WPN Events Dec, Jan

WPN December Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 6,13,20,27. 6:00pm.

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 2,9,23. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Scars of Mirrodin. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 16th. 5:30pm.

WPN January Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 3,10,17,24,31; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 6,13; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic-Draft: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly Draft. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 20; 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Extended: Got the standard blues? Want to try something different right before the next set changes the face of magic? Try Extended! $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz. Prizes can be awarded as store credit.
Friday: 27; 5:30-9:00pm.

Dark Ascension Pre-release!: Once again NDC is proud to host an officially sanctioned pre-release event. A Dark Ascension sealed deck event. $30.00 entry fee w/ prize support! Days events to include open gaming ($13.00) Two-headed giant sealed ($17) and Highlander/Commander ($5.00) if time allows. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Saturday: 29; 12:00 registration; Play 1:00-5:30; Draft 6:00-9:00

Dark Ascension Launch!: Celebrate the official launch of the Magic set Dark Ascension in this Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, Feb 2nd; 5:30-9:00pm.

Future Events

Friday Feb 2nd - Dark Ascension Launch

Events for Nov, Dec

WPN November Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 1,8,15,22,29. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 4,11,25. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Scars of Mirrodin. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 18th. 5:30pm.

Magic: Modern Event: Try out this popular new magic format called Modern. Cards from 8th ed forward and Mirrodin Block forward are legal and never cycle out. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Tuesday, 8th: 5:30pm.

WPN December Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 6,13,20,27. 6:00pm.

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 2,9,23. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Scars of Mirrodin. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 16th. 5:30pm.

WPN Events Oct, Nov

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN October Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays; 4,11,18,25; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 14,28. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Innistrad. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 21. 5:30-9:00pm

Magic Commander: Participate in the most awesome format ever. Elder Dragon Highlander AKA Commander. 100card singleton commander format. Multi-player with victory points. $10.00 entry. Prizes to be distributed as store credit.
Tuesday: 11th 5:30-9:00pm.

Innistrad Game Day: Experience the power of play. NDC Butler to host a Magic Game day. This event is open to all players. Entry $10.00. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Additionall prizes will handed out for this event! Here, you Rule!
Saturday: 29th 12:30-9:00.

FNM for FtV: Standard type 2 constructed event. Winner to receive a sealed box of From the Vault: Legends! $10.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 7th. 5:30-9:00pm

WPN November Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 1,8,15,22,29. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 4,11,25. 5:30pm.

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Scars of Mirrodin. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 18th. 5:30pm.

Magic: Modern Event: Try out this popular new magic format called Modern. Cards from 8th ed forward and Mirrodin Block forward are legal and never cycle out. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Tuesday, 8th: 5:30pm.

WPN Events Sept, Oct

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN September Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 6,13,20,27th; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 2,9. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic (Extended): Here, you rule. Play in a sanctioned extended format FNM, right before the format changes forever with the release of Innistrad. $7.00 Entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 23rd. 5:30-9:00pm

Magic Celebration: NDC is proud to offer a limited Mini-master event. Somewhere between sealed deck and pack wars, Mini-master is a fun way to enjoy magic. A series of events will be offered. This event is FREE, but seating and number of events to be run are limited based on allocated product.
Saturday, 10th. 12:30-9:00.

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft M11 core set. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 16th, 5:30-9:00pm

Innistrad - Prerelease!: New Dimension Comics of Butler is proud to sponsor yet another Magic Prerelease. This time we are bringing a day's magic events to the SibCon Gaming convention. Butler Days Inn at 139 Pittsburgh Road. Discover the horror that lurks within the newest set of Magic. $25.00 entry to participate in this DCI sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. Sanctioned Drafts to follow main event ($15.00 entry). Intro packs available for open gaming ($15). Non-sanctioned highlander-commander tables ($5). Dan Regewitz, Head Judge.
Saturday, 24th 10:00am registration. Main event begins at 12:30. Drafts start 6:00pm.

Innistrad - Launch!: Come celebrate the official release of Innistrad with a DCI sanctioned Draft. $16.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 30th - 5:30-9:00pm.

WPN October Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays; 4,11,18,25; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 14,28. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft Innistrad. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 21. 5:30-9:00pm

Magic Commander: Participate in the most awesome format ever. Elder Dragon Highlander AKA Commander. 100card singleton commander format. Multi-player with victory points. $10.00 entry. Prizes to be distributed as store credit.
Tuesday: 11th 5:30-9:00pm.

Innistrad Game Day: Experience the power of play. NDC Butler to host a Magic Game day. This event is open to all players. Entry $10.00. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Additionall prizes will handed out for this event! Here, you Rule!
Saturday: 29th 12:30-9:00.

FNM for FtV: Standard type 2 constructed event. Winner to receive a sealed box of From the Vault: Legends! $10.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 7th. 5:30-9:00pm

SCG Open Pitt - Part 2

= SCG Open Pitt - part 2: Deck checks

As part of my staff duties at Star City Games open in Pittsburgh, I was on the deck checks team.

Deck checks are a feature of just about every competitive or professional magic event run. At the start of the event, all players are seated and decklists are collected. Tables are then randomly selected to be checked.

The reason judges perform deck checks is to maintain the integrity of the event, by making sure that players are on the level with what deck they run, and how they run it.

The tables that are targeted for deck checks are selected at random by the scorekeeper (there is a function for selecting a random table in wizard event reporter). However their is a clear preference among judges to target the lower table numbers. Thus it is often good practice for the scorekeeper to generate a list of possible tables, and let the judge staff target one or two from that list.

After you know what table your after, you head out onto the floor, identify the table your going to hit with a deck check, and keep an eye on it. The common practice is to hover near, but not at, the targeted table. My personal preference and comfort zone is 3-4 paces away. As a judge you want to "swoop" in and stop the players at the moment that the players present their deck to their opponent. By presenting the player is making an implied statement that their deck is legal, randomized, and matches the list they submitted to the tournament staff. Also make a note of the time as you interrupt the game.

In a large tournament situation such as the SCG-open, deck-check judges go out in pairs. While one judge swoops, the other is guard. The guard's role is to field any judge calls at the beginning of the round, especially tardiness calls, so that their counterpart can swoop uninterrupted. The extra judge also can act as a 'decoy' for the actual swooping judge. Plus, it's always useful to have another set of eyes and ears on the floor.

So the two decks are brought back to the area set aside for deck checks. Lists have to be pulled from the file (hopefully before actual decks were grabbed). Then you check the deck. When checking the deck there are a few things Judges look for. (1) If the decks were grabbed at the right moment, look at the top 10 or so cards, looking for patterns, outstanding hands, or other signs that the deck may have been stacked or improperly shuffled. (2) Look at the sleeves, checking for miscut sleeves, discolored sleeves, or any other telling marks that could be interpreted as marked cards. (3) Check the contents of the deck against the decklist looking for any disagreement or mismatch.

If any problems are found, it's the judge's responsibility to call the player aside, inform them of the problem, and get it fixed. In most cases this will involve handing out a penalty when a problem exists. Guidelines for fixing and penalties for various situations are given in the official penalty guidelines so I won't waste time to repeat them here.

Once everything is set, you allow the players to return to their match. A time extension is given to the players. At the SCG open we tracked time extensions by writing them on the front of the slip and also writing them on a clipboard by the scorekeeper. The typical time extension given is the amount of time it took from when a judge took the decks, to when the decks were returned to the players, plus 3 minutes.

For those few of you who are interested in being a Magic Judge, please refer to this page.
[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=judge/welcome]

If you recently certified as a LV1, the judge community has made a page just for you here.
[http://wiki.dcifamily.org/index.php/Welcome_to_Level_1]

Event Update

= Event Update

The following event has been CANCELED:
Magic the Gathering at SIBCON.

