I ve been hosting regular tournaments here in Tokyo Japan and always try to provide at least a FFG tournament kit (regardless the cost I have to pay for one on ebay...).
Our core is about 10 players that will appear frequently at the tournaments out of a pool of close to 40 in the greater Tokyo area.
Last tournament was a pleasant surprise since we got almost double the attendances than we usually have.
You can attribute that to several reasons, but I can not deny how big influence was the announcement of 2.0 that reignited the fire inside many dormant players.
So in order to keep the fire stoked I am thinking to give some prizes to players that did not rank in the top 3.
Hopefully this will motivate more people to come if they know they have a chance to win something more than a participation prize from a FFG kit.
A few ideas on the table are to introduce some kind of in-game challenge that keeps it interesting if you aren’t winning every game, or something like least shields and hull left in a winning game, or best repainted ship contest. Another option would be to give a prize to the person voted ‘best opponent’ or something like that. Or just a random draw to keep it totally fair! So it would need to be something that won’t necessarily be won by someone who’s winning every game.

What do other groups do at their tournaments, do you have any extra prizes for lower guys or a contest?

22 minutes ago, tsondaboy said:

I ve been hosting regular tournaments here in Tokyo Japan and always try to provide at least a FFG tournament kit (regardless the cost I have to pay for one on ebay...).
Our core is about 10 players that will appear frequently at the tournaments out of a pool of close to 40 in the greater Tokyo area.
Last tournament was a pleasant surprise since we got almost double the attendances than we usually have.
You can attribute that to several reasons, but I can not deny how big influence was the announcement of 2.0 that reignited the fire inside many dormant players.
So in order to keep the fire stoked I am thinking to give some prizes to players that did not rank in the top 3.
Hopefully this will motivate more people to come if they know they have a chance to win something more than a participation prize from a FFG kit.
A few ideas on the table are to introduce some kind of in-game challenge that keeps it interesting if you aren’t winning every game, or something like least shields and hull left in a winning game, or best repainted ship contest. Another option would be to give a prize to the person voted ‘best opponent’ or something like that. Or just a random draw to keep it totally fair! So it would need to be something that won’t necessarily be won by someone who’s winning every game.

What do other groups do at their tournaments, do you have any extra prizes for lower guys or a contest?

We often just do random draws.

The big thing we and others have learned to avoid is prizes for the last place, last place prizes have backfired more than once with players trying to bomb there last game or outright forfeiting in order to get the prize. This is not fair to there opponents who are there to play. One bad apple can really spoil everything.

I like the idea of people voting on best sportsmen as long as it's not a popularity contest (i would think most places it would not be an issue at all most people are good people.)

I've held several tournaments in my local area and since we seldom fill the 16 spots there's usually AA cards left that I collect to a new pool to give to those who finish last in a tournament. They are usually new(er) players and I think it's important to encourage them to stay in the game.

We haven't had the problem that @Icelom mentioned that players purposley try to finish last to claim the last place prize.

8 minutes ago, Whippoorwills said:

I've held several tournaments in my local area and since we seldom fill the 16 spots there's usually AA cards left that I collect to a new pool to give to those who finish last in a tournament. They are usually new(er) players and I think it's important to encourage them to stay in the game.

We haven't had the problem that @Icelom mentioned that players purposley try to finish last to claim the last place prize.

I have only seen it happen a few times so try to avoid the situation entirely.

A couple of thoughts on this...

• Last Place Prize: this can be good, if it's something most players already have. The player who comes in last is usually a new player, so giving out something like a TIE Fighter expansion or a common alt art card would be a good prize. Nobody will tank for it, but whoever finishes last gets a nice takeaway.
• Random Draws: I play at a monthly tournament where the store owner does this, and it's always nice. No matter how poorly you do, you always have a shot to get some store credit. As a bonus, the people who win store credit usually spend more money in the store.
• Spot Prizes: I'm a big fan of achievement prizes. I won a dice pack for being the first player to blank out on three green dice, and it was a good laugh (and a nice prize, since I was new to the game at the time). Other things that have earned spot prizes; killing a ship with a 1 die primary (HWK290 or a ship with enough Weapon Malfunction crits), having a ship die only from obstacle damage, using Boba Fett or Moff Jerjerrod to toss the Emperor...

We done a last place prize in the past but it usually was a consolation prize of no significant value. Something like a star wars key holder or a lightsaber pen.

First to blank out on 3 green is not a bad idea but it does sound a bit random since there is always a chance noone blanks out during the tournament.

Another idea I had is the "hardest fought prize" to the player with the highest strength of schedule that did not make top 3.

29 minutes ago, tsondaboy said:

First to blank out on 3 green is not a bad idea but it does sound a bit random since there is always a chance noone blanks out during the tournament.

Have you rolled green dice before?

Seriously though, you could have multiple ways to win the prizes, or make it so unclaimed bounties go forward to the next tournament.

17 minutes ago, MortalPlague said:

Have you rolled green dice before?

I am an imperial player.

12 minutes ago, tsondaboy said:

I am an imperial player.

But have you rolled any of them successfully?

Reminds me of the conversation in Space Janitors with the Squall Troopers:

"You've shot Rebels?"

"I've shot at Rebels..."

speed kill, first person to kill an opponents ship wins a spot prize

wacky racers - put a token or a piece of paper on the middle of the board, first player to have one of the ships base or movement template touch it.

sniper - first person to kill a ship at range 3 (primary weapon only - sucks to be the inquisitor)

your choices of prize could be anything star wars related - i was at a tournament where the wooden spoon was a pack of star wars stickers :p

you can have several smaller prizes or save up to have one big prize, everyone that enters is given one raffle ticket but then players that get any of the other acievemnts get additional tickets.

the most common way ive seen prizes done though is that theres lots of small prizes and everyone gets a turn in choosing a prize going in placing order.

