PTQ locations for PT Austin

This will be live on my site in 24 hours but until we get on the web site I though I would add it to my blog.

There will also be one at GP Seattle.

Tim

Phoenix – Aug 1 

Gamers Inn

1232 East Southern Ave

Mesa AZ 85204

 

Portland –  August  1

Old Location

Ambridge Event Center

300 N.E. Multnomah Street

Portland, Oregon 97232

 

Salt Lake City – May 9th – Salt Palace

Room 250 AB

100 S. West Temple

SLC, UT. 84101

 

San Diego – May 9th – San Diego Convention Center room 33A

111 West Harbor Drive

San Diego CA 92101

 

Seattle  August 15 

Seattle Center – Lopez room

305 Harrison St

Seattle WA 98109

Best TCG tutorial I have ever seen

You have to check out the Game of Thrones demo at http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=404

This is really impressive.  Check it out.

Tim

Finding a YGO sneak in Phoenix

Samurai comics asked me to post this….
This event is being held on Saturday, February 28th at our West Valley location, and on Sunday, March 1st at our Central Phoenix location. Start time is 10am at both stores.

Entry fee is $25. Each player gets 5 packs and the exclusive card. It is open dueling all day long. Report a total of 5 games played and get a 6th pack. We will also be holding a constructed tournament where you can use the new deck you construct and win Crimson Crisis boosters. Entry fee for this is $5.

Full details can be found at: http://www.popshoponline.com/stores/new_index.asp?StoreID=54&ArticleID=968

5K Magic tournament

Superstars game store has asked me to post info on this event.  I think a bunch of players in the NW might like to know and a few will drive for the event.  If you go please let me know how many players attend the event – if they get a high enough attendance I might do the same kind of thing up here.

$5,000 STANDARD TOURNAMENT

Superstars Game Center’s $5,000 Standard Tournament
Date: Friday, March 13, 2009 – Saturday, March 14, 2009
Format: Constructed – Standard
Registration: Pre-Register Online Now!
Entry Fee: $30.00
Guaranteed Prize Pool: $5,000.00

Guaranteed Prize Distribution ($5,000.00 total):
1st Place – $1,500.00
2nd Place – $800.00
3rd-4th Place – $450.00
5th-8th Place – $250.00
9th-16th Place – $100.00

Maximum* Prize Distribution ($10,000 total):
1st Place – $2,500.00
2nd Place – $1,200.00
3rd-4th Place – $650.00
5th-8th Place – $320.00
9th-16th Place – $200.00
17th-32nd Place – $130.00

*If all 328 seats sell out, Superstars Game Center will add $1,000.00 making the prize pool $10,000.00!

$5,000 TOURNAMENT FORMAT

In order to give players more than one chance to make the cut to top 32, we will be holding three flights.  Players may enter multiple flights as long as they have not already qualified for the top 32.

The top 32 players from the three flights will play a single-elimination tournament starting at 8:30 PM on Saturday, March 14th.  The final match will play 3 out of 5 games for the championship!

$5,000 TOURNAMENT FLIGHT INFORMATION:

“Early Bird Flight”
Friday, March 13, 7:00 PM
Entry: $30.00
Max Players: 64
Rounds: 6 – 50 minute rounds
The top 10% of players from this tournament will qualify for “Top 32″ (max 6 players)
Click here to pre-register!

“Main Flight”
Saturday, March 14, 10:00 AM (Doors open at 8:00 AM)
Entry: $30.00
Max Players: 200
Rounds: 8 – 50 minute rounds
The top 20* players from this tournament will qualify for the “Top 32″!
Click here to pre-register!

“Last Chance Flight”
Saturday, March 14, 2:30 PM
Entry: $30.00
Max Players: 64
Rounds: 6 – 50 minute rounds
The top 10% of players from this tournament will qualify for “Top 32″ (max 6 players)
Click here to pre-register!

*Any seats not given out in the Early Bird Flight and the Last Chance Flight will be added to the Main Flight.  (For example, if 40 players enter the Early Bird Flight and 50 players enter the Last Chance Flight, three seats will be added to the Main Flight.)

SIDE EVENTS (Queues launch at 8 players)

$12 “CLASSIC” BOOSTER DRAFTS (Single Elimination)
1st Place - 10 Booster Packs ($30 Store Credit)
2nd Place -  6 Booster Packs ($18 Store Credit)

$25 “HIGH ROLLER” BOOSTER DRAFTS (Single Elimination)
1st Place – 36 Booster Packs ($100 Store Credit)
2nd Place – 18 Booster Packs ($50 Store Credit)

$12 CONSTRUCTED (Single Elimination)
1st Place – 20 Booster Packs ($60 Store Credit)
2nd Place - 12 Booster Packs ($36 Store Credit)

$25 “HIGH ROLLER” CONSTRUCTED (Single Elimination)
1st Place – 50 Booster Packs ($150 Store Credit)
2nd Place – 17 Booster Packs ($50 Store Credit)

(Standard, Extended, Legacy and Vintage Queues will be available)

VENUE INFORMATION
Superstars Game Center is located in downtown San Jose less than 4 miles from San Jose International Airport.  There are dozens of restaurants and hotels within walking distance from Superstars Game Center.

SUPERSTARS GAME CENTER
30 North 3rd Street
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 777-8277

Directions from San Jose International Airport
Map to local restaurants
Map to local hotels
Map to public transportation

TRADING
Casual trading is allowed by tournament participants only.  Buying or selling cards to anyone except Superstars Game Center, or soliciting to do so elsewhere, is strictly prohibited.  While we hope everyone follows these rules, breaking them may result in both the buyer and seller being removed from the event without refund and suspension from Superstars Game Center events.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us…
Phone – (408) 77-STARS / (408) 777-8277
email - info@superstarsgamecenter.com

CLICK HERE TO PRE-REGISTER!

