National Qualifiers

May 15, 2010

US National Qualifiers are this Saturday, and for some, the new ‘one qualifier per state’ setup is making their weekend much easier, while for others, it’s ruining it. A couple weeks ago, I asked for your feedback in how the changes to the National Qualifier program from Regionals were going to affect you. For the stat geeks out there, 36% of the people who responded are traveling out of state to a NQ while 86% of respondents will be attending an NQ.

Map of Baltimore Area with NQ locations in red

Should I stay (in Maryland) or should I go?

The most interesting feedback was from the Eastern shore, where players in Maryland have a choice between staying home and going to the NQ in Rockville which has two slots, or going to Philadelphia with eight slots. For Nick W. of Gaithersburg, MD, he’s choosing to stay local, but not because of distance. “I expect the Philly NQ to have around 225 people and the Maryland one to have 70. It isn’t worth that far of a drive for an effective two extra slots.” Drew M. of Baltimore, MD is choosing to go to Philly instead. “I want to go to Philadelphia because it has 8 slots while Rockville only has 2. I understand why WotC is doing this, but i find it annoying that two locations which have very similar event turnouts will be offering such a difference in qualifications.”

The other interesting travel situation is with Northern California. Players there who had Regionals in San Jose last year now have a long drive to Los Angeles in front of them to play in this year’s National Qualifiers. While several responses were from people who would not be attending because of the distance, the incentives being offered by Sun Mesa Events did entice Brian M. from San Francisco to make the trip. “Well, I’ve always tried to make it to Regionals in the past. The long distance required this year was a setback, but that setback was balanced out by the incentives that they’re offering to players willing to make the trek.” Hopefully Wizards doesn’t put the burden on TOs like Sun Mesa Events and Cascade Games to provide benefits to disenfranchised players next year.

I also got feedback from locations both in the Southwest and on the East Coast. Karl G. from Tuscon, AZ told me he’d be traveling to Albuquerque to play in a NQ because of the level of competition, since both Albuquerque and Phoenix were two-slot NQs. “Size of the event in Albuquerque and level of competition are the two big factors. I assume less then 70 people will play in NM for 2 slots whereas here in Arizona we will have around 100 with more than 10 with Pro Tour experience.” Brian L. from Brooklyn, NY will be playing after missing last year’s Regionals in New Jersey. “I don’t have a car (or even a license, so I can’t rent a car), and none of my friends who play in competitive events have a car. To go to a PTQ in New Jersey, I had to take a subway, a train, and a taxi each way, which cost roughly $50 in travel expenses, and took 2, 2 1/2 hours, also each way. I like playing in PTQs, but this made the experience pretty lousy. The closest Regionals last year was in New Jersey, and I just said ‘screw it.’”

In the end, whatever your reason to go to whichever NQ you plan on going, prepare to meet an even more diverse field than your usual PTQ, have fun, and play your best. I’d like to thank The Starkington Post, MTGCast, and everyone who responded to my previous article.