who the #### runs evasion characters?!?!?!

Theres a good bit of evasion in this set.

I don't doubt that it was a fun way to win prizes, and contrary to what spid3rm4n says, I did win a deckbox as a door prize, my point is that this method does not give an equal chance of winning a prize to every player.

As spideysean102 says, in his own brash way, some players do not run evasion characters. Some players don't run on the curve. Some players like the 1/1 army characters that recover each other.

These players will never recruit characters with increasing costs. These players will almost never hit someone for 10 breakthrough. Some players enjoy control based decks designed to get out Wonder Woman or Amazo. So just because they choose an alternate strategy, they should not have a chance to win a playmat?

These players paid the same 25 bucks that everyone else paid, support the same game, and play in the same events. I just feel they should have the same chance at winning as a curve based deck should.

Yeah, Evasion is rampant in this set, along with Willpower. It seems like Evasion is only on low-drop characters (Which it is meant for).
It really just makes your opponent furious when they attack, you evade, and they have to attack your 8-drop, or not attack.

I don't understand why anyone would complain about how any prizes are handed out. The cards are put in the packs randomly. The packs are handed to the players randomly. Just because its not an arbitrary number pulled out of a hat doesn't mean there isn't a random element to even this style of giving out prizes. Some of the things I have seen used are hitting your drops in order (ie 1-2-3) Having 2 of the same cost at the same time (ie 2-2), being one of the first 3 to use a new ability etc etc. hmm... I have #027. I let one person in front of me in line and #026 just won a prize. Shoot, I had to underdrop on turn 3. oh wait, I have 2 2 drops in play and I win a door prize. Cool. Glad my RANDOM packs gave me 2 RANDOM 2 drops and after shuffling my deck in a RANDOM order I was able to RANDOMLY draw them. How can people say that this is not Random enough. I have played in SC events, never won a door prize and this is perfectly acceptable to me nor have I ever heard anyone else complain either. I also may be wrong in saying this as well, but I opened 2 7 drop wonder womans and one 4 drop wonder woman. I don't think I had any way out of 5 packs to design a control strategy to get them out in 30 minutes of deck building. I (along with most everyone else who had limited knowledge of the cards.......this was a pre release constructed, not a draft where you could possibly draft with that strategy after RANDOMLY opening a wonderwoman) just sat back and prayed to the curve gods that i would hit them. With all due respect, this "alternate deck style" argument seems a bit flawed to me. It is TOTALLY relevant in draft, however in 5 pack sealed? I just didn't see a soul who wasn't playing on a curve of some sort.

If your not randomly giving out the door prizes your affecting the outcome of the game by having people do dumb stuff to receive them.
This is contrary to what a judge is supposed to do.
Whichever judge was responsible for this apparently has a god complex and should probably not be running events.

Umm.... I am pretty sure that if I make a decision as a player it is me the player making the decision....not the judge. Its funny how no one involved in these events are talking about how bad the judge is, how stupid the prize structure is etc,etc. I have read on these realms report after report of bad organization, playing conditions, prize support and lack thereof and judge incompetence from people who have participated in tourneys run by other groups. These particular tourneys are well run, excellently supported and extremely fun to participate in. The judge in question is extremely knowledgable and fair. Mise well crucify him. Its not a 10k we are talking about here folks. Its not even a hobby league. It is a FUN pre release and its being nitpicked by people who weren't even there or haven't attended an event run by this particular company. Funny how on this same thread people are "wishing" that their organizers did the same thing. Even the thread originator was a "loser" who loved the fact that he got a door prize. He seemed entertained. Upper Deck Entertainment.

While it is true that cards are placed in the packs randomly, the process of giving away prizes in this way is not.

The consecutive drop method is skewed to favor people who play on curve.

The same cost method is skewed to favor people who don't play on curve.

The 'first player to use an ability' favors players that have low cost characters with that ability.

That is not random by any meaning of the word.

Random: lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; lack of predictability, without any systematic pattern

These methods are the very opposite of random.

Calvin
agreed on the definition of random. Agreed on the "favorability" aspects you pointed out. I am not really trying to say that you are wrong, just trying to defend the position that they are not wrong.

Person who pulls number out of a hat generally picks from the top- favors person whose number happens to be on top.

