Friday, December 18, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft

= MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft
= Friday, December 18th.

9 people sat down to draft Zendikar this week. We opted to go four rounds. No interesting rulings or interactions to report on. Trex H. was awarded first, and Aron S. came in second.

A note about future events - There will be no FNM December 25th, due to the christmas holiday. There will however be on on the following Friday - January 1st. Due to abbreviated store hours we plan on starting at 2:00pm.

Friday, December 11, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, December 11th.

13 people attended our FNM this week. There was one snag round 2 when someone realized that they failed to grab a pair of Oblivion Rings from the previous match. No qualms I issued a penalty and we completed the tournament in good time. Aron S. and Adam H. split/draw the final round to take first and second.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

SWM: 150pt Option - "Onezies"

= SWM: 150pt Option - "Onezies"
= Monday, December 8th.

The special option play rules for this tournament were as follows: 150pts, one faction, only one copy of any character allowed. Allowed a maximum of one unique, one very rare, and one rare. Only one command effect applies, but it applies globally. All special abilities and ranged attacks are reduced to a range of 2 squares.

Five players participated, including myself. I managed to go undefeated in this tournament with a Vong squad, using Warmaster Tsavong Lah. Nick K. took second with a New Republic squad.

I'd like to also apologize for the period of silence I've had here. Some things cropped up IRL. I hope to post more frequently in the future, although probably not for every single event.

Friday, November 13, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, November 13th.

I return from the large tournament scene to my normal hosting duties for local FNM. Ten players show up for our standard event, and we go four rounds. Adam T. went undefeated and secured first with vampires. Adam H. came in second running a new breed of five-color-control.

Someone wanted to know if you could pop a fetch land in response to Bloodchief Ascension gaining it's third counter. Since the first ability on the card is a triggered ability, a player does have the opportunity to play instants with it on the stack, or before it resolves.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

MtG: PTQ San Diego in Coraopolis

= MtG: PTQ San Diego in Coraopolis
= Saturday, November 7th.

As a judgeling, (lv 0 judge or rules advisor - take your pick), I have had the opportunity to attend and judge large local events, such as one regionals and two PTQ. This was my second PTQ as a judgeling, and I was fairly confident about working with the full court. Virtually every judge in the region was called into this event, and if I'm not mistaken there were ten of us working the floor.

My first task was actually shared between eight of us or so, and involved tearing into cases of product and separating them into six-pack chunks, and sealing them into our incredibly tech clear plastic sandwich bags. From there the day went relatively smoothly. I was on the deck check team, and swooped in to grab decks to be checked both at beginning and middle of the round.

I feel it's important as a judge to note when and where you make a 'bad call'. There was one call I made that was, quite frankly, a newbie mistake. Player A controlled a Eldrazi Monument and a few creatures. Player B had a Hideous End in hand. Player B called me over and asked (away from table) if Hideous End was cast, would his opponent still loose 2 life. So at this point in time the supposed target for Hideous end was unnamed. So I explained because the creature is indestructible, the destruction event is replaced with nothing, but the 'loose 2 life' part of the effect still occurs.

So I stick nearby the table, anticipating that there may be a further question when this player actually chooses to make this play. A few turns later, he does. and, i stick with my earlier assessment of the situation. Except that I made a mistake. I missed a very important detail. The creature Player B chose for his target happened to be black. In this case the correct thing to do is untap the land used to play Hideous End and put the spell back into hand (handling illegal actions). Because a black creature is not a legal target of Hideous End.

I also however answered more than a few questions - most fairly straightforward, as well as writing up a few Game Play Errors. In all it was a buisy, fun, and productive day.

Oh, and I should also report that this will be my last large tournament as a judgeling. I successfully took and passed the Lv1 judge test.

Friday, November 6, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, November 6th.

We had fourteen players, and three boxes of Zendikar in the shop, so things were looking up for our weekly constructed play. We skittered quite smoothly through four rounds. When the dust had settled Aaron S. had come in first playing Boros Bushwacker. Scott J. was ranked second playing 'red deck wins' aka: sligh.

I am also glad to report that our retail location has managed to open a priceless treasure. Adam T. purchased a sum of 15 packs, and proceeded to open a Scrubland out of pack #12 or so. Congratulations!

Friday, October 30, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, October 30th.

We returned to our regular FNM with fourteen players this week. Zendikar prize was handed out to the top 5 (of 7). Jess E. managed an impressive streak this week with a white-soldier archtype. Andrew G. also had a solid tournament with Vengent Jund. They met in the finals and opted to draw/split the prize.

I also would like to note the many interesting casual events over the next month. I have set aside days for planechase, sealed intro pack, and one sanctioned extended tournament.

Friday, October 23, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft


= MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft
= Friday, October 23rd.

We had a populated and successful draft this friday. Thirteen players sat down to draft in two pods. Despite my worries not one but two boxes of Zendikar came in, so enough packs were to be had for the entire draft and prizes. In pod 1 Erik L and Adam H opted to draw/split in the final round. In pod 2 Trex H won his final to take first, and Chris L. took second.

Picture: Some players enjoy a brief respite in the Zendikar shortage this week in draft.

Friday, October 16, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, October 16th.

I had 14 people for this standard type 2 FNM. Personally, I had a new deck idea I wanted to test out, so I jumped in myself. Nothing spectacular on my end. I went 1-3 with a blue-black milling deck. Otherwise we speeded through 4 rounds. Andrew G. playing vengent Jund, and Adam T. playing Bant both played to a 3-0 record and opted to draw/split in the final round. Another nice tight tournament in the bud.