New details for the following event:
Innistrad - Prerelease!
New Dimension Comics of Butler is proud to sponsor yet another Magic Prerelease. This time we are bringing a day's magic events to the SibCon Gaming convention. Butler Days Inn at 139 Pittsburgh Road. Discover the horror that lurks within the newest set of Magic. $25.00 entry to participate in this DCI sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. Sanctioned Drafts to follow main event ($15.00 entry). Intro packs available for open gaming ($15). Non-sanctioned highlander-commander tables ($5). Dan Regewitz, Head Judge.
Saturday, 24th 10:00am registration. Main event begins at 12:30.

Please note that there will be a $5.00 badge fee to get into the con.
Also note that we can only accept cash for this event.

Star City Games Open - Pittsburgh

= Star City Games Open - Pittsburgh

(part 1 - event report)
Saturday, July 30th I had the awesome opportunity to participate in the Star City Games standard open in Pittsburgh, as a member of the judge staff. Overall I had a great day, enjoyed myself while keeping a close eye on decklists as part of the deck-checks team. I'm going to review a few of the things I learned throughout the day.

In this (shorter) first part, I'm going to cover some general tournament related items. In part 2, I'll cover, hopefully in depth, everything that goes into a deck check.

= Get your information in order.

I was called to the table where a player had 2 Vampire Lacerator's on the table. The question at hand was concerning the creature's triggered ability. At first the ability threw me off a bit because of it's wording. To clarify that here now. The ability triggers "At the beginning of your upkeep" period. Also, the ability only causes life loss if your opponent is at 11 or more when it resolves. The opponent also told me that he was at 12, so I ruled that the controller of the Lacerator was going to lose some life.

This ruling would have been correct, if I had all my ducks in a row. There were some questions about if the ability triggers, is the controller going to loose life that I didn't answer perfectly. Causing confusion which led to an appeal. On appeal HJ Eric Shukan overturned my ruling. I'm still not 100% certain, but I believe that the missing piece may have been a lightning bolt that was on the stack, which I believed to have already been resolved.

Vampire Lacerator

= Be careful how you answer questions.

I was called to a table, and the players were in the middle of combat. A 3/6 with vigilance and death touch (equipment involved) was attacking, and the defending player was blocking it with 7 1/2 plant tokens. The question in this situation was, how can the attacker assign combat damage?

Now before you answer any rules question, it's always a good idea to ask questions of the players concerning the game state. Even if the information that your looking for has already been given to you. So your attacking with this? (yes), and your blocking with all your plant tokens? (yes) How big is this? (3/6), and those? (1/2).

It's also important that you don't reveal any strategic information as you are answering the question though, so my next question (to the attacker) was, "How would you like to assign combat damage?" When they replied that they would like to assign one damage to each of three different plants, I nodded and informed both players that this was a legal assignment. Deathtouch makes 1 damage "lethal" for the purposes of assigning damage to multiple blockers.

= How do we report unfinished games?

I have to admit I've made my fair share of mistakes. This one will change tournament and match results that I will enter. When a game goes into extra turns and is not completed, how do we enter that into the tournament report? What is the score?

I had been under the impression that unfinished games are not reported. However, I watched an unfinished game be reported as a tie. Sure enough the Magic Tournament rules (section 2.5), indicates that if a game goes into extra turns, and no player has won, the game is reported as a tie.

I'm not sure if this was a change to the tournament rules, or if I misread something, or misinterpreted something, but it should be relatively easy to report accurate and correct tournament results going forward.

= No opponent.

I was called to a table where a player's opponent was absent. Upon checking the clock I noticed that we were 10 minutes into the round. Our tardiness policy for the day was 0/10, meaning that if players weren't in their seat when the round clock started, they got a game loss. When we were 10 minutes in, and they still weren't there, we issue a match loss.

It just so happened that HJ Eric Shukan was nearby on the other side of the isle as I took this call, so my immediate reaction was to do a quick double-check with him (hey, it IS a match loss, right?).

He gave me a pretty solid process for filling out the match slip in cases like this. As a judge you write "no show" in the score column, check off the drop area for the missing player, and put "Judge - " where the absent player would have to sign the slip.

Despite the fact that this was the only match slip I filled out like this during the day, it does seem like a rock-solid procedure, and I will do my best to use it in the future.

That's it for part 1, stay tuned for part 2 - Deck Checks!

Magic Events -August, September

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN August Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, commander, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 2,9,16,23,30; 5:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 5,12,26. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft M11 core set. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 19th 5:30-9:00pm

Magic GAME DAY!: Experience the power of play. NDC Butler to host a Magic Game day. This event is open to all players. Entry $10.00. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Additionall prizes will handed out for this event! Here, you Rule!
Saturday: 14th 10:00am registration opens. 1:00pm start time.

Highlander / Commander: Participate in the most awesome format ever. Elder Dragon Highlander AKA Commander. 100card singleton commander format. Multi-player with victory points. $10.00 entry. Prizes to be distributed as store credit.
Tuesday: 30th 5:00-9:00pm

WPN September Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, EDH, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 6,13,20,27th; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 2,9. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic (Extended): Here, you rule. Play in a sanctioned extended format FNM, right before the format changes forever with the release of Innistrad. $7.00 Entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 23rd. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft M11 core set. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 16th, 5:30-9:00pm

Innistrad - Prerelease!: Discover the horror that lurks within the newest set of Magic. $30.00 entry to participate in this DCI sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. Open dueling available. Draft to follow main event ($16.00 entry).
Saturday, 24th 10:30am registration. Tournament begins at 12:30. Draft 6:00-9:00

Innistrad - Launch!: Come celebrate the official release of Innistrad with a DCI sanctioned Draft. $16.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 30th - 5:30-9:00pm.

FNM for FtV: Standard type 2 constructed event. Winner to receive a sealed box of From the Vault: Legends! $10.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
To Be Announced.

Magic the Gathering at Sibcon: Super Standard Constructed Tournament (Sun 11-5). Here, you rule! New Dimension Comics is proud to sponsor a pack of magic events at Sibcon, Butler Days Inn at 139 Pittsburgh Road. Main event to be $15 entry super standard. High-prize payout with 5 packs per entry being added to the prize pool. Side events to include sanctioned draft ($15 entry), and non-sanctioned highlander-commander games ($5). Dan Regewitz Head Judge.
Sunday, 25th, 11:00-5:00pm; Registration to open at 10:00.

GPT Pittsburg Report

= GPT Pittsburgh Event Report
= July 26th, 2011

On the 23rd I headed down to West-Mifflin early to Head-Judge a Grand-Prix Trial to be held at New Dimension Comics in the Century 3 mall. We were expecting a decent crowd due to both the standard format and the fact that the GP in question would be local, occurring in Pittsburgh.

In the end we got less players than I personally was expecting, but still a respectable number. We started the event with 23 players, and I announced that we would proceed with 5 rounds of swiss followed by a cut to single-elimination top 8.

When checking deck lists I found only 1 error. A sideboard with 14 registered cards. Upon checking the actual deck we found a 15 card sideboard, so we simply changed the deck list to match the deck, and sent the player on their way (with a game loss).

== Rulings

In round 3 I was called to a table with an interesting interaction. The player had a Phyrexian Metamorph on the battlefield coping an Obstinate Baloth. They also had a Deceiver Exarch on the table (with summoning sickness). They wanted to know if Splinter Twin was put on the Metamorph, would it produce Metamorphs? After very careful consideration, I ruled that If the Metamorph-Baloth was tapped with Splinter Twin, it would create Artifact Baloths. My reasoning was that because both are copy effects, the splinter twin creates copies that share the attributess of the enchanted creature, and the Metamorph exists as a artifact-Baloth on the battlefield. This ruling is supported by CR706.3

In Round 4 I was asked to clarify something about Goblin Grenade, namely when the goblin sacrificed for it leaves the battlefield. The Goblin in question is sacrificed as part of the process of casting the spell, and no player can play spells or abilities between the time a spell or ability is announced, and it becomes fully cast (so no you can't shock the goblin in response).

