After a long hiatus I have decided to try my hand at running a MTG tournament in my local area.
I have decided to host the event as a grand melee. The entry fee is 15.00 and 1 booster pack from any set.
We will be using the following deck construction rules:
100 card singleton
limit of 15 rare and/or mythic rare
banned list (using highlander)
Players will attack left and spells have a range of 1 to the left and right. Every time the player to your left is eliminated you get a random pack as an award (from the entry fee's).
Both of our local area judges are not available to support the event. I am not super familiar with the rules as I haven't played in a competitive tournament since Tempest era.
My biggest worry is unlimited combo's. What rules should I put in place to curb one combo from running the table? I would like a consistent approach to handle any scenario. I would also like extra turns to be limited to 1 per round maximum.
Also, should I put a rule into place to eliminate any combo elements immediately after they have "fired".
Thanks so much for your feedback and help,
Michael
Realistically there's nothing you can do. The different types of infinite combos in Magic are too varied to make a catch-all rule to stop them all. Say you have a player who assembles Palinchron+High Tide for infinite mana, draws his deck, and begins killing people by looping Blue Sun's Zenith + Whispers of the Muse(for example) to deck people out. What do you do there? Make them discard the Zenith? What about the other "Draw X" spells in his hand? What if he has Laboratory Maniac + Whispers of the Muse backup to "win the game" an infinite number of times? What about an infinite amount of Zealous Conscripts tokens created by Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, with Goblin Bombardment backup? What if he gains 60 life in a non-infinite-loop way, Ensoul Artifacts an Aetherflux Reservoir with Whip of Erebos, and just zaps people one at a time? Do you "eliminate"(a term which has no in-game meaning and would have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis) the Reservoir? The rule is asking for trouble.
Surely, there has to be players, judges, and event staff who have run a grand melee and / or a multiplayer game where combo has made a mess of stuff. I would think any multiplayer game could have these same issues.
I have had a few suggestions regarding combo's.
1) ban all 2, 3, and 4 card combo's - not sure of the best way to propose this on our rule / event summary, however
2) If you eliminate an opponent your spell and attack range immediately goes to 0 for the remainder of the turn. If two opponents are eliminated from the same trigger or ability that is fine. This would prevent something running rampant.
3) any combo elements trigger once and then are removed to a zone called "Out of the Game". Any item in this zone can no longer be interacted with by any player for the remainder of the game. (as you propose this solution may be hard to define properly and asking for trouble)
Whatever is decided I will need some popular supporting examples. I need to come up with a somewhat defined solution. I am surprised these matters haven't been further fleshed with the popularity of multiplayer commander style games, but maybe I am just looking in the wrong places.
There has to be a good solution. With all the smart people out there playing MTG I am hopeful we can find one.
From reading a variety of these threads the best way to handle multiplayer tournaments with prizes appears to be to have the prizes go out for participation rather than 'winning.'
Basically having some of the packs passed out as 'door prizes' every round for playing removes much of the incentive to create non-interactive boring decks in order to win. People can then come with their fun/wonky multi-player decks and actually get to play rather than be blown out by infinite combos.
My 60 card multiplayer group (which I guess I'm de facto leader of) has no banned list. If people are going to build stax decks and turn 3-4 combo decks and play them frequently, no one is going to want to play with them anymore. Making weird deck restrictions like limiting rarity or banning cards arbitrarily doesn't improve the format or have much baring on power level.
It is going to come down to how the event is promoted. Are you inviting people that you know personally and play with consistently or is it going to be a public event with random strangers in attendance? If the former, it should be fairly simple to agree upon a set power level before-hand. If the latter, you will need to set a clear expectation in the promotional material.
TL;DR
Structure the environment beforehand to promote a balanced environment. No one is going to have fun with uneven footing.
With the deck construction limits you have in place, you're limiting how degenerate it can possibly get, but you still won't stop infinite combo from appearing.
I think as long as your ban-list reflects which infinite combo you consider too degenerate (like T1 *I win* enablers) you should be fine to assume there will be some making an appearance, but to completely stamp out combo is unfair.
FWIW, if there is prizes on offer for winners, you're going to get degenerate. People like to win.
I have decided to put a cap on infinite combo's. Infinite turns and attacks go to one maximum. Any other series of events which repeat in a similar way (I am calling it a combo pattern or effect) in a turn can be looped 5 times maximum. I understand there may be some players who may try to bend these rules but I have been very clear of my intent of this during the event.
All the cards which state "Do x and win the game or Do y and lose the game" were placed on the ban list.