PS Next week I've got a draft scheduled, I'm hoping to draft Zendikar, but with the shortages it could be M10.

Monday, October 12, 2009

SWM: 200pt constructed option play.



= SWM: 200pt constructed option play.
= Monday, October 12th.

For this option play we played a 'clone wars' theme. The rules were that a player could only play republic or seperatist, with no fringe characters allowed. Only four people participated in this tournament. We had a nice liesurely tournament, even if first round pitted clones vs clones and droids vs droids (see picture). Nick K. managed to win 3-0 running a Captain Rex/Commander Gree squad. Adam T. was ranked second with his General Grievous squad.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

MtG: Zendikar Box Tournament

= MtG: Zendikar Box Tournament
= Sunday, October 11th.

With the release of every new set, we try to run a box tournament. Honestly it was lucky that we managed to pull this off with the high demand for the set, and the box-rationing that is already being followed by the distributor. We had nine people show up for the box tournament, so I decided to join in to make it an even 10 (Recent changes to the official tournament docs allow organizers to participate in their own events provided they make no judge rulings on their own games, and the tournament isn't PTQ or up). I announce that we're going 4 rounds.

So I'm running Bant Aggro, and first round I have two quick games against a mono-white aggro deck (soldiers, angels, etc). All I can say is that game 2 Rafiq and Janara came out ... Ouch! Match 2 I faced off against my good friend Scott, who was running Jund w/white. First game was won on landing Rafiq, and causing a 10 point life swing. Next turn it was over. Second game my friend drew into too much land and I managed a slow win. Round 3 I face off against a green/white deck running lotus cobra and baneslayer. Yeah, I could have died from a turn 3 Baneslayer, If I didn't have Bant Charm in hand.

So here I was, in my own tournament, at 3-0 and heading into the final round. A lot of luck took me here, because at least two of my games I managed to swing for victory while my opponent keeps pulling dead draws (either too much or too little land). I feel a bit awkward playing for and possibly claiming a sealed box in my own tournament (it's not just a handful of packs, after all). So I call everyone over to get a feel for how they see it. My opponent wants to play it out. Most everyone else seems OK with the idea. Someone points out that I run a solid tournament (yes, I do - I always run a very tight ship). So with pressure on and my nerves starting to fray, I sit down for the finals.

Mike, my opponent, is running Jund. Game one I come out swinging with A noble Hierarch quickly replaced by Jessian Infiltrator. I loose the Infiltrator to Lightning bolt, but still manage to continue the pressure with a Pridemage. Eventually I manage a win. We both do some serious sideboard. Game 2 I have trouble drawing into creatures. Mike litters the board with Leaches and Bloodbraids. A Malakir Bloodwitch (pro-white) shows up. This card is the bane of my existence as a Bant mage. I can't keep up and go down a game. So here we are, 1-1-0, in the final round going into game 3 for the chance to win a box. A whole box is resting on this final game.

I get off on a bad start, going to six cards in my opening hand. We both come out of the gate swinging. Him with his putrid leech, and me with my infiltrator. We somehow keep on hitting each other for minor damage with a lot of back-and-forth. I wait for him to swing with two leeches before playing out my stoic angel. At some point he blocks War-monk, Jund charm's everything for 2, and bolts my stoic. Leaves him with an empty board me with War-monk and 3 life, and him at 12. We both dead-draw for two turns. Swinging me up to 12 and him down to 3. He pops a fetchland and terminates the war monk. I'm at 12, he's at 2, and there is absolutely nothing on the field except land. We both dead-draw again for a turn, then I manage to topdeck Battlegrace angel, and play it out. His draw isn't so lucky - and I win the box.

First thing I do is open it up and give the 8 remaining players in the tournament a pack out of my own winnings. I hand Mike 6 packs of M10 as his second place prize and he goes and pulls Jace, Garruk, and A glacial fortress - Damn! I'm saving 18 packs of my box for a casual 6-man draft come Tuesday, but I did open packs and so far I've got Sadistic Sacrament, Kazuul Warlord, Devout Lightcaster, Landbind ritual (foil), Scalding Tarn, Nissa Revane, Celestial Mantle, Lullmage Mentor, Summoning Trap, Hellkite Charger, Pyromancer Ascension, and Sphinx of Lost Truths.

Good Game all, GOOD GAME!

Friday, October 9, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, October 9th.

The first constructed tournament of the new type 2. An interesting time to be sure as players experiment with new cards, combos, and try to tweak their decks for the future. I had a solid 15 players enrolled in this near-epic tournament. No kidding, there were some close calls and some key plays to be witnessed tonight. We went four rounds. Andrew G. took first place running Jund. Ben R. achieved second running red/white control.

Friday, October 2, 2009

MtG: Zendikar Launch Party (draft)

= MtG: Zendikar Launch Party (draft)
= Friday, October 2nd.

I had 15 people show up for my launch party draft, and it was a good one. Players were organized into two pods for this event, so I essentially had two separate tournaments running simultaneously. We went a total of 3 rounds. In pod 1 Adam H. took first with a blue-green build involving a few whiplash traps. Aron S. took second. In pod 2 Kevin R. and Adam T. chose to draw/split last round. Kevin R. was running blue-green landfall, and Adam T. was running blue-black.

