Event Report: Magic: The Gathering at Origins Game Fair by Pastimes.

Event Report: Magic: The Gathering at Origins Game Fair by Pastimes.

    My two days floor judging this event was really a lot of fun. Having been to Orgins before with Star City Games, this is a remarkably different experience with several small events firing instead of one or two large events. That being said Pastimes provided an awesome array of scheduled side events that I would have been excited to play in – and was equally excited to judge. The event has a lot of growth potential, and I'm looking forward to going back to origins in some capacity in the future.

    I return to my local scene invigorated and excited about magic. Something both remarkable and important with the recent format fatigue setting into the standard environment. I legitimately want to run some of the events I saw (and saw on the schedule) in my own local gaming store. Things like..
    Sealed Draft – Open 3 packs, draft 3 packs: End up with a busted draft deck.
    Draft-a-thon – Draft, play 3 rounds; Draft, Play 3 rounds; Cut to top 8 and Draft a third time, playing 3 rounds.
    Chaos drafts – A draft containing irregular and often unpredictable product.
    Chase-the-Planes – A limited event where a global effect, AKA: Chaos magic, applies to each round of the event.
    It also occurs to me that the recent Archenemy boxed set would make a great 4-player event using either the provided decks as a preconstructed experience, or in a form of limited. We may have to chalk this one up to a missed opportunity since it just released.

    Most of the two days I was there was standard judge fare. Pushing in chairs, picking up trash, straightening table-rows and fixing tablecloths is actually a important part of maintaining a smooth event transition. There were up to three events running simultaneously at any given time – Sealed deck, draft, modern, commander. General floor coverage and knowing that event A was competitive REL but all the others were regular REL was important. As one of the few Lv2 judges present I was also 'on tap' for other judges to clarify rulings or appeals if necessary.

    As most of these events go, I took notes on interesting rules questions. Some of these I saw personally, others were brought to my attention by other members of the judge staff. For the sake of discussion, assume all the scenarios occurred at Regular REL.

Rebound
    A untaps, goes to cast a Prey's Vengeance (G; Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn; Rebound) from exile, animates an Inkmoth Nexus, and points the spell at it. In this case the Staff were questioning if the Rebound spell could be cast since the intended target, Inkmoth Nexus, was not a creature at the start of the upkeep.
    Rebound is a complex ability. The first time the spell is cast it creates a replacement effect that sends it to the exile zone. It also creates a delayed triggered ability that resolves during that player's next upkeep. So there is a triggered ability on the stack that A can respond to, animating the Inkmoth Nexus in time for it to be targeted by the spell.
    I also pointed out to the staff the possibility that we could be looking at Out of Order sequencing (MTR 4.3). Which allows “for players to engage in a block of actions that, while technically in an incorrect order, arrive at a legal and clearly understood game state once they are complete.” The staff decided that this play was effectively Out of Order Sequencing after reviewing that policy, so A did get their pump spell as they intended.

Dark Depths Trigger   
    A untaps, draws, and plays Thespian's Stage “T: add C; 2, T: Thespian's Stage becomes a copy of target land and gains this ability.” They then activate the Thespian's stage's ability targeting their own Dark Depths. The ability resolves, and they put into the graveyard the original Dark Depths due to the legend rule. Then the Thespian's Stage copy of Dark Depths triggers “When Dark Depths has no ice counters on it, sacrifice it. If you do, create a legendary 20/20 black Avatar creature token with flying and indestructible named Marit Lage.” It is at this point that N responds with stifle targeting this trigger. A agrees, but then indicates that the Trigger should resolve a second time – Which N does not believe is so.
    The Dark Depths Trigger is a state trigger. State triggers are unique in that if the game state that causes them remains true, they will trigger again if removed from the stack (CR 603.8). So A is correct, their Dark Depths trigger will fire again, and presuming no responses from N – they will get their Marit Lage Token.
    As a quick strategic aside, N could have played Stifle targeting the activated ability of Thespian's Stage, which would probably bought them at least a turn.

