November 1, 2002 2002 Award List Nominee List Up It is almost time for the 2002 Player of the Year in the St. Louis Magic: The Gathering Community to be named. Defending Champion Justin Pearson will defend his title against 15 other hopefuls in a tournament that will be conducted between November 17 and December 6. This tournament will be a knockout format event where the players will vote between 2 players over a 4-day period. The winner of that election will move on in the touranment while the loser is eliminated. First round voting period is from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20. Quarterfinal voting begins on Nov. 22 and concludes at Nov. 25. Semifinal voting begins at Nov. 28 and ends on Dec. 1. The Finals will begin on Dec. 3 and end on Dec 6. The voting periods will begin on Midnight CST and end at 11:59 PM CST. Today, the top 10 players in the Player of the Year score have been given invitations in addition to 3 random players that meet the requirements set forward. The requirements for elgiblity includes residency or attending school full-time in the St. Louis region (St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis City, Franklin, and Jefferson counties in MO, and Madison, Monroe, St. Clair, Clinton, and Jersey Counties in IL) prior to September 1, 2002; playing in at least 5 DCI sanctioned premiere events or a combination of 15 DCI sanctioned events in a period between Nov. 1, 2001 and Oct. 31, 2002; and their first lifetime DCI-Sanctioned event coming prior to September 1, 2002. In addition, the player must be in good standing and not on probation or suspension from the region. The top 10 elgible players that have received invites for this award include 1. Michael Donovan, Maryland Heights, MO 2. Aaron Hauptman, St. Louis, MO 3. Matt Schmatlz, Arnold, MO 4. Matt Ham, Collinsville, IL 5. Charlie Hanford, Jr, St. Peters, MO 6. William Brandt, St. Louis, MO 7. Larry Waymon, St. Louis, MO 8. Erich Seipel, St. Louis, MO 9. Gerrod Heise, Chesterfield, MO 10. Peter Sauer, Kirkwood, MO Three random players that met the elgibility requirements have also been selected. They are David Hagar from St. Charles, Timothy Riggins from High Ridge, and Jeff Flieg from St. Louis. Players have until November 11 at Midnight to file any appeals in regards to the event. The criterias for appeal include (1) Residency/overall elgibility of the Player, (2) Number of events participated, and (3) Missing DCI Sanctioned events held between Nov. 1, 2001 and Oct. 31, 2002 that would make a player elgible for the event. Appeals must be filed via email to stlshowdown@ccgplayers.com and must include the player name, email address, player DCI number, and the claim. Appeals will be heard during the Nov. 16 PTQ at St. Charles Fantasy Shop. On November 17, the final list of players vying for the awards will be published. The 13 players will join Pearson, John Eardley, and John Blanchard to compose the 16-player event that will take place through a 16-player secert ballot voting tourney. The voting is open to the public. The event bracket for first round: (1) Automatic invite 1 vs (16) random invite 3 (2) Automatic invite 2 vs (15) random invite 2 (3) Auotmatic invite 3 vs (14) random invite 1 (4) Top ten player 1 vs (13) top ten player 10 (5) Top ten player 2 vs (12) top ten player 9 (6) Top ten player 3 vs (11) top ten player 8 (7) Top ten player 4 vs (10) top ten player 7 (8) Top ten player 5 vs (9) top ten player 6 the event is reseeded for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The winning player will receive a trophy, $100 gift certificate to a St. Louis gaming store of his/her choice, and the right to defend the title in 2003. The runner-up will get a $50 gift certificate to a St. Louis gaming store of his/her choice. The semifinalists will get 1 premiere event stipend that will expire on December 31, 2003. 2002 Most Improved Player Nominee List The voting will be conducted on a single ballot consisting of 10 players held between December 1 and December 6. The ballot will be a secert ballot done through online voting. The Most Improved Player award is given to the player that has made siginificant improvements to their game in the past 12 months, or has made a big comeback to the game after a long absence. The ten players include: Matt Schmaltz, Larry Waymon, Timothy Riggins, Josh Smith, Jim Boncek, Jonathan MacKesson, Perry Richardson, Aaron Craft, Mike Rabenberg, Ian Suire The winning player will receive a trophy and a stipend to 1 premiere event that will expire on December 31, 2003. 2002 Rookie of the Year This award is given to the player that has played his/her first DCI Sanctioned event after September 1, 2001 but prior to Septemember 1, 2002. The top 5 players will be put in a secert ballot for the voting period that shall last between December 1 and December 6. The five players include: Joel Magner, Sean Magner, Alan Thomas, Kevin Howdershell, Erik Schwenke The winning player will receive a trophy and a stipend to 1 premiere event that will expire on December 31, 2003. 2002 Junior Player of the Year The award is given to the top player age 15 and under that still has amateur status with the DCI. In addition, the player must have good academic standing with their school in order to be nominated. If the player turned 16 but played throughout the JSS Season leading to (and including) the 2002 JSS Wold Championship, that player is elgible for the award for 2002, but will no longer gain elgibility for this award in future years. The five players nominated for the event include: Peter Sauer, Gerrod Heise, Ryan Price, Alan Thomas, Jonathan MacKesson. The winning player will receive a trophy and an stipend to 1 JSS event (if still elgiblie) that will expire on December 31, 2003. 2002 Store of the Year The store of the year is where all the stores in good standing and in business prior to July 1, 2002 are elgible. On November 1, 5 finalists for this award is selected -- 1 in each region (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest) plus one "wild-card" selection. The finalists are rated again based on product availbility, promotion, and quality of players that will make 60 percent of the final score, while the player choice poll will make 40 percent of the final score. The store of the year finalists: Northwest: Fantasy Shop St. Charles Southwest: Comic City Southeast: Medivial Starship Northeast: Dizzy Dugout Wildcard: Dragon King The winning store will gain a trophy and the right to put banner ads on the region site for free in 2003. -- Premiere event stipend: This stipend is good on any individual premiere event until Dec. 31, 2003. Premiere event includes Pro Tour Qualifiers, Prerelease Sealed Deck Flights, Grand Prix Trials, IQ Series Challenges, Grand Prix, Regionals, and Junior Super Series Challenges. The total value of the stipend shall not exceed $25.