Weird FNM at LGS
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Posted on Feb. 16, 2015, 1:48 p.m. by OP_Magikarp
So my LGS has a weirder way of doing FNM than I've seen at other typical stores and I was wondering if it's the same for some others.
So first off, it's $6 entry instead of $5. We typically get around 20 people and the total prize payout isn't any more than normal stores so I guess it's just done for more profit.
The way they establish rounds is also very bizarre. The store is always open until midnight but almost every week we only do 3 rounds and leave 3 people at the end with a record of 3-0. The owner says he puts all the names into a program and it just comes out to 3 rounds so that's what he goes with. I'm used to doing rounds until there is one person undefeated or until it's closing time. Its unfortunate because a lot less magic is played and one loss screws over your entire record. On top of the higher entry fee, I'm paying $2 for a round of casual magic. There's no other stores close enough that I would go just for FNM so this is basically what I'm stuck with
Anyone else have odd stores like this? Lol
I play at two different stores for FNM:
first store is 5$ and plays as many rounds as is required per wizards example: 8-15 is 4 rounds, 16+ is 5 rounds. We dont ever get enough to need more rounds. The payout at the end is to the top three per what the program spits out. I think this program is supplied by wizards.
The other store is 2$ entry and it is always 4 rounds. At the end you get a booster pack payout equal to your record. Something like 6 packs for 4-0 all the way down to 1 pack for 2-1-1. Two losses and your out of prizes. I like this because I feel like im less invested in it so I can try out new decks etc as even if you win packs its probably not worth that much.
Your LGS seems to not really get how the whole thing works.
February 16, 2015 2:02 p.m.
trinitymoon says... #4
Our LGS is trying to do that as well i refuse to pay more then five and he only goes 3 rounds no matter how many people we have. i got a few friends together and we discussed going to another town as a carpool even asked a guy recently from the town about the meta for standard and modern and he gave us a quick run down informing us he had not played modern in months though.
i dislike having 3 people go 3-0 and somehow someone else gets the promo and first because there opponents did better.
February 16, 2015 2:33 p.m.
What time do you guys start? We start standard at 9:30 on fridays, usually have between 20-35 people, and it goes til about 1:30/2am. If you guys are only going three rounds, I have to imagine you aren't starting at 7. Maybe ask your shop owner if you can start earlier?
My LGS starts later because he wants the extra money from people doing draft and then dropping to standard, which I think is kind of selfish as it forces us standard players to end much later, but other than that (and the fact that we clearly don't cut to top eight at 2 in the morning), things are fine. Starting earlier might be what you guys need to do.
February 16, 2015 2:42 p.m.
There are two FNM's at my shop. First is 3 rounds, the second is 6 rounds. And they are always that many rounds!
However, I only play 2$ for the 3 round one, and 5 for the 6$ one! So, I don't know if that is unusual, but I really like it!
February 16, 2015 2:43 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #7
Most FNM's are 4 rounds of Swiss, rounds should scale with the amount of people but don't always do. It's less common for a FNM to cut to top 8 and proceed with single elimination.
My LGS charges $10 with 100% of the entry fees in store credit as prize payout. They used to do $5 every round is a pack round which was lame.
Only odd thing to me is that you always play 3 rounds regardless of how many players are participating.
February 16, 2015 2:50 p.m.
You guys have it nice, my LGS (the only one I can go to as well) charges $10 for 3 rounds at FNM. Only the top three get prizes, but they are always advertising that "Everyone wins!" which means the people that were not top 3 just get crappy promos out of a box.
February 16, 2015 2:55 p.m.
trinitymoon says... #9
We start at 7pm, but he likes to end it at 10pm or close to it so he can close the store we don't even normally get a top 8 except Game day's and GPT's. Which i find funny since everyone normally buys and trades stuff so he close's near midnight. People have even complained and he generally says it's the event reporter saying we can only go to 3 rounds with x amount of people. x seems to be the same regardless of 8 people or 30 people.We do drafts on Saturdays and i generally avoid those since i have other obligations then. From what i last witnessed it seems his number of players dropped to just four due to him only ever doing 3 rounds for draft as well.