Humble
    A casts Humble Targeting their opponent's Twisted Abomination (5B; 5/3; B: Regenerate). Humble reads “Until end of turn, target creature loses all abilities and has base power and toughness 0/1.” These players are in the middle of combat, and the Twisted Abomination is blocking a creature with at least 3 power. N calls you over and wants to know if they pay B to activate Regeneration, what will happen in the Combat Damage Step?
    First thing's first. It is certainly legal to activate the Regeneration ability at this time, since Humble is still on the stack and the Twisted Abomination does not lose it's abilities until that spell resolves. Secondly, the resolution of that ability creates a replacement effect, namely the regeneration 'shield'. IE: The next time this creature would be destroyed instead tap it, remove it from combat, and remove all damage marked on it. Humble does not interact with this replacement effect. The end result being that Twisted Abomination will be a 0/1, but will regenerate if dealt lethal damage in combat.

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Madness
    N activates Jace's ability at the end of A's turn. “T: Draw a card, then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.” they discard an Alchemist's Greeting (Sorcery; 4R; 4 Damage to target creature; Madness 1R). They intend to pay madness to cast this spell and want to know if Jace will transform?
    This interaction was explicitly covered when we got new madness cards in standard back in Shadows over Innistrad. However it all goes down based on the exact way Madness works (CR 702.34). When such a card is discarded, it goes to the exile zone instead of the graveyard, and waits for the madness trigger to resolve before it goes to the graveyard (not cast), or stack (cast). The point is that it's definitely not there during the resolution of Jace's Activated ability, so there is no transformation.

Multiple Attackers AND multiple blockers
    A attacks with two vanilla 2/2s and N has a vanilla 2/2 and a Truehart Duelist (1W; 2/2; May block an additional creature each combat; Embalm 2W). Needless to say there was some confusion for both the players and some staff on exactly how this combat could play out given that Multiple blockers can be assigned to a single attacker, and Truehart Duelist can be assigned to both attackers.
    This all boils down to damage assignment order. As part of the turn based action of declaring blockers, the attacking player has to put all the blockers in front of their creatures into an order. IE: This first, that second, etc. The defending player does the same for each of their blockers that are blocking multiple attackers.
    The thing is this damage assignment order does not determine the sequence of damage, since all combat damage is simultaneous. It does however determine which creatures might die since you have to assign lethal damage to creature #1 first. It's also important to note that while the combat damage order is determined when blockers are declared, the actual assignment of damage does not occur until the combat damage step. This allows damage prevention effects, or more likely pump spells to create interesting results.
    See CR 509.2; 509.3; 510.1c; 510.1d;
   
Draft Issues
    In pack 2 of a draft a player calls judge during the draft portion. The draft is suspended. P3 informs the judge that there is an unaccounted for card on the table between himself and the player proceeding them in the draft. They are unsure if it should be in their pick pile, with the pack they just selected from, or possibly with the pack that is being passed to them now. How do we proceed?
    I felt this was probably the most important situation that arose during the day. The solution I saw implemented by the Head Judge of that event was quick and effective. They had the player that called them re-count the cards in their draft pile, as well as the two packs adjacent to them. Quite simply the pack they were about to pass had N cards in it, the pack they were about to receive also had N cards in it, but their pile of picks was 1 card short. So the extra card was added to that player's draft picks.
    The reason I believe that this is important is because drafts happen a lot in magic, every weekend even. But there's no official policy on how to fix a broken draft. How to fix a broken draft is actually fairly complex because the procedure and algorithm of how a draft plays out is itself complex. Also a large number of things can happen in a draft that would cause it to be broken.
    I would like to encourage the judge community to talk more publicly about how their drafts broke, and what was done to fix them. I myself and going to be on the lookout for broken drafts and fixes in the future. I don't expect an official policy to form, as I say it's probably too complex of an issue. However, it would be nice to have a written 'toolbox' of draft fixes so that we can better educate store staff and judges who often have to perform these fixes.

