School Magic Club
General forum
Posted on Aug. 29, 2014, 7:56 a.m. by sonicizslow
Hey TappedOut! So this year at my high school I am the head of the club for MTG! The person who started it last year didn't really teach or plan anything to happen at the club meetings. This year, me and another person from the club want there to be tournaments and building challenges. Those won't be required to do, but I think having the option there would be a good idea. Any other thoughts? What have you done for your school's Magic club? Thanks everyone!
You should have a few decks spare to lend to newer players along with certain players who are easily identifiable who are ready to help anyone that needs it.
August 29, 2014 8:21 a.m.
sonicizslow says... #4
ChiefBell Thank you! I think pauper would be a great idea! Chaos drafts also seem quite fun!
August 29, 2014 8:53 a.m.
umlweatherman says... #5
Emperor has always been my favorite game type.
Perhaps a challenge of building the best Emperor Deck.. or the best Wing Deck to supplement an Emperor.
August 29, 2014 9:07 a.m.
sonicizslow says... #6
umlweatherman, could you reference a link or explain those to me? I've never heard of those formats, or at least not by those names.
August 29, 2014 9:43 a.m.
Emperor is a 6 player format with team battles. Each emperor sits in the middle and has one of his Generals on his left and another to his right. Those generals (or previously referred to as wings) are the protectors of the emperor. Unless they are defeated, nobody from the opposing team can interact with the emperor. Here is the full explanation:
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=magic/rules/emperor
I like the premise, but emperor can be very exhausting experience. it rewards great teamplay, teaches about sphere of influence rules, etc. Word of advise: NEVER PLAY EDH EMPEROR. you will regret it.
August 29, 2014 10 a.m.
I would suggest organizing a League. With khans rolling in now, it is a great time to start the league.
In general leagues occur one month after the release of the set and last for several weeks. You start with several boosters (usually 6 boosters, similar to a prerelease) and make a 40 card deck out of your pool. After one week and several matches have been played, a round is completed. Before the next round, you are allowed to boost your deck with addtional boosters.
Here is some more information:
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/sf/7
It is a great way to have a lot of fun with limited, good for both newer players and experienced ones.
August 29, 2014 10:06 a.m.
Do a challenge to create combo decks. Slap rules down like must be a game winner, must be 3 or more cards to the combo, and then do Swiss rounds with top 4 or something to see who's combo comes out on top. People will come up with some pretty interesting ways to win. Also, define combo vs interaction before building.
August 29, 2014 10:15 a.m.
umlweatherman says... #10
sonicizslow as Boza explained and linked to Emperor can be a great way to learn a bunch of stuff, even though the games can be long and need 6 people to play.
Sorry for the mismatch of naming Wings/Generals.
The fun of building an Emperor deck is that you must choose what type of Emperor you want to be.. a support emperor (burn/counter type) or an Emperor which builds up and once their Wing/General is defeated just dominates the other side.
As for the Wing/General decks.. it is like a duel match but not because you can get some help from your Emperor but so does your opponent, so deck building for them is interesting.
August 29, 2014 10:42 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #11
I'm not in charge of our school's MtG club, but the way the president runs it is fine IMO. A lot of players just play casually, and throw together decks of the cards they happen to pick up, so you do want to cater to that as well. Hosting periodic drafts or tournament-style events (proxy tournaments for Modern or Legacy or something like that may draw interest) for the people who want to play more competitively is also good.
August 29, 2014 12:35 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #12
Our school MTG group is similar to thispersonisagenius's. We tend to play more casual stuff and then host drafts or tournaments every month or so. Like ChiefBell said, it's always handy to have an extra deck or two of varying skill levels for people who want to play but either forgot their decks (which tends to happen occasionally) or are new to the game.
If you're the leader of your club, you presumably already know that it's a prerogative of playing Magic to always always always bring extra life dice.
August 29, 2014 4:44 p.m.
sonicizslow says... #13
ThisIsBullshit A lot of people in the club use pen and paper for life totals, or use an App on their phone.
Do you guys think having a prize for the challenges and tournaments would be a good idea? Again thank you everyone for the tips!
dontevenlikemagic, your name change messed me up in the head man...
August 30, 2014 8:11 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #14
dontevenlikemagic, y u change username? The other one looked cooler.
When we host drafts/tournaments, the prize pool consists of some number of booster packs, distributed through those who place well. Depending on how many people are involved in the club, you may only need to buy ~20 boosters to prize people, but if you are running multiple drafts or have a considerable number of people, buying a booster box for prizes may be necessary. Make sure you have an entry fee so that you stay above water with the whole effort.
August 30, 2014 8:15 a.m.
sonicizslow says... #15
thispersonisagenius We had 35 people last year, and that was by word of mouth and the club started half way through the year. So we may end up in the 50 range this year. 50 might not show up every time, but that's still a lot.
My friends and I were thinking we'd put up foils for prizes? Or some bulk rares we have siting around?
August 30, 2014 8:20 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #16
Don't do that. Prize people with booster packs. If you're playing for a specific card, it feels worse than just opening a few booster packs, trust me. Depending on what the card is, it also decreases the level of fun people will try to have, because they really want that Cryptic Command or whatever's up for grabs. Giving them booster packs makes it much more fun, and given how many people will be participating, you may need more than a booster box to give out prizes.
August 30, 2014 8:23 a.m.
Dalektable says... #17
I agree with pauper being a good idea. In my experience, the highschool students who play magic I know don't really play to competitively beyond myself. Pauper could introduce them to that without breaking the wallet, while being a fun format. Plus, I'll take any opportunity to play my Delver and Izzet Cyclops deck :) I just really like Delver of Secrets Flip and blue...lol.
ChiefBell says... #2
Pauper is always a good one, and a surprisingly skillful format. You could limit it to modern pauper to make the cards easier to find, if you needed.
We also do chaos drafts where each booster is from a different set - that's super fun.
One other thing we did was a create-your-own boosters draft where everyone brought 45 cards they had designed in 3 boosters and then did a draft. That took ages though because all the cards had to be checked for power level etc.
August 29, 2014 8:16 a.m.