My Decision

Last week, I wrote about the future of Monday Pauper Deck Challenge (which I will refer to as MPDC from this point forward) and my own past and present involvement with this Player Run Event and the Standard Pauper format. I asked several questions, and received a fair bit of response from  my readers which I covered in my previous post. After surveying your responses, I took quite a bit of time over this weekend to think and reflect deeply upon what I believe is the best course of action.

Here's the short version: As of Season 23, I will return as the host of MPDC.

If that's all you wanted to know, feel free to stop reading now. But if you're interested in why I believe this is the best course of action, keep reading.

So here's the long version:

• As much as I think a Standard Pauper league is a great idea, the response from the immediate community hasn't been that strong. For such a endeavor to succeed long-term, I feel like I would need buy-in from a majority of the community. I don't think we are there yet.
• Furthermore, I don't believe a league is the best way to attract and retain new players. In a weekly event, all you have to do is show up with a Standard Pauper deck, and you're in. You don't have to sign up, find your opponent, coordinate schedules, or anything like that.
• I also know exactly what it takes to run MPDC, and to do it well. I understand the time commitment, the need to advertise both the event and the results, and how best to keep all the players informed.
• MPDC is probably the only reason I still play Magic today. Even though I knew about Magic Online for quite a while, it wasn't until I discovered this PRE that I decided to spend the money and start playing again. Based on that, I feel like I owe it to myself and to others like me to make this great event everything it can be.
• The only real negative is the need to shift my real life schedule. Prior to my recent move, I had Mondays off, so hosting was rarely an issue. Today, I work a much more typical work-week. However, I was able to shift my office hours on Monday, allowing me to get off early enough to run this event each and every week.
• Last but not least, I truly miss being so regularly involved in the Standard Pauper community. Hosting provides me with a great pulse on the format, which in turn fuels my writing and videos, which in turn brings greater exposure to the format. Until the day that Wizards of the Coast makes Standard Pauper a sanctioned format, my quest is not complete.

So there you have it: I'm back.

He drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm back," [Sam] said.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King.