WPN events, June-July

WPN June Events
    Magic: The Gathering
    Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, commander, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
    Tuesdays: 7,14,21,28

    Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
    Fridays: 3,24; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

    Friday Night Magic Draft: A speical $40 Eternal Masters Draft. Crazy I know!
    Friday 17; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

    Friday Night Magic; Modern: Modern is non-cycling format that allows any card printed after 8th edition or Mirrodin block for use, excluding cards on the Modern banned list. Come enjoy this wonderfully diverse format. $20 entry. Eternal Masters packs will be available for prizes.
    Friday, 10th 5:30-9:00pm

    Conspiracy Draft: Cube draft hosted by Dan Regewitz. It is a Conspiracy set cube - so be prepared for shenanigans. $10.00.
    Tuesday 21st. 5:00pm

    Grand Prix Trial: Feeding GP Pittsburgh. Standard format. Competitive REL, decklists required. $25 entry.
    Saturday 11th 11am registration; 12noon start.

WPN July Events
    Magic: The Gathering
    Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. New Players Welcome. Also frequently run odd formats such as planechase, archenemy, commander, emperor, multiplayer, etc.
    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: 1,8,29; 5:30-9:00pm.

    Friday Night Magic; Modern: Modern is non-cycling format that allows any card printed after 8th edition or Mirrodin block for use, excluding cards on the Modern banned list. Come enjoy this wonderfully diverse format. $15 entry. Top players may claim singles instead of packs as prizes.
    Friday, 15th 5:30-9:00pm.

    Eldrich Moon Prerelease!: Come experience the newest set of Magic with this sanctioned sealed deck pre-release. Once again NDC is proud to host an officially sanctioned pre-release event. Please note the times and prices below. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
    Saturday, 11th 11:00 registration; 12noon play begins. $30 sealed deck.
    Saturday, 11th 4:30 registration; 5:15 play begins. $30 sealed deck.
    Sunday, 12th 11:30 registration; 12:15 play begins. $30 two-headed giant sealed deck.

    Eldrich Moon Launch Draft!: Our always special and always popular 4 pack draft format for an official launch. $20 entry.
    Friday, 22: 5:30-9:00.

    Modern Constructed: As a special offer we are running a $20 modern event. This is a launch event for Eldrich moon. A sealed booster display goes to first place with 12 or more players.
    Sunday, 24th: 12:15 start.

GPT Orlando - Tarentum; Head Judge Report

Grand Prix Trial Orlando – New Dimension Comics Mills (Tarentum, PA)
Head Judge Report

    Or how to run (or not) a Grand Prix Trial.

    This particular event represents my sixth or so Grand Prix Trial that I have had the fortune to judge in my years in the program. As such, I would like to not only cover some things that occurred in this event in a typical head judge report, but also write in broader strokes about what my fellow judges and Tournament Organizers can do to make these events run smoother.

    Preparation.
    These events take a certain amount of forethought and planning. To run a successful event the TO needs to make sure they have the space, and time to run the event. Provide for some lead time to advertise the event, secure the services of a certified judge such as myself, make sure they have a computer and printer that can be dedicated to the event. Assign someone (sometimes a judge, sometimes not) to keep score. Table numbers, paper cutter, water for parched players and staff – and probably a good number of items that I have failed to mention.

    The point is that as a TO, you need to think of the comfort of your players and staff. Absolutely anything you can do to make the day go smoother is probably a good thing. Jon (My TO on this event) gets a passing score in this department. His store recently underwent an expansion, and we had room for nearly 3 times the number of players we actually hosted (24). Drinks and snacks were on tap, we had a dedicated computer and printer in our room. At the end of the day I'd have to say we put on a successful event for everyone involved.

    I see part of my job as head judge to help the TO prepare. With new TO or ones I have not previously worked with, I try to make sure that they have considered all the things that go into these events. Because if something is forgotten or communication doesn't flow, it often creates a combination of delays or unneeded stress.

    Dealing with new Players.
    Grand Prix Trials are an interesting niche. They are relatively small events that occur on the store level, but they are Competitive Rules Enforcement Level. So you are often faced with players who are playing in their first competitive event. It becomes helpful then to make these events friendly to those players, while maintaining that competitive level. This is most easily done I've found through my Head Judge announcements. I discussed briefly:
    Today is Competitive REL – that simply means that we will hold you to more technically precise play.
    Outside assistance – If someone is involved in a tournament match, make sure that you do not say something that could be construed as play advice. By the same token, if you believe you see a rules issue, you can ask the players to pause the game, and get me involved right away!
    Sealed Deck Swap – You will receive 6 packs of M15. You will be opening these packs, and simply registering the contents of them with the checklists we just passed out. You will not be playing with the cards that you open.

