I don't know when the cash prize tournaments were announced, but I know that people were trying to be hardcore Spikes many months ago, even when there was no money on the line. People were insanely obsessive about collecting AEmber, even when they had to pay airfare to collect their prizes. So the cash prizes might take up more of the conversation, but there were people who were tournament grinders amongst our ranks all along.
I know people worry about sharks buying enough decks to get the best ones, but I think as long as that kind of expenditure is more expensive than the tournament prizes, we should be okay.