Planeswalker League: Casual
General forum
Posted on July 21, 2017, 12:06 p.m. by Argy
We had an Open Day recently at my LGS, where we taught a lot of new players how to play MtG.
Quite a few of them bought Planeswalker decks. A couple showed up tonight, looking for a game.
They didn't want to play in FNM, so a couple of us took turns playing them between our FNM matches. It ended up being really fun.
This fed into an idea I have been tossing around with the LGS owner.
The idea is to run a Casual league called Planeswalker League. No DCI points will be awarded.
For the league you can play any unaltered Planeswalker deck that is Standard legal.
There will be a small entry fee each time, and every participant will earn a pack of MtG cards.
The winner will get their name on a poster. Basically bragging rights.
The idea is to give new Players some experience of playing, before they take the next step, into FNM.
The money they need to output isn't much. The League will be run once a month, so it isn't a big time commitment.
The most interesting thing so far is how much interest this idea has had from EXPERIENCED MtG players.
I think what is appealing is everyone having decks of the same power, and just playing to have some fun.
I have also noticed that a lot of players at my LGS seem to really enjoy helping new players to improve.
LittleBlueHero you'll get two extra Planeswalker decks every time a new block comes in, which should keep things varied.
To be honest the new Players just want to keep getting value out of the same deck, for a while.
They need practice playing it against different people.
It's not just how seriously other Players take FNM. It's easy not to do that IF you know what you're doing.
Constantly having the stuffing beaten out of you is no fun for anyone.
If this is popular I'm thinking about running a "basics of building" day, where people can bring along a deck they have started to build, and we can give them some tips on making it stronger.
I have a couple of pages of notes I give out to people, that are Intemediate steps for deck building, so I would also give out copies of those.
July 21, 2017 1:25 p.m. Edited.
Argy I love this as an idea, and was thinking about doing something similar with a group of students at the school I teach at who are interested in getting into Magic but don't know much... Speaking of: you wouldn't be willing to share your notes on intermediate deckbuilding steps, would you? It's on my list of projects to make one for the students, but I've got a pretty long list of priority projects... Totally get it if you want to hang on to it, but it never hurts to ask...
July 21, 2017 2:28 p.m.
saj0219 a Casual league is well-situated at the moment due to the new Planeswalker decks making it an easy buy in.
Happy to share my notes.
Give me a couple of days and I'll throw them up on MediaFire and PM you the link.
Add me for chat on my Profile.
July 21, 2017 3:30 p.m.
landofMordor says... #7
That sounds awesome. I'm glad you're doing that! Best of luck.
July 21, 2017 4:01 p.m.
Ryjo ya no worries.
Enable chat on my profile wall.
I must stress that the notes are for INTERMEDIATE deck builders.
So they are best for people who have already tried to build one or two decks, but they don't give ADVANCED building tips.
July 21, 2017 4:27 p.m.
At a time when the game needs new players I think this is a great idea
July 21, 2017 6:20 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #10
Argy As someone who was originally taught incorrectly on purpose so the person teaching me could win more often I know that repeatedly losing is a good way to make someone lose interest in a game... So I very much agree with that assessment :)
My small playgroup did a precon league a couple of years ago. Everyone started with a precon of their choice from whatever set they wanted. Then each week we would bring 2 packs to draft.
Since all the precons were very mechanically specific the drafting element of the league was kinda boring... you knew what everyone was going after. I think the Planeswalker decks offer a much better starting point as they tend to be far less reliant on mechanics. I think What we did in the past could be done much better with the precons, and drafting only standard legal sets.
Sorry I'm rambling... My point was to ask if you had considered a follow up to the league or a next step where you start with the Planeswalker deck and maybe draft every two weeks or something and help the players learn drafting as well as how to tweak a deck?
July 24, 2017 9:55 a.m.
I mentioned above running a "basics of building" day.
Players would bring along all the cards they got from playing in the Planeswalker League, and we would help them to adjust their Planeswalker deck.
I would also provide them with some building notes that I have.
Then they could be encouraged to try out their skills in the FNM Casual flight that is on offer.
I have advertised the first Planeswalker League for this Saturday at 11 am.
We'll see if anyone shows up.
July 24, 2017 11:15 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #12
Good Luck! Sounds like fun let us know how it goes, might be something worth mentioning at my LGS
LittleBlueHero says... #2
I love the idea personally,
How many decks would be legal at one time then? After rotation we have Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, Amonkhet, Hour of Devastation and Ixalan.
So that would be 10 potential decks. But what happens when we go down to single set blocks in the future? You would only have a couple decks to work with wouldn't you. It might get old if there are only 4-6 different decks... depending on the turn out.
I still think this sounds like a fun idea and a cool way to get new players accustomed to "League" or "tournament" style play. I know a lot of younger players specifically have told me they feel intimidated by the formality of everything despite my trying to assure them no one at the LGS takes anything that serious.
July 21, 2017 1:08 p.m.