    This is also true at least in part for the top-8 single elimination rounds. Many of your players may have never been in this situation before. It's good to have some instructions prepared for these players.
    Zone Draft – When passing packs, do not stack packs between players!
    Keep your eyes to yourself.
    Please do not discuss the draft in any way.
    You will have a chance to review your picks between packs.
    The rounds you are about to play are still best of 3 matches, the matches are untimed, but we still expect you to play at a reasonable pace.
    The rounds you are about to play are single -elimination rounds.

    Without mentioning names of course, I'm going to mention that we had one particular new player who I now know that this was probably his first ever magic event. As much as I rejoice to see anyone join this awesome hobby – this player is not the target audience for this event. I sincerely hope this player returns to this (or another store) to enjoy magic in the future, but I think allowing him to play at Competitive REL as his first event was probably a disservice.

    Penalties.
    Of course one of the things that is different at Competitive REL, is that we have a very well structured and defined system of penalties, defined by the IPG. And we had a few of those.

    That new player I mentioned before, the pool that he registered was done in a fashion that was rather incomplete and unclear. This was discovered by the player who received the pool at the start of the deck building process. This was also the moment when I became totally aware that this was in fact a brand new player. This falls under the Limited Procedure Violation penalty (warning).
    To resolve this issue, I worked with the player who received this pool. I assisted him in creating a more proper record of the pool.

    The real story was that during round 1, we found 1 deck list with an issue. And – you guessed it, it was this list. The player whom we had saddled with partial responsibility for recording this pool, had forgotten to record the basic land that he was playing. This falls under the deck/decklist problem penalty (Game Loss). However, I opted to downgrade this penalty to a warning for two potent reasons. First, that we had saddled this player with additional responsibility; second – I was collecting deck lists and double-checking them to see that the player had recorded their name and land – and somehow missed this one.

    The only other penalty on the day was another Limited Procedure Violation. This one occurred during our top 8 draft when a player who was between picks of pack 1, reviewed his picks thus far. It was quickly caught, and I re-clarified that review happens between packs only.

    Deck Checks
    All competitive level events also include some kind of deck list, and we judges are required to check at least some of them during the course of the event. The recommendation I often hear is that we want to try to check about 10% of the decks in the event. For this event of 24 people, I felt we could fill this basic requirement by checking a single match. I knew I wanted this check to occur sometime later in the event, preferably round 3 or 4 (of 5). I also knew that because we were a small crowd, and players were not required to play at their assigned tables (this was done so that we weren't boxed into one corner of an otherwise large room) – I was going to swoop into a game mid-round.

    Everything went according to plan here, except the check in question occurred in round 5 instead of round 3 or 4. While not ideal due to the fact that for several matches draws were declared, it accomplished our basic goals. I enlisted Jon's aid to check both decks in a timely fashion, and the decks were returned to the players without incident.

    Rulings
    Answering questions about rules and card interactions is one of many ways Judges serve the players. As this was a limited M15 event, there weren't many questions that stood out as particularly interesting. But I did take notes on 2 that I felt might be educational to some players.

    Generator Servant “T, Sacrifice Generator Servant: Add (2) to your mana pool. If that mana is spent on a creature spell, it gains haste until end of turn.
    Phyrexian Revoker “As Phyrexian Revoker enters the battlefield, name a nonland card.
Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated.”

    If Phyrexian Revoker names Generator servant, than you may not sacrifice it for (2) mana. While this is a mana ability, Phyrexian Revoker doesn't care about this quality, and only cares that it is in fact an activated ability.

    Urborg, Tomb of Yogmoth “Each land is a Swamp in addition to its other land types.”
    Staff of the Death Magus “Whenever you cast a black spell or a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.”

    Urborg's ability is static and continuously effects the game state. As such any land that you play or put into play will enter as a swamp, and trigger the staff of the Death Magus.
    As a side note, Urborg effects all land, and not just your own, so your opponent's land is also swamps if they happen to have a Staff of the Death Magus in play.

