2:45 PM – October 1, 2007

As I write this, we are on the number 17 Highway heading west from Sudbury Ontario. On the way to Toronto, I managed to finish one of the three articles that I owe to TCO, and now on the way home I still find myself owing three articles.

{ I have not looked at this article since I first wrote it. So I will be adding commentary throughout it to update a few missing pieces, or expand on fragments. This was written prior to finishing Day 3 of Gencon. In addition to this article, there's been a Raw Deal commentary article that has been brewing for a while, that I just have to find the right moment to capture it. }

Since it is the freshest one in my mind, I figure I will start with the Canadian Qualifier article. {The "Thank You" list that is about to follow was also bursting to be written down, as I'm not sure I can truly and accurately express my gratitude where it is due.}

The first thing that comes to mind is saying thank you. There is a tremendous amount of people to thank, and I am going to be as comprehensive as possible. Starting at the top.

Alan Gordon – Thank you for having the faith in us to put together the event, and giving us the support that you have. We really appreciate it.

Barron & Ron – Gentlemen thank you for the prize support you sent. It was generous.

To my crew who helped put all of this together: Ryan (Walter Kovacs) Alarie, Peter Hill, Kevin Bunker, and Matt Mealing. I could not have done this without you. I understand that Bunker is now moving on from Raw Deal, you will be missed. For those of you not familiar with the above folks, here is a quick summary:

Matt & Kevin helped with coordinating the Toronto portion of the events. Putting together estimates on attendance, and ensuring that 401 Games would be able to accommodate us for both the regional and championship itself.

Ryan helped coordinate and run all aspects of the Ottawa Qualifier, as well as helped to ensure that the winner of the Ottawa event would be able to make it to Toronto for the Championship.

Peter Hill was the official organizer for the Toronto area. Head judge for the Toronto Regional, bringer of under used internet access to 401 games, keeper of my sanity, and guy without whom I would not have had the opportunity to play some Raw Deal this past weekend. Thank you. I really appreciated the opportunity to get some games in.

For those who might not know who I am, my name would be Brian Mitchell. Most people in the Raw Deal community simply know me as Antigoth. My role in this was coordinating communication between all the cities and ensuring that we achieved consensus, Official organizer of the Winnipeg Regional, and Co-head judge with Peter for the Championships itself.

While that was the official crew, there are still a number of people that I need to thank.

Jeremy Gartner and the staff of Galaxy Comics in Winnipeg, the staff and management of Wizard's Tower in Ottawa, and last but not least John and the staff of 401 Games in Toronto. Without your support we would not have been able to make these events happen.

Ryan Alarie, Kevin Bunker, Peter Koebel, and Craig Oswald. Each of you donated additional prize support, ranging from a one of a kind backstage signature autographed by TNA Superstar Chris Sabin, a Battle Bag, Title Belts, and more signatures, to Wrestling PPV posters including the very rare Umaga Vs. Jackass Summer Slam poster. Ryan also supplied starter decks from Revo 3 to make the crazy Canadian Draft of Doom happen. {Is it wrong to thank myself for the stuff I threw in?}

Pat Eshgy and all of those who helped him chronicle the many feature games throughout the tournament. While Pat left his notes in Toronto, Dre is going to mail them to him, so give it a week or three, and there are going to be some very detailed match play by plays from the event. {Some of it Dre has already taken on his shoulders to post. Thank you!!!!} Pat had no reason to come up to Toronto for the LCQ’s and Championships as he is already Qualified, so he would not be able to play in any of the events. The fact that he is willing to put as much work into documenting the games from the event as he is, I cannot thank him enough.  (Or the various guys like Dre and Bunker who stepped in to Chronicle each event.)

Finally we get to all of the players themselves. Starting in Winnipeg, we had people show up to play in the event simply because it was a premiere event, and to support sending someone to the Championships. Then to Toronto, Ottawa, and all of the players who travelled for many many hours to come and play in the events. While the numbers may not have been as fantastic as originally hoped, the calibre of play was certainly not lacking.