Overall a resounding success. I should also make note that now that Zendikar is officially released, we have a new type-2 environment. I personally am looking forward to seeing new builds and experimental deck types in the format.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

SWM: 100pt Constructed Tournament

= SWM: 100pt Constructed Tournament
= Monday, September 28th.

Just a regular constructed tournament this week for Star Wars Minis. Decided to switch it up a bit by only allowing 100pts. Seven players showed up for it, and we went our usual 3 rounds. Dave M. had a firm first with a mandalorian squad.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

MtG: Zendikar Pre-release!



= MtG: Zendikar Pre-release!
= Saturday, September 26th.

I usually work on saturdays, so I had to open the store this morning. Started registering my regulars almost immediately after opening. I did have help running the register, so I could focus on being a TO and judge. When packs were finally passed out around 1:00, I had 21 people in my tournament. Which is good because it matched last year's pre-release. However, in terms of people, we also had 16 people enrolled in a Yu-gi-oh tournament, which we had to toss upstairs - just to compare.
The Main event lasted 5 rounds. To allow for the maximum number of people to participate in a draft, I ran a swiss draft after the main event. That event had 12 people, and went 3 rounds. I went home tired and exhausted - but final standings for the main event have been posted at our butler location.

Pictures:
Above - I snapped this one round 2 or 3 of the main event. Because of the tight conditions and floor layout you can't see the other two tables.
Below - This is a photo of my 12 player swiss draft. Yeah, I did have to use tiebreaker 3 to place some players.

Friday, September 25, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, September 25th.

Twas the night before the pre-release, and all through the store the players were clamoring for their zendi-kar. Seriously though we had 8 people show up for our regular FNM, officially named 'Lorwyn's Last Gasp. Because this was the last FNM we would legally see kithkin or combo-elves haunt our doors. We went three rounds and packed it up. Seriously I would see most of these people the next morning as soon as I opened the gate.

Friday, September 18, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, September 19th.

If you've been keeping track, we've had a few slower weeks. Well, I just made up for those with a larger tournament. 17 people to be exact. I'm not sure where they all came from, but the six that bussed themselves in from Clarion U. certainly helped. So with that number of people, we went 4 rounds. And luckly enough the rounds proceeded quickly enough that I was able to finish before the store's 9:00 closing time.
Aron S. finished in first place with combo elves. Jessie C. finished second playing grixis control, and Adam H. finished third with Kithkin.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

MtG: Magic Sealed Tournament

= MtG: Magic Sealed Tournament
= Tuesday, September 15th.

Every now and then I will run a tournament on what is usually a free-play night. Such happened tonight. We had extra Shadowmoor tournament packs lying around, and with the set cycling out of type 2 soon, this was an opportunity to get rid of them. I knew that this wasn't going to be the highest attended event by far, even with M10 prize, and sure enough we only had 5 people. Not enough to be sanctioned, but enough to run the tournament anyways for fun. As one can expect the decks were .. fairly jank. We played three rounds. Kevin R. managed to take first, and Andrew G took second. I myself was honorable third.

Monday, September 14, 2009

SWM: 150pt Option Play tournament

= SWM: 150pt Option Play tournament
= Monday, September 14th.

Our oddball SWM tournament this month was 150pts, but no force users, and players could use characters from multiple factions. Additionally, the first place prize for the tournament was a sealed box of the clone wars scenario pack - a $40 item. I had six players to start the tournament, and one late entry. We played a total of three rounds. Adam T. won the tournament with a mandalorian squad using Boba Fett, Mercenary Commander. Dave M. took second with a four-faction squad using Moff Nyna Calixte, among others.

Friday, September 11, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, September 11th.

So for this FNM, we had our monthly draft. Distributor messed up with the M10, but I had 8 people who were willing to draft shards block - so we did. Actually it was still a good draft. 3 rounds later Aron S. managed to win first with a build using Bant, and Mike R. took second with a Grixis build.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

MtG: Magic Free Play

= MtG: Magic Free Play
= Tuesday, September 8th.

I know I haven't written about our weekly Magic free play in a while, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. This week, for example we had a total of 10-11 people show up to simply play and enjoy the game. The other item of note is that a few people were playing plane chase, which is understandable given it's recent release. There was also some general discussion on what Zendikar holds for the future.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

MtG: Plane chase Launch

= MtG: Plane chase Launch
= Saturday, September 5th

Our plane chase launch was a moderately successful event. There was a fair amount of interest in the product, and we did manage to sell 5-6 decks in the first day. About 4-5 people lingered around to play the game for nearly 6 hours. Unfortunately I was unable to watch any of the games since I was working register at the time, but I heard that that there were some pretty 'epic' plays and games.

Friday, September 4, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, September 4th.

Our weekly FNM was down to a basic 8 people this week. I don't know, maybe something to do with school re-starting? So Scott J. took it in three rounds playing .. something new, I'm not quite sure what to call it, facing off against Kevin R. in the last round playing mono-black control.

Friday, August 28, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, August 28th, 2009

A few bits of news. Firstly, MTG salvation has already begun spoiling the next magic set - Zendikar. Check it out (or not). Secondly, we actually had some M10 tonight - one box worth, which was enough by a hair. Thirdly, From the Vault: Exile hit store shelves. Of course by the time anyone reads this it will probably be gone.

In other news, I had 11 people for my FNM. We barely managed to squeeze in 4 rounds. Scott J. using five color control, faced off against Adam H. wielding Kithkin in the final round. Scott J. managed to win that match for first place in the tournament.