In Round 5 there was a situation where Player A was at 3 life. Player B flung 3 creatures at his opponent using Mortorpod, and Player A conceded the game. After one of the players picked up their cards a spectator pointed out that one of those points of damage was from a source with Infect. At which point I was called to the table. I informed both players involved that there was no way to accurately re-construct the game state, and the concession (verbally and physically by scooping up one's cards) would need to stand.

This incident created some discussion afterwords. There were questions concerning what (if anything) a player could say while observing a match, and more importantly if they were required to by the tournament rules.

If you are participating in a tournament, and are watching a game (as opposed to playing in one), you are a spectator for that game. Spectators are allowed (encouraged even) to call a judge at all levels if they notice any game error. At regular or competitive level, spectators are allowed to ask the players to pause their match while they alert a judge. At Professional Rel, spectators must not interfere with the match directly.

The Tournament rules lay out that players are required to call a judge if a game error occurs, but from my reading of the Tournament rules, spectators are not required to alert a judge to a possible play error.

Magic 2012 Pre-release tales

= Magic 2012 Pre-release tales
= Monday, July 11th, 2011

Another successful pre-release has passed. I am pleased to report that 18 players participated in the main event, and 14 players played in our side-event draft.

Those who have been reading know that this is a welcome boon from last pre-release where we had only 8 players for the main event. While I think this is a good sign for the health of our venue and the game as a whole, I think we should all remain vigilant in our efforts to recruit new players, help those players grow into being better players, and keeping all levels of play as fair and fun as possible.

With the launch of Magic 2012 and in the following months, we are likely to see more players and more interest in our game. It's a great time to be playing, and I for one am excited!

== Rulings

= Chandra, the Firebrand.
A player asked if they could choose a single player multiple times with Chandra, the Firebrand's 3rd ability. "[-6]: Chandra, the Firebrand deals 6 damage to each of up to six target creatures and/or players." While the ability as-written doesn't limit the choice of targets (by using the word "different" for example), we do have the following tidbit from the Magic2012 FAQ:

* When you activate Chandra's last ability, you choose up to six target creatures and/or players. No damage is divided, and Chandra can't deal more than 6 damage to any one target. Chandra deals 6 damage to each target that is still legal when the ability resolves.

= Goblin Tunneler and Turn to Frog

Player A Activates Goblin Tunneler targeting a 2/2 Bear. The bear attacks. Player B casts Turn to Frog targeting the Bear. Can Player B declare a blocker against the ex-bear, now 1/1 frog?

The rather interesting answer is no. Again from the FAQ:

* The ability [of Goblin Tunneler] doesn't grant an ability to the targeted creature. Rather, it affects the game rules and states something that's now true about that creature. After the ability resolves, the creature will remain unblockable for the rest of the turn even if it loses all abilities.

For those who are truly curious, here's the Comprehensive Rules that are most applicable to this situation:

112.11. An effect that sets an object’s characteristic, or simply states a quality of that object, is different from an ability granted by an effect. When an object “gains” or “has” an ability, that ability can be removed by another effect. If an effect defines a characteristic of the object (“[permanent] is [characteristic value]”), it’s not granting an ability. (See rule 604.3.) Similarly, if an effect states a quality of that object (“[permanent]” is indestructible” or “[creature] is unblockable,” for example), it’s neither granting an ability nor setting a characteristic. (See rules 700.4 and 700.5.)
Example: Muraganda Petroglyphs reads, “Creatures with no abilities get +2/+2.”

700.5a Although the text “[This permanent] is unblockable” is an ability, actually being
unblockable is neither an ability nor a characteristic. It’s just something that’s true about a creature.

WPN Events July, August

WPN July Events

Friday Night Magic - Extended! Thanks to recent changes in Wizards Policy, it is now permissible to run extendend format for FNMs. The extended format includes all cards from Lorwyn Block forward. Come try your hand at this interesting format! Here you rule. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 1; 5:30-9:00pm.

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Explore alternate formats such as teams, highlander/commander, planechase, archenemy, etc.
Tuesdays: 5,12,19,26; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 8,22,29; 5:30-9:00pm.

Magic 2012 Core Set Prerelease!: Come experience the newest core set of Magic with this sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. $30.00 entry. DCI sanctioned with prize support. Hosted by Dan Regewitz. Open gaming available. Draft to follow main event ($16.00 entry).
Saturday, 9th: 11:00 registration; 12:30-5:30 main event; Draft 6:00-9:00.

Magic 2012 Launch Draft!: Come celebrate the official release of the Magic 2011 core set with a DCI sanctioned Draft. $16.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 15: 5:30-9:00.

Grand-Prix Trial: Our Century-3 location is proud to sponser annother Grand-Prix Trial, this time for Grand-Prix Pittsburgh. $10.00 standard constructed event. Every player who enters who finishes swiss rounds gets 1 booster pack. First place to receive 3 round-byes at GP-Pittsburgh. Additional prizes based on attendance. Head Judge: Dan Regewitz.
Saturday, July 23rd at NDC-C3;

WPN August Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, commander, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
Tuesdays: 2,9,16,23,30; 5:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 5,12,26. 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic - Draft: Join us for our monthly draft. We expect to draft M11 core set. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 19th 5:30-9:00pm

Magic GAME DAY!: Experience the power of play. NDC Butler to host a Magic Game day. This event is open to all players. Entry $10.00. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Additional prizes will handed out for this event! Here, you Rule!
Saturday: 14th 10:00am registration opens. 1:00pm start time.

Highlander / Commander: Participate in the most awesome format ever. Elder Dragon Highlander AKA Commander. 100card singleton commander format. Multi-player with victory points. $10.00 entry. Prizes to be distributed as store credit.
Tuesday: 30th 5:00-9:00pm

Future Events
2011-05-29 -11-05-2858077 -From the Vault - From the Vault:Legends (releases Aug 26th)

Awesome Magic Story

= Awesome Magic Story
= Tuesday June 14th, 2011

If you've played Magic for even a little while, you probably have a magic story to tell. A magic story is basically any narrative that only another magic player can truly appreciate. The most common stories that you can hear on a regular basis are "I pulled these awesome rares out of these packs!" or "I was up against the ropes in a tight game but managed to edge through with..." centered around amazing or rediculous plays or game states. I have a magic story for you today, and it is unique, wonderful, and just plain awesome.

Back in March I had the opportunity to expand my tournament operations outside my local store by sponsering and head-juding an event at CosCon - the annual gaming convention here in Butler, PA. It was the first time in years Magic had been played at that event. The result was lukewarm (we got 8 people). However I had the opportunity to meet local artist Charles Urbach, who happened to be at the same convention.

If your not familiar with Charles work in magic, I wouldn't be surprised. As it stands right now, he doesn't have too many cards that have released. However, Charles has been a long-time professional artist doing things for other games such as L5R and other projects by AEG games.

Magic art by Charles Urbach

On that fateful day, I made inquiries about a play mat, and arranged to have one made for me. I commissioned some magic-related art. In other words, I paid the good man for his skills to produce something awesome for me.

The artwork that I felt could be the most potentially awesome was Minamo, from the planechase card.

Minamo (plane)

I asked if he could perhaps do a more arial view of the school and it's surroundings. At which point I was told that there was another sketch, one that was submitted to wizards that wasn't actually used. A piece of art that was in a similar vein to what I was asking for. I asked him to e-mail me this sketch so I could get an idea of where he was taking it, but that in the end I would probably want him to base the play mat on this alternate art. After all, alternate art is awesome.



