Disclaimer!
The views expressed here are only those of the author and have not been endorsed by Decipher (or anyone else for that matter). This is not gospel - what works for one person doesn’t work for someone else, and we each form our own style. Please take these suggestions in that light. Feedback is always welcome.
Preamble:
A question that crops up every now and then is "How do you run a tournament?". You have found a small playing group, and want to broaden the experience by running a tournament. You may have applied for a tournament director’s number, or just want to run a friendly local event to test the water. Either way I hope this is of some use to you.
Decipher’s site provides the rules for running such a beast, but not a lot in the way of helping you get organised - hence these articles. They will attempt to cover staging the event, the event itself, and what to do afterwards. They cannot address every situation, but will hopefully guide you on your way to the first of a string of successful events.
Before the event:
Well, the most obvious place to start is find a venue. The questions to ask are whether the venue has enough room for several people to play comfortably? Is there enough table space? A good place would be the store where you buy your cards as it helps with advertising, prizes (possibly) and help on the day - you also won’t have to pay rental! Alternatively colleges often offer cheap rooms if you are registered there, or church halls and the like.
Ok, so we know where we are going to run it, the next question is when? Evenings or weekends? I find weekends are better because it fits peoples’ schedules, but evenings may work well for your group. Do your homework - find out any possible conflicts that might crop up with other events. Don’t schedule it against a Star Wars regional, for example. Or Thanksgiving. Work with your venue to find out when would be a good time to start the tournament. Even if you just run a 4 round event, with 30 minutes for lunch, you’re looking at 4½ hours......add on traveling time for your players (some of mine have a 2 hour drive at either end), and think about time-zones (always screwy in Indiana). Set your start time to suit.
The question of an entry fee is always a contentious one. Your first tournament will have to be a sealed deck event to be in line with Decipher’s rules. This can be OTSD, but you might consider running DS9 (1 starter + 2-3 boosters makes for a good time) as an alternative. Make sure you set an entry fee that will cover the costs of yoru cards - try and get a discount from the retailer (and see if he’ll give one to your players on the day).
In general, people are playing for fun, so you want to keep the entry fee to a minimum ($0.00 for example). That way no-one will be scared off by not being able to afford to play. However, if you charge an entry fee it (a) covers any room charges, and (b) allows you to buy extra prize support. This will help, especially if you don’t get enough people to be sanctioned, to make sure that people get something for showing up and supporting your event. At the events that I run, I charge $5 for a constructed deck tournament, which goes to boost the prize support. My goal is to make sure that everybody gets something (even a booster) for helping me.
Next job is to find players to make your event sanctioned (you did post it in the tournaments section, didn’t you?). Decipher’s player registry will have a long list of names for you - worth a shot, but you may find that a significant number of them will have moved, stopped playing, died etc. Basically it’s not kept up to date. Adverts/flyers in local stores will attract most attention, and word of mouth is invaluable. Mention your event to local card shop owners, as they know who is buying what and can pass on valuable information. Finally give a thought to posting it on the Decipher board - it is allowed on the discussion board, which probably has the most traffic. Sadly the tournaments BBS is a thing of the past.
What should you get ready to take to the event? Here are some suggestions…..
- The tournament rules, downloaded from Decipher’s site.
- The rules glossary, together with any supplements for new releases.
- The most recent current rulings document.
- PADD’s. Yes, I know that is obvious, but I’ve spent several frantic minutes at gas stations copying extras. All the above items can be obtained from www.decipher.com.
- Although it’s not an official document, Rakal’s dilemma reviews are worth the Major’s (modest) weight in gold. This is particularly true for OTSD when some of the more obscure dilemmas surface. Download them from her site (http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/kem5/Rakal.html).
- A timer, for making sure you know when the rounds finish.
- Dice - variable sided. I carry a couple in case someone ends up playing Ajur/Boratus and you need to find out which seed cards are left.
- Pens - boy, you can’t have too many.
- A camera, to record the event for Scrye or your web page.
- Universal missions, if you are going to provide them for the use of your players.
- A pack-horse to get this stuff to the event.
And finally, check all the arrangements the day before with the venue! You just don’t know.
Next time we'll move on to the day itself! Can you contain your excitement??
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Solok's guide to running a tournament - part 1: Beforehand ... Solok ... [4/15/99 13:33]
