Recent content by JWittz

I don't have a huge sample size, but the one 50 Bo3 tournament I've played in this year (IL States), I drew three times and then dropped to play old formats with friends. Every game 1 and game 2 I played went to six prizes, and I never saw anything remotely close to slow play from my opponents...

Whether or not it's a poor decision, an accidental mistake, or some impressive foresight somebody had behind the scenes who is secretly saving us from what we thought would be a good format, it doesn't really matter to me. Bottom line: Pokémon produced a set for the first in a long time that had...

I feel like the line for "bluffing" was a lot greyer when there was a card that your opponent could play on your turn (power spray). How do you guys feel about this play from Silvestro at Worlds 2009? I describe it to my friends whenever I want to talk about a "cool play", but they have mixed...

I used "I" as a rough estimate for "any master" paying out of pocket. Nationals isn't a good example for me personally, but my point was the fact that most Masters will spend a large percentage of their income on the game, and probably have a higher desire for travel rewards than a child would...

I have and always will have a very hard time believing that a child's family can afford the cards needed to compete at the top level of this game, but cannot also afford a trip to Nationals. If I can afford to go on a minimum-wage job despite $35,000 of student loans every year, I doubt that a...

"Putting prizes in younger players' hands is a positive experience that is most likely to foster continued, long term interest in the game." This statement is one that continues to bother me. A travel award isn't something that a player can hold. For most Juniors and even Seniors, it isn't even...

There are several other alternatives I feel would be worth looking into rather than the one chosen. 1) Playable league promos. The biggest barrier I see with younger age divisions, especially the Juniors, is the fact that they get destroyed by the more skilled and fortunate players with...

I actually appreciate your attempt to answer my question in a logical manner. It wasn't an easy question. The biggest problem of TCPi is rearing its ugly head again: communication. We can speculate, yell, and argue all we want, but in the end, all we can do is what 'mom just did: guess as to...

Find me the parent that will take their child with the $500 reward that wouldn't have taken their child with the $300 reward. The $200 isn't going to make a difference there - either the parent is set on taking the child or they aren't.

I don't think it's ridiculous to assume that most late teen/early 20s masters are attending some sort of education. "In its most recent survey of college pricing, the College Board reports that a "moderate" college budget for an in-state public college for the 2011–2012 academic year...

That isn't what I meant. They are making a greater overall sacrifice of their income by making the choice of playing. Replace "donating" with "paying", doesn't change a thing.

For anyone with the "the juniors and seniors need a guardian and need to pay double the cost" argument: The median household income for an American family is around $50,000 a year. The average income of a single 16-24 year old is much less than that. The average student is tens of thousands of...

My problems with this: 1) Masters is by far the most attended age division. It isn't even close. Shouldn't the player base be rewarded for their higher level of dedication to the game? 2) Masters is the age division that is most likely to pay out of pocket to attend these events, and thus...

I think what most people fail to understand is that whenever someone from TCPi posts here on the 'gym, they're doing something that they're really not supposed to do. Occasionally, they'll let something out, because they probably desperately want to share any info they can with us, even though...

My suggestions: -Have an easy "look at the field" button like we used to have. Maybe there is one and I'm not aware of it, but I've looked everywhere. Oftentimes, I want to be able to check my discard pile and look at my opponent's field before I decide who I want to promote, but the "promote"...