[Dramatic pause as I stop writing to appreciate the beauty of the Canadian Landscape we are currently traversing.]

Lets talk about numbers. There has been some discussion online about “how low” the numbers from the events were.

Our original estimate for numbers was over 100 people total over the entire event.

Estimate: Winnipeg 10, Toronto 15, Ottawa 25

Reality: Winnipeg 9, Toronto 10, Ottawa 3.

What happened? Winnipeg had one player boycott the event because it was Revolution format. {Ask him and to this day he claims he simply "forgot" what day the event was. I do however pat myself on the back for one thing - I was accurate to within a person of my events attendance. That's got to be worth something right?}  Toronto had a number of players quit Raw Deal recently for various different reasons. Ottawa, we miscalculated here in a major way. When we were originally put together the event we offered the Ottawa slot to Montreal. Montreal declined, saying that they would drive to Ottawa. Additionally there was a crew of Torontonians who had indicated they were planning to Drive up to Toronto for the event. Add in a couple of guys who might travel up from the states, and a few more players from the Ottawa area (normally they have about 10 who rotate through their play group), and 25 did not seem like a stretch at the time.

Estimate: LCQ Afterburn 15, LCQ All Axxess 25, LCQ Revolution 25.

Reality: LCQ Afterburn 12, LCQ All Axxess 9, LCQ Revolution 10

What happened? Apparently one of the groups from New York did not know the event was happening when it was. This meant as organizers we did not do good enough job advertising the event. Winnipeg was originally planning on sending as many as 4 players who were not qualified. When all was said and done, only one could make it, as life got in the way for the other three. Toronto had a very Revolution focused playgroup, for whatever reason a number of them have dropped off recently. School / short notice prevent groups travelling from the Maritimes and Edmonton.

Total estimated:121

Total attended: 53 {+6 who played in the Qualifier itself for 59 if you want to be totally accurate}

So looking at these numbers, the Qualifier was not as attended as it was originally planned.

However comparing it to other qualifiers from this year it was on par.

The 2006 Canadian Qualifier {held in Feb 07} only had 35 people participate, so by moving to a regionals format the qualifier saw 20 more people then its predecessor.

The attendance for the Canadian event almost matched the total participation from both Origins events combined. Originally we were charged with maximizing attendance at the Canadian event. Considering the timing, and how little time we had to put the event together, I think we can say the event was a success. {I do not recall in past any year where the Canadian Q has come close to equalling Origins.}

I encourage all of you who are reading this to join in on the discussion that is sure to follow regarding this. Additionally depending on what format the Worlds follows for the 2008-2009 season as a team we would like to start planning for that season before the end of the year. {Peter was already talking about what he'd like to see next year before we had left Toronto, and various participants had been giving suggestions and thoughts throughout the weekend. Thank you all again, I really am impressed how much each of you cared about the success of the event.}

Here are some things that are already being tossed around for the 2008-2009 season:

• Keep the regional format, with some modifications.
• Modifications include dropping Ottawa, and replacing it with Montreal
• Adding Edmonton, as well as Maritimes, Saskatchewan, and BC if coordinators and venues can be found for each of those areas.
• Adding a slot for the Top Ranked Canadian.
• Moving to a total of 8 seats at the championship as opposed to this years six.
• Move the event to somewhere in the summer so that it is not too close to either Origins or Gencon, but it would be in the summer, to facilitate greater ease of travel for more people. {Currently Origins is slated for the last weekend of June. Gencon is slated for Mid-August. We're calling dibs on July I'm guessing.}
  

Nothing is set in stone. We do not even know what Comic Images plans are at this time for the remainder of the 2007-2008 season. 

[Another dramatic pause as a city loving prairie boy stops to enjoy more of the scenic beauty that Canada’s great lakes region offers.]

However those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. So before I spend another second talking about the future, I should really switch gears and talk about how I got here. [Here being in my girlfriends car travelling home along the #17 Highway.]