First off I want to say that my local store (there is only one) is very friendly and all the staff are nice too. But I want to get something off my chest that has bothered me for a while now.
I used to play modern whenever it was on, which was once every two weeks or so. According to the Wizards store locator between now and the 29th of July, 12 events are scheduled. The breakdown is as follows:
6 Booster Drafts
3 Standard Tournaments
3 Sealed Deck
Meaning that ZERO modern events are happening till August (if ever again), and that worries me. Something I have sensed but never really seen discussed is the contentious relationship between store owners and non rotating formats.
I can only assume that limited is pushed so hard because it's guaranteed to sell a certain number of packs to everyone entering. Sadly I don't really enjoy draft much. The idea here seems to be that draft is a completely level playing field and thus is more fair for everyone. I disagree. Those who win draft are consistently the ones who draft the most (and can afford it). Then my store always does a rare redraft afterwards so even if my packs were full of great rares, I probably won't be keeping the best ones. Sealed is a bit better but too expensive to play every week. Limited formats actually create work for me because I have to quickly sell 95% of what was opened soon as possible to recoup a small amount of money.
I wonder if stores view players who play modern exclusively like some sort of parasite. I buy lots of food and drink at my store but never cards really. I've got nearly every card I want and they don't even sell any exciting singles. Should I have bought more boosters to keep modern alive? Is this partially my fault?
I've made a lot of assumptions here, some may be wrong:) What are your thoughts?
At my store it is like the opposite. They have trouble getting Standard to fire but there are always people who play Modern. They have one event for each every week but Modern is more popular.
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Modern RGTron UGInfect URStorm WUBRAd Nauseam BRGrishoalbrand URGScapeshift WBGAbzan Company WUBRGAmulet Titan BRGLiving End WGBogles
Our store is the exact opposite, Modern was the only thing that kept Magic going in our area of a while and it always pulls bigger numbers even now that the other formats have picked up.
An option to your problem is to ask for a Modern side event. Providing you can get 8 players I can't see the shop having an issue with it, we do that with other formats on a Friday night and they always fire.
In regards to modern players being a parasite on a store: I don't think that is correct, typically eternal players spend a ton on stuff that isn't boosters, be they double sleeves, playmats or foils. Plus if he has a big modern play base he is probably missing out by not stocking some modern playable singles.
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In play: Jund Death Shadow, Grixis Control, Eldrazi Stompy, Ponza
In the yard: RUG Delver, Kiki-Chord, Grixis Twin, Mardu Control, Smallpox, Jeskai Control, Jeskai Delver, Assault Loam, Elves, Deathcloud, Eggs, Storm
My LGS has a strong modern/legacy crowd but a few of us play standard too. Standard tables fluctuate between 10-20 people depending on the season. modern is a little more slim but we've fired off standard, modern, and two draft pods on a Friday night with ease before.
Draft kills it every week with like 25+.
I think it's just what the crowd wants tbh. Try and get him to offer up old promos to get people in the door. Offer to try and kickstart the event with fliers or working on a Facebook post or something. You can take it on yourself and attract people and no sane store owner is going to turn away more business.
We couldn't even get 8 people to turn up to run an event... switched it to standard and now we get 13ish.
Eldrazi and twin ban killed modern at my LGS
If your standard event is barely getting 13ish, that just seems like a player demand issue overall, not just a Modern one. In my LGS network, Standard typically has more than Modern, but Modern events still draw 20+.
Side note: if this becomes a satellite banlist discussion/complain-about-Twin-ban thread, I am closing it.
I feel there are 2 different opinions in between the 2 stores I go to, although they aren't necessarily limited to store.
One crowd isn't really fond of the format because they find it really matchup dependent and they find how well you do depends on what decks you get paired against.
The other crowd praises the format because of the diversity and the fact that you can just play the same deck forever, assuming it doesn't get banned
The main LGS where I live, every format has about the same showing. It helps that they are also unsanctioned to allow proxies. But Pauper has generally picked up in popularity recently out here.
My LGS has stepped up modern support actually adding Tuesdays to the schedule now. Now I can play modern on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but that's probably because its the CFB game center so they seem able to offer a lot more then other game stores.