Person who pulls number out of a hat generally digs to bottom- Favors person whos number happens to be on bottom.
The only thing about this method isn't the "randomness", but merely that everyones chances are equal. It is my contention that as everyone looks at 5 unopened packs placed in front of them, their chances to meet any and all of the prerequisites that may be announced are indeed equal therefore the "random awarding" of prizes can be recognized. Besides, its more fun. Again, I haven't won any of the door prizes with their method. I am just supporting the way they do it. I don't really believe that ANYTHING human hands have contact with can truly be random because something can and will skew the result. If the judge knows who is playing what and makes announcements while the match is going on and as player A plays his evasion character, then we have a problem. That is not what is happening. The judge knows the card pool. Makes announcements before the match based on what is in the card pool. Anyone could be playing with those cards, regardless of who the announcement favors. I refuse to be first in line in a ticket style drawing. Why? I have NEVER ever seen the first persons ticket pulled in ANYTHING even though he has an equal chance. I won't buy the first ticket off of a raffle roll either. I guess in a weird way I am skewing the results.

CALVIN- Chad is a terrific judge, and as far as I know he can give the prizes out in whatever fashion he desires. This is a FUN event, meant for people to play with the new set for FUN. Making people do certain things for prizes makes games more FUN. I hope you understand the concept of fun, because I really hate it when people use dictionary definitions to support their points, and I don't want to have to do it.

I don't believe that one bit. Chad is an excellent judge who performs this practice. He understands the game, the interpretation of the rules, and, oftentimes, every player at the event will try to meet the conditions.

The players in Roanoke love it b/c it increases the chances for a newbie (as I once was in Avengers) to have a shot at the cool stuff while learning the game at the same time.

I like the fact that only sealed product and promo cards are given to high finishers and that the rest of the stuff is fair game to anyone in the room.

Also, these are not pro-circuit events; they are previews. The mood is lighter and this method gives everybody a chance to break the ice from the strict competitive play of other events by allowing them to escape into different plays.

Overall, I would rather like this system where the player has more, yes more, control over whether they receive a bonus prize or not.

Mist got my 3rd place at my Sneak Peek. That card is amazing in Sealed.

Spid3rm4n, as I said before in one of my earlier posts, I don't doubt that this is an extremely fun way to win prizes. Perhaps you missed that post, or skimmed over it. We all do it, so I'm not offended or slighted in the least. My dictionary definition has absolutely no bearing on wether this is fun or not.

You're absolutely correct. There is nothing that is ever completely random in situations like these because there are always outside factors at work. To avoid this post going into mathematical and psychological thesis, I'll leave it at that.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this. I wouldn't want to run my events in this way, and would protest events that are run in this way (by choosing to not play, playing in a different venue, etc). And as you put it, you would protest in your own way as well (by not buying the first raffle ticket).

As to issues with Mr. Daniels' judging ability, I've talked with him once or twice about an issue I had with one of my events, and I find him to be level headed and rational. Not the 'god-complex' personality that someone earlier stated. We can all have a difference of opinions and still remain civil.

In the end, it's all about the players enjoying themselves, and helping the game grow.

This is missing the point and I think Witzo is spot on.

Let's say I am trying to win the playmat. If I have to hit my 1-2-3 drops and use an old keyword I will just build my deck with all the 1, 2 and 3 drops and force my mulligan around hitting them. If I draw a 3-4-5 curve with stellar guys I'll mulligan, because the chances are I won't win the playmat.

What is that like for my opponent? I screw up round 1, miss my 2-drop and thus miss a ton of further drops because my deck is focused on meeting this weird requirement. It's not much fun to play against, kind of easy really. Round 2 is largely the same except I get the 1-2-3 drop with cosmic or whatever. I win a playmat and effectively concede another game because I am purposely playing a poor deck and mulliganing incorrectly. I don't see what's so fun about handing out wins and ruining the integrity of a tournament. I think this is analogous to rare drafting a booster draft.

I don't know the specifics of how this was done, I couldn't follow it fully from the original post. Maybe you weren't told how to win the mat until you handed in your deck registration sheets, which while better, still has people making stupid mulligans. Even if I am wrong I will point to the, "do 10 breakthrough, win a playmat" scenario. What, make a poor attack, waste all my pumps, have my board wrecked on my initiative and win a playmat? Just give them out randomly. I don't care if it's "only" a pre-release, I want my opponent trying to put me to zero before I zero him, not playing three 1-drops on turn 5 for some weird spot prize requirement.

Since no one seems to understand it, here's how it worked:

Everyone makes their decks. Round one starts. BEFORE anyone draws their hands, the judge comes over and says "first 3 people to do X win a playmat."

The goals you are describing are ludicrous and will lose you games if you focus on them. The goals at the prereleases are nothing near as difficult as the ones you are talking about. Here are the goals I encountered at sneak previews that Chad TO'ed:

-Use an old keyword power (evade a character, play a character with cosmic, recruit a reservist character, use a leader effect, etc.)

-Hit three consecutive drops (1,2,3;3,4,5;etc.)

-Win by more than 30 endurance (this one actually makes you play better and take less risks.)

-Make a character have three or more team affiliations.

As you can see, the majority of those HELP you win games if you meet them.