Um, yes. That will do quite nicely! But I was curious if Charles could perhaps add just a touch of color to the mat (highlights perhaps?). Charles hadn't done much work in color on play mats, and had to experiment with a few different markers and ink to get the color I asked for. In my own way I helped a professional artist expand their professional toolbox by just a little bit. That, my friends, is awesome.

There was a bit of back-and-forth between Charles and myself during the production of this play mat, but that was of minor consequence. This past week the item was finally completed. Charles was nice enough to present me with a handful of goodies which I accepted graciously.

First, a 8x11 print of the Minamo plane art.



Second, a second print (same size paper, but smaller image), of the original alternate-art used as a baseline for the play mat.



Third, quite possibly the most awesome play mat that i've ever seen, and definitely the best one that I now own.



And just so that you out there can appreciate this, here's a close-up of the actual school in the center right of the prior pic



And that, is my awesome magic story.

Best wishes, and may you experience some awesome magic.

WPN Events for June, July

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN June Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 7,14,21,28

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 3,10,24; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly draft event. We should be drafting Scars Block.$16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday 17; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Game Day: Experience the power of play. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Here you Rule! $10.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Sat, 11th 12:00 noon-9:00pm

Commander Release Event: Experience the power of Commander! This 100 card singleton format is so awesome that I will be hosting a special "sealed" event. Bring your own sealed or unmodified deck out of the "commander" product line and let multiplayer madness begin! Product available for sale. $5.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Tues, 21st; 4:30pm-9:00pm

WPN July Events

Friday Night Magic - Extended! Thanks to recent changes in Wizards Policy, it is now permissible to run extendend format for FNMs. The extended format includes all cards from Lorwyn Block forward. Come try your hand at this interesting format! Here you rule. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 1; 5:30-9:00pm.

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome. Explore alternate formats such as teams, highlander/commander, planechase, archenemy, etc.
Tuesdays: 5,12,19,26; 6:00-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 8,22,29; 5:30-9:00pm.

Magic 2012 Core Set Prerelease!: Come experience the newest core set of Magic with this sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. $30.00 entry. DCI sanctioned with prize support. Hosted by Dan Regewitz. Open gaming available. Draft to follow main event ($16.00 entry).
Saturday, 9th: 11:00 registration; 12:30-5:30 main event; Draft 6:00-9:00.

Magic 2012 Launch Draft!: Come celebrate the official release of the Magic 2011 core set with a DCI sanctioned Draft. $16.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 15: 5:30-9:00.

Future Events
2011-08-13 -11-08-2858080 -Magic 2012 Game Day

Interest Saturation

= Interest Saturation
= May 9th, 2011

Periodically in the past I have taken a moment out of my already busy schedule to write a basic event report. These reports summarize how some of the events that often take more planning and preparation were actually executed and how successful they were, as well as any interesting rulings or other situations. After running the events related to the New Phyrexia Pre-release, I felt as if I had to sit down and write something more than a report.

Let me first say that the challenges that I see ahead seem very difficult to overcome. But the potential for growth on a personal and professional level is staggering.

=What Happened?

Those who were there saw it, were a part of it. Could not help to notice the fact. We had a sanctioned pre-release with only eight players in attendance. If you fail to see why this is not immediately flagged as a "Very serious problem" allow me to share some basic info with you. Since I started running pre-releases, the attendance at this type of event has been steadily increasing. Dipping into my history file I can show you the following:

Pre-release attendance: Main; Draft side event(s)
New Phyrexia: 8 ; 12
Mirridin Besieged: 18; 9
Scars of Mirridin: 30; 10
Magic 2011: 31; 14
Rise of Eldrazi: 19; 8

Obviously a pre-release attendance of 8 is quite worry some when we've hosted 20-30 people consistently for the past year.

=Why did it happen?

That day, a lot of people were asking the question "What happened?" But this is more appropriately phrased as "Why did we only get 8 people for a pre-release?"

Upon reflection, it is my belief that no single thing was the root cause of this. But If I had to answer with a single word I think that word would be "Saturation."

Every now and then there is a perfect storm. A collection of events and circumstances that have a combined effect far greater than their parts. This past Saturday was one such conflux. Allow me to share with you some of the things that probably contributed to our lowest attendance numbers yet.

Saturday was Free-Comic Book day (the first saturday in May). Normally this is very good for us as it brings people into the shop. The response this year was somewhat less.
Saturday was the Spring into the Arts Festival (held in center court of Clearview mall), and consumed space, and time (as well as tables and chairs).
That weekend happened to be Mother's Day weekend, and many people had familial duties or responsibilities.
That weekend happened to be commencement weekend (at least for SRU).
The past season (2-3 months) of regular magic events have successfully launched inconsistently at best (more on this later).

There are probably more circumstances that I am missing at this time.
Like I said, a perfect storm.

=Saturation

While several events saturated that single day. I'd like to talk about another saturation which has been increasingly worrying me, and contributes directly to that last item concerning our weekly FNMs not being held due to lack of interest.

And that is: Interest saturation.

There's a certain amount of interest in Magic by those people who play. That interest is finite because there's a finite number of people in a given area who have an interest in magic. A location that runs FNMs, like NDC Butler (the store where I work and run events most of the time), and the local community of players is best served when the pace of events match (but do not exceed) the available interest.

That available interest can fluctuate as people join the game, leave the game, gain new responsibilities (family, job, etc), as well as can be dictated by personal finance. It is a resource that we retailers need to carefully mine, without overextending.

If you are matching your area's interest you will get consistent attendance numbers over long periods of time. Thus far I've managed steadily climbing numbers for nearly two years. If you look at the long term, we're doing pretty good.

The biggest warning sign that you are exceeding the available interest? Or providing more events than there are people willing to attend regularly? - Poor attendance. What I've faced and seen happen locally for the past 2 months minimum.

=What can be done?

I read an article once where a local magic judge struggled to get the eight player minimum to run sanctioned FNMs for months. His solution was to only run events bi-monthly. His situation was vastly different from mine however, because he lived in a very rural area where players had to travel (sometimes up to an hour) to even attend the events he was hosting. While this certainly is a solution that works, I don't think this is the right solution for me in Butler, PA.

I'm still very much open to new ideas and approaches to solve this growing issue that effects all of us. However, I can say with utter certainty one way to bring our regular attendance back to the level it takes to run regular weekly events.

Generate More Interest.

While there are many ways to generate more interest, I think the one that stands out most in my mind is to cultivate more magic players. Both new players and players returning to the game after a long hiatus need to be given encouragement and room to grow. They need to be informed about sanctioned play, so they can make educated decisions about what types of tournaments they wish to try out (if any - some players are not and will never be tournament players).

Imagine for a moment that our location only has 10 or so tournament magic players. Each person would have a relatively large impact on if a successful sanctioned event could take place. Compare to a situation where a location has 30 or so tournament players. A few of those players might come every week (barring unusual circumstances), but if the bulk of them only come every 2-3 weeks - your still guaranteed to have an event just about every week.

=Community Building

Obviously, a lot of work needs to be done, and I for one am not sure where to start. But I know two things.

One: We can all work together on this, and should. Part of what makes magic awesome is that players as a whole are a community. We all share a common interest. The physical location where we play, IE: The FLGS (friendly local gaming store), isn't just a place to hang out, it's OUR place to hang out.

Two: Magic the Gathering is FAR from dead. Butler has a vibrant and strong Casual night that is PACKED nearly every Tuesday. The near future is also PACKED with awesome magic. Commander, is one that interests me. The most important however is Duels of the Planeswakers and Magic 2012 Core Set, and a national-level ad campaign put forth by Wizards to bring new players into Magic.

