Running a Magic Game Day.

= Running a Magic Game Day.
= March 7th, 2011

Late on a Friday night, after the FNM was well done and over with, I became suddenly and violently ill. I'll spare you the horrid details but I definitely had a spat with the flu, and it attacked me suddenly and without warning.

This posed a serious problem, because tomorrow, Saturday, was Besieged game day. I knew then that I would not be fit to run any event, but calling anyone would do no good at such a late hour. So I grabbed some much needed sleep, but set my alarm for 8:00 so I could inform my coworkers of my state.

I put the decision of whether or not to actually run the event up to Ken, my immediate supervisor. He was willing to run the event, but needed detailed specific instructions of how to go about it.

What follows is a copy of the e-mail I then composed to Ken. I am posting it here in hopes that it may help some other organizer planning for their first game day, or training a co-worker to run a game day in the event of an sudden and unexpected absence. A slight disclaimer: Some features of this document such as cost to enter, prize payout, the ability of players to "Choose a faction" and get a promo based on that choice will not be the same for all game days or all locations.

"...
Subject: RE: Urgent: Game Day

You need to:

(1) Begin the tournament.
(a) Open the Game day event in WER, from the list of sanctioned events, should be sorted by date.
(b) Enter the players into the event. If you need new DCI cards they are in my box.
(c) Make sure everyone who payed are in the computer and vice-versa.
(d) Everyone who enters gets a "Treasure Mage" Promo out of my box. (Try and save me at least 4).
The Tournament will be 3 rounds with 8 players. 4 rounds with 9-16, and 5 with 17-32 (although I hope you don't get in that range).

(2) Each Round you..
(a) Pair players.
(b) Announce or post pairings so that Players can find their match.
(c) Keep score by entering results.
(d) Each round is 45 to 50 minutes in length. If all results are in before that time elapses, feel free to pair players for the next round.
(e) If you do go to time tell whomever is still playing "Active player finish your turn, you have 5 additional turns to finish this match."
(f) A game that goes to time with no winner is recorded as a draw.

(g) At the end of regular swiss rounds, print up a copy of "Standings" and allow the players to review it.
(h) Assuming no player has any issues with how the standings turned up, you proceed to ...

(3) The Cut
(a) With 8 players you play three rounds and your done (see ending the tournament).
(b) With 9-16 players you play four rounds, then start single-elimination rounds, cutting to top 4.
(c) With 17+ players you play five round, then start single-elimination rounds, cutting to top 8.
(d) Single elimination rounds work like regular rounds, except players are dropped from the tournament after a loss.
(e) After the single-elimination rounds are complete you can ...

(4) Ending the Tournment
(a) Print up the standings again.
(b) The Top 8 players all receive the "Black Sun's Zenith" extended art foil promo in my box.
(c) The top 2 players with Phyrexian - aligned decks get a copy of the Suture Priest card.
(d) The top 2 players with Mirran - aligned decks get a copy of Pristine Talisman card.
(e) I expect that you'll have to question the players about who has an "aligned" deck. If someone is unclear on what that means it's...
(f) At least 10 cards of your chosen faction in your main deck. No cards of opposing faction in main deck or sideboard.'

(5) Handing out Prizes.
(a) Each player who enters adds 3 booster packs to the prize pool.
(b) Figure out what the prize payout will be shortly after you know how many players are in the event.
(c) Prizes scale, and get paid out to 1/2 the player base (4th place with 8 people).

Examples:
8 Players; 24 total Packs; 12/ 7/ 3/ 2
12 Players; 36 Total Packs; 15/ 9/ 4/ 4/ 2/ 2
16 Players; 48 Total Packs; 16/ 12/ 6/ 4/ 3/ 3/ 2/ 2

(6) Dealing with the unforseen.
(a) Chances are somebody (or two) is going to complain about something simply because I'm not there. My advice is to listen to their concerns, tell them your doing the best you can, and if you think it's serious you can call to consult me on it.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to help as best I can.

- Cheers,
- Dan R.

..."

And that friends is how to run a game-day event!