Friday, August 21, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft

= MtG: Friday Night Magic - Draft
= Friday, August 21st, 2009

I was actually expecting to cancel this event because of the M10 shortages. After all why spend money on a draft if your not drafting the newest set, and we're expecting some in the next two weeks. However fate smiled upon us and a package came courtesy UPS while I was taking entries. 1 lousy box of M10 - but it was enough to run an 8-man draft, which I did, because we had exactly 8 people.

Andrew G. Took first after three rounds against Mike R. Andrew was running a black/green build, and Mike R. was running a red/black - splash white build. Awesome games all around.

Monday, August 17, 2009

SWM: Star Wars Minis 200pt 'massive' tournament.

= SWM: Star Wars Minis 200pt 'massive' tournament.
= Monday, August 17th, 2009

So for our monthly 'oddball' tournament we had 200pt constructed armies. Players had to field at least 1 large or huge figure or (alternatively) 1 figure valued at 50 or more points. Seven people attended this tournament, and we went three rounds. In the last round Adam T. won against Mason obtaining a 3-0 tournament record and first place (Mason got second).

Sunday, August 16, 2009

MtG: Magic 2010 Box tournament

= MtG: Magic 2010 Box tournament
= Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Well I certainly wasn't expecting a shortage of the core set when I scheduled a Magic 2010 Box tournament nearly a month ago. However shortages happened, and we only managed to obtain (and hold onto) a single box of M10 for prizes. Fortunately that was barely enough. Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the set we only got 11 people to attend this event - which was just barely enough to give away our one saved box. We went four rounds, and in the last round Robert, playing 5-color control, got a 2-0 victory over Ben R, who was playing white soldier aggro.

Friday, August 14, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, August 14th, 2009

Ten people showed up again for our weekly FNM. Thus we played 4 rounds, and managed to squeeze in it all before 9. Adam H and Aron S. both went 3-0, and then opted to draw/split in the last round. Adam H was running Kithkin, and Aron S. was running combo-elves.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

MtG: Magic Free Play

= MtG: Magic Free Play
= Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

About 12 people attended this week’s free play. Of those, 10 opted to join in the casual play extended tournament I had scheduled. Because this was a casual event, I could participate, and I did - and luckily enough I managed to come out undefeated 4-0. I was playing a red/black goblin deck, and I somehow managed victories against some sizable competition such as zombies, fairies, and thopter beats.

As a side note. This date was also the 70th birthday of Marvel Comics. The store had promotional sales going on, and cake.

Friday, August 7, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, August 7th, 2009

Ten people showed up for our weekly FNM. This is a good thing becuase it’s the first time I’ve been over my standard 8 in a while. We played 4 rounds. In the final round Adam H. managed to win over Ben R. in a white vs white duel (kithkin vs baneslayer).

As a side note Chris L. brought to the tournament a strange little deck that used Dramatic Enrance to field Progenitus as early as turn 3. While the deck didn’t do well in the tournament, I thought it a rather clever idea. After all, how would you respond to a turn 3-4 Progenitus?

If your into magic, it’d be hard not to notice that M10 has started to become scarce. This is because the set has been in such high demand that it’s simply flying off the shelf. Locally our destributor has run out of the set, and at the time of this writing the first print run of the set has pretty much been exhausted. Fortunately, there will be a second print run, and it’s expected to hit stores in about 2 weeks.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

MtG: Magic Free Play

= MtG: Magic Free Play
= Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

7 people in all attended our free play. This was quite a surprise after last week when we must have had more than a dozen. Several games were played, but the most interesting for me was when I allowed a friend of mine to play one of my decks, and sat and watched the game. It was a slightly novel experience to see someone else play out one of my own decks since I knew every card, but they were playing it a bit differently than I normally do. What’s odd is that the opponent for the game was also playing my brother’s deck, and that he was doing the same as me - sitting as spectator for the games.

Monday, August 3, 2009



= SWM: 200pt constructed
= Monday, August 3rd, 2009

9 people in all attended our regular star-wars tournament. 2 players were late entries, which I easily entered for round 2. I hate to admit that time is becoming an issue. When time is called the SWM floor rules allows the players to finish the current round - thus all players activate all characters in turn sequence, but no new initiative is rolled. The problem being that this process can take more than ten minutes for larger games - and we only have 3 hours to complete 3 rounds given our venue.

My solution thus far has been to clip round time to 45 or even 40 minutes, and to collect results about 5 minutes after time is called.

Picture: Tom B and Dave M square off in round 1. Dave went on to win the tournament 3-0 with his Mandalorian squad.

Friday, July 31, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, July 31st, 2009

Well for this week’s FNM we ran some standard format two-headed giant. I had precisely the minimum to sanction this event with 4 teams of 2 players - or 8 players. The play was fierce and intense on all sides, making for a great (and fun) magic night. For example the first round both matches finished 2-1, with close games. Ben R and Chris L barely managed a 3-0 match record to win the tournament. Of special note was the card Breath of Malfegor, which due to the two-headed giant format was dealing 10 points of damage to a team. Two teams played this multiplayer tech.

Monday, July 27, 2009

SWM: Star Wars Free Play



= SWM: Star Wars Free Play
= Tuesday, July 27th, 2009

We had 8 people attend our free play event. Personally I like free play events because they allow you to explore the game and learn new stuff. I, for example, played only one battle, but used a mercenary squad with Nym - which isn’t my usual squad. I also did more than a few trades, watched pieces of two different games, and just kinda sat back and talked strategy some.

