March 28, 2024, 08:20:55 AM

Author Topic: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!  (Read 12852 times)

Puddnhead

  • Member of Arcane Duels; MageCast Co-host
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 1547
  • Banana Stickers 8
    • View Profile
GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« on: June 04, 2019, 10:15:19 PM »
Greetings all!  Herein you will find all of the details for GENCON 2019 ARENA

Judges
Head Judge and “Dictator-for-Life”: Scott “Puddnhead” Penney
“First Tiger” and Assistant to the Head Judge: Justin “Coshade” Lowe
Hailing from Charlotte to join the Judge roster: James McGuire

Format and Scoring

All released sets up through Necromancer Academy are LEGAL.
No Promos Allowed
No Proxies Allowed

You can sign up HERE: https://www.gencon.com/events/155736

The tournament will be played in five rounds of Swiss beginning at 10:00 AM on Friday, August 2nd, in the Game Hall (see your event ticket for details). Each round will be 80 minutes long. After five rounds of Swiss the top 4 best point totals will advance to the finals. Finals beginning at 1:00 PM the following day, Saturday, August 3rd.

Points will be awarded as follows:
Win (Mage Kill) = 3 points
Loss (You died) = 0 points
Tie (No Mage Kill) = 2, 1 or 0 points.

Explanation: In the event that the game goes to time, there will be exactly one additional round and then if no mage has been killed the judges will determine whether the game will be a tie at 1 point each player or if someone had a clear upper hand and will be awarded 2 points (giving 0 to the other player).

Criteria by which judges will decide:
1)   Current Board State
2)   Remaining effective spells in Spellbook.
3)   Advisement of players’ own estimation regarding their Win-Strategy viability.

Rationale: GenCon is a place where many people of a variety of different skill levels and familiarity with Mage Wars collect to compete. We wish to provide the most equitable experience for all while recognizing that those who have trained should end up in a superior rank.  Therefore, we are choosing a “referee” style of judging which allows for a small amount of subjectivity in order that a newer player or someone unfamiliar with their book that is given to long planning phases, excessive rules clarifications or questions does not jeopardize a veteran player’s chances to advance.  We also wish to eliminate a “planning to tie” mentality during book construction. We wish to encourage all players to strive towards the game’s win condition of killing the enemy mage.
These kinds of rules are necessary in a timed tournament environment that is open to all who wish to participate. We sincerely hope to have to make these judgement calls sparingly but need to cover the possibility.

Errata and Clarifications

•   Disciple of Radiance Text Change
Once per round, whenever your Mage casts or reveals a healing spell, Disciple of Radiance may deal 1 direct light damage to a target creature in her zone
•   Casting a Spell - Change to the end of the Pay Costs Step
Previous wording - If you cannot pay all of the costs, the spell is cancelled and discarded, and you have lost the action.
New wording -If you cannot pay all of the costs, the spell is cancelled and obliterated, and you have lost the action.
Everything else remains unchanged about the step
•   Force Pull
Once per round, the Forcemaster may cast this quick Force spell. Target creature is Pushed 1 zone towards the source of this spell. Will not Push a creature through a wall with the Passage Attacks trait.
•   Trample
- If a Flying creature attacks a non-Flying object, it loses Flying until the end of the attack.
- Elusive Creatures can ignore guards when making a Trample Attack
- Defenses that do not work against Melee attacks cannot be used during the Avoid Attack step, however all other types may be (choosing one during the step following normal rules).
•   Dig in and Press the Attack only apply to the zone they are in
•   Swarm (Please remember all non-mage objects are also spells)
Creatures with the Swarm trait cannot be targeted by non-attack actions or spells that do not specifically target Swarm creatures. When attacking, Creatures with the Swarm trait may make additional strikes equal to their remaining health. Additionally, they are immune to conditions, healing, and life gain that does not target swarms. Non-zone attacks do a maximum of 1 damage to them. Swarms cannot guard.
•   The Embalmed
When summoning The Embalmed, remove target non-Epic Living creature in any discard pile from the game. This creature becomes a copy of the removed creature, gaining The Embalmed’s traits and subtypes. X= the removed creature’s mana cost.

What to bring
Please have ready:
1) Your TICKET
2) Your spellbook
3) A printed copy of your book list that is arranged in the exact same way as your spellbook.
4) Mage specific tokens
5) Dice
6) Please come 15 min early for the tournament to register your book if you don't attend the unofficial practice session* the night before.

*There will be an unofficial "practice session" the night before.  Basically, feel free to come and play some Mage Wars in the Game Hall beginning at 7:00PM on August 1st.  We are happy to check-in your tournament book there as well so you can sleep in a little on Tournament Day.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2019, 08:52:55 PM by Puddnhead »
  • Favourite Mage: Salenia Forcemaster

Reddicediaries

  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1099
  • Banana Stickers 1
  • Out of the ashes, a new power will rise.
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2019, 08:39:57 AM »
How long is each match?
The Phoenix shall rise.

Puddnhead

  • Member of Arcane Duels; MageCast Co-host
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 1547
  • Banana Stickers 8
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2019, 08:41:38 AM »
How long is each match?

AHA! I knew I forgot something! Fixed!
  • Favourite Mage: Salenia Forcemaster

Coshade

  • Arcane Duels Host
  • Administrator
  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1939
  • Banana Stickers 6
    • View Profile
    • Arcane Duels!
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2019, 10:49:12 AM »
Gen Con Hype!
  • Favourite Mage: Malakai Priest

jacksmack

  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1073
  • Banana Stickers 19
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2019, 12:43:05 PM »
I think it looks good with the tie breaker.