    Until next time, play some awesome magic.
- Dan Regewitz Lv1 Magic Judge

Mirrodan Besieged Prerelease - Event Report

=Mirrodan Besieged Prerelease - Event Report
=Wed, Feb 2nd, 2011

I'm happy to report another successful prerelease has been put in the records at Butler, PA. The day started with 23 total players in attendance. Only 6 players batting for the Phyrexians (a surprise), and the other 17 mirran. We preceeded with 5 rounds of swiss with no cut.

Happily, the event went smoothly. The only rules issue I recall fielding was a question concerning a Quicksilver Geyser, with two targets chosen for it - if one of the targets was illegal upon resolution. I ruled that the spell would resolve and do as much as possible, bouncing the remaining target.

When the dust settled and the results were in I found some mixed results. The Phyrexians finished the tournament with 5 players and 51 accumulated match points. The Mirrans finished the tournament with 13 players and 78 accumulated match points. However, 3 of the top 4 were Phyrexians, and all 5 of the finishing phyrexians made top 8.

If one just looks at the top 8, this was clearly a Phyrexian victory. However, if one looks at the whole tournament it looks like a Mirran victory (since they were more popular, and achieved more wins overall). Officially, I am erring on the side of caution and calling this event a draw - The Phyrexians and Mirrans became locked in bloody combat and fought each-other to a stalemate!

One final thing to report. For the Draft I seated players and gave them the following product: 1 Scars, 1 Besieged Mirran, 1 Besieged Phyrexian. My purpose for doing this was to allow for a draft that could support a flexible number of players. I have to report that it was not worth it. After speaking with the players (and looking over their shoulders to see how badly things were going), I discovered that the draft was ... pretty terrible. I immediately promised never to do that again. For the Launch I fully intend to draft release boosters instead of faction packs and recommend this to any other TO.

(P = Phyrexia; M = Mirran)
Top 8 Results:
1. Alex Danner - P
2. Randy Perkins - P
3. Dennis Hindman Jr. - M
4. Craig Gray - P
5. Adam Took - M
6. Mike Tomas - P
7. Mike Bowman - M
8. Tim Hicks - P

WPN events Feb and March!

= WPN Events Feb and March
= Monday, January 31st, 2011

We are coming out of hibernation with a packed schedule for the next two months. Highlights include not one but two high-prize events, a commander event, and would you believe two-headed giant sealed deck?

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN Feb 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; 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: 11,25; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic-Draft: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly Draft. We will be drafting the newest set, Mirrodin Besieged. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 18; 5:30-9:00pm

Mirrodin Besieged Launch!: Celebrate the official launch of the Magic set Mirrodin Besieged in this Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 4th; 5:30-9:00pm.

High Prize Event: As part of the festivities of our newly re-instated Butler-Con, NDC Butler will be hosting a High Prize Event. Standard Constructed. $15 entry. 5 packs of distributed prize per entry! DCI sanctioned, Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Sun: 13th 12:00noon-5:00pm.

WPN March Events

Magic: The Gathering

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, March 1,8,15,22,29th 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, March 4,11,25th 5:30-9:00pm

Friday Night Magic-Draft: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly Draft. We will be drafting the newest set, Mirrodin Besieged. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, March 18th. 5:30-9:00pm

Mirrodin Besieged 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 March 5th 12:00 noon-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, March 8th 4:00pm-9:00pm

COSCON; Magic Super Standard: Here, you rule. Magic the Gathering returns to COSCON with a massive standard constructed tournament. To occur at Butler Days Inn at 139 Pittsburgh Road. DCI sanctioned. $15.00 entry fee. Massive 5 packs of prize to be distributed per entry makes this a high-prize event. Also sanctioned 8-man drafts to occur alongside this main event. Sponsored by New Dimension Comics of Butler. Hosted by Dan Regewitz. 11:00am registration begins.
Sunday 20th: 11:00am -5:00pm

Future Events

Friday, April 1st - Friday Night Magic; two-headed giant sealed deck!?

Announcing September Events

= Announcing September Events
= Sun, Aug 1st, 2010

This summer continues to be awesome in terms of Magic events both large and small. Personally I've been keeping an eye on the live coverage of Grand Prix Colombus!
Here at NDC Butler I still have to look forward to our Magic Game day, and the Butler Gathering tournament.