Picture: Dave M. talking strategy to two of our younger players, Mason and Jerimiah (off-frame).

Friday, July 24, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic



= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, July 25th, 2009

We had eight people show up for our FNM. Of those I would say about half were playing at least one new M10 card. The most interesting deck was, not suprisingly, a white deck that used some 2/2 first strikers like white knight and knight of the medowgrain, Baneslayer Angel, and Honor of the pure. Incidentally Ben played that deck and managed to win the tournament 3-0.

Picture: Ben (right) faces off against Scott in the final round of the tournament.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

MtG: Magic Free Play



= MtG: Magic Free Play
= Tuesday, July 22nd, 2009

About nine people showed up for our weekly free-play, including one new player. We didn’t have any extra freebies to toss around, so people just did the usual. That being a combination of talk, play, trade, and generally have fun. Speaking of talk and trade, there was (of course) some activity on both counts concerning M10. People were buying and trading M10 cards heavily. The obvious favorite is white cards - as a fair number of people are out there looking for white soldiers and more specifically Honor of the Pure.

I personally am looking forward to what appears at the table this upcoming friday for FNM. Guaranteed some people will be running some new cards. The question is how much and which cards will be run.

Picture: During free play night we always manage at least one multiplayer free-for-all, such as this one.

Honor of the Pure

Monday, July 20, 2009

SWM: Star Wars 150pt joint team (modified)

= SWM: Star Wars 150pt joint team (modified)
= Monday, July 20th, 2009

First, let me explain a bit about this format. We call it ‘joint team’ and it is very loosely based on other team formats where the team shares resources such as two-headed giant. For this tournament each player fielded 150pts, but teams played on the same map against other teams. Thus each team had a combined 300pts, and could share commander effects as well as strategies together.

I must say that this particular tournament was a resounding success. 7 teams (or 14 players) participated. Unfortunately the tournament did not go smoothly. I planned to go 4 rounds, but then had to cut the last round when I realized that each round was taking too long (we have to finish before the store closes). Also play was continuing long after time was called, so I had to visit each table and demand results before end-of-match procedure was performed completely. Still the attendance (and thus the available prize) was impressive, Thus overall I’m pleased with how things turned out in the end.

Friday, July 17, 2009

MtG: Magic 2010 Launch Party

= MtG: Magic 2010 Launch Party
= Friday, July 18th, 2009

We had our eight for our Friday night magic, except that we weren’t running FNM, we were running our Magic 2010 Launch Party. Our launch was draft format, and everything proceeded smoothly. We actually finished a bit early, with Niel taking the top spot. I’m a bit sorry to see that we didn’t beat our last Launch Party (which also had 8), but at least we had a successful Prerelease last weekend.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

MtG: Magic Free Play

= MtG: Magic Free Play
= Tuesday, July 15th, 2009

Six players for our weekly free play, including one new player (always a good thing). We had some free swag in the game order (a giant 3’ sticker of Jace), so we actually ran an impromptu casual tournament with $1 entry on the spot, winner (Justin) got the sticker. Four players decided to participate in that, so we had a quick tournament while the other two played a bunch of matches. With time to spare we played (and finished) a six-player multiplayer free-for-all for fun.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Star Wars Minis: Free Play

= Star Wars Minis: Free Play
= Monday, July 13th, 2009

Recently some of my players have been asking about ships. So for this free-play we decided to break out Star Wars ships. The ships minis use different maps, minis, and rules than the character game, so I was interested to learn a bit more about it. I’ve done ships before, but only a few times, and it was quite some time ago. As a free-play the event was moderately successful. There were about 7 people there. However, the ships part of the free play didn’t go over well. 2 People played one ship battle, and the rest were content to play or trade character minis. Still, I would like to thank Zach for supporting this free play by bringing in his ships, maps, rule books, etc.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

MtG: Magic 2010 Prerelease!



= MtG: Magic 2010 Prerelease!!
= Saturday, July 11th 2009

First off, yesterday was FNM, and I didn’t post a report for the event because of the prerelease on the following day. However I would like to mention that despite the fact that a handful of people told me that they wouldn’t be there, I still managed to get my 8 players to run the sanctioned event.

So how was the prerelease? Exceptionally good! First off I was over-attended. I was only given enough promos (vampire nocturnus) for 18 players. 19 people showed up. I did give promos to that last person (DCI foil twinclaws/slave to bolas) so that they wouldn’t miss out. I passed out the standard 6 packs to each player, and much excitement ensued as people opened new product for the first time! We went five rounds. In the last round the top two players were both 4-0, and opted to draw and split the prize, and ended up with eleven packs each.

After the main event I ran an 8-seat sanctioned single elimination draft as a side event. I easily got my 8 players for the draft, and even had to turn away 2 more players. Strange thing in that draft, even though we opened a total of 24 packs for the limited pool, there was only one lightning bolt to be found.

Picture: I snapped this photo somewhere around round 2 or 3.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

MtG: Free Play

= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, July 7th 2009

We had another successful active free-play. About 8 people decided to show up and play. Told a few more customers who dropped by about our ongoing events, and highlighted the M10 prerelease coming up this saturday. FYI: July 8th, 12:45-8:45pm, $25 entry, sealed deck format :) You can always check out what’s going on by looking at my venue information.