In the coming month I hope to read articles and gather information regarding the subject of Community Building. I will attempt to link interesting articles or otherwise pass along what I learn in attempt to facilitate the growth of our community.

Until then, may your interest flourish and grow.

WPN events for May, June

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN May Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 3,10,17,24,31

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 6,20,; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. New Phyrexia Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 27; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Pre-release!: Once again NDC is proud to host an officially sanctioned pre-release event. A Scars of Mirrodin Block sealed deck event featuring the newest set, New Phyrexia. $30.00 entry fee w/ prize support! Days events to include free play ($16.00) and sanctioned draft ($16.00) if time allows. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Saturday: 7th; 11:30 registration; Play 12:30-5:30; Draft 6:00-9:00

New Phyrexia Launch!: Celebrate the official launch of the Magic set New Phyrexia in this Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 13th; 5:30-9:00pm.

WPN June Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 7,14,21,28

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 3,10,24; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly draft event. We should be drafting Scars Block.$16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday 17; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Game Day: Experience the power of play. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Here you Rule! $10.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Sat, 11th 12:00 noon-9:00pm

Commander Release Event: Experience the power of Commander! This 100 card singleton format is so awesome that I will be hosting a special "sealed" event. Bring your own sealed or unmodified deck out of the "commander" product line and let multiplayer madness begin! Product available for sale. $5.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Tues, 21st; 4:30pm-9:00pm

Future Events

2011-07-09 -11-07-2782931 -Prerelease - M12 - US
2011-07-09 -11-07-2782932 -SIDE EVENTS - M12 Prerelease
2011-07-15 -11-07-2782928 -Launch Party - M12

12 tips for the aspiring Commander

= 12 tips for the aspiring Commander

In my continuing quest to educate the masses about the Highlander/Commander format and the many joys of playing, I have devised a short 12 item list. This list is not intended to be complete or definitive. It's simply 12 strategies that work well in almost any Commander deck. I highly recommend considering including these strategies when building a deck or otherwise making card choices. They are in no particular order save the order I wish to discuss them in.

- Push creatures through (evasion)

The board can get fairly clogged in a commander game. By that I mean that it can be littered with creatures. In such a situation no player wants to attack because they risk loosing creatures and/or making themselves a target of retaliation. A creature that can both attack and block is therefore valuable (creatures with vigilance don't tap to attack, and are therefore available to block). Likewise a creature who cannot be blocked by an opponent is also a suitable attacker. Abilities that make creatures harder to block are loosely called "evasion" abilities, and include such things as flying, intimidate, landwalk, etc.

Flying and Trample are both evasion Abilities

- Deal with creatures (single target removal, board wipes).

A board wipe is any spell or ability that effectively gets rid of all creatures. Because creatures pose a threat in the form of attacking damage (not to mention useful abilities). Thus, it is very useful to have a 'release valve' that can reset the board. Remember, the probability of board wipe is 1. Some creatures can be very potent threats, and therefore it's also a good idea to have a few effects that can take out a single creature with pinpoint accuracy - for those situations where you need to deal with a threat right now.

The most traditional Board Wipe.

- Build for trouble (artifacts, enchantments)

Just as creatures can pose a significant threat, so can artifacts and enchantments. You can almost certainly find a few artifacts and enchantments to help your deck along it's path to victory. If you happen to be running some sort of combo deck, chances are one of your key combo pieces is an artifact or enchantment. If you can find some useful tools for your deck, then so can your opponent. Come prepared to remove a few of each type.

Hates Artifacts or Enchantments.

- Scale it up (play some higher cost spells)

Commander games take longer than normal games of magic. Partly because players start with 40 life, partly because decks are 99 cards deep, but also partly because players opt to play cards that (on average) have higher costs than decks in other formats. When building a deck it's a good idea to keep in mind that in most commander games your going to have a little extra time to get some mana, and cast spells that are 5-7 mana range (or higher). Cards like Darksteel Colossus are generally considered unplayable in standard, but are quite playable in Commander.

Really large spells can be worth it.

- Permanents are King (repeatable effects rule)

To illustrate a point I want you to look at two cards. Boomerang, and Temporal Adept.

Boomerang

Temporal Adept

Both of these cards perform the same function. Namely, to return permanents from the field to owner's hand (or 'bounce'). Boomerang as an instant has a certain surprise factor because your opponent doesn't know you have it until it comes out of your hand. Temporal Adept on the other hand can Boomerang every single turn for only one more blue mana, and tapping it, for as long as you can keep it on the field. Partly due to the fact that Commander games are longer, many players will prefer Temporal Adept. The Adept provides an advantage that can be maintained over several turns.
This is not to say that you shouldn't play instant and sorcery spells, just that a permanent is often better than a spell that performs the same function.

- Friend or Foe: Planeswalkers

Planeswalkers can be very useful cards because they are permanents that provide once-a-turn effects (see above). There are also limited options for dealing with them, mostly attacking and redirecting burn spells. Because of this, they are often attractive cards to include in a deck. However, fielding a planeswalker without adequate defense typically means that it will simply die after one effect. Also they tend to "draw hate" from the rest of the table - by which I mean that other players really don't want you to activate the last, often called the "ultimate" ability of any planeswalker, and will take active steps to fight it.
Be mindful if someone resolves a planeswalker. Who is it and what are they doing with it? If it's a Garruk and they spend two or three turns untapping land to play some more spells - well let's just say you better be prepared for an overrun.

Planeswalkers are a double-edged sword, sometimes.

- Use the graveyard (bring stuff back)

Any deck is filled with resources. When these resources are spent (by casting or in combat), they are sent to the graveyard. Which is why it's often a good idea to bring them back and use them again. Because you can only play one copy of any given card in a Commander deck, it's a very good idea to be able to dig through your graveyard and bring cards that are useful in the current situation back. This includes mass effects like Elixir of immortality, but also targeted effects like Regrowth or Raise dead.

Reuse the graveyard, somehow.

- Land ho (non-basic lands)

Most lands generate mana, but some lands don't have to. There are lands that can bring back creatures, prevent or deal damage, become creatures for a turn, give a creature a temporary boost or ability, or give you no maximum hand size (one of my favorites). Lands are just another resource for your deck, and while they are there to provide mana for spells - there is nothing wrong with some of them also doing something else, or a few of them doing something instead of that whole mana thing!
Which is why it's a good idea to include a card or two that can destroy a land (or two). Just as artifacts or enchantments can create enough trouble to be worth getting rid of, so can land.

The most classic of the hated non-basics.

- Gain some life

You might think that 40 life is a lot. The thing is with life, is that it can't hurt to have a little more. Including some way to gain life (or prevent damage) can keep you in the game and playing for longer. This should enable you to see more cards of your deck, and interact more in the game.
Conversely, keep in mind the rules about commander damage (which say that if you take 21 points of accumulated damage from a single commander you loose the game). These rules exist to keep the game interesting and preventing players from being able to play with a deck that gains so much life it can't loose.

Life is the stuff of life.

- Draw some Cards.

Just as gaining a bit of extra life will help you in a long game, so to will drawing a few extra cards. This goes back to the whole concept of each card in your deck being a resource. If you are drawing multiple cards in a turn, you acquire multiple resources a turn. This gives you a wider or better selection of possible plays on the subsequent turn. Also it allows you to see more cards in your deck over a set number of turns, which means you will simply see more cards that you want or need.

Be generous (or greedy) with cards.

- Dueling Grounds

No, not the card. I'm actually referring to land. Land is the primary resource. Without it, all of your other resource spells go to waste. Thus, it is important to get land, get land in the right color(s), and get enough land to fuel all the fun things you want to do in a game. Thus it is often a good idea to find spells or abilities that allow you to search land out of your deck and put them someplace useful (like your hand or the battlefield). Artifacts can also serve the same purpose as land. There are many "Mana Rocks" in the game - artifacts with abilities that can add mana to one's mana pool. Mana filtering (changing one color of mana into another) is also relevant in 3-5 color decks.

