The Invitational

[Rakavolver]

If YOU guys were in charge of The Invitational, how would you format it?

For those who don't know, The Invitational is a once-a-year collecting of the current finest players in our game, in one place (real space formally, and internetly connected now, I think), to show the peeps what the best in our game can do, when unleashed. The reward is that the winner gets to have his pic on a magic card, that he submits and Wizards R&D "fixes."

The Invitational was invented by Mark Rosewater, a.k.a., "Mark Rosewater, The Creator of the Invitational," as he loves to describe himself, and yes, this is one of his good ideas.

What I DON'T like is the sucky Invitational formats, most of them from the overly-convoluted brain of Mark Rosewater (who, in case you missed it, is "The Creator of the Invitational.") I mean, I don't follow it anymore, and haven't in years.

In order to make it interesting again, I propose the following changes:

Round 1 - Standard
Round 2 - Extended
Round 3 - Limited: Booster Draft
Round 4 - Legacy
Round 5 - Vintage
Round 6 - Limited: Rochester Draft
Top 8 - Standard, different from the Round 1 Standard decks, should the player wish

I think that would make the Tournament MUCH more interesting and awesome, and these are the finest one-on-one formats that people actually play, and would therefore follow.

Thoughts?

[RoninX]

You call that complimenting Rosewater? ;)

Refresh my memory (or add to it even). What *IS* the formatting for this year?

[Rakavolver]

You call that complimenting Rosewater? ;)

Absolutely, in a nobody completely sucks kinda way. The Invitational is excellent, and if properly formatted, is an excellent marketing tool as well.

(Note to Hasbro Accountants: That means "more revenue." Pause , ... now ....stop drooling.)


Refresh my memory (or add to it even). What *IS* the formatting for this year?

All I know is what I read in the papers, Ronin.
Click here for "The Invitational 2007" page. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/mi07/voting)

From that page:

"The Auction of the People has been announced, with an alphabet theme. The rest of the formats for the 2007 Magic Invitational will be announced later in the summer."
... Maro the Self-Described Magnificent

[Falkor]

Hey Raka,

I'm not sure what I am shocked about more: you said MaRo and the Invitational is a good idea OR you said that it is one of his good ideas (that implies more than one...).

I hate the Auction of the People format, it just seems too random. I would rather we simply had a top pro design a card or two every set, and that R&D didn't nerf it too much (see Rakdos Augurmage...poor Terry Soh...).

I like your formatting, but unfortunately it runs into the "ho-hum, old hat, it's just another Magic tournament feel." While I feel that Auction of the People is too random, I think a bad rare draft would be much more interesting.

My ideal format:
Round 1: Standard
Round 2: Extended
Round 3: Limited: Ravnica Booster Draft -- Rav--Guildpact--Dissension
Round 4: Legacy
Round 5: Vanguard
Round 6: Limited: Bad Rare Draft
Round 7: Limited: 2HG, but players must play with random Magic players from around the world (as in, 16 people win a contest)
Round 8: Standard for the win...

[kcostell]

I'm a bit surprised at your referring to the auction format as "random", as in some sense it is one of the least random formats of them all.

In theory, all 16 decks should be starting the matches on 100% level ground. If one person goes 3-0 due to having a better deck, it simply means that every other player made an error in their bidding.

In other words, the auction serves as a unique test not so much of deck building as deck evaluation. You not only have to decide which of the 16 decks is better than the others, but furthermore to determine quantitatively exactly how much better that deck is...is Deck A on 5 cards better than Deck B on 8? How about with 5 extra life? Furthermore, you have to do it without the large amounts of metagame data typically available to deck testers.

The duplicate sealed events hold a similar attraction to me. Beginning limited players quickly learn that some cards are better than others in a vacuum. One of the key steps in improving your game is to realize that the other cards in your deck change the valuation of certain cards. Now you not only have to adjust based on the other cards in your pool, but on the cards you know are in your opponent's pool as well, which often will be dramatically different in type than in a standard limited pool.

Both of these formats offer challenges in deck building/deck evaluation that cannot be duplicated by any of the other formats played at pro tours today. I really don't want to see any of the formats that have been played at Pro Tours/Worlds in recent years to also appear at the invitational. We've already seen these players play those formats already. Let's see some new challenges. Here's a couple I would find interesting.

--A Rochester draft where all three of your opponents come from different tables than the one you drafted at.

--4 man Rochester - you play everyone else at your table.

--Pauper constructed

--Mixed set drafting (similar to the IPARGD format from the Draft Extravaganza)

[Risky]

I believe the randomness he refers to is with regards to the decks themselves, primarily the "wacky" themes they come up with every year. Yes, it takes skill to identify that the "Z" deck with all the zombies is the best one, but it isn't so much fun to watch/read about because we are never going to pick up an alphabet soup deck, or whatever.

[Rakavolver]

Oh crap, I forgot Block Constructed. Block is awesome. I sure wish I stopped buying Magic cards beginning with Future Sight, or i'd get into the current stuff.

Hey Raka,

I'm not sure what I am shocked about more: you said MaRo and the Invitational is a good idea OR you said that it is one of his good ideas (that implies more than one...).

Sure, Lord VoldeMaRo has had some great ideas. Sigh, I guess I've focused on his faults too much, and not given him enough credit for the GOOD things he's done. Well, besides The Invitational (which ... is case you haven't heard ... was CREATED BY MARK ROSEWATER!), there's his Question Mark series, the fact that that he probably knows the single cards better than anyone, and probably Magic Rules as well. I bet he's a fine judge too.

[Rakavolver]

Evan Erwin won the "Storyteller" ballot for this year's Invitational.

Next up is "Fan Favorite." Click here to read about the many many choices and possibly vote. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/mi07/fanfavorite)