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Bennie Smith wrote about the disparate numbers of attendees at the various Regionals events, and concluded that Wizards ought to do something to make the numbers of qualifiers equate to the total number of people in the tournament.
I agree that Wizards ought to look at the issue, but I don't think Bennie's solution is at all workable.
Okay, first they'd have to determine the attendees at each site, add them all up, figure out a median, and then announce that this tournament would be getting X qualifiers. Can anyone imagine this happening in real time at the tournament? Hell, I'm disgusted with the fact that we didn't start playing until the afternoon already; this would make it worse by far.
But don't despair; there are solutions to the problem and Bennie alluded to one potential solution in passing. Not so long ago, pre-releases were getting bigger and bigger and making it not particularly fun for many players, so the powers that be decided to run flights and award prizes to winners of each flight. Similarly, Wizards could set up a number and Tourney Officials could start running a tournament when they have that many participants. I'd suggest 128 and I'd suggest eight qualifiers for each 128 - but I'm sure most people could readily accept some smaller number, like four. The numbers could be worked out and announced by Wizards without too much sweat, I'd imagine.
Would that create other issues? Of course. Some places like Hawaii and Alaska didn't come close to 128 and shouldn't be given 8 qualifiers. (Technically, Alaska gets four - The Ferrett) That would need specific rules much as are required now - they only get two qualifiers currently. Other sites would end up with a final flight that would be less than 128 - maybe a lot less. So set up rules that would also address the Hawaii situation. Something like 96-128 = X qualifiers; 64-96= 3X/2; 32-64= X/2. Simple mathematical equations that suffer no argument. And if the last flight ends up getting a smaller percentage of qualifiers than earlier ones, great. That will encourage players and TOs to get underway already.
Ironically, a rule like this would be fairer to places like Hawaii or Alaska. Imagine how you'd feel playing there the year when a record 256 people show up, but only two slots are awarded. I know I wouldn't be happy; having a pre-arranged mathematical formula for qualifying resolves that potential conclusively.
Like Bennie, I too hope that Wizards makes an attempt to address this issue. If not, well... Maybe next year I'll take a two-week vacation in Hawaii around Regionals. I always wanted to go anyway and they got two qualifiers out of 39 attendees. That's more than 5%... And Ohio, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast can't match that, can they? Hmm, they certainly can't match the weather.
Of course, with my luck three hundred other players from the Mid-Atlantic will reach the same conclusion. Go figure.
Mike La Beau
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