Explore new Lands!

- Have Fun!

Repeat after me: If you aren't having fun, your doing it wrong!

Commander: Testing

= Commander: Testing

I did mention testing, so I'm going to talk just a bit about how to do that. First of all, you can start testing in your own home.

- Test hands
The first method of testing the deck you just put together is to look at an opening hand. If you don't like the look of the first one you see, feel free to shuffle and take seven more. For each hand that you look at consider the following: Do you have enough land? Do you have the right colors? What's the earliest you could play a spell using just those 7 cards? Would you keep this if you were sitting down to a game with a real, live opponent?

Commander decks are naturally slower than other smaller constructed decks, so take this into consideration. I frequently look at sets of 10 cards (representing my first three draws) to determine if the deck has draws that I'd like to see and can play with.



This looks like a good hand to me personally. No spells to cast, but I have a first-turn reliquary tower, which is always a good sign, and plenty of land and all three colors.

- Goldfish
A "goldfish" is basically a solitare game that you play against no opponent. You simply draw cards, play land, cast spells, and repeat this process. The goal is to see if the cards you picked are doing what you expected them to do. Is your deck following your strategy? Are the expected synergies there? In the right quantities? At any point do you want some effect that simply isn't in your deck?



After a particularly extended Goldfish, I decide to debate prior card choices. I wanted more Auras during the game, so here I consider two I previously cut (left) for some less synergistic enchantments from my deck (right)

- Live test
Of course some of the best feedback you can get for any deck is to take it to a game table near you and play it against another player playing one of their own decks. It forces you to deal with threats, interact with what your opponent has on the field, plus get another player's opinion on how, how well, and why your deck works (or doesn't).

- So is it done?
Of course not! Yes you have a playable deck, and it might even be reasonably good. But you can learn more about magic, you can become a better player, and you can become a better deck builder. As you grow, so can your deck. You can revise it to make it better. Or you can revise it to make it more fun. Or you can revise it so that it focuses on a different theme or sub-theme. Or you can build a new deck (one of my favorites).

Whatever it is you do, have fun slinging some spells!

Magic Events April, May

Magic: The Gathering
Events


WPN April Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 5,12,19,26; 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 8,22,29; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

FNM; Two-Headed Giant: Totally not a joke. Enjoy a change of pace with a Two-Headed Sealed event. Each team of 2 will receive 8 packs of Scars/Besieged product. Entry $16.00 per player or $32.00 per team. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! FNM and other promos offered as random door prizes. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, April 1st, 5:00-9:00pm.

Commander Event: Participate in the most awesome format ever. Elder Dragon Highlander AKA Commander. 100card singleton commander format. Multi-player with victory points. $10.00 entry. Prizes to be distributed as store credit.
Tues, April 12th 4:00pm-9:00pm Note: the date of this event has changed.


WPN May Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 3,10,17,24,31

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 6,20,; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. New Phyrexia Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 27; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Pre-release!: Once again NDC is proud to host an officially sanctioned pre-release event. A Scars of Mirrodin Block sealed deck event featuring the newest set, New Phyrexia. $30.00 entry fee w/ prize support! Days events to include free play ($16.00) and sanctioned draft ($16.00) if time allows. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Saturday: 7th; 11:30 registration; Play 12:30-5:30; Draft 6:00-9:00

New Phyrexia Launch!: Celebrate the official launch of the Magic set New Phyrexia in this Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 13th; 5:30-9:00pm.


Future Events

2011-06-11 -New Phyrexia Game Gay (standard)

Commander: It's all in the cards.

= It's all in the cards.

If you've never built a Commander deck before, it kinda goes without saying that your going to need cards to build with. Even someone like myself who's a big fan of the format with multiple decks under my belt, goes out of their way to acquire cards when attempting to build a new Commander deck.

You're going to need a lot of cards.



Ok, maybe not that many. Although you can build with every card ever printed, remember the limitations of the Commander format. You have to stay in-color with your chosen Commander, you can only run one copy of any given card. You can also start picking your effects now. Running black, but creatures not a big part of your game plan? Don't grab Raise Dead or similar effects. Also low cost creatures (without abilities) are dead draws in Commander as a format



Ah, that's more like it. This is where my last 2 Commander decks started. As approximately 400 loose cards. It took me roughly 4 months to accumulate the selection you see before you by trading with other players, as well as with my FLGS (friendly local gaming store). I spend a good deal of store credit and some cash both locally and online to get this selection of cards to build from.

I want to say that it's OK to have a list of specific Cards that you want to see in your deck. I strongly urge beginners to not build complete deck lists that they see online. Often these lists include expensive singles and aren't going to fit your play style. If you are picking the cards, then there's a good chance the deck is going to be fun for you!

- The Building Process

Why start with so many cards? Because it's relatively easy to cut cards you don't like or don't want. Also starting with 400 cards and cutting down to 60 (not including land), ensures that you get everything you need (but maybe not everything you want) into the deck. Also I find it preferable to finding yourself a few cards short, and attempting to fill those slots with miscellaneous commons you have lying around that quite possibly aren't going to work for your game plan or be syngeristic with the rest of your deck. Worst case scenario they might even work against you. Whereas if you find such cards in your stack of 400, you can simply cut them from consideration, or swap them out for cards you've already cut - but are better than junk.

- Sort your cards

You need to know what you have, before you can get building. I highly suggest sorting all your cards by color and card type. This gives you an idea of what resources your dealing with. It allows you to review your card choices, revise your overall game plan, find patterns, recognize cards that are going to make just about any cut, etc.

The only cards you should cut at this point are those that you have more than one copy of (a no-no for Commander).



Here I have my collection of cards for Zur spread out in front of me. The first row is Non-basic land, then Enchantments by color. The second row is the Commander (Zur), then auras by color. The third row is non-aura, non-creatures by color. The last row is creatures by color.



Slightly more dramatically the stacks are photographed here (left to right) as: Non-basic lands, Enchantments, Auras, Artifacts, Other spells (instants, sorceries, planeswalkers), and creatures.

- The First Cut

Well, the deck cannot come together unless we start to cut cards. I take time to look at each pile that I've made. Within each card type I sort the cards further. Cards that seem really good or fun go into one pile. Cards that seem strong or interesting go into another. Marginal cards go into a third, and cards that I just plain don't like go in a fourth.

Let's not mince words. Your goal here is to cut cards. You should be as brutal as you dare. I typically scoop up the weaker two piles and return them to the box. Culling close to half of my selection in the first or second go-arround.



First cut complete. Looking at the box of 'cut' cards it looks like I managed somewhere below half, but not by much. Not a bad thing.

- Creatures

Creatures are very important to any Commander deck, as they represent the Aggro part of any deck's strategy. Creatures can slowly and incrementally win you just about any game by attacking. Thus any deck should have a few big fat creatures that can win the game conventionally. It's also a good idea to invest some card slots in creatures that have utility functions like fetching land, killing other creatures, destroying pesky permanents (like artifacts or enchantments), and so forth. This is true even if your game plan is to control & combo.

I mentioned "Card slots" there. Let me explain a bit. A commander deck has to be exactly 100 cards. No more, and no less. So when you commit yourself to running a specific card, you've locked that in. By deciding that Zur wants about 20 creatures, and cutting my pile of creatures down to 20 cards, I've not only consumed 20 of my 100 cards total, but I've consumed 20 of my 20 creature cards total.



My 20 creatures, sorted by casting cost ... for now.

- Cut and Cut some more!

This is a process you repeat and repeat again for each stack. Each time you pick up a stack, you try to cut more cards. You distill the piles of junk into stacks of cards that (1) work with your strategy, (2) work synergistically with your other cards, and (3) you really _really_ like!



