Topic: Invitationals

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.

Last edited by cardboard_connoisseur (2014-07-17 17:31:45)

Re: Invitationals

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.

Re: Invitationals

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.

Re: Invitationals

This all sounds good..I can't wait until the schedule.
I really enjoyed my events as well. Just got to the point that the people I was inviting were very unappreciative. Nothing....I MEAN NOTHING, will kill events like people not showing their appreciation for all of the effort that went into it.

I gave a way a time walk at one event and the guy says. "This is not even close to mint". I gave it to him with a smile and have never spoken to him since.

Re: Invitationals

goway wrote:

I gave a way a time walk at one event and the guy says. "This is not even close to mint". I gave it to him with a smile and have never spoken to him since.


This right here is why I've been so adamantly against adding randoms to our games just to get numbers and why I didn't play in any of the "team" events that had open casting calls.

I remember the last Meeks tourney I went to where I found myself cleaning up after people because they were messy pigs and left their garbage behind. I was so angry that these floor turds had the nerve to show up to a free event, get free food, and then treat the place like crap.

Dicks like "non mint" guy ruin it for everyone. It's unfortunate but we as human beings tend to focus on the negative. If 19 people are having a blast but 1 guy is douching it up then it ruins the event for everyone. I say we find "non mint guy" and each take turns punching him in the stomach. Oh so much rage! Why must I be so full of hate! Rargh!

Re: Invitationals

Easy big guy......I let it go and so should you. But notice how many event I have had since.

Re: Invitationals

goway wrote:

Easy big guy......I let it go and so should you. But notice how many event I have had since.

All the more reason to be angry. He ruined it for me! He took something away from me and now he must suffer! Who was it, name the infidel!

big_smile

Re: Invitationals

I'm with Michael.  Those events you ran at your subdivision clubhouse were awesome.  Let's start a MtG mafia and rough up the dickbags.