Not to overshadow the events that are still to occur in August, but I've worked out my schedule of events for September - just because I like being that organized. And I must say that we continue to deliver the awesome not only with strong regular events like casual plays and FNMs, but with the pre-release of Scars of Mirrodin rolling out at the end of the month. Check out the descriptions below, and I hope to see you all around!

WPN September Events

Magic: The Gathering

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: 7,14,21,28 ; 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: 3,10,24. 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: 17 5:30-9:00pm

Scars of Mirrodin - Prerelease!: Return to the plane of artifacts with 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, 25th 10:30am registration. Tournament begins at 1:00. Draft 6:00-9:00

Scars of Mirrodin - Launch!: Come celebrate the official release of Scars of Mirrodin with a DCI sanctioned Draft. $16.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, October 1st - 5:30-9:00pm.

===
Star Wars Minis

Star Wars Minis - 150pt Constructed Tournament. Pick your best faction and come ready to play. $6.50 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Monday: 16; 5:30-9:00pm.

Star Wars Minis: Free Play. Players of all levels welcome. Come experiment with Star Wars Minis. Build squads, battle, trade, and talk Star Wars.
Monday: 9,23,30; 6:00pm - 9:00pm.

=== New Event for NDC butler!

Board Game Night

Are you a fan of board games or non-collectable card games? Do you have games sitting in your house that you enjoy but rarely get to play? If so then you are welcome to come down to NDC butler and share some of your favorite games with other like-minded gamers.
Mondays: 2,23,30th 5:00-9:00pm.

WPN July Event Update

Magic: The Gathering

Magic Tournament: Here, you rule. This tournament is EXTENDED format. Recent changes to the extended format have been announced. This will be the first tournament using these format changes that NDC will run. $5.00 entry. Note that this event will take place at NDC in cranberry. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Monday, 5: 6:00-9:00pm

Magic 2011 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, 10th: 12:00 registration; 1:00-6:00 main event; Draft 6:00-9:00.

Magic 2011 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, 16: 5:30-9:00.

Friday Night Magic - Box Tournament!. Standard type 2 constructed event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned. High-prized event. We will open at least 1 sealed box for prizes, and prizes are guaranteed
down to 4th place. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday, 30: 6:00-9:00pm

MtG: Worldwake Pre-release

= MtG: Worldwake Pre-release
= Sunday, January 31st.

Due to my work and tournament responsibilities I don't often manage to get away from my home shop. However, I had the opportunity to attend and participate as a player in a pre-release down in Tarentum.

My sealed deck pool was actually quite strong. I opened 2 marsh casualties (one foil), and a chain reaction for some solid board-sweeping. I also opened 2 decent bomb rares: Obnix the fallen and Kazuul, Tyrant. Obviously I built my deck black/red. However my tournament performance was lack-luster. I went 1/2- drop. Primarily due to a lack of single-target removal and some land issues in two games.

For the draft, I opted to draft in opposite colors blue/white. However I missed some picks because I was passed Butcher of Malakir, Anowon, the Ruin Sage, and a Chain Reaction. Three cards, which despite being outside of my colors I could not pass up. I promptly hate-drafted all three. I did however pull some strong removal in white, and some decent beaters in blue, but I bowed out of the draft at 1-1 because I lacked a strong early game.

Coming home at about 6:00, I realized that in the last 48 hours, I had participated in nearly 20 hours of magic. While the experience was fun, exciting, and exhilarating - it was not one I plan on repeating every weekend!

MtG: Worldwake Pre-release.

= MtG: Worldwake Pre-release.
= Saturday, January 30th.

Another set, another successful pre-release. Only 14 people were enrolled in the main event, which was a bit less than what I was expecting (20+). Still many packs were opened, games and cards were payed, and things went smoothly.

I had advertized a double-elimination draft. Strangely enough 16 people signed into the draft. There was a group who actually came up from Pittsburgh because the main event they attended didn't have enough product to support drafts. With 16 people, I obviously wanted to set up two full pods of 8. However DCI reporter didn't support draft pods with double-elimination - so I had to change the format of the draft to rounds of swiss. Fortunately there were no complaints.

Below are some collected pictures from throughout the day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.