Poll: Start Times and When to Implement if Changed, Part 1

We've got a slight issue with our start times.

Although we advertise 10:00 AM start times, rarely do we have the majority of our players at the church at 10:00 AM...or even close to 10:00 AM.

Our church overseer, Rachel, gets to the church right when we say our start time is. The more weekends she waits for someone to show up after 10:00 AM, the more I'm sure her patience for it wears thin as she could be doing other things while waiting for us.

So here's the proposal: Since the majority of us don't make it until 10:30 - 11:00 when we do make it in, I suggest we move the start time back and keep a 4-hour block like we have now (so if we start at 10:30, we'll be done at 2:30).

The other question is, if we change things, when should be implement this change? A week from Saturday? The middle of May? The start of June?


So we'll do this in a 3-part poll. It will be 3 parts only if the majority answer to Part 1 is "yes."

Part 1 of 3: Should we change the start time of the "league" to a later time than 10:00 AM? (If you think we should, please do not suggest times yet).

While this poll is on-going, we'll stick to 10:00 AM as our start time (and consequently, 2:00 PM as our end time). We will not make changes as the poll continues.

Either E-mail me or post a comment here with your preference of either keeping the time or changing it. Please have your responses by no later than Saturday, April 30th.

Thanks for your time and consideration. Let's make our time at the church the best we can. :)

Cube Drafting this Saturday, April 30th!

We're Cube Drafting again!

We'll be drafting some of the best of both past and present Magic has to offer. We're talking most of the Power 9, Library of Alexandria, Mana Drain, Figure of Destiny, Force of Will, Noble Hierarch, Steel Hellkite, and many others!

Entry fee will be $2, and we'll start at 11:00 AM. Prizes will come from pack splits of either Rise of the Eldrazi, Scars of Mirrodin, and/or Mirrodin Beseiged (whichever one(s) we prefer and depending on total entry fee).


This will be a strict 11:00 start time. Drafts take time, and that's before deckbuilding. We need whatever time we can get to do the draft.

I don't know how I'll do the draft (how many cards per "pack", minimum deck size, stuff like that).

We'll run the tournament as so: Everyone plays first round, with matchups being determined randomly. After first round, the winning players go into a "bracket" of their own and the rest have their own "bracket." Matchpus will be randomized again within "brackets" and play continues single elimination style, with matchups being determined randomly if they are not already set (for example, last round is set at 2 players, so no randomization is needed). The winners of each bracket get their highest possible position (for 1st round winners, that's 1st place. For others, it depends on how many players are in the 1st round winners' bracket).

E-mail or post here if you have any questions.

Hope to see you Saturday!

New "Mechanic" in New Phyrexia: Phyrexian Mana Symbols

Last week some rumored Japanese cards from New Phyrexia were posted. I've refrained from posting them due to the potential for them to be fake.

But today on "the mothership" (the official Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering page) we got confirmation of a new "mechanic" that was spoiled in the Japanese cards.

Have you ever wanted to bypass the mana requirement on a card? Thsi new "mechanic" gives you a way to do that.

The details...after the jump!

A Few Update, Including: Changing Start and End Time Thoughts?

Hey all!
  First of all, I want to welcome 4 new players to our group! As I don't want to unintentionally leave anyone out, I'll just say WELCOME to all 4. Frank and Andrew brought in these new people, so I thank them for their recruitment efforts. :)

  Secondly, our charity tournament last weekend went off perfectly! We raised $60 through entry fees and other donations. Then during the week I sold a player's newly won Metalworker (at her request) for $15 to add to the pot, bringing our total to $75! With Bi-Lo's doubling program with the Red Cross, that brings us to $150 in donations! Congratulations everyone! :) But that's not all. Nathaniel will sell off the Time Spiral he won and give part of that to the pool. How much we'll end up at, we don't know. But I'll make the donation probably toward the end of the week when we see what happens with the Time Spiral sale.

  Thirdly, we were talking at the end of our time yesterday about the start and end times for our little "league" here. Our current meetup time is 10:00 - 2:00. However, increasingly it seems most people aren't showing up until closer to 10:30 or 11:00 (including me. -.-;;;). But we still want 4 hours of playing time and enough notice to everyone of the change. So we're considering the following change:

Starting May 7th, our start/end times will be 11:00 - 3:00.


Starting at 11:00 will give an extra hour to those of us who are working or schooling and could use the extra rest, while a 3:00 end time will keep our regular 4 hour total intact. Tournaments will probably still start no later than 11:30.

If you have any comments, suggestions, etc. about anything related to our group/"league", feel free to leave a message in the comments here or E-mail me directly using CardGameNut@gmail.com .


So far on our schedule we have no tournaments planned. I was thinking a Pauper tournament for this upcoming Saturday (4/16), but I think I'll scratch that and we'll do something in about 3 weeks (4/30) so everyone will have time to prepare.

Thanks for reading, and have a good day. :)