Monday, July 6, 2009

SWM 100pt Sealed (Jedi Academy)

= SWM: 100pt sealed (Jedi Academy)
= Monday, July 6th 2009

I was expecting a few more people than normal for our sealed tournament featuring the new set. Perhaps 5-7. I got a whopping eleven, making this my largest SWM tournament ever! It took a bit more to organize the event. Had to drag out an extra table, prepare an extra map, etc. I had a sealed case of Jedi Academy that I passed out, each player got 1 booster to build 100 points with. We opened 3 Jedi Academy, 1 Bounty Hunters, and 1 Legacy of the Force for our prize pool.

The first thing that was noticed, is that Jedi Academy is a fairly high-point cost set. Some people could make their 100 with two or three characters. Others did it with 4-5. One lucky (or unlucky) player did it with one (Grand Master Luke). This compared to Imperial entanglements where a player could use their whole pack and still not make 100.

The tournament went exceptionally well. A lot of players managed to go 2-0 with a fair number of victory points. We went a total of 4 rounds and Dave managed a 4-0 record with a squad that included (among other things) Darth Plagueis.

With such a large tournament, there was bound to be an interesting question or two. Twice there was a question about lightsaber throw. And yes, it is considered a non-melee attack. And yes, the target does get a cover bonus if they have cover and the force power is Lightsaber Throw 1 or 2 (3 or higher ignores cover).

The other question concerned a character with Force Renewal 1, and subject to the Force corruption ability of an opponent’s character. In this case, it mattered which occurred first, since the character could (theoretically) use the force point gained from force renewal to reroll the save for force corruption. This falls under ‘Simultaneous Effects’ so in this case the player who controls the corrupted character chooses which effect to apply first.

Friday, July 3, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic

= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Eight people showed up for our weekly FNM, as usual. What was unusual is that a portion of the players wanted to leave early for some early July 4th dealings. We also had a late addition into the tournament, so we had 9 people total playing, but only 5 by the end of round 2. Strange things like this are bound to happen on the small local scale, and luckily I understand and am flexible enough to cope. The matches that were played were a fierce lot, with a lot of players going 2-1. Mike managed to eke out a first place spot with a hard-fought 3-0 record (although game record was 6-3) with a Bant build.

A lot of people let me know that they won’t be around for next friday’s magic, but will be present for the M10 prerelease the immediately following saturday. I want a successful prerelease more than I want a successful FNM, so I’m OK with this idea.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

MtG: Free Play

= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

About ten people were present for free-play night, including one new face (always a good thing). Games were played and fun was had. Lingering discussion on M10, the rules changes, and the near future of the game continued. So far the response to M10 has been .. meh. Some key cards have been purchased from the shop that will appear in the new set (I won’t say which ones to avoid spoilers). On the other hand there doesn’t appear to be any ‘chase’ rares in the new set, and there’s some animosity towards the rules changes, and the almost-but-not reprints.

Personally I’m looking forward to running the prerelease, simply because this is the first prerelease for a core set. And I must admit I’ve got my list of cards that I’ll want out of the new set. Whenever a new set comes out it’s always an exciting prospect, and I think most people are looking forward to that.

Monday, June 29, 2009

SWM: 150pt Constructed

= SWM: 150pt Constructed
= Monday, June 29th, 2009

Six people attended this tournament. The actual tournament was very interesting. 4 players went 2-1, and happened to have the same OMW% - so the first four places of the tournament were decided on the third tier tiebreaker. In SWM this is total points earned over all rounds played. So we had a very interesting lineup of matches. Of course, there was more than moderate discussion of the new set, Jedi Academy (releasing tomorrow). I had a poster displayed and a few extras that I handed out free for promotional purposes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

MtG: Friday Night Magic


= MtG: Friday Night Magic
= Friday, June 27th, 2009

We had our standard 8 players for our standard Friday Night Magic. Ben R. secured first place after 3 rounds. The highlight of the night however was discussion on the newest spoilers for M10. Apparently a large number of cards became known within the past 24-48 hours, bringing the current total up to 176/249. If curious you can check the details on MtG Salvation.

Picture: The players sit down to round 1 of Friday Night Magic.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

MtG: Free Play

= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Only five people this week. Still we had a good free-play. I got beat by some bizarre blue deck that used morph, but had very little internal consistency, yet possessed some kind of bizarre synergy. I guess you could compare it to some more casual builds for highlander, except it wasn’t a Highlander deck. We also played one multiplayer game that we had to pack up early on due to time. Also helped someone else tweak their casual merfolk deck.

Monday, June 22, 2009

SWM: Free Play

= SWM: Free Play
= Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Five players dropped by for our free play night. I personally participated in two interesting skirmishes. The first was separatist vs separatist. I was running mostly smaller point figures with Dirge and Count Duku, my opponent was running General Grevious and several larger pieces such as the droid starfighter, large crab droid, spider droid, and halfire droid. Basically my smaller pieces were decimated in the early game with missiles and rockets, but I managed to pull through in the end through mostly the efforts of my two rare characters.

The other battle was just as interesting because of the build of the squads. Dave had a 150pt squad that was specifically designed to take out a squad built around General Obi-Wan (from the clone wars starter). I happened to have such a squad. Dave’s squad was centered around a collection of Kel Dor Bounty Hunter which he would strategically detonate with Darth Sidious and Count Duku (also out of the clone wars starter).

Friday, June 19, 2009

MtG: FNM Draft



= MtG: FNM, Shards block Draft.
= Friday, June 19th, 2009

Eight players were ready to draft in our once-a-month draft night for FNM. We drafted Shards block. We progressed through the rounds at a breakneck speed, which is not typical for sealed decks. We easily finished early despite starting a little on the late side.

