Cards are 2.5" by 3.5". Even framing a "small" set leaves you with 1268.75 sqin (8.8 sqft), or 20% more space than a sheet. A "large: set like Theros is more than 15 sqft. It's a nifty idea, but it will take up a *lot* of space, and be quite expensive to frame no matter what way you go about it.
Prereleases are a place where the majority of players are more casual. Even to the extent that prereleases are the only tournaments some players attend . For these players, deck registrations are a time and fun sinkhole. And if the checking is paired with a deckswap? Significantly worse, since those players then don't get to keep the awesome foil mythic they opened.
The general advice from experienced Judges and TOs tends to be to avoid deck regs and swaps at prereleases, and to simply be vigialnt towards players with oddities in their pools.
(Also, a flatter prize payout helps both in encouraging the casual feel of the prereleases, and in discouraging the incentive to cheat.)
There is exactly one person in it that saw the playmat in question, and the description of it seems at least a little ambiguous. The image op posted was *not* a picture of the playmat; it was a similar image found elsewhere.
I'd wager good money that there was something that would be offensive to a majority of players on the playmat, and that OP simply didn't notice it.
Cast Temporal Mastery
Cast Increasing Vengeance to make a copy of it
Cast Negate, countering Temporal Mastery
Let everything resolve
Activate Elixir to shuffle in your graveyard
Cast Diabolic Revelation getting all the cards again
New Art:
Crystal Quarry
Deserted Temple
Glacial Chasm
Karakas
Reliquary Tower
Tower of the Magistrate.
Vesuva
Old art:
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Dakksteel Citadel
Flagstones of Trokair
Gemstone Caverns
Mishra's Factory
Refecting Pool
Scrying Sheets
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
If the tournament is called the "Pro Tour" or the "World Championships," and is explicitly advertised as an opportunity to "face off against the best players the game has to offer" or a tournament to determine the best player in the world, then yes, the system is failing utterly.
If their blurb for the Pro Tour advertised that you could "travel the world and play against mediocre players who do poorly at major tournaments, drop, and play in tons of side events," then it would be a good system for determining invitations.
"Best" does not only mean "Most Talented." A magic playing robot might be able to beat any and all comers, but would lack the character and charisma that makes watching real players interesting. Magic "characters" like Kibler, Chapin, etc. have qualities worthy of being rewarded above and behind the ability to win.
When you head down to your local greasy spoon that offers "The best spuds in the world!", do you realistically expect them to literally taste better, feel better, be more filling, etc. than ever other spud, anywhere?
Since PWPs are now being used as a proxy for skill for the purposes of qualifications for important tournaments, it is very important that the people with the highest levels of skill get the most PWPs. Otherwise the system is completely failing. (And that is what is happening right now.)
This is a common but incorrect belief. PWPs are being used to determine invitations now, but they are not intended to be a 1 to 1 replacement for play skill. PWPs measure dedication to the game, in many aspects; play skill is one of them, but not the only one. You feel that the people who are the most talented should receive the reward of being flown out, for free, to a big cash tournament. WotC feels that the people who are the most dedicated to the game should be the ones receiving this reward.
The system is no longer rewarding the same players in the same amounts. This is not equivalent tot he system failing.
This was a pretty alarming quote from Paulo over on CF in response to Alexander Shearer's Dec. 1 article:
I think the big difference here (one that PV and most other pros are ignoring) is that the friends who played more hours of magic (one would have to win 8/5 as many matches for the same number of points) and paid more money in admission fees (If you went undefeated in the cheapest option, each round cost $1.67. Per round cost ranged to as high as $15), did get more Planeswalker Points (but not as many per win), but ultimately did not get the $10,000 prize that PV did.
One of these things is worth much more than the other.
So unless WotC decided to only provide inside information to SCG, I'd call this busted.
Ooooo! Details? Or link?
Prereleases are a place where the majority of players are more casual. Even to the extent that prereleases are the only tournaments some players attend . For these players, deck registrations are a time and fun sinkhole. And if the checking is paired with a deckswap? Significantly worse, since those players then don't get to keep the awesome foil mythic they opened.
The general advice from experienced Judges and TOs tends to be to avoid deck regs and swaps at prereleases, and to simply be vigialnt towards players with oddities in their pools.
(Also, a flatter prize payout helps both in encouraging the casual feel of the prereleases, and in discouraging the incentive to cheat.)
There is exactly one person in it that saw the playmat in question, and the description of it seems at least a little ambiguous. The image op posted was *not* a picture of the playmat; it was a similar image found elsewhere.
I'd wager good money that there was something that would be offensive to a majority of players on the playmat, and that OP simply didn't notice it.
Cast Temporal Mastery
Cast Increasing Vengeance to make a copy of it
Cast Negate, countering Temporal Mastery
Let everything resolve
Activate Elixir to shuffle in your graveyard
Cast Diabolic Revelation getting all the cards again
Time Warp
Time Stretch
Temporal Manipulation
Capture of Jingzhou
etc.
I don't think this is going to be so good in a format where you can't have two nonland cards with the same name.
Amazing in Standard though.
New Art:
Crystal Quarry
Deserted Temple
Glacial Chasm
Karakas
Reliquary Tower
Tower of the Magistrate.
Vesuva
Old art:
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Dakksteel Citadel
Flagstones of Trokair
Gemstone Caverns
Mishra's Factory
Refecting Pool
Scrying Sheets
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Looking for frames for mine. Where'd you get it, and how much was it to get done?
"Best" does not only mean "Most Talented." A magic playing robot might be able to beat any and all comers, but would lack the character and charisma that makes watching real players interesting. Magic "characters" like Kibler, Chapin, etc. have qualities worthy of being rewarded above and behind the ability to win.
When you head down to your local greasy spoon that offers "The best spuds in the world!", do you realistically expect them to literally taste better, feel better, be more filling, etc. than ever other spud, anywhere?
This is a common but incorrect belief. PWPs are being used to determine invitations now, but they are not intended to be a 1 to 1 replacement for play skill. PWPs measure dedication to the game, in many aspects; play skill is one of them, but not the only one. You feel that the people who are the most talented should receive the reward of being flown out, for free, to a big cash tournament. WotC feels that the people who are the most dedicated to the game should be the ones receiving this reward.
The system is no longer rewarding the same players in the same amounts. This is not equivalent tot he system failing.
I think the big difference here (one that PV and most other pros are ignoring) is that the friends who played more hours of magic (one would have to win 8/5 as many matches for the same number of points) and paid more money in admission fees (If you went undefeated in the cheapest option, each round cost $1.67. Per round cost ranged to as high as $15), did get more Planeswalker Points (but not as many per win), but ultimately did not get the $10,000 prize that PV did.
One of these things is worth much more than the other.