The main LGS where I live, every format has about the same showing. It helps that they are also unsanctioned to allow proxies. But Pauper has generally picked up in popularity recently out here.
Pauper has been increasing in popularity around here as well, probably because more people have been playing MTGO, where pauper has a decent following
One of my LGSs has done a few free modern events to great turnout though
I have no idea what the Standard or Draft environment is because I only play once a week in paper on Modern Mondays. We regularly get 25-35 people, with the occasional dip under 20. Seems pretty robust for the most part. Very strange meta though. Lots of troll decks and very little Tier 1 representation.
At my store around the Treasure Cruise era I managed to convince the store owner to hold Modern and for a few months he held it every FNM, then it became every other FNM sharing the time with Standard. Then the owner realized Standard was just getting better crowds and FNM became Standard only, Modern was moved to Tuesdays and no one showed up because they had to work. The current schedule is
Tuesday Modern (usually doesn't fire, 8 when it does)
Thursday Legacy (fires half the time, proxies allowed, 8-10 when it does)
Friday Standard
Saturday rotation every other week Modern/Draft
The Saturday events are rolled into SCG Game Night so there's a couple extra prizes (and a higher entry fee) but they only pull in around 10 people, maybe 14-16 during the school year.
I live in a pretty poor area, most people just don't have the money for the format which is disappointing. I'm one of the few who puts money into Modern/Legacy, and just built Jund in fact after putting it together for 2 years. Though there are a few who have big collections and can play, many simply choose to not show up.
Modern was moved to Tuesdays and no one showed up because they had to work.
Having a start time of 6:30 and a hard cap of 4 rounds seems to be good around here. You usually have enough time to get there after work and are done by about 10, unless a couple rounds drag into extra turns.
The largest store in Boston supports Modern pretty well. We have it every Tuesday at 6:30 (along with proxy-allowed Vintage, both of which fire every week) and Modern on Friday nights. FNM at 6:30 on Friday is draft but then at 9 it's Standard and Modern and whatever other format can get 8 players. I think the shop also runs Standard on Wednesdays, but I don't play standard anymore.
The format that's lacking for me is Legacy. This shop doesn't have any events for that, and I'd have to go much further out of my way, and with 1 exception off the public transportation system, to find Legacy.
Having a start time of 6:30 and a hard cap of 4 rounds seems to be good around here. You usually have enough time to get there after work and are done by about 10, unless a couple rounds drag into extra turns.
Weekday start time is 7pm usually, in the case of Legacy we always cap it at 3 rounds. The same would probably be done with Modern but since moving it to Tuesdays there hasn't been a large enough turnout to go over 3 rounds anyways.
We have modern on Tuesdays. They usually get 20-24 people, but it is capped at 3 rounds. Standard on Mondays usually has around 5-10 more people than Tuesday, but it is still capped.
Fnm is around 24-50 players for modern and usually slightly larger for standard, although modern has had more people a few times. These go 5-6 rounds, depending on attendance. All of these tournaments are free entry, but have a decent payout.
Limited only happens on Sunday and has been pretty small. This lgs has mostly constructed players or they play limited elsewhere. Pauper has gone off occasionally on Thursday, but it died before, so it could happen again. We've been trying to get legacy, but there just aren't enough players that can come regularly and card availability is a problem for some.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I have 3 stores near me I haven't played much since I started working but they all had different days. Monday tuesday and Friday. Interestingly the monday one struggled to fire
Two stores in my metro area hold multiple weekly Modern events, another one holds a once a week event and is considering adding another, and some of the smaller ones have once a week or every other week type of events going. Prize support varies from store to store, but most all of them are always 4 rounds regardless of attendance (during the work week anwyay). Overall I think the format is pretty well supported in my area and if you are willing to drive a little bit, you can find a modern event almost any day of the week.
Yeah, we didn't get enough for standard last night.. (7). But super strange the whole store was empty, which was very odd, since normally there are people playing boardgames and Rouge One, for now we are blaming it being exam time.
Modern was basically down to 2 for months during Eldrazi so we just gave up.
FNM is actually worse :/, although it means we get to do cool things like Cube FNM.