Stores I’ve played at have done sets of metal tokens, enamel Star Wars pins, and assorted Star Wars figures... People play harder when they realize they may get to take home a gold-painted Jar-Jar.

35 minutes ago, Innese said:

Stores I’ve played at have done sets of metal tokens, enamel Star Wars pins, and assorted Star Wars figures... People play harder when they realize they make get to take home a gold-painted Jar-Jar.

I would play even harder just to avoid being the one getting a gold painted Jar-Jar!

45 minutes ago, tsondaboy said:

I would play even harder just to avoid being the one getting a gold painted Jar-Jar!

I never said the Jar-Jar was for the winner, did I?

• Raffle where players get a ticket for each ship that dies during any of their games. Either side. Encourages swarms and aggressive play.
• Just random where each player gets an even chance (if they did not get a prize already)
• Something my FLGS has started doing that I really like is this: Each player pays the $10 entry fee but all players get at least $5 in store credit as participation prize. Winners still get a larger payout but everybody feels like they won something and effectively halves the participation cost if you were planning on buying snacks or something else anyway.

5 hours ago, Tott said:

speed kill, first person to kill an opponents ship wins a spot prize

I'd be careful about this one. This rewards somebody for bringing an alpha strike list. I'd lean towards prizes that reward for things other than effective play, since that'll end up being its own reward in the standings.

not sure if it would be worth it to ship to you but custom acrylics are nice participation prizes or cool prizes to the lower ranked players. Lot's of places sell them online. check out Etsy for some.

11 minutes ago, PanchoX1 said:

not sure if it would be worth it to ship to you but custom acrylics are nice participation prizes or cool prizes to the lower ranked players. Lot's of places sell them online. check out Etsy for some.

I ve looked into some of those and was thinking to get a 2.0 maneuver template set from them.

A local, awesomely run, objectives tournament did a prize table where we all lined up first to last and got to grab one of the prizes they had. There were old alt arts, custom tokens, fan-made cards, and stuff like that. It was fun and everyone went away with a few things. The idea of doing achievements in a tournament is also fun. You could also do prizes for things like the best paint job, most thematic squadron, the Red Shirt squadron for most ships lost, or even give the tournament itself a theme like "Battle of Endor" or "Battle of Yavin" and give out a participation prize for anyone who brings a squadron that matches the tournament's theme.

I did a best repainted ship competition last time and gave away 3 alt art Poe Dameron cards. Still, it didn't go that well because only 3 out of 16 participants showed up with repainted ships so it was not much of a competition at all in the end.

Players get one raffle ticket for losses. Put em in a jar. Player who won is 3-0, 4-0. So is out of contention. Other top players are 2-1, 3-1. All other players that went 2-2, 1-3, etc. have a better chance of winning. Draw a few times for prizes and distribute.

I hate bounties, cause then people just bring stupid jank to try and claim the bounties. Like 4 ion cannon ywings for a bounty who ever causes the most ion tokens in a game, etc.

Bounties should be a secret list that players dont see until gameday, so people cannot build for them, but anyone could claim, like most damage dealt in a game. Or rolling 3 or more natty evades on an attack and your ship still suffers at least 1 damage and is removed from game. Blocking an opponent on an obstacle, etc. This way, people who dont win tourneys can still get good loot by just playing.

The repainted ship is pretty neat IMO. I know x-wing is not a game with a huge painting community, but it mirrors other community like 40k, warmachine, etc, where in most tournament you have a spot for best painter award. And if you say it in advance it will maybe motivate some person to paint their ship in really nice way. Of course 3/4 of the group probably won't have repainted ships, but that just gives a chance to those who know they probably won't get first spot. For example, I have a friend that play a lot of 40k tournament, and he always play for best paint, and since that cover his entrance fee he can just play tournament super relaxed and for fun.

After the final round of Swiss, you could pass out the scoring slips a final time, and ask everyone to mark their favorite game of those they played. Count up the top three players (that didn't make the top three finish), and give them a prize.

12 hours ago, tsondaboy said:

What do other groups do at their tournaments, do you have any extra prizes for lower guys or a contest?

I'll never forget my first tournament. The organizer gave up pieces of the kit to the lower ranked players normally reserved for the tournament organizer. I got a single acrylic focus token, but it made my day. I think I was dead last, but it brought me right into this game. I always mention to this guy that he did that and it made me so happy. To this day, I do the same thing. I always make sure to have prizes for newer players, or ones that bring fun lists and lose.

37 minutes ago, NeverBetTheFett said:

I'll never forget my first tournament. The organizer gave up pieces of the kit to the lower ranked players normally reserved for the tournament organizer. I got a single acrylic focus token, but it made my day. I think I was dead last, but it brought me right into this game. I always mention to this guy that he did that and it made me so happy. To this day, I do the same thing. I always make sure to have prizes for newer players, or ones that bring fun lists and lose.

One of the best things about folks in the SF Bay Area (and likely many other places) is that we pass down everything. If we've already gotten something, we pass it down to the next person who has not. It's been that way pretty much from the beginning, and it really has helped bring people in and help them feel welcome. I remember during the Blue Range Ruler Store Champ season, we probably got down to the 13th or 14th place finishers before somebody didn't have one. (We had a lot of Store Champs in the Bay Area that year.)

Each loss gets you a raffle ticket.