus
Play your General 5 times
Backfire
Have a spell you control be redirected to you or 1 of your permanent
King of the Stack
Cast a spell with at least 3 spells on the stack
Defector
Steal someone's creature and deal damage to them with it
Heads of State
Kill 3 or more different Generals
Focus of Ire
Become attacked by 4 or more opponents
At Death's Doorstep
Survive 3 turns at 5 or less life
Player Hater
Kill an opponent
Trifecta
Kill the same general 3 times
Monster Hunter
Kill an ogre, cyclops, basilisk, efreet, gargoyle, hellion, hydra, kavu, kraken, orc, troll, vampire, werewolf, or zubera
Aerial Assault
Attack with 5 or more flying creatures in one turn
Back from the Dead with a Vengeance
Return a creature from the graveyard to play & attack with it
Summoning Spree
Cast 4 or more creatures in one turn
Spell Slinger
Cast 4 or more spells in one turn
Early Exit
Be the first player eliminated
Pile of Corpses
Have 15 or more cards in your graveyard
First Blood
Be the first player to deal damage to an opponent
First Blood, Part Duex
Be the first player to deal damage to an opponent with their general
Second to None
Be the last player standing
Left for Dead
Have your life total dropped to 1 after a single attack
Last to the Party
Be the last player to cast your general
I See Your Counter and Raise You Another
Counter a counter spell
Draw'n For Dayz
Draw 5 or more cards in a single turn
I Prefer Vanilla
Play a creature with no abilities
Encyclopedia Britannica
Have 10 or more separate keywords on the battlefield at once
I'll Have One of Everything
Control an enchantment, artifact, creature and land and cast both and instant and sorcery in the same turn
Taste the Rainbow
Control a land of each type and 1 permanent of each color(must be separate permanents)
Wife Swap
You and an opponent each exchange control of a permanent
Two Can Play That
Cast a spell an opponent has already cast
Auction Draft
New to the group is Auction Draft. Each player will start the auction with $100 plus any added money that they earned via points in the Pauper EDH round. The auction board will consist of 1, 3, and 5 card packs as well as a Starter Kit that, will have a set amount of cards from a specific Shard, that will all be bid upon by the players. Once a player has spent his money he or she will be able to begin deck construction which will be a 60 card deck and all cards purchased will be available for sideboard. Players will be seeded based upon their tournament performance and we will play a best of 3, single-elimination tournament to crown the champion of the Alphastrike Invitational.
More Information To Come
8 2014-07-18 21:08:20
Re: Invitationals (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
FORMATS
This is the part of the Invitaional Events that I think can really get everyone looking forward to. There are so many more fomats that are out there or that we can create than the semi-standard format that we had previously been playing for the past 2 years. I like that league was an event everytime that we showed up but over time it began to feel stale and lost it's shine. But I think we can bring back that shine and take that stale taste and turn it into a rainbow pastry of awesomeness and varying formats are the recipe for success I believe. I also think the head-to-head, 1V1 structure also wore some people down over time as it really took one of the parts away that made the Fridays awesome, and that was the group as a whole. Thats where I think we will see the most positive change in the league, varying and rotating formats for all to enjoy. Here are several formats that have been played or discussed that we can imploy to make some fun invitational events:
- EDH (Pauper, Peasent, 1v1, Multiplayer)
- Salary Cap Constructed ( $25, $50, $75, $100, )
- Big Box
- Cube
- Chaos Draft
- Sealed
- Archenemy ( Salary Cap or EDH )
- Planechase ( Salary Cap or EDH )
- Horde ( Salary Cap or EDH )
- Pre-Con Battles
The list could go on and on. Between all of us we have a ton of resources that are just siiting around waiting to be utilized to create a fun league for all of us to enjoy. And as I stated before, I invison each Invitational being ran by different people each time, taking the reigns and selecting various fun and creative formats to give each Invitaional it's own unique feel and allow for a different type of competition each time. Take some time to think about any other formats that you would like to see played or if you have an idea that needs to be tested just throw them out there for us to include.
9 2014-07-18 20:51:48
Re: Invitationals (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
Rewards and Recognition
I spoke about how much I enjoyed Tom's prizes and trophies and I believe that everyone else enjoyed these as much as I did. I also really like the shirts Joe made up, though some may call me a blatant liar by the fact that I still am unaware of the location that mine rests. And I also love the stats and how they correlate to the league structure. So this is my thought on incorporating that into my proposed invitational format.
