January is fast approaching, and with it comes a whole slew of new formats legal for FNM. Has WotC provided any information about how tournament organizers are supposed to handle the new setup? How do we handle FNMs with, for example, 4 Legacy players, 2 EDH players, and 12 drafters? Any links to official sources would be appreciated.
Unless I misunderstood, the adding legal formats for FNM has already gone live. As to how it would be handled, it will still depend on the store in question and what they have scheduled/sanctioned for that night. You will still need 8 players to sanction an event as not being Casual.
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How would your store handle it if 4 Legacy players, 2 EDH players, and 12 drafters showed up for FNM this week? It's still up to the store to decide/announce the format in advance; they just aren't limited to the specific formats (Standard, Modern, Block Constructed, 2HG, Sealed, Draft) that were required in the past.
From what I understand, the sanctioning process has changed, too. You do have to schedule at least one event ahead, but you can schedule new events the very night of FNM. So if 4 Legacy players show up, I want them to be able to play Legacy that night, even if nothing was announced ahead of time.
From what I have heard from my FLGS,The events still need to be sanctioned ahead of time.
For example, We have always run Standard and Draft. Recently we have added Modern and Legacy on a rotating basis.
This allows for proper promotion of formats etc. I don't think it is a successful business model to just sanction a format on a whim that players have shown up. If you schedule them out and make them seem like a big deal you might be able to actually sanction the tournament with 8 players.
Stores may chose up to three formats to schedule ahead of time, but they may also run any number of additional FNM events on the same night. You can make i think any number of events on the fly as you wish.
You can also now give away the promos in any way you please.
8 player legacy 4 rounds swiss? Thats fine.
4 player round robin modern? That's fine too.
17 round pauper singleton cube draft? Go ahead.
Double elimination 5 player edh singleton all uncommon winston draft? Go for it.
2 round 4 player best of 10 ice age and modern masters cards only? That is perfectly fine.
the possibilities are literally endless.
I disagree. My lgs will sanction a tournament at any time if 8 people show up with decks for the same format. We've had impromptu modern and standard tournaments on any given day of the week. It gets people to just show up at the store to see whats going on.
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Modern BGR Jund RGB BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB BWGAbzan CompanyGWB
Stores can sanction an event at any time so long as they have enough players. However, for FNM it has to be scheduled ahead of time in order to receive the promos. This means the format is decided when it is scheduled. So if people show up hoping to draft for FNM and it is scheduled to be a standard tournament the TO can sanction a draft and run it however the promos are not for that event and must be given out in connection to the scheduled standard FNM event.
Could you do like 2 rounds of legacy and 2 round of standard in the same tournament? Might appeal to some players.
Yes. Literally any format you can think of. I was thinking of some form of format where you play the decks like normal, than both players switch decks so they both get to play with both decks. Of course letting other people touch your valuable cards can be a problem, but me and my playgroup do this when playtesting anyways.
Stores can sanction an event at any time so long as they have enough players. However, for FNM it has to be scheduled ahead of time in order to receive the promos. This means the format is decided when it is scheduled. So if people show up hoping to draft for FNM and it is scheduled to be a standard tournament the TO can sanction a draft and run it however the promos are not for that event and must be given out in connection to the scheduled standard FNM event.
I believe this is incorrect. Correct me if I am wrong. You are given a fixed number of promos based on your store size. They have also stated that you can make FNM events on the fly, for example doing an impromptu booster draft at 10:30 PM.
From what I have heard, the FNM promo #s are still fixed to a certain amount. So when the TO distributes them he can't have 12 in one night and and keep doing that week in and week out.
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Stores can sanction an event at any time so long as they have enough players. However, for FNM it has to be scheduled ahead of time in order to receive the promos. This means the format is decided when it is scheduled. So if people show up hoping to draft for FNM and it is scheduled to be a standard tournament the TO can sanction a draft and run it however the promos are not for that event and must be given out in connection to the scheduled standard FNM event.
That used to be true, but is not the case anymore. TOs are free to distribute promos in any way they see fit now.
From what I have heard, the FNM promo #s are still fixed to a certain amount. So when the TO distributes them he can't have 12 in one night and and keep doing that week in and week out.
In January, stores should be getting a fixed amount of promos each week based on their level. This is off the top of my head, but I believe Core gets 5, Advanced gets 10, and Advanced Plus gets 15. As I mentioned above, these can be distributed how the TO sees fit. He'll obviously know ahead of time how many his store has and can get.
It seems I'm not the only one without full information. I do hope Wizards can make things clearer so both the TOs and players know what to expect at FNM.
I was thinking of some form of format where you play the decks like normal, than both players switch decks so they both get to play with both decks. Of course letting other people touch your valuable cards can be a problem, but me and my playgroup do this when playtesting anyways.
Actually, I think bringing terrible decks would be a viable strategy for this format. Make it a janky combo. If you get lucky you're up a game before playing with your opponent's "real" deck, and if you're not lucky, well, your opponent is still stuck with a terrible deck for game 2. Mirror matches would be terrible in this format though.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
For example, We have always run Standard and Draft. Recently we have added Modern and Legacy on a rotating basis.
This allows for proper promotion of formats etc. I don't think it is a successful business model to just sanction a format on a whim that players have shown up. If you schedule them out and make them seem like a big deal you might be able to actually sanction the tournament with 8 players.
You can also now give away the promos in any way you please.
8 player legacy 4 rounds swiss? Thats fine.
4 player round robin modern? That's fine too.
17 round pauper singleton cube draft? Go ahead.
Double elimination 5 player edh singleton all uncommon winston draft? Go for it.
2 round 4 player best of 10 ice age and modern masters cards only? That is perfectly fine.
the possibilities are literally endless.
Decks
Modern
BGR Jund RGB
BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB
BWGAbzan Company GWB
Mtgo Modern
G Company Elves G
Yes. Literally any format you can think of. I was thinking of some form of format where you play the decks like normal, than both players switch decks so they both get to play with both decks. Of course letting other people touch your valuable cards can be a problem, but me and my playgroup do this when playtesting anyways.
I believe this is incorrect. Correct me if I am wrong. You are given a fixed number of promos based on your store size. They have also stated that you can make FNM events on the fly, for example doing an impromptu booster draft at 10:30 PM.
That used to be true, but is not the case anymore. TOs are free to distribute promos in any way they see fit now.
In January, stores should be getting a fixed amount of promos each week based on their level. This is off the top of my head, but I believe Core gets 5, Advanced gets 10, and Advanced Plus gets 15. As I mentioned above, these can be distributed how the TO sees fit. He'll obviously know ahead of time how many his store has and can get.
It seems I'm not the only one without full information. I do hope Wizards can make things clearer so both the TOs and players know what to expect at FNM.
BWModern Black/White Control
WGBOGGLES
Draft My Innistrad Cube!
Actually, I think bringing terrible decks would be a viable strategy for this format. Make it a janky combo. If you get lucky you're up a game before playing with your opponent's "real" deck, and if you're not lucky, well, your opponent is still stuck with a terrible deck for game 2. Mirror matches would be terrible in this format though.
As for OP wanting official links:
Here's the WPN page that tournament organizers can use to register for FNMs in march. You schedule an FNM event up to the 7th the previous month btw.