No other word to describe it, this weekend was ugly.
This month's FNM promo is Path to Exile which is a huge upgrade from recent FNM promos and adds a lot of EV to events. We had to change our local prize structure as a result, the change is probably for the better but it was the first warning of the impending storm.
I knew that people would be keen to get their hands on the promo but I hugely underestimated how crazy it would get.
I arrived and picked up my Eturtle Witness play mat and sleeves. A Korean player showed me his new swag, a Tassipuur playmat that cost him $80. Smiles all round, for about 5 minutes.
With 7 players in the shop and 5 Path to Exile promos on the line the EV of the event was very high. There were another 3 Korean players on their way and the store wanted to wait for them as they had advertised a 2:00 pm start on the Daum Cafe Magic site as opposed to the 1:00 pm start time on Facebook. This did not go over well. Most of the draft wasn't willing to wait while the manager clearly wanted to. These players were driving some distance and were semi regulars. This sparked a heated debate and when the seating sheet was printed off and had 10 players on it while only 8 were in the store things went ballistic. Players just grabbed their packs and started opening them while exchanging angry words with local player and the manager.
One of the Korean players arrived at this exact time and was told "Too late, the draft has started". Not even a hello. I hadn't touched my packs yet.
People calmed down temporarily but even the drafting of cards didn't go down without incident.
Mid pack when a player was politely asked to stop reviewing his cards so we can all move on he fired up with some angry responses and threatened to "rules lawyer" this draft.
There was more ugliness that I won't go into but overall it was an awful end to Dragons of Tarkir drafting.
I apologized to the Korean players about what happened and just hope that they will still be willing to play with us and continue to donate promos in the future.
I was lucky that my games were played without incident, they did give me something to think about though as I went 0-3, but that is another post.
Looking forward to a week off and a fresh set.
This month's FNM promo is Path to Exile which is a huge upgrade from recent FNM promos and adds a lot of EV to events. We had to change our local prize structure as a result, the change is probably for the better but it was the first warning of the impending storm.
I knew that people would be keen to get their hands on the promo but I hugely underestimated how crazy it would get.
I arrived and picked up my Eturtle Witness play mat and sleeves. A Korean player showed me his new swag, a Tassipuur playmat that cost him $80. Smiles all round, for about 5 minutes.
With 7 players in the shop and 5 Path to Exile promos on the line the EV of the event was very high. There were another 3 Korean players on their way and the store wanted to wait for them as they had advertised a 2:00 pm start on the Daum Cafe Magic site as opposed to the 1:00 pm start time on Facebook. This did not go over well. Most of the draft wasn't willing to wait while the manager clearly wanted to. These players were driving some distance and were semi regulars. This sparked a heated debate and when the seating sheet was printed off and had 10 players on it while only 8 were in the store things went ballistic. Players just grabbed their packs and started opening them while exchanging angry words with local player and the manager.
One of the Korean players arrived at this exact time and was told "Too late, the draft has started". Not even a hello. I hadn't touched my packs yet.
People calmed down temporarily but even the drafting of cards didn't go down without incident.
Mid pack when a player was politely asked to stop reviewing his cards so we can all move on he fired up with some angry responses and threatened to "rules lawyer" this draft.
There was more ugliness that I won't go into but overall it was an awful end to Dragons of Tarkir drafting.
I apologized to the Korean players about what happened and just hope that they will still be willing to play with us and continue to donate promos in the future.
I was lucky that my games were played without incident, they did give me something to think about though as I went 0-3, but that is another post.
Looking forward to a week off and a fresh set.
Hmm.. either we were at the same tournament or I had complete deja vu. I believe the organizer was extremely frustrated. As someone who used to hold tournaments, I can tell you how agonizing it is trying to get 8 people to join and how annoying it is to lose a few players or gain too many right when the tournament starts. The manager was trying to stall for time but if he was upfront from the beginning, I don't think anyone would have been upset. It was not telling anyone until 30 minutes after the tournament was supposed to start that set a few people off. I was offput by the experience and probably won't go back... it was strange.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there was no avoiding the conflict. There is a huge difference between 1:00 pm (the time it was advertised in English) and 2:00pm the Korean advertised time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe offering an apology and a free drink rather than being sneaky about it. I didn't learn about the advertising mistake until later which would have made me a lot more sympathetic to the shops cause.
The whole thing just had a bad vibe though.
The new set came out, I had fun on Sunday and even though the same promos were on the line no one was trying to kill each other.