Interested in how it turns out.

Good luck with the tournament.

wtcannonjr

  • Ambassador of Wychwood
  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 812
  • Banana Stickers 3
    • View Profile
    • WBC Mage Wars Tournament
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2019, 07:05:10 AM »
One thought about encouraging the Kill style victory. Consider increasing the points awarded for a Kill from 3 to say 4 or 5. This provides a tournament incentive for players to create spellbooks and strategies around killing the mage.

Good luck with the tournament!
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin

DaveW

  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 928
  • Banana Stickers 3
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2019, 05:12:11 PM »
One thought about encouraging the Kill style victory. Consider increasing the points awarded for a Kill from 3 to say 4 or 5. This provides a tournament incentive for players to create spellbooks and strategies around killing the mage.

Good luck with the tournament!

I would think that the 0-2 point draw disincentive would be enough.

It's about time someone took this kind of judging standard seriously. When I proposed using judges to adjudicate the matches at round end, it was met with derision with people saying that it couldn't be done....
  • Favourite Mage: Asyra Priestess

Brian VanAlstyne

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 295
  • Banana Stickers 0
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2019, 05:30:47 PM »
I don't recall people saying it couldn't be done. I just don't think it's the best way to judge a game. Even talking to the players won't give you a complete idea how the game would play out. This becomes very subjective to the judges playstyles and how they think a game would go. They might be right a majority of the time, but it's not an absolute. Life remaining still remains the best way to judge a tie to me.

Reddicediaries

  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1099
  • Banana Stickers 1
  • Out of the ashes, a new power will rise.
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2019, 08:39:12 PM »
I don't recall people saying it couldn't be done. I just don't think it's the best way to judge a game. Even talking to the players won't give you a complete idea how the game would play out. This becomes very subjective to the judges playstyles and how they think a game would go. They might be right a majority of the time, but it's not an absolute. Life remaining still remains the best way to judge a tie to me.

Disagree strongly about life remaining being the best method of judging. Life remaining means very little; it doesn't take into potential or anything like this.
The Phoenix shall rise.

jacksmack

  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1073
  • Banana Stickers 19
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2019, 01:25:34 AM »
Life remaining still remains the best way to judge a tie to me.

Could not disagree more...

Vs a control book its completely normal to forfeit a game where you have more or less 0 damage while the opponent (typically wizard) can be between 20 and 31 damage... simply because you ran out of options to do damage to him.

Brian VanAlstyne

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 295
  • Banana Stickers 0
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2019, 07:17:23 AM »
You have 80 minutes to do damage and kill the other mage, if you're not close to doing it in that time, you shouldn't win. I don't care what cards are in your book or what the board looks like at this point. If you've done 0 damage in 80 minutes, you shouldn't win. If I have you 5 away from death and I'm 30 away from death after 80 minutes, you shouldn't win. But that's just me.

wtcannonjr

  • Ambassador of Wychwood
  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 812
  • Banana Stickers 3
    • View Profile
    • WBC Mage Wars Tournament
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2019, 10:17:24 AM »
One thought about encouraging the Kill style victory. Consider increasing the points awarded for a Kill from 3 to say 4 or 5. This provides a tournament incentive for players to create spellbooks and strategies around killing the mage.

Good luck with the tournament!

I would think that the 0-2 point draw disincentive would be enough.
It is potentially only one point difference between a win (3 pts) and a tie (2 pts) so some players may not feel the reward is strong enough for them to risk more aggressive play styles. Consider this scenario - Say you win your first match with a kill and score 5 points. If all the other matches in that round are ties and the ties earn 2 points for all participants you are now leading the entire pack by 3 points. Using the current system you would only be ahead of the pack by 1 point.

It will be interesting to hear about the results and the assessment of how well this judging approach worked for all participants including the judges.

Again, best of luck with the tournament and thanks for organizing and judging the event.
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin

Coshade

  • Arcane Duels Host
  • Administrator
  • Legendary Mage
  • *****
  • Posts: 1939
  • Banana Stickers 6
    • View Profile
    • Arcane Duels!
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2019, 10:03:27 PM »
If you do not manage gain a favorable game you could end up with just 1 point and your opponent with 1 as well. Keep in mind that just because you lived does not guarantee you end up with 2 points. I don't think as a competitor you want to try and put the points up to a judge, and your book should represent that. So playing to finish within time is hopefully more critical.

I think it's worth trying this style for a tournament. It tough to say exactly how most matches will look at the end of a timed match. I'll take some pictures of the board state and write notes down for analysis after the tourney. If it works out I would love to hear some opinions on how timed matches rulings were.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2019, 10:14:02 PM by Coshade »
  • Favourite Mage: Malakai Priest

Puddnhead

  • Member of Arcane Duels; MageCast Co-host
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 1547
  • Banana Stickers 8
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2019, 04:48:13 PM »
Reminder to all. If you are planning to attend GenCon 2019..Sign up for the Arena Tournament! If you can't possibly play in the tournament, please come look us up on Thursday night in the same location. We will be playing Mage Wars for a long time beginning at about 7:00pm local time.  Additionally, there will be opportunities all weekend long....you know where to find us!

Rumor also has it that Arcane Duels is taking on all comers at 2v2 Domination for the 2nd year running!  Beat us for some potential prizes...
  • Favourite Mage: Salenia Forcemaster

zot

  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 801
  • Banana Stickers 5
    • View Profile
Re: GENCON 2019 ARENA TOURNAMENT!
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2019, 08:57:32 PM »
awesome. thanks for hosting.