This may where the confusion comes from, over here Win-a-box events are usually in the 10-30 player range and organised by LGS. The 8-mans at GPs are usually not called win-a-box here…

Yes - what Christian said. We're talking about different types of events. I - and I think the original post are referring to LGS events as Christian describes. (I've never come across On-Demand events being described as “win-a-box” before.)

Edited James Winward-Stuart (Nov. 7, 2015 05:43:28 AM)

I think these last five messages are perfect example of the fact that the REL of your event should cater to your community expectation, and that there aren't any fast rule that we could apply to everybody in the world.

As soon as you expect your community to be displeased by the casual feeling of the JAR and want stricter and more precise policies to be enforced, it's the moment to move to the Competitive REL. As for when this tipping point is reached in your community, you, as a leader and expert, are one of the best persons to know.

- Emilien

I strongly suspect that my LGS's players would not be terribly pleased if they suddenly had to fill out decklists for their weekly event of choice. Half the players show up within 5 minutes of the event's start time. I'm imagining a situation where a player frantically stumbles in a minute before the event starts, because traffic was terrible, or he/she had a long day at work, and then they get a Game Loss for Tardiness because they didn't have time to fill out a decklist.

But now I'm curious. I'll ask around, to see how my players feel about weighing an expectation of tighter play & policy enforcement vs. prizes vs. the baggage that comes with Competitive REL.

Interesting how these discussions evolve. :)