LobstercoM 2020 Logistics Info

SCHEDULE ⋅ CHARITY ⋅ DECK PHOTOS ⋅ MENU ⋅ HANDY LINKS

REGISTRATION

LobstercoM registration is live until the morning of the main event, Saturday September 19. The registration fee is $25, and registrations are not confirmed until payment is received. The registration form is here — LobstercoM: Registration Form

SCHEDULE

LobstercoM 2020 will be a three-day webcam event, streamed with commentary, featuring ongoing charity activities (baby/toddler item drive, Old School swag raffle / donation page linked to the stream). Here is the tentative schedule, still subject to minor tweaks/changes:

FRIDAY, September 18th: LobstercoM Friday Night Boil

8:00pm (U.S. Eastern time) — 3+ hours of matches, multiple 93/94 formats (Atlantic, Beasts 1.5, 7-11), streamed for everyone’s enjoyment at https://www.twitch.tv/richbourque

SATURDAY, September 19th: LobstercoM 2020 Main Event

9:00am (U.S. Eastern time) — Player check-in opens

9:45am — Official stream begins, opening remarks and announcements

10:00am — Player check-in closes, Round 1 pairings posted

11:00am-6:00pm — Rounds 2 through 7. Rounds are timed, 50 minutes each, with an expected 10-15 minute administrative buffer at the end of each round. Exact round timing will be posted with each new set of pairings on the Google worksheet.

6:00pm — Announcement of Top 8 and Raffle Winner Drawing

SUNDAY, September 20th: LobstercoM 2020 Top 8

10:00am (U.S. Eastern time) — Top 8 player check-in, official stream begins

10:15am — Quarterfinal round begins

11:30am-2:00pm — Semifinals and Finals. Rounds are untimed but expected to be played at a reasonable pace.

2:00pm — Stream programming concludes

CHARITY RAFFLE and SUPPLY DRIVE

Our charity partner for LobstercoM is Room to Grow, a non-profit that provides vital services to parents and families in Greater Boston. Recognizing the gap in educational achievement between children born into poverty and their middle-income peers, Room to Grow focuses on serving families from just before their child’s birth through age three, supporting them with individualized parenting education and coaching, high-quality baby/toddler supplies, and specialty referrals to community resources to ensure that their children receive a healthy and secure start in life. In March 2020, Room to Grow shifted to virtual programming in response to COVID-19. Since then, families have met with their clinicians via Facetime and Zoom, and continue to receive essential support, including baby items shipped directly to families’ doorsteps. All proceeds from LobstercoM ticket sales after expenses will be donated directly to Room to Grow.

We’re pleased to announce that the annual charity raffle usually held at LOBSTERCON has also gone digital! Please visit the LobstercoM Charity Raffle page on RallyUp, and purchase your tickets to win Old School club swag, curiosities from Magic’s history, alters donated by players and artists from around the community, and a few other surprises. Since this is an online raffle, you will be able to allocate tickets specifically toward the prizes you’re most interested in winning!

New England Old School also invites you to join us for our third annual baby/toddler supply drive, which will run from early September through LobstercoM weekend. About 90% of the items that Room to Grow provides to new parents come from in-kind donations. Room to Grow urgently needs items such as clothing, infant toys, feeding supplies, and board books (English & Spanish).

The easiest way to help is to order an item directly from Room to Grow Boston’s Amazon registry. Be sure to write “LOBSTERCON” or “New England Old School” in the gift note, and ship directly to Room to Grow’s office via Amazon for your convenience. Once you’ve placed your order, please forward your receipt email to drbard |at| gmail |dot| com so that we can add your donation to our running totals!

In addition to the raffle and baby item drive, we’ll also be accepting general donations from any member of the Old School community, stream viewers, etc. throughout the weekend. To make a donation, simply visit the LobstercoM raffle site, scroll all the way to the bottom, and choose the option to contribute without purchasing raffle entries.

Giving back to our local community is a really important component of New England Old School’s philosophy and spirit, so, on behalf of our club, we hope that you’ll join us in taking this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of kids and families here in Boston.

DECK CONSTRUCTION AND DECK PHOTOS

Deck construction will use the Atlantic B&R for Old School 93/94. Fallen Empires is allowed, Strip Mine is restricted, mana burn happens. All non-foil reprints with the original art and frame are permitted. This means that Revised, 4th Edition, Chronicles, CE/IE, FBB/FWB, WC/APs are all completely welcome. No proxies or ‘playtest cards’ will be permitted.

Please take a clear photo of your maindeck + sideboard (all 75 cards) and upload using this form: LobstercoM Deck Submitter

Deck photos must be received by the morning of Saturday, September 19, before the beginning of the tournament. Deck photos are required for this event, and prize eligibility for various categories will be contingent on deck photo submission.

Enjoying local libations and seafood from New England is a hallmark of the LOBSTERCON experience. Unfortunately, with the shift to an all-digital experience this year, LobstercoM will be strictly BYOB and BYO…L. For those of you still hankering for a taste o’ crustacean, we have vetted this short list of New England-based online seafood vendors, all of which are capable of overnighting the goods to your door (assuming you live within the United States). Please refer to individual seller websites for ordering info and cut-off times for next-day orders.

Lobsters Online — this company is based in Bourne, Massachusetts, the gateway to Cape Cod, with sourcing operations in Maine. Consistently rated one of the top vendors for your next-day lobster needs, anywhere in the continental United States.

Legal Seafoods — the East Coast institution that got its start in Inman Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. They’ll even do the work for you… order lobster out-of-the-shell, or the pre-arranged lobster roll kit to feed your entire family while you play cards for 8+ hours.

Island Creek Oysters — if you’re looking for shuck-your-own shellfish, tinned seafood, or caviar, you won’t be able to do better than this company in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Hooked / Red’s Best — for those of you local to Boston, this has been DFB’s seafood delivery service of choice during the time of quarantine. Check the specific delivery dates for your town. They mostly deliver to towns inside of Route 128.