I am considering going back to my old store, which only had draft FNM and no other events, It was near my work but I have finished my work I'd have to travel to it.
The next closest stores I have beefs with:
The big name store does rare-redrafts which ticks me off, so I have only been there twice, once for a modern GPT. Also Modern night is Wednesday and I am busy Wednesday :(.
And the other store, to which I have been a few times most recently for EMA draft. I went through their commons and uncommons boxes.. found 4 lantern of insight and 3 ancient stirrings and got them for the commons/uncommons price of 25c each. Perhaps foolishly bragged, "oh sweet I found these $ cards got them all for 25c". Then I went back to the boxes in search of more loot... this time they checked the prices on everything to make sure I didn't make away with value again that annoyed me choose one or the other. Finding treasure is part of the fun of commons box diving, don't ruin that for me, or at least be fair and let me have worthless commons/uncommons for their actual value.
At my LGS we fire Modern two nights a week. Monday is the biggest Modern turnout easily 20-30 people come out, Friday we fire a Modern FNM an hour after Standard fires which has around 15ish people in most cases.
There's always Modern IQ's and stuff during "Modern Season" as well.
All formats are supported where I play and each one pulls a good crowd.
The 3 closest game stores to me have 0 modern scene which is frustrating because Modern is my favorite format and I am heavily invested in it. So to get my modern fix i have 3 options TNM at a store about 30 minutes to the south which really isnt bad but it starts at 7pm and the rush hour traffic means the commute can be closer to an hour. or go thirty minutes east to the Mecca of NEO magic where they have FNM Draft standard and Modern all firing, and that same store has modern at 130pm on saturdays (but I usually work) Im hoping the scene picks up soon.
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My posts end threads
Decks
Modern BGR Jund RGB BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB BWGAbzan CompanyGWB
At my shop, I get the best attendance at my FNM drafts. Commander is the most played format, but casually, and not in event format, just people playing Commander. Modern happens now and then, but it's gotta be touted as a special one-off. I can't fire it weekly. Standard doesn't fire at all. I don't even try for other formats.
The most successful format around here is modern, with 20-40+ people showing up weekly for Thursday Night Modern. Other formats see less attendance, although draft is consistently well attended as well.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
I used to play modern whenever it was on, which was once every two weeks or so. According to the Wizards store locator between now and the 29th of July, 12 events are scheduled. The breakdown is as follows:
6 Booster Drafts
3 Standard Tournaments
3 Sealed Deck
Meaning that ZERO modern events are happening till August (if ever again), and that worries me. Something I have sensed but never really seen discussed is the contentious relationship between store owners and non rotating formats.
I can only assume that limited is pushed so hard because it's guaranteed to sell a certain number of packs to everyone entering. Sadly I don't really enjoy draft much. The idea here seems to be that draft is a completely level playing field and thus is more fair for everyone. I disagree. Those who win draft are consistently the ones who draft the most (and can afford it). Then my store always does a rare redraft afterwards so even if my packs were full of great rares, I probably won't be keeping the best ones. Sealed is a bit better but too expensive to play every week. Limited formats actually create work for me because I have to quickly sell 95% of what was opened soon as possible to recoup a small amount of money.
I wonder if stores view players who play modern exclusively like some sort of parasite. I buy lots of food and drink at my store but never cards really. I've got nearly every card I want and they don't even sell any exciting singles. Should I have bought more boosters to keep modern alive? Is this partially my fault?
I've made a lot of assumptions here, some may be wrong:) What are your thoughts?
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
An option to your problem is to ask for a Modern side event. Providing you can get 8 players I can't see the shop having an issue with it, we do that with other formats on a Friday night and they always fire.
In regards to modern players being a parasite on a store: I don't think that is correct, typically eternal players spend a ton on stuff that isn't boosters, be they double sleeves, playmats or foils. Plus if he has a big modern play base he is probably missing out by not stocking some modern playable singles.
In the yard: RUG Delver, Kiki-Chord, Grixis Twin, Mardu Control, Smallpox, Jeskai Control, Jeskai Delver, Assault Loam, Elves, Deathcloud, Eggs, Storm
Eldrazi and twin ban killed modern at my LGS
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Other Modern and Legacy tournaments draw up to 32 people, that is the maximum they have in seats and tables.
