Subject: RE: Ending the Semi-PT & Competitive Magic Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 23:43:23 EDT From: BlackKnght To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com I felt I just had to respond to this post. I don't agree with many of the things The Mad Hatter says, and I also don't agree with his post. I like The Mad Hatter as a person, but some of the ideas he has are a little misguided. For one, I believe the Semi-Pro Tour is ending because there is literally no way to make a profit. Hatter told me himself he lost $5,500 on the last Semi-PT, and I don't expect him to ever make any money off of it. When you pay $13,800 to 64 people in Lubbock, TX and expect to make ANY money at all then you might realize why The Mad Hatter has his name. I heard the average attendance for the qualifiers for the Semi-PT was around 10 to 12 players. One reason is the format. The first Semi-PT was T2, a format widely known and almost everyone has a deck (or can easily swipe one from the Dojo). Mirage- Visions-Weatherlight is a dead format. About 6-8 months ago when Chicago qualifiers were going on people played it. But to dig it up months later was a horrible move on Hatter's part. People also didn't attend these qualifiers because they didn't even want to go to Lubbock if they did qualify. Lubbock is at least a 6-12 hour drive from almost every major Texas city, and it would cost a player as much as $200 to make the trip. The minimum payout at the first Semi-PT was $100, it's just not enough to even warrant a trip up. People simply weren't confident or familiar enough with the format to even try. The tournament was also on Sunday. For some reason The Mad Hatter has some idea that running a major tournament in the middle of nowhere on Sunday is a good idea. Wrong. This is another thing leading people away from the tournament. The Mad Hatter has to realize people have things to do OUTSIDE the game of Magic. Some players can't afford to miss a day of work or school because of the Semi-PT, because it's almost totally impossible to make it back to Houston, Dallas, Austin, etc. in time for work or school on Monday when the tournament is on Sunday. Now I want to comment on a second topic: The scaring away of "fun" players from competitive events. This is the topic I am most inflamed about. The Mad Hatter seems to think tournaments are supposed to be made for the fun player. The growing competitiveness of Magic is due to players wanting to take their skill to the next level. Players invest HUGE ammounts of time into the game of Magic, and they want more out of the time they spend. Yes, fun players are being driven away from tournament Magic, and to be blunt they don't belong there. For the past year or so there has been a shift in Magic. Players either take their game a step further and try to become tournament players, or they give up the tournament scene and play Magic (or some other game) for the fun value. The Dojo has attributed to this incredibly. I believe if it were not for the Dojo then Hatter would probably have gotten his way a long time ago. The biggest step in becoming a great tournament player is being able to develop and refine a deck. The Dojo removes this step and allows VAST ammounts of players to make the transition from the average fun player to the tournament player in one step. These players may not know how to play the deck or even how to play Magic to a higher degree, but they all learn very fast. In the past year I have met with better and better competition each new tournament I attend. When before I could count on going undefeated in swiss or easily making the top 8 I meet with higher levels of competition. This years Regionals refortified my belief that more players are making the transition from the fun player to the tournament level player. With 230+ people in attendance and almost every match of the 9 rounds of swiss a true battle, I feel that Magic can only get better. I may not win as much in the future as more players figure out how to play this game, but I'm very glad that more people are taking it seriously. On the final point of cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct, I can say only this: SOLVE IT. Instead of complaining about cheating, get players to watch their matchs more carefully. Know your rules. If someone asks you anything (can I bolt you?) just say "NO" and take your turn in whatever fashion you want. Refine the judging program and try to get more qualified and OBSERVANT judges out there. Maybe PAYING some real money to judges isn't that bad of an idea. I hope the Pro Tour and all competitive Magic is around for a long time to come. Hope to see many of you "competitive players" at Nationals. Thanks for reading. Bryan Hubble AustiKnights