Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re back with the biggest independent tournament series on the planet getting bigger and better than ever, along with a few words for our friend Mr. Mind Sculptor. Let’s go!
2011 Open Series & The Jace Problem
So this past Monday we announced next year’s Open Series 2011. Oh man, this thing is so sick! Let’s count the ways: First, we upped the Standard Open payout to a whopping $6,400 per event.
What does this mean? It’s not a friggin 5K! Yes, I know, you like calling it a 5K because that was the original term. This is a lesson in what marketing folks call branding. You want to change the gaming vernacular? Good luck. You know those guys who still call Standard Type 2? Yeah. How about those who are still “playing” instead of “casting,” those creatures who are coming into play instead of entering the battlefield and so on. Though StarCityGames has been giving out $5,800 per Open Series event for almost a year now, people insist on that silly moniker.
So let’s get this straight: Those 5Ks you see advertised? They pay out $5,000. The Open Series pays out $6,400 for Standard and $5,800 for Legacy. That’s nowhere close to 5K on either side of the equation.
So for those looking for a two syllable word to call em? Open. SCG Opens, Boston Open, whatever, it’s all good. All I’m saying? Those who call their events 5Ks are only giving out $5,000. The Open Series? We’ve got your back with over $12,000 in prizes for Legacy and Standard alone.
But that’s not enough. You know what I love to do? Draft. You know what we should have? Draft Opens. So we did. Giving out a whopping $1,100 per event, win yourself two drafts and take home $500, a slot at the next StarCityGames.com Invitational, and 10 Open Points.
Oh yeah, those points things. They were pretty useless last year, right? They gave you an invite to the Invitational and some byes there as well. What was your open point total? Who cared? Only a few numbers really mattered.
Well, that is no more. Allow me to show you something I’ve been working on for awhile: The SCG Player’s Club! Yes ladies and gentlemen we got ourselves a Player’s Club and it is sick. First up is 4 points for free sleeves at every Open weekend. Now I don’t know about you, but free sleeves just for showing up and playing in a Standard and Legacy Open during the weekend? That is nice. This is something easily attainable, and I wanted the Open grinders out there to get rewarded immediately.
Levels 2 and 3 are similar, but provide equally awesome benefits: Free entry! Yup, save yourself thirty bucks then save yourself a whopping sixty dollars with Level 3. This also introduces our Level-based qualification for the Invitationals next year. We’ll look closer at the Invitationals later, which will now feature Open Series points in 2011.
Anyway, Levels 4 and 5 are also similar, but equally powerful: Byes! Yes, if you haven’t enjoyed the goodness of byes before, let’s start now. This is a fantastic perk for those fortunate enough to earn them, and gives you a huge head start on the field. This is also called “Random Deck Insurance.” You know the kind, protecting you from the random blowouts that appear in Round one or two thanks to the Myr deck, or your buddies homebrew White Weenie rocking Silvercoat Lion and the like.
While those decks are super fun and neato, when you’ve invested hundreds of dollars in your Jace, the Mind Sculptors and Worldwake manlands, the last thing you want to do is get mana screwed and start 0-1 because you weren’t ready for Infect homebrew.
Let’s keep truckin. Level 6 is where the Player’s Club goes from serious to Serious Business. Yes, starting with this level we actually give you cash for showing up–a $100, all yours, free and clear, just for coming. How sick is this! All of those costs it takes to get to the venue, the gas, the hotel room split, the meals, that stuff adds up. A $100 goes a long way in shoring up your travel costs.
But what’s better than $100? $250. Yup, Level 7 Player’s Club members get the goodness that few others enjoy: The ability to actually come out ahead in expenses, particularly if you do well in the tournament. Can you imagine winning an Open when you got paid $250 just to show up and play? This is called living the dream folks, but the dream ain’t over yet. We’ve got one more level.
And needless to say, we here at StarCityGames tried our best to give you something impressive and drool-worthy. I think we found it. Can you say a full playset of new Standard sets upon each release? Yes, that’s a FULL PLAYSET OF NEW STANDARD SETS EACH RELEASE! Arriving at your house for free! Just because you’re awesome and you rock the StarCityGames.com Open Series like no other. Those who reach Level 8 are of the highest caliber and now have the most badass prize to go along with it.
So when does this Player’s Club kick in? First, the cutoff for 2011, where we lock in your level, is after this weekend’s Boston Open. If you are in Boston, get yourself to the Open! Get every point you can, level up, and get some sick benefits for 2011 before your points reset to zero and you have to earn em back again.
When do the benefits kick in? At the Richmond Open featuring the Invitational on December 3rd.