This picture I snapped somewhere around my 5th or 6th attempt to cut cards. At this point in time I still had 70-some odd cards on the table, and had to cut another 10-15 to pair it down to my final 60. Why 60? Because you need to run Land, and 40 percent is about right for a Commander deck whose spells typically peak in the 3-5 range, and go up to 10. Also keep in mind that I have limited mana-ramping in my chosen colors.

It goes without saying that each time you go back to cut cards, it's going to be more difficult. You may end up revising exactly how many cards your setting aside for creatures, for example. To make more space for say ... enchantments. Which is something I did for Zur.

It might also help to sort your cards using different Criteria. Sorting them by mana cost is something I like to do when I only have a few cards left to cut. I look for mana costs that have a lot of cards at that cost. I then look at all the cards that cost the same, and try to cut a card or two that aren't worth the mana investment compared to other cards of the same cost. I'm particularly critical of spells costing six or more. With that kind of mana investment I should get something that's going to significantly impact the game.



Some more Zur cards, sorted by cost.

You may also want to sort by color. In a multi-color deck like the one I'm building this helps identify if your relying on one color too heavily, or ignoring another.



Looks like it could be a case of too much white, not enough black?

After agonizing over card choices for a while, you eventually settle on a stack that you feel is playable. I ended up with ... 19 Creatures, 11 Other spells, 15 Auras, and 15 Enchantments. Yeah that's 30 total enchantments, but you have to remember that I am building around Zur. Incedentally 20 of those enchantments are casting cost 3 or less, and thus suitable fetches for Zur's ability.

- Mana Balance.

Land is vital to the performance of the deck. The key to figuring out what kind of land you want to run is figuring out what colors your deck is. I know you know what colors your deck is, but the trick is to run land in the right proportion. This is of course a moot point if you happen to be running a mono-colored deck. It's less of a concern for two-color decks, but I would still recommend this process for them. I find it absolutely necessary to do this for 3-5 color decks of any style.

I've worked out an algorithm that works for me and I use for nearly all my magic decks.

(1) Count the number of mana symbols on each card.
I do this step with pen and paper. Using tally marks to mark how many mana symbols of each color appears on each card. I include mana symbols that appear in rules text also. Hybrid symbols count as both colors. Thus Debtors' Knell adds both 3 white and 3 black tallies to my sheet.

Debtors' Knell

(2) Total the number of symbols in each color, and Total mana symbols overall.
For Zur I had 55 white symbols, 30 blue, and 29 black, the deck has a total of 114 mana symbols.

(3) Find the percent of each color in your deck.
This is the number of symbols in a specific color divided by the total symbols in the deck.
(decimals used for accuracy)
White = 55 / 114 = 48.24%
Blue = 30 / 114 = 26.31%
Black = 29 / 114 = 25.43%

(4) Figure out how many land slots your running.
Zur was going to be running 40 land, but I had 20 non-basics to deal with first. Looking at my non-basics I found 14 that I could effectively ignore because they were colorless, any color, or completed sets of multicolor lands (Ravnica bounce and Lorwyn filters). This leaves me with 26 land slots to fill. Note that 6 of these slots will be filled by my remaining 6 non-basics.

(5) Find the number of mana sources you need of each color.
(Land slots multiplied by the percent of the deck in the color your working with above).
White = 26 x .4824 = 12.54 White sources
Blue = 26 x .2631 = 6.84 Blue sources
Black = 26 x .25.43 = 6.61 Black Sources

(6) Get your Basics.
I substituted 2 plains for a Serra's Sanctum and a Celestial Colonnade from my remaining stack of non-basics, and added 10 Plains. (12 Sources).
I substituted 2 Islands for a Faerie Conclave, and Creeping Tar Pit, and grabbed 5 Islands (7 Sources).
I substituted 2 Swamps for a Bojuka Bog and Dreadship Reef, and grabbed 5 Swamps (7 Sources).

Congratulations, you are now ready to sleeve up your deck and give it a test or two.


Um, please use sleeves. You spent all that time and money making this deck, give it some respect. Plus I cringe when I see people shuffle up without them.

Commander: Having a Plan

= Having A plan

Last week I introduced Commander as a format, this time I'm going to write about how one can go about building a Commander deck.

The reason why I'm writing about the Commander format lately is because I recently completed my fourth Commander deck (well, that and because I enjoy it). Except for my first Commander deck, I have followed a series of steps and phases when building decks of this type. I have worked out a framework for how to build a successful commander deck. Thus far, it has turned out 2 reasonably good decks in my local play group. Hopefully this newest one will be the third. I thought I'd share what exactly this framework entails. Hopefully this will enlighten those new to the format, inspire those who want to get into the format, and encourage those already in the format.

Let's say your interested in putting together a Commander deck, but you don't know where to start. You need to set yourself on a road map, develop a plan, and work out a strategy. Probably the most important question you need to ask yourself is what do you want the deck to do? Or more accurately, what do you find fun in Magic? (Mark Rosewater has written a handful of articles on Timmy, Johnny, and Spike which can help you discover what you find fun in Magic).

Painting in very broad strokes every (successful) deck that has ever been built does some combination of the following.
(1) Aggro: Swing with creatures.
(2) Control: Manage the board.
(3) Combo: Get some subset of cards that do something well together.

Now I believe that a good Commander deck will actually do all three of these, but in varying amounts. Each deck is will possess an overall play style or strong focus that will be the deck's core strategy. The deck will contain multiple win conditions which will fit into one of the three strategies. I'll feed you some examples from my own Commander decks.

Thraximundar
The deck itself has lots of spells, only about 20 creatures, and focuses on effects that destroy, sacrifice, or steal cards from other players. It's primary strategy is Control.

Rith, the Awakener
This deck has a decent array of creatures, not as many spells, and focuses on effects that accelerate the game, and pump my creatures. It's primary strategy is Aggro.

Sliver Overlord
This deck is mostly creatures. Even less spells than Rith, and focuses on a wide diversity of creature-based effects. Slivers are creatures, and therefore the deck is most likely to kill by attacking (an Aggro win condition). Slivers however, are inherently synergistic creatures, and the deck does include one combo (that requires 5-7 individual cards) that allow it to explode into unlimited mana/sliver tokens, thus it has a strong synergistic component with a possible combo win condition.


- Choosing a Commander

Choosing who your Commander will be is an important and vital part of building your deck. I can't tell you who to pick as your Commander, but I can tell you that there are a few philosophies behind why people pick the creatures they do.

(1) It's just the color(s) I need.
Sometimes a player knows what color(s) they want to play, but do not have a specific Commander in mind. The different colors in magic specialize in different tasks. You want to play a specific color or colors because it's what you want the deck to do. If you want to sit there and throw burn at your opponent then you're going to be playing red. If that's going to be a primary focus of your deck you may even choose to run Jaya Ballard, Task Mage.

A player can be forced to choose using this philosophy. This occurs most frequently when a player decides on a two or three color combination that include more "enemy" colors than ally colors. For example if you really want to play Blue and Green in a commander deck you have to pick between Experiment Kraj or Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. Similarly, if you want to destroy everything with extreme prejudice in White, Black, and Red - then the only Commander available to you is Oros, the Avenger - At least until the Commander decks come out this summer.

Oros, the Avenger

(2) I'm Building around this commander.

Sometimes a player knows what commander they want, and they simply build around them. In this case, there is some rules text on the card that gives the player a parameter that they want to run with. Sometimes it's as simple as creature type. Eladamri, Lord of Leaves? Looks like mono-green elves!

More often than not the legendary creature has an ability that the player plans on using to their advantage. Sedris, the Traitor King is Blue, Black and Red. However his ability lends him to a creature-based strategy, specifically one that generates extra damage or card advantage out of bringing things back from the graveyard.

