Before I ramble about League Points, let me give you a couple quick reminders. First, Open Game Night is from 8-11 PM in the Hartley Room this Saturday, August 14. I'm giving you a little extra bonus for showing up, but you have to read the rest of this post to find out what it is. :P
Also, if you're interested in drafting Magic 2011 next weekend (on August 21 or 22), please send me an email with times you will and/or won't be available, so that I can make sure I schedule it for a time you can attend. I'll announce the time of the draft in a few days.
So, without further adieu, I finally got some time to sit down and fully develop all the details for the League Points system, so I wanted to explain it to all of you before the semester starts. I feel like doing some role-play, so let's do this in Q&A format:
Question: So what exactly do you mean by "League Points"?
Answer: League Points are something I encountered during this summer at the place in South Carolina where I regularly attended Magic events.
Question: OK, so what do I do with them?
Answer: In South Carolina, the 8 players who accumulated the most League Points over the course of every 3 months would receive special prizes and an invite to a special tournament where the top 3 finishers received planeswalkers. I want to start doing something similar here using a semester-long time frame.
Question: Sounds awesome! So how do I get League Points?
Answer: I thought you'd never ask. There are two ways to earn League Points. First, you get 1 League point just for playing in an event. Then, you can earn more points for the same event if you place in the top half of the standings. In Limited formats (Booster Draft and Sealed), this involves winning at least half of your matches. In constructed formats (such as Standard, Extended, etc.), this involves surviving the "cut," which is the stage where roughly the bottom half of the field is eliminated before the single elimination portion of the event.
Question: So is it all about finishing in the top half, or do you get even more for winning?
Answer: As they say, to the victor go the spoils. The higher up in the standings you finish, the more league points you will earn. For example, if you attend an 8-player booster draft, points would be awarded as follows:
- 5 points for 1st place
- 4 points for 2nd place
- 3 points for 3rd place
- 2 points for 4th place
- 1 point for 5th-8th place
It is important to note that I intentionally set up the scoring system so that events with more players result in more people getting more points. Hopefully this will encourage lots of people to play in lots of events.
Question: Do these points replace the prizes you used to give out?
Answer: Absolutely not! The point system won't detract in any way from the prizes normally given out at events. It also will not increase the entry fees (in fact, I have actually decreased the price of attending constructed events this semester). Also, just like in previous years, participating in any event will guarantee you at least one booster pack, even if you finish in last place. Aside from giving me a little more work to do (which is okay), there is no other drawback (at least that I'm aware of) to implementing this system.
Question: Seems pretty cool, but what is the ultimate goal of implementing this system?
The goal of implementing this system is simply to get more people to play Magic. This point system will hopefully encourage more people to play in more events, particularly in both constructed and limited formats. The beauty of this points system is that it makes it more worth it to play in a format that maybe isn't your best than to sit it out. Even if you don't do really well, you'll still get more out of playing than you will out of sitting out.
To elaborate on why I set it up this way, I spent an hour sorting through the results from last year's events and I discovered one very interesting thing: only 32% of players played in both a constructed and a limited event. The goal of League Points is to motivate people to step outside their comfort zones a little bit and explore the formats that they normally wouldn't play in. I was originally reluctant to do this myself, but I finally did it while I was in South Carolina, and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed playing formats that I didn't even know anything about (and I actually did pretty well in most of them!).
Question: So when you were sorting those results, did you retroactively score us for last semester?
Answer: I actually did, just to make sure my scoring system made sense. If you want to know how you did, send me an email. The person who had the most points might surprise you.
Question: It was you, wasn't it?
Answer: Maaaaaybe. :P But since I'm the tournament organizer, I don't actually count in the standings and I'm not eligible to qualify for the invitational event. When I said you might be surprised by the player with the most points, I was referring to the person right below me. But even though I'm ineligible to make the top 8, I'm going to keep track of my own points just for my own entertainment and in case anyone else is interested in knowing.
Question: But if you can't win it, are you really going to offer planeswalkers if we make the top 3 of the invitational?
Answer: I'm not promising anything specific, but I'm going to do everything I can to make the prizes worth the time and effort you put into qualifying for the invitational tournament. And I must admit that planeswalkers do seem to fit that bill. ;)
Question: OK, I'm on board. When's my first chance to earn some points?
Answer: The first actual event isn't until after the first week of classes are over, but you can earn your first point before then! If you attend the FITSSFF Open Game Night this Saturday, August 14, from 8-11 PM in the Hartley Room, and visit me at the Magic table, I'll give you a League Point just for coming and supporting FITSSFF! Do note that I might be a little late due to circumstances beyond my control, but I should be there by 9:00 or 9:15 at the latest.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions or comments. I hope to see lots of you on Saturday!
- Dom
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