Picture: Aron (right) and Kevin play out game one of the finals. Aron goes on to win that match 2-0.

As a side note there were two interesting rules questions that occurred outside the draft tournament.

(1) Most people who play magic know that if a spell is cast, but its target moves to a different zone before it resolves, then the spell is countered. This is not the case for spells that use the word ‘target’ more than once. They are only countered if ALL targets become illegal [CR 413.2a]. If only one target becomes illegal, such spells still have their effects on the remaining legal targets.

This presents an interesting situation with Cryptic Command. Should a player choose ‘return target permanent to owner’s hand’ and ‘counter target spell’ and the opponent say sacrifices the target permanent, cryptic is not countered and the target spell is still countered.

Conversely, if a player should choose say ‘return target permanent to owner’s hand’ and ‘draw a card’ and the opponent sacrifices the target permanent, cryptic IS countered and a card is not drawn.

(2) The other (hypothetical) question was if a player could redirect the damage they are taking from a Volcanic Fallout that they control, to a planeswalker they control. CR 212.9g states “If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead.”

Due to the ‘controlled by an opponent’ wording, A player cannot redirect non-combat damage from any source they control to a planeswalker they control.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

MtG: Free Play



= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Quite simply, we had an awesome free-play. We had quite a crowd, I think 13 or so people through the course of the night. It’s really great to see a mix of deck types and cards from the whole history of magic. That and it’s somewhat refreshing to play and play against odd combo decks, in multiplayer free-for-alls, and even just relax and not play for a while.

Picture: Alex plays a Deranged Hermit on Ken. Thanks to a
Pandemonium Alex has in play, Ken is taking 9 damage to the face.

Post Note: Yes, this (June 16th) is my birthday.

Monday, June 15, 2009

SWM: 150 split team tournament

= SWM: 150 split team tournament
= Monday, June 15th, 2009

For those who might be unfamiliar with this tournament format it works like this: Players form teams of 2. Each team has a primary and a secondary player. When pairings are performed, each team is paired with another team. The primary players battle each other and the secondary players battle each other. Teams are ranked based on the performance of both teammates. So if one player goes 2-1, and the other goes 1-2, the team has 9 match points. Otherwise we use all the standard rules for a SWM tournament.

I held this tournament with a total of 4 teams, or 8 players. We played 3 rounds so each team played every other team. Dave M. & Ryan M. managed to secure first with a record of 2-1 each, or 4-2 overall. Running this tournament meant doing certain tasks (such as pairing) manually. Overall it was a very successful (and fun) tournament!

Friday, June 12, 2009

MtG: FNM standard

= MtG: FNM standard
= Friday, June 12th, 2009

We had another small tournament with the bare minimum this time around. One new player was added to the database. They had been out of it for a while, so had to take some timeshift cards out of their deck. They were legal by the time we started, so we were all good. Scott managed to secure first again with a Revlark build.

My players surprised me. I walked into the venue with the idea that I’d be giving a short public briefing on the new rules being instated for M10’s release (see below)- but to my surprise most of them had read the article and were already familiar with what was happening.

I did do a visual demo of what would happen if a single attacker is gang blocked, and there was general discussion about the combat damage, deathtouch, and lifelink changes. Overall I’d say it was an informative session. Players were generally accepting of the rules changes, although a few were curious about how the old (current) rules handle certain situations such as mulligans and lifelink.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

M10 Rules changes

=M10 rules changes
=Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Yesterday an article was published on Wizards web site concerning the rules changes that will take place with the release of Magic 2010. I read this article for the first time this morning. I must admit that the changes are ... interesting. In general I agree that the changes make the game and game play clearer and more intuitive.

See the article here before commenting.

1. Simultaneous Mulligan: To me this is good. We should see less penalties handed out. I thought the old way was kinda esoteric anyway.

2. Terminology: I personally don't have a problem with the terminology changes, and am thankful that they are clearing up the difference between 'play' and 'put into play'. Of course some players are already complaining about the ‘battlefield’, I can only imagine what the Yu-Gi-Oh players are thinking. But honestly that needed to be cleared up somehow.

3. Mana pools and Burn: This had been a rumor until now, and players were already griping about loosing mana burn. Even the casual players I know are disappointed to see it leave. I could go either way.

4. Token ownership: Yeah, this is going to make everyone who ever played a Warp World deck feel like the rules were changed just to deny them their favorite jank combo deck. So yes, this rule change will alienate a few players. On the other hand the new rules are intuitive, and don’t leave one scratching one’s head.

5. Combat damage no longer uses the stack: This is by far the largest change announced. Like I wrote before it’s .. interesting. Loosing the ability to perform tricks with ‘damage on’ is definitely a drawback for me personally. Also I’m not sure about adding ‘lethal damage’ rules when a single attacker is gang-blocked. Trample (contrary to popular opinion) is a tough cookie rules-wise, and this may make normal combat more complex.

6. Deathtouch: Had to be changed due to the new damage and gang-block rules in the former item. I see the changes largely as maintaining the functionality of the ability.

7. Lifelink: OK this is odd because I recently had to call a situation where someone lost the game from combat damage before lifelink could trigger. This new rule, will, of-course reverse the outcome of that situation. Also the inability to stack lifelink REALLY hurts one of my type 2 decks that plays with exalted. I can’t say I’m happy about this, but I think I can cope.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

MtG Free PLay

= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

On the good side, we had eight people show up for free play. So it was fairly busy. I saw a zombie deck which brought back fond memories, and managed to play a few games with my signature deck (and it worked!) - which is a rare treat for me.