If you eliminate a player your range immediately becomes 0 for the remainder of the turn. This should curb one combo from running the entire table.
I created an excel document which has the number of turn markers based on the players in the game and their starting locations. I am familiar how and when to remove the markers as players get eliminated.
I have secured many prizes for the event through local sponsors. Throughout the event we are going to draw random cubes. Let's say it is a green cube which would represent green permanents. One player will roll a die: based on this result it may be the player with the most permanents, the most devotion to that colour, the least permanents, the most creatures, etc, etc This player will win a prize. These prizes will hopefully be appreciated and fun for everyone and spread the rewards out a bit.
I am hoping the event will be fun for everyone who chooses to participate. It may fail but I am going to stay upbeat and optimistic.
In case anyone wants to view my post regarding the event it can be found on the following link. If you have criticisms of these postings I would appreciate you providing further feedback on this forum instead of the linked forum.
My biggest worry would be a low turnout, ruined games and poor user experiences. I question if you can reasonably expect everyone in attendance to have a solid grasp on the new rules and worry that you've strayed too far off the beaten path. After all, you're barely even playing Magic if you're telling someone that their Recurring Insight can't draw 7 cards "because you said so." I don't understand how people are supposed to feel about those kinds of restrictions because "good" certainly isn't the term that comes to mind. IMO you're trying too hard to fix a problem that will still persist and that your event will suffer as a result of this over-correction for competitive strategies.
OOC what sort of feedback have you gotten about the people attending this event? Do people seem to be rallying behind your homebrew format?
Recurring insight by itself works just how it says. If you combine its effect with 2 or more cards which could potentially go "infinite" you can loop things five times maximum.
I am confident we are already hovering at 12 players who have a similar mindset to mine on how such things will work in this event.
Like I stated, I am going to do everything I can to make this an enjoyable user experience for those who attend. We are there to play some magic in a different environment from the Standard or Modern competitive grind. Bring the wacky decks and see what happens.
Regarding feedback on the event we seem to have two groups. Group A has a few players who are the win at any cost type. One member of this group is vocal and has stated this event is stupid. Meh. Some people will be critical of anything. If someone isn't coming to this to have fun I would prefer they would instead stay home.
The other group has been encouraging and very supportive. These players are more casual. They are stating I have never tried a grand melee event before. They have stated I love commander, tiny leaders, highlander but hate when someone plays the time vault / voltaic key on turn two. They are telling me about their ideas for strategies and asking if I have certain cards.
I would like decklists to browse and possibly post on a forum somewhere. I am also curious to see what kind of themed decks show up. It also makes things easy for me to adjudicate if something comes up during the event itself. I have posted a sample excel document for players to fill out on our forum site.
If anyone is caught cheating it will definitely be reported. I have no tolerance for it.
Cheers,
Michael
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After a long hiatus I have decided to try my hand at running a MTG tournament in my local area.
I have decided to host the event as a grand melee. The entry fee is 15.00 and 1 booster pack from any set.
We will be using the following deck construction rules:
100 card singleton
limit of 15 rare and/or mythic rare
banned list (using highlander)
Players will attack left and spells have a range of 1 to the left and right. Every time the player to your left is eliminated you get a random pack as an award (from the entry fee's).
Both of our local area judges are not available to support the event. I am not super familiar with the rules as I haven't played in a competitive tournament since Tempest era.
My biggest worry is unlimited combo's. What rules should I put in place to curb one combo from running the table? I would like a consistent approach to handle any scenario. I would also like extra turns to be limited to 1 per round maximum.
Also, should I put a rule into place to eliminate any combo elements immediately after they have "fired".
Thanks so much for your feedback and help,
Michael
Surely, there has to be players, judges, and event staff who have run a grand melee and / or a multiplayer game where combo has made a mess of stuff. I would think any multiplayer game could have these same issues.
I have had a few suggestions regarding combo's.
1) ban all 2, 3, and 4 card combo's - not sure of the best way to propose this on our rule / event summary, however
2) If you eliminate an opponent your spell and attack range immediately goes to 0 for the remainder of the turn. If two opponents are eliminated from the same trigger or ability that is fine. This would prevent something running rampant.
3) any combo elements trigger once and then are removed to a zone called "Out of the Game". Any item in this zone can no longer be interacted with by any player for the remainder of the game. (as you propose this solution may be hard to define properly and asking for trouble)
Whatever is decided I will need some popular supporting examples. I need to come up with a somewhat defined solution. I am surprised these matters haven't been further fleshed with the popularity of multiplayer commander style games, but maybe I am just looking in the wrong places.
