I was at the Orlando, Florida Regionals today and I think the announced turnout was 240 people. IIRC, last year there were 350.
Was this just an unusual occurance for my area or what? I'd think the turnout would be even higher than usual given the awesomeness of Ravnica and the openness of the metagame...
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I was at the Orlando, Florida Regionals today and I think the announced turnout was 240 people. IIRC, last year there were 350.
Was this just an unusual occurance for my area or what? I'd think the turnout would be even higher than usual given the awesomeness of Ravnica and the openness of the metagame...
I was at Orlando Regionals as well. I didn't think that there were that many people there last year, I thought that there was like 300-325. Although I did notice that there was less people this time, which was pretty weird. Hopefully just an unusaual occurance though.
I was expecting a helluva lot more people to come this year to BC regionals as well.
(1) Widely belive to be a healthier format
(2) Under new (better) organization
(3) Not held in a stuffy, crowded store with one bathroom and late start, but held under the organization of a level 3 judge and in an actual event center where you can push your chair back to stand up.
But there was still only about 90-100 people, a poor showing to last year's 125.
Another drop in turnout - Northern New England Regionals (Fitchburg, MA) had around a 100 fewer participants than last year (about 380 to 280). I was surprised for the same reasons Supa Cow was.
Then again, Massachusetts is not Northern New England. It's a real pain for the players in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire to get to. At least Southern New England players (Rhode Island and Connecticut) have a much easier commute to Hartford.
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We had 76 in Arizona x_x Ugh. We were expecting around 200.
A few players remarked that their friends were out of town and couldn't come - I think scheduling this right after school let out was a mistake.
Yeah, I was wondering if that had something to do with it. In late June, the HS kids are all out.
In late May, you're only 2 weeks removed from the end of the college semester for many of the college kids and most of the HS kids are still in school and about to have exams (my county has exams this coming week) or otherwise have alot of end-of-school-year events going on.
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I also heard that since last year some new Regionals events were added and some gerrymandering went on to redistribute where people could go. If there are more Regionals events then that might help explain some of the lower turnout. But a fellow judge I talked to said he thought the gerrymandering was before last year's Regionals and shouldn't have had an effect on this year's.
I'm trying to recall when Regionals was last year...whether it fell before or after 15 May. Our Regionals is held in a college facilities building, and the student commissary shares the same building. Last year I recall the commissary was still open, but this year I tried to go get some snacks and was informed the store was closed for the end of semester. So I'm guessing last year's Regionals was about 2 weeks earlier than this one, in relation to end of term exams and holidays.
I would expect that just having Dissension be constructed legal the day of the tournament would draw a solid crowd.
At any rate, I hope it's something Wizards can address. Having a puny Regionals in one of the highest population density areas of the country, with one of the most wildly successful blocks in recent years, at the very culmination of said block as a phenomenon in Standard, deserves the attention of the corporate leaders. This is even more important because Regionals invites are so important to feeding Nationals, and # invites determines the quality and variety of nationals players.
If you ask me, I am NOT surprised that there is a lower turnout in these events. I agree with Pooispoois as the dual lands and 9th edition painlands (which are an auto-include in any deck) mean that you have to fork out a good amount of money in order to play a competitive deck.
I'm crying for decks like Affinity and Madness where you could build something decent from a good selection of cards in the common, uncommon and rare slots (I mean even Affinity had expensive rares in Arcbound ravager but in the current format you're spending big just for the mana base which might be important but not flashy).
Was this just an unusual occurance for my area or what? I'd think the turnout would be even higher than usual given the awesomeness of Ravnica and the openness of the metagame...
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edit: Maryland
sorry tired tonight!
I was at Orlando Regionals as well. I didn't think that there were that many people there last year, I thought that there was like 300-325. Although I did notice that there was less people this time, which was pretty weird. Hopefully just an unusaual occurance though.
(1) Widely belive to be a healthier format
(2) Under new (better) organization
(3) Not held in a stuffy, crowded store with one bathroom and late start, but held under the organization of a level 3 judge and in an actual event center where you can push your chair back to stand up.
But there was still only about 90-100 people, a poor showing to last year's 125.
Made of metal. Nine feet tall.
Then again, Massachusetts is not Northern New England. It's a real pain for the players in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire to get to. At least Southern New England players (Rhode Island and Connecticut) have a much easier commute to Hartford.
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A few players remarked that their friends were out of town and couldn't come - I think scheduling this right after school let out was a mistake.
"Sufficiently advanced experience is indistinguishable from clairvoyance." -Carsten
"Ah those eyes, those horrible creepy eyes!" -Chaosof99
DCI Level 3 Judge & TO
"I do not consider myself a hero. I know only what the Vec teach:
justice must always be served and corruption must always be opposed."
Go read! I am one of the three authors of Cranial Insertion.
But seriously, if you can't remember "Woapalanne", just call me Eli.
Yeah, I was wondering if that had something to do with it. In late June, the HS kids are all out.
In late May, you're only 2 weeks removed from the end of the college semester for many of the college kids and most of the HS kids are still in school and about to have exams (my county has exams this coming week) or otherwise have alot of end-of-school-year events going on.
Sig banner by Xyre.
My MTG Blog (inactive)
GDS1 & GDS2 entrant. Former Rules Advisor & casual-level TO. Semi-lapsed player in general.
I'm trying to recall when Regionals was last year...whether it fell before or after 15 May. Our Regionals is held in a college facilities building, and the student commissary shares the same building. Last year I recall the commissary was still open, but this year I tried to go get some snacks and was informed the store was closed for the end of semester. So I'm guessing last year's Regionals was about 2 weeks earlier than this one, in relation to end of term exams and holidays.
I would expect that just having Dissension be constructed legal the day of the tournament would draw a solid crowd.
At any rate, I hope it's something Wizards can address. Having a puny Regionals in one of the highest population density areas of the country, with one of the most wildly successful blocks in recent years, at the very culmination of said block as a phenomenon in Standard, deserves the attention of the corporate leaders. This is even more important because Regionals invites are so important to feeding Nationals, and # invites determines the quality and variety of nationals players.
As far as more Regionals events, Florida added a second Regionals (in Lauderdale) but that started at least in 2005 maybe even 2004.
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I'm crying for decks like Affinity and Madness where you could build something decent from a good selection of cards in the common, uncommon and rare slots (I mean even Affinity had expensive rares in Arcbound ravager but in the current format you're spending big just for the mana base which might be important but not flashy).