Unfortunately we were upstairs, where it was hotter and we had limited seating. However, Warhammer, which was playing downstairs had about the same number of people, if not more, and arguably, they need more floor space - so I personally can’t complain.

Monday, June 8, 2009

SWM: Free Play



= SWM: Free Play
= Monday, June 8th, 2009

Seven players dropped by for free-play night. Not all of them played a game that night, but that’s also why we call it ‘free play’. I also had one new player tonight. We always try to give players free stuff. I taught him the basics and lost (I almost always loose when doing a demo, because my opponent outnumbers and overpoints me by 2:1 or better).

Free play is always a good night to trade and/or pull packs. Personally I traded for Nym, and pulled C-3PO.

picture: Zack decides to do something silly and makes a 150pt squad out of Heavy Shock Trooper, and Sandtrooper, Oh, and
Thrawn.

Friday, June 5, 2009

MtG: FNM standard

= MtG: FNM standard
= Friday, June 5th, 2009

Hrm. Not sure what to think. First time in a while we actually had too few people. Decided to run the tournament anyway as a non-sanctioned event. I got to play my Bant deck (squire beats), and only went 1-2. Scott won (I lost to him first round) with his Reveillark /goblin deck 3-0.

There were two interesting rules issues which popped up. One actually occurred during a game, and I made a ruling, but promised to look it up and let them know since I wasn’t 100% sure, and didn’t communicate clearly on it. The other was a purely hypothetical situation which we’ve been talking about, and someone wanted to know the exact rules pertaining to that situation. So here are the official deals with both.

NAP has 8 life, and a Rhox War Monk in play. AP is attacking with three 4/4 creatures. NAP blocks one. No fast effects are played, so combat damage goes on the stack. No fast effects are played, so damage is resolved. AP would gain priority after any object is removed from the stack, but before he does, SBE are checked. The following occur as SBE (1) Rhox War Monk is put into it’s owner’s graveyard because it’s taken damage equal or more than it’s toughness. (2) NAP loses the game because they have 0 or less life.

SBE are not checked again, nor does Rhox War Monk’s ‘Lifelink’ trigger and go on the stack. The game is already over.

408.1b Spells and activated abilities are played by players (if they choose) using a system of priority, while other kinds of abilities and effects are automatically generated by the game rules. Each time a player would get priority, all applicable state-based effects resolve first as a single event (see rule 420, “State-Based Effects”). Then, if any new state-based effects have been generated, they resolve as a single event. This process repeats until no more applicable state based effects are generated. Then triggered abilities are added to the stack (see rule 410, “Handling Triggered Abilities”). These steps repeat in order until no further state-based effects or triggered abilities are generated. Then the player who would have received priority does so and may play a spell or ability, take a special action

===

AP is attacking with a Blitz Hellion (7/7 trample). NAP declares a 4/4 as blocking. AP plays a flame javelin targeting the 4/4.

The 4/4 goes to the graveyard because it took 4 damage from flame javelin. Then combat damage is assigned. Because the blocking creature is no longer present, and the attacking creature has trample, AP can assign all 7 damage to the defending player.

Conversely, AP is attacking with a Blitz Hellion, NAP blocks with a 4/4. Combat damage goes on the stack. AP assigns 4 damage to the blocker, and 3 to NAP. NAP assigns 4 damage from his blocker to the Blitz Hellion. Then, with combat damage still on the stack NAP casts incinerate on the Blitz Hellion.

The Blitz Hellion takes 3 from incinerate. Then it takes 4 more from combat damage. Simultaneously the 4/4 blocker takes 4 from Blitz Hellion, and NAP takes 3. Both creatures are put into their owner’s graveyards.

310.2c A blocked creature will assign combat damage, divided as its controller chooses, to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it will assign no combat damage.

502.9c If an attacking creature with trample is blocked, but there are no creatures blocking it when damage is assigned, all its damage is assigned to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

MtG: Free PLay

= MtG: Free Play
= Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Before I was able to sanction FNMs we had a casual play night for magic on Tuesdays. The day switched to Wednesday for a while, then was eventually moved to every other sunday when we got our FNM. However I enjoy casual play and have been pushing (just slightly) for a return of a weekly magic free-play night. Fortunately Mike (the manager) gave us back Tuesday.

This month I’m advertising it as the “Triumphant Return” of Tuesday night casual play. Our first night out of the gate had only 4 people, but that’s not bad considering our FNM crowd traditionally meets attendance requirement (8). So, if you happen to be in the Butler, PA area on a Tuesday or Friday, and are itching to play some Magic - drop by New Dimension Comics in the Clearview Mall. We’d be happy to see new faces, and you may just get something for it.

Monday, June 1, 2009

SWM: 200pt constructed.

= SWM: 200pt constructed.
= Monday, June 1st, 2009

Back from the world of large tournaments, I settle in to run a local Star Wars Minis tournament. I have a strong player base that guarantees me 6-9 people every monday. We alternate free play and tournaments every other week. Tonight we’re coming together for a 200pt constructed tournament. 200pts is the largest squad you can sanction for SWM (the other options being 100, and 150). So there’s some excitement about being able to field a large force. I’ve got six people, more than enough to run.

Rob ends up winning the tournament 3-0 with a squad that involves General Obi-wan,
Lobot, Computer Liason, and R2-D2, Astromech Driod. He plays door shenanigans with two override abilities.