There has to be a good solution. With all the smart people out there playing MTG I am hopeful we can find one.
Thanks,
mb
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
Basically having some of the packs passed out as 'door prizes' every round for playing removes much of the incentive to create non-interactive boring decks in order to win. People can then come with their fun/wonky multi-player decks and actually get to play rather than be blown out by infinite combos.
My 60 card multiplayer group (which I guess I'm de facto leader of) has no banned list. If people are going to build stax decks and turn 3-4 combo decks and play them frequently, no one is going to want to play with them anymore. Making weird deck restrictions like limiting rarity or banning cards arbitrarily doesn't improve the format or have much baring on power level.
It is going to come down to how the event is promoted. Are you inviting people that you know personally and play with consistently or is it going to be a public event with random strangers in attendance? If the former, it should be fairly simple to agree upon a set power level before-hand. If the latter, you will need to set a clear expectation in the promotional material.
TL;DR
Structure the environment beforehand to promote a balanced environment. No one is going to have fun with uneven footing.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I think as long as your ban-list reflects which infinite combo you consider too degenerate (like T1 *I win* enablers) you should be fine to assume there will be some making an appearance, but to completely stamp out combo is unfair.
FWIW, if there is prizes on offer for winners, you're going to get degenerate. People like to win.
Thank you for your comments and feedback.
I have decided to put a cap on infinite combo's. Infinite turns and attacks go to one maximum. Any other series of events which repeat in a similar way (I am calling it a combo pattern or effect) in a turn can be looped 5 times maximum. I understand there may be some players who may try to bend these rules but I have been very clear of my intent of this during the event.
All the cards which state "Do x and win the game or Do y and lose the game" were placed on the ban list.
If you eliminate a player your range immediately becomes 0 for the remainder of the turn. This should curb one combo from running the entire table.
I created an excel document which has the number of turn markers based on the players in the game and their starting locations. I am familiar how and when to remove the markers as players get eliminated.
I have secured many prizes for the event through local sponsors. Throughout the event we are going to draw random cubes. Let's say it is a green cube which would represent green permanents. One player will roll a die: based on this result it may be the player with the most permanents, the most devotion to that colour, the least permanents, the most creatures, etc, etc This player will win a prize. These prizes will hopefully be appreciated and fun for everyone and spread the rewards out a bit.
I am hoping the event will be fun for everyone who chooses to participate. It may fail but I am going to stay upbeat and optimistic.
In case anyone wants to view my post regarding the event it can be found on the following link. If you have criticisms of these postings I would appreciate you providing further feedback on this forum instead of the linked forum.
http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=6353.0
Cheers,
Michael
My biggest worry would be a low turnout, ruined games and poor user experiences. I question if you can reasonably expect everyone in attendance to have a solid grasp on the new rules and worry that you've strayed too far off the beaten path. After all, you're barely even playing Magic if you're telling someone that their Recurring Insight can't draw 7 cards "because you said so." I don't understand how people are supposed to feel about those kinds of restrictions because "good" certainly isn't the term that comes to mind. IMO you're trying too hard to fix a problem that will still persist and that your event will suffer as a result of this over-correction for competitive strategies.
OOC what sort of feedback have you gotten about the people attending this event? Do people seem to be rallying behind your homebrew format?
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Recurring insight by itself works just how it says. If you combine its effect with 2 or more cards which could potentially go "infinite" you can loop things five times maximum.
I am confident we are already hovering at 12 players who have a similar mindset to mine on how such things will work in this event.
Like I stated, I am going to do everything I can to make this an enjoyable user experience for those who attend. We are there to play some magic in a different environment from the Standard or Modern competitive grind. Bring the wacky decks and see what happens.
Regarding feedback on the event we seem to have two groups. Group A has a few players who are the win at any cost type. One member of this group is vocal and has stated this event is stupid. Meh. Some people will be critical of anything. If someone isn't coming to this to have fun I would prefer they would instead stay home.
The other group has been encouraging and very supportive. These players are more casual. They are stating I have never tried a grand melee event before. They have stated I love commander, tiny leaders, highlander but hate when someone plays the time vault / voltaic key on turn two. They are telling me about their ideas for strategies and asking if I have certain cards.
mb
I would like decklists to browse and possibly post on a forum somewhere. I am also curious to see what kind of themed decks show up. It also makes things easy for me to adjudicate if something comes up during the event itself. I have posted a sample excel document for players to fill out on our forum site.
If anyone is caught cheating it will definitely be reported. I have no tolerance for it.
Cheers,
Michael