Sedris, the Traitor King

(3) This commander goes with my deck..

Sometimes a player has an idea for a deck, or set of cards they want to play, or a type of effect they want to play. The player then has to find a commander that is a "best fit" with what they want to do. Both of my Rith (Naya) and Thraximundar (Grixis) decks mentioned above evolved this way. For each deck I was considering multiple possible commanders before settling on the ones I now use.

In case your curious Rith was once in contention with Johan and Mayael the Anima. Mayael was eventually cut from the deck entirely when I determined the success rate of her ability was too low. The deck still includes a Johan, but Rith's stats I thought were generally superior and more in tune with what the deck's plan was as a whole.

As an example, I will tell you that my latest Commander creation is:
Zur the Enchanter
My planed strategy for this deck is mixed. I hope to stall the game, swing with creatures (specifically Zur), and create some synergistic situations all by using enchantments. My primary focus is to attack (with Zur), and win using Commander damage rules. I choose Zur as a build-around general (Philosophy #2).

Commander, an introduction

= Commander, an Introduction

I sit on one end of a standard 8-foot table, one of six bodies huddled around a massive game of Highlander Commander. One of my favorite formats for casual play. The person sitting on the far side of the table has a Tefferi commander preventing me from casting anything except on my own turn. My brother has a Howling Mine and just put a Mana Flare on the table. The Tolsimir Wolfblood Deck on my immediate right just tried to cast Genisis Wave whith x=23, fortunately the blue player countered it, unfortunately there's now a 27/27 Draining whelk over there. I'm playing Thraximundar as a Commander. I have a blocker, Counterballance and Sensei's Diving Top bringing me a lot of hate, and a few cards in hand - Decree of Pain, Gutless Ghoul, Fork, Plauge Wind, and Land.

This is one of my favorite formats for several reasons.

(1) The decks are awesome. 100 cards makes for a huge deck. You can build with almost any card ever printed, barring a brief 20-some card banned list, and illegal sets like unglued (although some play groups will allow un-sets). However the restriction of building around the the colors (and sometimes abilities) of a legendary creature (your commander), and the restriction of not having anymore than one copy of any given card, except basic land, makes every deck and every game unique.

(2) The games are awesome. Interesting, difficult, bizarre and unusual cards and interactions are all possible in Commander. I find that the format keeps me on my toes and in good practice as both a player and a judge. It also enables me to share rules knowledge with my players. I mostly play multiplayer where there is an additional layer of diplomacy and picking on whomever is top dog. Although Commander can be complex, I find this aspect of it incredibly fun.

(3) The people are awesome. I am somewhat fortunate in that I have found a nest of players who all enjoy the Commander format. Some of them even enjoy it for the same reasons that I do, and this is a great blessing.

The Official website for the Commander Format can be found here:
http://mtgcommander.net/rules.php

Here's a lowdown of the major differences between Commander and the other Magic you may be more used to.

(1) Your deck must consist of exactly 100 cards (this includes your Commander).
(2) You select a single legendary creature, this creature is your Commander.
(3) When constructing your deck, you may only choose cards that are the colors in your Commander's mana cost and/or ability text.
(4) Except for basic land, you may only put one copy of any given unique card in your deck.
(5) You start the game with 40 life.
(6) When drawing your opening hand there may be an alternate mulligan rule in effect. Most groups use something called the Partial Paris mulligan.
(7) Your commander starts the game in the Command zone. You may cast your commander from the command zone any time you can normally cast a creature spell.
(8) If your commander would go to the graveyard, or exile zones, you can choose to send them to the command zone instead. If you do, the Commander costs 2 more to cast for each time it is returned to the command zone.
(9) Most likely there is a "Commander damage" rule in effect. If a player should accumulate 21 points of damage from a single commander during the course of a game, they loose the game.

Running a Magic Game Day.

= Running a Magic Game Day.
= March 7th, 2011

Late on a Friday night, after the FNM was well done and over with, I became suddenly and violently ill. I'll spare you the horrid details but I definitely had a spat with the flu, and it attacked me suddenly and without warning.

This posed a serious problem, because tomorrow, Saturday, was Besieged game day. I knew then that I would not be fit to run any event, but calling anyone would do no good at such a late hour. So I grabbed some much needed sleep, but set my alarm for 8:00 so I could inform my coworkers of my state.

I put the decision of whether or not to actually run the event up to Ken, my immediate supervisor. He was willing to run the event, but needed detailed specific instructions of how to go about it.

What follows is a copy of the e-mail I then composed to Ken. I am posting it here in hopes that it may help some other organizer planning for their first game day, or training a co-worker to run a game day in the event of an sudden and unexpected absence. A slight disclaimer: Some features of this document such as cost to enter, prize payout, the ability of players to "Choose a faction" and get a promo based on that choice will not be the same for all game days or all locations.

"...
Subject: RE: Urgent: Game Day

You need to:

(1) Begin the tournament.
(a) Open the Game day event in WER, from the list of sanctioned events, should be sorted by date.
(b) Enter the players into the event. If you need new DCI cards they are in my box.
(c) Make sure everyone who payed are in the computer and vice-versa.
(d) Everyone who enters gets a "Treasure Mage" Promo out of my box. (Try and save me at least 4).
The Tournament will be 3 rounds with 8 players. 4 rounds with 9-16, and 5 with 17-32 (although I hope you don't get in that range).

(2) Each Round you..
(a) Pair players.
(b) Announce or post pairings so that Players can find their match.
(c) Keep score by entering results.
(d) Each round is 45 to 50 minutes in length. If all results are in before that time elapses, feel free to pair players for the next round.
(e) If you do go to time tell whomever is still playing "Active player finish your turn, you have 5 additional turns to finish this match."
(f) A game that goes to time with no winner is recorded as a draw.

(g) At the end of regular swiss rounds, print up a copy of "Standings" and allow the players to review it.
(h) Assuming no player has any issues with how the standings turned up, you proceed to ...

(3) The Cut
(a) With 8 players you play three rounds and your done (see ending the tournament).
(b) With 9-16 players you play four rounds, then start single-elimination rounds, cutting to top 4.
(c) With 17+ players you play five round, then start single-elimination rounds, cutting to top 8.
(d) Single elimination rounds work like regular rounds, except players are dropped from the tournament after a loss.
(e) After the single-elimination rounds are complete you can ...

(4) Ending the Tournment
(a) Print up the standings again.
(b) The Top 8 players all receive the "Black Sun's Zenith" extended art foil promo in my box.
(c) The top 2 players with Phyrexian - aligned decks get a copy of the Suture Priest card.
(d) The top 2 players with Mirran - aligned decks get a copy of Pristine Talisman card.
(e) I expect that you'll have to question the players about who has an "aligned" deck. If someone is unclear on what that means it's...
(f) At least 10 cards of your chosen faction in your main deck. No cards of opposing faction in main deck or sideboard.'

(5) Handing out Prizes.
(a) Each player who enters adds 3 booster packs to the prize pool.
(b) Figure out what the prize payout will be shortly after you know how many players are in the event.
(c) Prizes scale, and get paid out to 1/2 the player base (4th place with 8 people).

Examples:
8 Players; 24 total Packs; 12/ 7/ 3/ 2
12 Players; 36 Total Packs; 15/ 9/ 4/ 4/ 2/ 2
16 Players; 48 Total Packs; 16/ 12/ 6/ 4/ 3/ 3/ 2/ 2

(6) Dealing with the unforseen.
(a) Chances are somebody (or two) is going to complain about something simply because I'm not there. My advice is to listen to their concerns, tell them your doing the best you can, and if you think it's serious you can call to consult me on it.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to help as best I can.

- Cheers,
- Dan R.

..."

And that friends is how to run a game-day event!