Magic Phantom Events

I'm back. I can't necessarily explain to you or describe exactly why I went on a long hiatus; I think that can literally take a post all by itself. Most of it though is just that it isn't important... or at all interesting. So instead, I come back with some controversial idea. Not so much the idea itself being controversial, but just something that I myself haven't been able to peg my own feelings about.

 
First and foremost, let me say that this topic is based around an event that happens on Magic Online. There's already a garbage ton of content I can get into regarding just paper magic versus Magic Online, but that's not really what I'm here to talk about, because I've already talked about it. There are already enough reasons to love/hate Magic Online. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that we're all ok with Magic Online and it is an avenue that we can walk down without shoving one another around. Next topic.

Phantom Events. Now, there's a plethora of "stuff" one can do on Magic Online. For the most part, you can partake in as little or as much content on Magic Online as you can do in paper magic, but the potential to play whatever you feel like whenever you feel like playing it sort of jumps through the roof. I'm not going to go much further down this line of thought, because that just pushes us into sounding like I'm giving pros/cons about MtGO. Now, on modo (I guess the 'hipster' way of spelling and saying 'MtGO', but everyone does it, so there that is) you can spend a heckuva lot of money doing pretty cool things. Let's say you're into limited formats. Well, drafting or playing sealed can happen pretty much any time of day, firing off on average every 10 minutes or so. Yeah. That's a lot of Magic happening. It's also a lot of money, if you think about the cost of 3 booster packs and a $2 entry fee every time. Worse is when you want to play sealed, using 6 booster packs. Overall, every event has a cost and everyone has different reasons for playing in different types of events, not only for what the event is, but cost evaluation and fun to be had as well as prize layouts, etc.

So now, let's back up to this idea of Phantom Events. Basically, it is this. What if I said to you:
Hey! Guess what? For $4, I can get you into a sealed tournament. That means you get 6 booster packs to build a deck out of and then play against other people in this tournament of 8 people. There will be a total of 3 rounds. The only catch is that you don't get to keep any of the cards from the packs after you're done with the tournament. Instead, the tournament pays out prizes like this. If you win 2/3 rounds, you get 1 booster pack. If you win the tournament (3/3 rounds), you get 3 booster packs.

That's a Phantom Event. You don't get to keep the 'ghost cards' after the event is done. So. With that being said, what do you think? More after the jump.
I've asked a couple of my friends what they think about this idea already. I don't even like to call this an "idea", because these events already exist online. This isn't so much an idea as it is a concept of another cool option you have on modo. The problem is that everyone is different in what they find fun and what they're looking for in this game.
So let's break this sucker down.

ENTRY FEE
First and foremost. $4. It's four freakin' dollars. Let's face it. You can't do a helluva lot with $4 nowadays. This is easily the cheapest way of playing Magic I think, ever. And for the price of one normal draft -- 3 packs + $2, with the normal going rate of $4 per pack, you can instead enter into three events and save two bucks. Of course, drafting and sealed are different formats, but just for the sake of playing, $4 is a steal. Things that cost $4:

So, for the price of a booster pack, play a tournament.

TIME INVOLVEMENT

A three round tournament of at max, 50 minutes. A deck building time of 20 minutes max. A two minute interval between rounds. Overall, you're looking at about three hours to go from beginning to end of this event. That means you're playing at a rate of roughly $1.33 per hour. Remember, these events are Swiss, not elimination. Which means you're playing all three rounds win or lose - though it can easily be argued that if you lose the first two rounds, there's really no point in playing the third round due to not being able to get prizes. But some people would play that third round anyway.

PRIZE SUPPORT

Yes, no one is going to argue that the prizes just aren't that great. But for any player that considers themselves decent, I don't think winning 2/3 rounds is a stretch. And if you win 2/3, you've just broken even (again, assuming that the going rate of a current booster pack is $4). If you win the whole shabang, you've just profited, doubling your initial investment. Not... too shabby.

...

So. After having written this much about it, I think I've sort of convinced myself that this model is not at all a bad thing. As a matter of fact, this is a helluva way to play Magic on the cheap. I think realistically, these events are how they are rectifying taking away league play on modo (if you don't know what that is, it's not a big deal, but feel free to look it up - it was an old style of event they used to have a long long time ago). It maximizes play time per money spent. So what the mother-loving eff is the issue?

Well. Different players want different things. It comes down to potential loss and gains. I don't think a lot of pros are jumping at this deal. And why not? Because roughly, the competition at this level of event is not very high and it is probably pretty boring for them since this is likely more geared for casual players and not so much the purely competitive crowd. Potential loss and gains -- if I were good enough and believed that I had a heckuva shot winning any event I entered, why wouldn't I enter a regular draft or sealed event with the potential to win up to 8 packs instead of just 3? Oh, and you keep whatever you draft/sealed, too.

The argument for not keeping your cards after the tournament is another drawback. You pack some amazing rares and do well -- aww. Womp womp. After the fact, you don't get any of those. Instead, you get either a pack or three (or none if you're unlucky/you suck), where you might open complete crap. Everyday Magic variance here, folks. And nothing you can do about it. What a waste of time, right? Competitive players have no place here. THUNDERDOME. Pay your $2 entry fee, come up with those 3 packs, and stfu.

Even still, there are some in the boat where paying $4 just still isn't worth it, not on a monetary value, but just on a scale of fun and competition. "How about this concept? You pay $25 and stop being a whiny bitch about the cost of Magic and either play or gtfo?" lol. Some people just think that way. I get it. I do. Part of it is like a hazing ritual, where those that have invested so much time and money into this hobby don't want to hear the bitching. Prize support is so small, it's just not worth the time. Overall, this does fit in the scheme more for casual players, I think.

But I'm still torn. Is this a good event? Is it worth it to play? No one's arguing this isn't fun. It's Magic. Regardless, I'll have fun. Just is it worth one's time? Chime in everyone. Comment your hearts out.