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
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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]
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]
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
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!
(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 -
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!
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