A Plea For PEs

This thread is for discussion of the article A Plea For PEs

Hey i think you did a great job, thanks for representing classic so well. It's nice to know we aren't just the ugly stepchild kept in the basement.

I agree that there should only be one room for both premiere and daily events.

Thanks Danger.   Tell us what you can, when you can.

I'm envious of your (well-deserved!) trip to Renton, and grateful we had someone like you there.  We're a very lucky community.

i agree with you cal, i do but if i had to pick i would suffer now so that my collection is still worth having in a few years. i dont know about you but i for one do not intend to quit magic untill death or blindness or losing both of my arms force the issue.

Originally posted by Dangerlinto Right now, they consider Classic one of their core formats, with a small but ardent community. If they were to make changes specifically to the PEs for Classic, (say to bring it back to the old way) then they couldn't really consider it so anymore - it would have to be considered more like Prismatic, 100CS, and other formats that get much less attention from WoTC. They explained how their business model works in that regard, and though I suppose looking back they never put it as a hard question, do or die, essentially I was challenged as to whether or not if I had the call I would move Classic out of the role of a Core format to get PEs back.

I understand that what Danger  wants to stress is that PE's revolves around research and experimentation.
Even a pet deck can be revolved time to time with some modifications and wins in PE's. This situation occurs cause you have a large range of playable decks and you can focus your construction against a prevalent deck that you thinks will appears in great numbers.  
The mechanic in the DE's are opposed: you will race and you will choice the best or the broken deck. This is not especially bad, but our Community, at least the hard players, look into another way.
Our behavior is different of the Standard community, per example, where they use the cards in a different way, always expecting the changes that will occur in a obvious base.
We look in a more stable way, expecting small and long term gains, so the PE's are the Events where our attitude gains substance.
Every Classic players waits to see what Whiffy or Danger or Hammer will write in their articles, expecting the next big Event to play with their informations, or not?   

I want to add that I like DEs a lot. Classic DEs finish in 3-3.5 hours, which is a fairly modest time investment. PEs, on the other hand, are 6-7 hour ordeals if you plan to ever play in the elimination rounds. I work full time, and so PEs on weekdays are a non-starter for me.

I'd be interested in knowing how many people they currently get for the Standard PEs? Is there  a way to look that up?

the number 1 reason classic is dying is because of the loss of the weekend PEs with 24 min.

this was the one regularity in the sea of randomness that is classic. these tournaments by and large helped shape the metagame. they helped weed out the pet decks from the pro decks. they helped build a sense of community by drawing the varied facets of the classic community into one meeting spot every weekend bringing their best (or most favorite) decks.

First off, the link on the article points to the wrong forum thread.
http://www.classicquarter.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2437

Classic is obviously an odd duck.

Here are some random thoughts...

Wasn't Vintage dying out until they introduced Proxy Tournaments?
Is there a $$/deck sweet spot to attract players?

Why doesn't someone kick off a paper Classic tournament scene.
The cards are there, the format guidelines are there.
You've spoken of Classic as a Guinea pig, won't any players in the paper community want to try their hand as mad scientists in a raw format?
... they can even have Paper Proxy Classic Tournamets.

How about polling players on why they don't play Classic?
Is it the $$?
Is it the unstable/unclear metagame?
Is it the danger in buying $$ cards that might be obsolete tomorrow?
Is it the lack of players/matches/tournaments?

Are there any FAQs or forums or primers to help players get into Classic?
Maybe start a thread that lists:
1) deck types (decklists, how to play, different sideboards/builds vs. other deck types, how to side vs. other deck types, tough/easy matchups, etc.)
2) http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?tag=Decks%20of%20the%20Week&description=Decks%20of%20the%20Week
3) etc.
I know all this has been covered very well, but are the links to this great info stickied somewhere?

Originally posted by whiffy penguin   classic is the last bastion for playability online. eventually more and more exted sets will rotate out into oblivion and if classic isnt there to catch the players and the collections then it could and will hurt the long term growth of the game itself.

I think Magic should add formats to soak up and make use of older cards, favorite decklists, etc.:

1) "best of block/standad"
Best of Block: Players can play with any Block deck. (past or present)
Best of Standard: Players can play with any Standard deck. (past or present: UG Madness vs. Affinity, Tog vs. Tooth and Nail, etc.)

2) "open block/standard"
Open Block: Players can make a block deck with any 3 sets.
Open Standard: Players can make a standard deck with any 7 sets.

Lots of people have the cards from their old block/standard decks.
And lots of people LOVED playing these decks.
So let them dig them back up and play them again.

Well, I for one think that they could increase the popularity of classic by just giving all players a 4x collection.

That'd do it for sure.