Here are the rest of the dates for Season One and both Invitationals in 2011. Now remember: Those Invitational weekends are technically StarCityGames.com Open Weekends featuring the Invitational. This means even if you didn’t qualify for the Invitational, there are grinders that can get you in, and if that doesn’t get you there, there is still a Standard Open, a Legacy Open, and two Draft Opens on Sunday at 9AM and 1PM to sate your appetite for Magic action. Does this mean we’re giving out more than $60,000 in one weekend? And that we’re doing that twice next year? You better believe it!
And next year, the Invitational is not only giving out cash, it gives out points as well! Yes, you’ll now be able to earn points while slinging spells at the Invi next year. Note that this year’s Invitational will not earn you points. Just the 2011 ones. That said, this is the breakout for next year’s Invitational payout and points rewards. And you thought the epic Bertoncini vs Wienberg battle was big this year, just wait until the suspense builds for next year’s second invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina! Somebody is getting a set of Power 9 this year and next year.
So for those ready to start battling, here is your schedule for Season One of the 2011 Open Series. Now remember; This is Season One. There are still 12-15 more dates to be announced. So for those asking about the west coast, more midwest dates, and so on–I assure you, we haven’t forgotten about you guys and we’ll back that way in the latter half of the year.
So that’s it! Man, what a sick series. This is the #1 independent tournament series on the planet and it’s all thanks to you guys. I hope you guys dig the Open Series as much as I do.
That said, how about some Magic? Let’s talk Jace, the Mind Sculptor for a moment.
Now this guy…I think we need to start out with some history. You see, I was there at Pro Tour: San Diego and I asked the pros there about him. Remember, this sequence is tainted by the overwhelming presence of Jund at the time.
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So, yeah, some serious laughs are to be had here. I certainly understand it. The pros dismissed Lotus Cobra as well, a card that is helping define the format not quite as much as Jace, but even the best can be wrong.
So let’s look at some stats:
50% of the decks, a total of 14 Jace, the Mind Sculptor in the Top 8 of the SCG Open in Nashville.
However, in Charlotte, it gets completely silly. Every deck but two had Jace, the Mind Sculptor in it, and one of those, the Pyromancer Ascension deck, had Jace Beleren! My guess? To fight the endless copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor he faced through the day.
Expand it to the Top 16? 10 of the Top 16 had Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Now what does this mean? It means that Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the best card in Standard. It’s not close. But how do we fight it? Well, many of our old tools are no more. One option is to run the Pyromancer Ascension deck, which is super cheap and has some good game, but another option is to just bash with guys. The Kuldotha Red deck, what I had originally named Metal Red, had been mostly forgotten about…except the guy who created didn’t forget it. After winning States with the deck, he took it to Charlotte and blazed all the way to second place.
While it has a serious weakness to Pyroclasm, what fast aggro deck doesn’t? Regardless, I think we currently have the decks to beat: And they’re all filled with Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Now what I’m not doing is suggesting we ban Jace, the Mind Sculptor. This is just as silly as those wanting to ban Bloodbraid Elf last season. Just because something is good doesn’t mean you ban it. What it means is you fight it on a different axis.
You know what stops Jace dead? Mimic Vat and Vampire Hexmage. What else? Vengevine’s pretty good…but people have realized that Vengevine AND Jace, the Mind Sculptor are a fine combination as well.
What can I say? He’s one of the best cards ever printed. He sees play in every format. We’ve got another year to look at his smug mug in Standard, along with his incredible pricetag.
But you know what the real tragedy of Jace, the Mind Sculptor is? The fact that every other blue Planeswalker ever created from this point will seem unexciting in comparison. I mean, they juiced this guy beyond all recognition. A -free- Brainstorm? Seriously? An ultimate that wins the game pretty much everytime guaranteed? Sure that’s awesome for Nicol Bolas who costs a whopping eight mana, but Jace? Hell, as it turns out, a four mana sorcery speed Brainstorm is more than good enough for Standard, even if he’s killed immediately after using him.
So the answer here? There is no answer. This is simply a shift that the game will deal with and move on. By the time next Fall rolls around we’ll be tired of seeing him rule the top tables and welcome our new Planeswalker overlords, whatever they may be.
Will Koth eventually push him off the pedestal? Is Gideon enough to see a comeback? Will anyone break Elspeth? Is Venser enough? How will you break through the Jace, the Mind Sculptor wall? I’ll keep an eye on things as the StarCityGames Open Series hits Boston this week. Again: Your 2011 Player’s Club Levels lock in after this event, so don’t miss it! And good luck to those still in the Player of the Year race, as it also culminates this weekend. It looks to be a Wienberg vs Bertoncini battle, but Adam Cai could pull an incredible upset to take the title and a full set of Power 9.
Join us on StarCityGames.com this weekend for full coverage, and I’ll be back next week with more goodies. Until next time Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards…so you don’t have to!
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
Community Manager, StarCityGames.com