ShareThis

new way for core Magic sets to be published.

From  http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14392.html

 

I’m really curious how magic players are going to respond. It seems like a good idea to me – but the players are the ones who really matter.

Tim

WotC Revamps ‘Core’ Sets Annual Releases Starting This Summer Published: 02/23/2009 02:27pm     New Card Wizards of the Coast has announced a complete revamping of its core set releases for Magic: The Gathering. Starting this July the core set releases will no longer be identified by edition number–like new cars (with their forward-looking year-by-year designations), the July 2009 M:TG core set release will be known as Magic: The Gathering 2010 Core Set or Magic 2010for short.  Also starting this July WotC will release one new core set per year (instead of one every two years).  ThusM:TG will now be on a regular yearly schedule that will see the release of three expert-level expansions and one core set every year.      Unlike previous core sets, which were composed of all reprints, the Magic 2010core set will have approximately 50% new cards–a huge departure from past practices intended to make the core sets attractive a wide range of Magic players. New cards such as “Silence” and “Wall of Frost” use game terms that both new and experienced players can understand and employ to great effect in card combat. As was the case with Tenth Edition, all core sets going forward (including the Magic 2010 set) will be black-bordered.  Magic 2010 will include 249 cards including 15 mythic rare cards (9 of the 15 mythic rares are reprints, while six are brand new cards).     Since the Magic 2010 core set contains so many new cards, Wotc is, for the first time with a core set, planning traditional Prerelease and Launch party events on back-to-back weekends in conjunction with the Magic 2010 debut on July 17th.  Previous core set releases have largely been ignored by the enfranchisedM:TG player base, which looked at the core sets primarily as lists of cards that are legal in Standard tournament play.  The revamped M:TG core sets are geared to appeal to both newcomers and experienced players.  In order to put more focus on the Magic 2010 release, WotC is making sure that Grand Prix events in Boston, Niigata, and Prague will feature Magic 2010Limited play events, an indication that going forward core sets will be an integral part of high-level organized play.   WotC is also changing its rotation policy to accommodate the more rapid release of core sets.  While 10th Edition will rotate out when Magic 2010 is released this July, Magic 2010 will remain legal until the fall of 2010 when the large release codenamed “Lights” is released.  That will mean that from July of 2010, when the Magic 2011 core set is released, until the debut of “Lights” in late 2010, there will be two core sets legal at the same time (another first for M:TG).  This pattern of approximately 15 months of “legal” status for core sets will continue into the future.     While the central concept behind the “core set” as being a “jumping-on” place for new players remains, the Magic 2010 set also includes five Lorwyn “Planeswalkers,” which are promoted to their proper place as “mythic rares,” and should also help to make this core set more attractive to highly skilled M:TG players.  The Planeswalkers cards are so cool that the designers behind the Magic 2010 core set are confident that newcomers to the game will do the work necessary to learn the rules behind the complex cards (the powers of these premierM:TG Characters can’t be explained on the cards themselves).

GP Seattle trials

I’m working on scheduling the GP Trials that Cascade Games will be running.  I expect to have dates/locations up on the site as soon as tuesday night.

Tim

Grand Prix Seattle

I just posted this on Cascade Games site – “It is very likely that we will be moving to another venue in the Seattle area. After having several talks with WotC folks and after seeing the 800+ players at GP LA – I am now looking for a venue that will allow for higher attendance.”

I will try to get this nailed down as quickly as possible so players from outside the area can make travel plans. 

For anyone keeping score at home - 

Seattle Center Exhibition hall – rented, All other rooms at Seattle Center – too small, Quest field – rented, Mariners stadium – rented, Meydenbauer center is possible but not 100% working on this one, Lynnwood Convention center – waiting for call back, Washington State Convention Center – rented. 

I have not looked at facilities in Renton or Tacoma yet – but if the two options I’m actively working on don’t pan out I will.

Tim

working on new events for Magic

Just keeping everyone up to date.  I am spending the day looking for rooms in Washington, Oregon, Utah and Arizona to hold magic tournaments in. Regionals will be coming up soon. I also need more options for PTQ’s locations so thats how I’m going to spend my day.

 

If you have never done this kind of thing is so funny. Most sites really are used to renting to brides not gamers. They keep trying to sell me ice sculptures and $75.00 a person dinner options. Its just a huge culture clash. Then they understand that what i’m really talking about is having 100-200 gamers in the ballroom and they get afraid that all gamers are “trouble”.

I then spend the next 10 minutes explaining how well behaved our players are. Turns out I’m wrong about YGO players – see the numerous arrests at the last Shonen Jump for details – but Magic guys are great (in general) 

Tim

Magic Prerelease was great and then some bad news – Scrye

The Magic prerelease in both Seattle and San Diego was great.  The attendance in Seattle was 350+ so thats really solid (under the new system) The San Diego event doubled from last time but was still smaller than I liked – but it doubled – so I am hopeful. I wish I could have run this in other areas – either Salt Lake and/or Phoenix would be great. In both cities players had to drive huge distances (Colorado) for the closest large event.

However I am really sad about a bit of news I just heard.  Scrye – is being canceled.  http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14206.html I should say its partially my fault – as I haven’t bought a copy in 10 years.  So we have lost Dragon, Dungeon and now Scrye. I really don’t know much about the magazine business – but I do know its go to be tough.

I haven’t used a price guide in years – and Scrye was a really poor guide in lots of ways. However I used to read every issue when I first started playing Magic.  I’m not sure there is much of a role for magazines in the digital future – but I will still miss them.

Tim