NorthernRaven we normally do commander at 4pm and start FNM at 7pm.
February 16, 2015 3 p.m.
trinitymoon says... #11
Rasta_Viking29 thats helps i rarely ever attend except when a unique draft happens Chaos Drafts, MM, etc so thats new info to me.
February 16, 2015 3:11 p.m.
OP_Magikarp says... #12
We start at 6:30 so there is a TON of time for Magic. Afterwards, they don't do drafts or any other type of events so there is no scheduling conflict. I love the other people that are there and have fun playing with them and hanging out but I just don't get it.
February 16, 2015 3:14 p.m.
you guys are getting screwed by wizards standard fnm's cant cost more than $6 and do you guys have a round timer going? can you ask him to make a timer of somewhere around 50 minutes a round so you guys can just play 4 rounds if you guys dont start early enough then ask him to start earlier
February 16, 2015 3:39 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #14
The shop i last went to charged 20 just to draft lol
February 16, 2015 3:42 p.m.
Mine does 5 dollar entry... 3 rounds of swiss. One pack per round.. Pretty simple...
The other one I go to is 3 rounds of swiss too, 5 dollar entry too, but prize payout is 1-2 = 1 pack, 2-1 = 3 packs, 3-0 = 5 packs...
I've never been to one with 4 rounds... Game day being 5 rounds... Weird...
February 16, 2015 3:46 p.m.
The LGS I go to does $6 entry, plays whatever number of rounds the system says 3-5 and the at the end, everyone who played gets a pack, and the winner gets the top 3 places get more, usually between 4 and 8 depending on turnout.
February 16, 2015 3:57 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #17
$5 entry fee, Rounds are added as per the amount of people in the event, top three or four players get prizes and promos depending on how well they did, no round limit, no time limit. Pity packs given out depending on the store owner as a perk, but by no means a regulation.
Anything less than this standard means that you are being fucked by your store, and you should go elsewhere. I personally drive 45 minutes to an hour away for my FNM store, but the drive is worth it because it's just the best store around. I even skip the shop that I work at to go there - unless i'm needed as a judge - because the people, event coordination, and atmosphere are worth it.
February 16, 2015 4:28 p.m.
Y'all have weird LGS's. Try and suggest a structure so that all people get to play and have fun regardless of their record.
The system at mine goes as follows:
FNM Draft: Entry $10, 3 rounds of Swiss with a pack per win.
FNM Constructed (store supports both Modern and Standard FNM alongside FNM Draft): Entry $6, 4 rounds of Swiss. Prizes are 12 packs (or $25 credit, I believe) for 4-0, 3-0-1 gets 9, 3-1 get 6, and 2-1-1 get 3.
Out of curiosity: any of your LGS's enforce zone drafting?
February 16, 2015 4:35 p.m.
ThatJunkMage Well, there is supposed to be a 45 minute round limit. Not having one isn't a standard, it's incorrect.
That being said, I'm beginning to feel kinda spoiled seeing how bad everyone else's game stores are haha. We usually go 5 rounds because we have between 25-35 people, and sometimes even six rounds. Never packs as a prize, it's always store credit.
February 16, 2015 4:47 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #20
My places, draft all you have to purchase what your playing, boosters (4ish$ a pack), prerelease is well prerelease and when I went to do standard apparently a lot of the usual guys weren't there, there was one dude. And I got him to pay my "buy in(3 boosters)" because I heard it was free(don't make fun) by some trading lol. We did a casual even and I lossed and got an archenemy card, he ran Siege Rhino against a not so great temur. Nonetheless this guy put so much money into magic that he gave me some free temur cards because he had more than a playset:D
February 16, 2015 5:18 p.m.
I have been to a couple stores that charged $5 for FNM, and they went 4-5 rounds plus letting the top 8 decide to do standings or play it out. One of them switched to free entry with very good prize support. There's also another store close-by that has free entry, 4-5 rounds, and decent prize support. The only time I have to actually pay now is for a draft.