To be fair the Standard tournaments draw the same number but they don't host Standard FNM.
I am pretty happy because I only play Modern
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
Draft kills it every week with like 25+.
I think it's just what the crowd wants tbh. Try and get him to offer up old promos to get people in the door. Offer to try and kickstart the event with fliers or working on a Facebook post or something. You can take it on yourself and attract people and no sane store owner is going to turn away more business.
If your standard event is barely getting 13ish, that just seems like a player demand issue overall, not just a Modern one. In my LGS network, Standard typically has more than Modern, but Modern events still draw 20+.
Side note: if this becomes a satellite banlist discussion/complain-about-Twin-ban thread, I am closing it.
One crowd isn't really fond of the format because they find it really matchup dependent and they find how well you do depends on what decks you get paired against.
The other crowd praises the format because of the diversity and the fact that you can just play the same deck forever, assuming it doesn't get banned
Pauper has been increasing in popularity around here as well, probably because more people have been playing MTGO, where pauper has a decent following
One of my LGSs has done a few free modern events to great turnout though
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Tuesday Modern (usually doesn't fire, 8 when it does)
Thursday Legacy (fires half the time, proxies allowed, 8-10 when it does)
Friday Standard
Saturday rotation every other week Modern/Draft
The Saturday events are rolled into SCG Game Night so there's a couple extra prizes (and a higher entry fee) but they only pull in around 10 people, maybe 14-16 during the school year.
I live in a pretty poor area, most people just don't have the money for the format which is disappointing. I'm one of the few who puts money into Modern/Legacy, and just built Jund in fact after putting it together for 2 years. Though there are a few who have big collections and can play, many simply choose to not show up.
Having a start time of 6:30 and a hard cap of 4 rounds seems to be good around here. You usually have enough time to get there after work and are done by about 10, unless a couple rounds drag into extra turns.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
The format that's lacking for me is Legacy. This shop doesn't have any events for that, and I'd have to go much further out of my way, and with 1 exception off the public transportation system, to find Legacy.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
Weekday start time is 7pm usually, in the case of Legacy we always cap it at 3 rounds. The same would probably be done with Modern but since moving it to Tuesdays there hasn't been a large enough turnout to go over 3 rounds anyways.
Fnm is around 24-50 players for modern and usually slightly larger for standard, although modern has had more people a few times. These go 5-6 rounds, depending on attendance. All of these tournaments are free entry, but have a decent payout.
Limited only happens on Sunday and has been pretty small. This lgs has mostly constructed players or they play limited elsewhere. Pauper has gone off occasionally on Thursday, but it died before, so it could happen again. We've been trying to get legacy, but there just aren't enough players that can come regularly and card availability is a problem for some.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Modern was basically down to 2 for months during Eldrazi so we just gave up.
FNM is actually worse :/, although it means we get to do cool things like Cube FNM.
I am considering going back to my old store, which only had draft FNM and no other events, It was near my work but I have finished my work I'd have to travel to it.
The next closest stores I have beefs with:
The big name store does rare-redrafts which ticks me off, so I have only been there twice, once for a modern GPT. Also Modern night is Wednesday and I am busy Wednesday :(.
And the other store, to which I have been a few times most recently for EMA draft. I went through their commons and uncommons boxes.. found 4 lantern of insight and 3 ancient stirrings and got them for the commons/uncommons price of 25c each. Perhaps foolishly bragged, "oh sweet I found these $ cards got them all for 25c". Then I went back to the boxes in search of more loot... this time they checked the prices on everything to make sure I didn't make away with value again that annoyed me choose one or the other. Finding treasure is part of the fun of commons box diving, don't ruin that for me, or at least be fair and let me have worthless commons/uncommons for their actual value.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
There's always Modern IQ's and stuff during "Modern Season" as well.
All formats are supported where I play and each one pulls a good crowd.
BG/x BG
Decks
Modern
BGR Jund RGB
BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB
BWGAbzan Company GWB
Mtgo Modern
G Company Elves G
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
we usually get enough to fire FNM (modern) but I feel nobody cares about triple SOI draft anymore