Just as we had an overall winner and session winners, we would continue to do so. Each monthly invitational would have a winner and that winner would get a trophy recognizing his or her accomplishment. As for the overall winner and statistics, i would like to complicate that more as I like to do with all things group related. Instead of just the overall winner in regards to win percentage, we would also have a trophy for constructed and a trophy for limited as I see each invitational being made up of both constructed fomats and limited formats. More prizes and trophies just mean that we are having more fun. I could see other silly trophies like Whose Your Daddy for the person that has been dominated the most by a single opponent, or Oopsies for the person to make the most mistakes over the course of the season, or Gangbang for the most multiplayer victories (yes it says gangbang). So again, that would increase our statistical requirements and create more work for some. I know that there are a few of us who have really appreciated the stats over the year as we definitely saw an increase in participation on that front. If Tom is not wanting to take on that load, assuming this gets off the ground and keeps rolling, I would be willing to take over that job if no one else wanted it. These would be the things that I can initally see keeping track of:
- Match Win %
- Head to Head Win %
- Multiplayer Victories
- Multiplayer Kills or Points Scored
- Constructed Record
- Limited Record
- Most Play Mistakes and Questionable Hands
And any other important, funny, or amusing statistics that we would like to see kept track and end up on some permanent hardware.
Essentially we would just print off a sheet of paper with all the categories on it for each invitational and as they happen record them on the sheet and transfer them to a spreadsheet and a deckbox forum post for us to discuss and mock. I think this would add to the experience of the events and the banter that it would add would be more frosting ontop the proverbial cake. Again, if you have suggestions on this front please voice your thoughts and we will see if there is enough momentum to carry this or if it falls flat and lays down to die. Also, I am going to continue to view this page over and over until it has more views than any other topic so that I can feel like I am truly accomplishing something.
10 2014-07-17 16:48:04
Topic: Invitationals (7 replies, posted in Just The Tip)
The Backstory
So I started thinking a while back about things I missed about magic that have either been pushed to the back shelf with the previous format or have been abandoned due to time restraints and lifes commitments. I enjoy almost everything there is about magic and thats what keeps me holding on to this cardboard that without friends and others to share it with is utterly worthless. It's the events though that really get me hooked, whether it's the d&d games or finals hype, I just love it. And the last finals is a prime example of what I look forward to most in magic and especially with this group. Most dont remember the Meeks tournaments, but that took my love for magic to a whole new level and I think I miss that the most, and thats what I am looking to bring back and share with the group.
Invitationals
Moving forward I see an opportunity to have these events and make them special and unique to the individual that runs it. I would shoot to see a monthly invitational where the events are determined by the host and ran by that person. The host could be determined on a rotation basis, volunteer, random, or my current choice which would be hosted by th previous events champion. I loved how Tom put together a great experience for all of us and I want to duplicate and replicate that. The venue
could be at the hosts discretion and the invites as well. There is so much creative space and with the group that we have I could see this becoming a huge hit. It doesnt require a weekly commitment, it allows for us to still play on Fridays, whether that is edh,, dnd,, board games,, etc. and it doesnt force one person to carry the load by themselves while offering the creativity of each of us.
Implementation
I am going to make the first stab at this with the Alphastrike Invitational. After looking through the previous modest proposals I have come up with my agenda in an attempt to paint a fun and wacky picture. It will be a 3 format event with both head to head, multiplayer, as well as limited and constructed elements. At least a week prior I will have the itinerary with the list of formats, rules, and schedule. It will be open to all and will be geared towards unique and interesting but still competitive in nature. I see it starting with a champions dinner hosted by the champion either via potluck or on their own accord followed by a briefing of events and then the fun will commence. I want to see varied formats and unique ideas to make it your own. It can be simple or it can be as intricate as you would. From Michaels archenemy desires to Joes unique formats, I think we can create fun and unique events that will foster creativity and joy out of the cardboard.
What Comes Next
After our initial event we can decide if we want this to be a regularly occuring monthly event, bi-monthly, or just somethin that comes up ever so often as well as offer advice and suggestions moving forward. I dont want to lock everyone into one format and I would like everyone to get there chance to share with everyone what it is about magic that keeps them coming back for more. Thanks for following along and I hope each of you are excited for the next chapter as I am.