February 16, 2015 5:29 p.m.
Both of my local shops are free Standard FNM with no prizes aside from promos, 3-5 rounds depending on turnout.
One shop also does a FNM draft that I've never bothered with because draft.
February 16, 2015 5:43 p.m.
My store charges $7 for FNM but you get a booster pack right off the bat as an entry prize, so it's sorta like you're paying $3. Always 4 rounds of Swiss
February 16, 2015 7:35 p.m.
thatphilippekid says... #24
My local store does $5 FNM tournaments. There's a pretty high attendance(in the 20 person range), but it's only ever 3 rounds due to the fact that there are a good deal of young people playing(as low as 8 years old).But anyways, your store shouldn't be charging a $6 fee unless there's a higher than usual prize pool.
February 16, 2015 7:46 p.m.
quesobueno123 says... #25
My FNM is modern with 5 dollar entry, and rounds scale to the number of people. Store credit prizes, 5-8 for X-1, and 15-20 for X-0. I have a fantastic shop.
February 16, 2015 8:05 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #26
I am more worried about the second thing you address. This guy charges you to play casual games?
February 17, 2015 2:29 a.m.
Didgeridooda Wow, I didn't even take that in. If your store owner is charging you to play casual magic, you need to find someone to complain to. That is not cool.
February 17, 2015 4:30 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #28
Yeah, I have played at a place that did not really like magic, they just ran FNM to make some money. They did not even sell singles. It is not the best, but it is not too crazy.
I have never heard about paying to play casual though. That is bonkers to me. If I were in that situation, I would think about getting a facebook page together for your area. You can buy boxes as a group, and draft cheaply, even get prizes out of that box. You could also run standard tournaments. How many people play there?
Place I am now is the best store I have ever been to. They run free events sometimes, and huge ones. We get tons of people for EDH, and they started running French, and TL tourneys.
February 17, 2015 10 a.m.
OP_Magikarp says... #29
Didgeridooda kyuuri117 Sorry guys I probably shouldn't have worded it like that. I don't mind paying a little extra for larger tournaments such as Invitational Qualifiers or Game Day or whatever but I consider FNM to be the most casual of formats. So having to consistently pay a little more for only 3 rounds every week kinda bugs me. I'd almost rather just drop the prizes and play with people on the side because it's the same competition.
February 17, 2015 11:09 a.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #30
My local store only does drafts for FNM. Standard tournaments are on Wednesday, with a $5 entry fee. We normally have about 30 people so we always do 5-6 rounds. !st place is normally $60-70 in store credit, with other prizes paid to top 4.
I really wish they would cut it off at 3 rounds like some of your stores do, as I can't be out til 1 AM on a work night playing magic lol (it starts at 7PM). $5 for 3 rounds of magic seems totally reasonable to me. Alternatively I'd rather any Constructed format with no round limit for FNM over draft... I detest drafting :/
February 17, 2015 11:48 a.m.
At my LGS, Normal FNM is $5, and its usually 4-5 round depending on the turnout. There is also a FNM draft which is $10, but it pays for the packs. I also have payed $6 at my local game store, but it was a Holiday Party where they bought pizza for all of the players and raffled of FTV: Annihilation. If you are paying above $6 for 3 rounds of FNM, I suggest going to a new LGS, or not going at all.
February 17, 2015 12:29 p.m.
I have to pay $10 for three rounds, with barely any prize support. I have to drive about 45 minutes to get there as well. But there is no other option, all the other game stores near me only do drafts.
kyuuri117 says... #2
It sounds like your store owner is being lazy and also trying to get more money out of you guys. The tournament is supposed to go til there is only one winner, or a split, even if the store would normally close earlier. If that takes til 1:30/2 in the morning , than so be it. That's what you've paid for and it's what the store owner should be doing. Also , it's supposed to be five dollars, not six , so he's clearly just trying to pocket an extra dollar per player.
As you've said there's no other shop near you , I don't know what you can do about it. Maybe contact wotc customer service or something.
February 16, 2015 1:59 p.m.