UGEMS RC Lille - Review & Feedback 2: Side Events

In our previous feedback article, we detailed the changes we have made to the Ultimate Guard Open, which will take effect at the UG European Magic Series Regional Championship in Prague, January 2025. Additionally, we will also make changes to the structure and prize payout of the other side events. Check out this article on the changes you can expect going forward at UGEMS side events, starting with the next event,  the RC Prague. 

 

TL;DR

We reworked the prize payout strategy for:

Our standard 3-round events

  • Overall slightly higher value for money (40 extra tix per person).
  • Kept the existing structure for casual events.
  • Created a more competitive version that’ll be used for some tournaments.
  • High-risk high-reward Double-up/triple-up events (higher entry fee and give out double/triple the prizes).

Our 5-round events (Clashes)

  • Increased participation prize (by 40 tix).
  • Only tix for winner; going 5-0 gets even more tix (an extra increase in value).

Making Changes

After carefully reviewing your feedback from the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship in Lille, we’ve recognised areas where our tournament and prize structure could better meet your expectations. In our previous feedback article, we detailed the changes we have made to the Ultimate Guard Open, which will take effect at the UG European Magic Series Regional Championship in Prague, January 2025. Additionally, we will also make changes to the structure and prize payout of the other side events.

Reworking Prize Payouts

We recognise that the 66% winner – 33% loser prize payout per round at the side events didn’t fully reflect the competitive spirit of the events. While this format ensured a more even prize distribution, it led to top-performing players feeling like their efforts were not rewarded fairly. We believe that top-performing players should always receive a meaningful prize that reflects their efforts.

The majority of you voiced a preference for a winner-takes-all model, where the full prize payout of each round is awarded to the winner. A smaller group of players suggested that prizes should focus solely on the overall event winner. With this in mind, we’re making some changes to the prize distribution which are outlined in the next section.

Ultimate Guard EMS Side Events Adaptations

A more competitive prizing structure for side events will be introduced while maintaining options for players who prefer a flatter prize distribution. Here’s what you can look forward to:

  • 100% Winner-Takes-All Payouts: Win big!
  • Double-Up and Triple-Up Events: For those who love the high-stakes thrill, we will be hosting events where both entry fees and payouts are doubled or tripled, allowing you to earn tickets much faster.
  • Flat-Prized Events Remain: We’re maintaining a selection of side events with flatter prize distributions, ensuring that players of all levels have the chance to compete for prizes.


The Numbers

This translates to the following numbers for the payout:

Previous payout:

Participation – 40 tix
Per win – 80 tix
Per loss – 40 tix

Minimum (0-3 record) – 160 tix
Maximum (3-0 record) – 280 tix

New payout:

Now, we are introducing two different types of tournaments with a different payout structure:

1. Casual – replaces the previous version with a higher participation prize!
Participation – 80 tix
Per win – 80 tix
Per loss – 40 tix

Minimum (0-3 record): 200 tix
Maximum (3-0 record): 320 tix

2. Competitive – High Risk, high reward!
Per win – 160 tix
Going 3-0 – an extra 160 tix

Minimum (0-3 record) – 0 tix
Maximum (3-0 record) – 640 tix

(these events will still not require decklists)

Side Events Planning

Lastly, we would like to highlight some of our different side events and how they will look in the future.

Last Chance Qualifiers
The LCQs were received very positively and we feel that they worked well. We don’t see the need for any changes yet. If you have any feedback for the LCQs, please submit it at customersupport.fanfinity.gg and let us know what you think!

Open
We received a lot of feedback for the Ultimate Guard Open after the Regional Championship Lille, especially about the payouts which did not feel reflective of top-level performances. After much consideration, we’ve made changes to the Open in the upcoming RC Prague. Check out the feedback article here.

Other scheduled events

More more more
You brought your deck to the RC, it makes sense that you get to play it all weekend long: For all other scheduled events, we are aiming to include more constructed events, so please check for updates on side events at Regionals.

Prize Payouts
We will have a mix of competitive and casual payouts to accommodate players across the board. Traditional formats will yield more competitive payouts (for all of you high-risk, high-reward Spikes), while all funkier formats will remain more casual.

Legacy & Pauper
Play Eternal every day! From Friday through Sunday, you can play Legacy events including two Clashes! Additionally, Pauper events start right after Legacy on Fridays and Sundays!

Backseating Allowed
Let us know what you think about these changes! What are you most excited about? Share your thoughts at customersupport@fanfinity.gg!

On Demand Events

Currently, our booster draft format features the most recent Standard set while also exploring new options to enhance your drafting experience. We’re adding Innistrad Remastered drafts alongside Foundations as requested by several players in our Discord community; and we’d love your feedback—are you happy with this addition or were you waiting too long for your pod to fire? Let us know in the feedback form after the event!

Many of you have also requested Chaos Draft, and we’re excited to share that we’re actively working on making this happen. It’s a personal favorite format of ours, but creating a great Chaos Draft experience with interesting sets and good value for players is challenging due to product sourcing within budgets.

Lastly, while we don’t have an on-demand queue for Constructed events (they tend to fill up too slowly), we’ve increased the number of scheduled Constructed events, particularly in Regional Championship (RC) formats, to meet demand better.

Commander
The Commander Party is now a League which you can play over the entire weekend in the Command Zone. During the event, there will be a dedicated moment for League Players to gather and find games. There will be plenty to do for all Commander players in the area, whether it’s Casual Games, cEDH, Precon games, Commander Sealed, and more!

Looking Ahead

After making the adaptations to the UG Open, we are excited to see the changes to the side events at Regionals in Prague. We are confident that these changes will create an environment that feels like it rewards exceptional performances more effectively while still catering to players who would like to keep it more casual. 

As we roll everything out to the European Magic Series side events, we will closely monitor their effectiveness and appreciate your feedback to help shape the future of the UGEMS. We are excited to see how the changed side events feel for you all at Regionals in Prague and hope they make side events feel more rewarding. 

Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts and suggestions via our feedback form. We’re confident and very excited for the future of the European Magic circuitIn the next UGEMS feedback article, we will talk about the main event structure and how we made decisions concerning the main event of upcoming UGEMS Regional Championships

Missed the first feedback article about the Ultimate Guard Open? Read our first feedback article here!

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