Schedule for May + ROE Draft Rules and Handouts

MAY
1st: Rise of the Eldrazi Draft. I'm looking at having only 2 boxes of ROE available, but if I get overwhelmed with demand I can buy another box. Just come back the week after I E-mail you I've got your order if that happens. SUBJECT TO CHANGE DEPENDING ON FUTURE SCHEDULING
8th:  Casual Day
15th: Legacy Proxy Tournament. Rules to be posted Sunday, May 2nd
22nd: Casual Day
29th: Off Day, Tournament June 5th, Format TBD

The Rise of the Eldrazi Draft will be 3 packs of Rise of the Eldrazi with normal draft rules.

For those who haven't drafted before, we've got a few changes compared to normal drafting:
1) Write down every Rare and foil in your pack when you open your packs.
2) The Rares and foils will go to the prize pool at the end of the tournament except the one Rare/foil you choose to keep. If you don't keep a Rare/foil, you'll get priority in picking one of the remaining Rares until everyone has 1 Rare/foil. Starting with the second Rare/foil picks, we go in order of finishing order.

Price is $8: $7.50 for 3x packs, plus $.50 toward extra prize packs.

Participation Promo: 1 Launch Party promo version of Lord of Shatterskull Pass to the first 10 players to register
Raffle Promo: 4 players who played in the draft and didn't win (myself excluded) will randomly receive 1 Prerelease promo version of Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. With 4 players or less (myself excluded), this effectively becomes another Participation Promo and you'll get one guaranteed.
General Prizes: Prizes will contain all Rares/foils from the booster packs (personal picks excluded, of course) and all cards in as many Rise of the Eldrazi packs as we can afford from the entry fee.


A note on the promos: I may not get them in time to hand out Saturday. However, Morgan Hardy has shipped them so I should have them by Monday at the latest. If that happens, I'll pass out the promos the next time you're here or you can send me your mailing address and I'll send it in the mail.


We need tournament ideas for June. Our tournament-available dates are June 5th and 19th. Comment to this post with any ideas you have!



We hope to see all of you tomorrow for the Rise of the Eldrazi "Release" Draft!

We Can Haz Sponsors!!!11!!1!

 It's our lucky day!

When I started the blog, I was mainly expecting it to just be a place to update just the local players about what's going on in the upcoming weeks. It works better than E-mail because I can include pictures and video to better show what I'm trying to get across.

The secondary goal was to get people from the internet to take notice of a small group in Hixson looking to expand its numbers.

That secondary goal is now a reality.


I'd like to welcome Organized Play in Knoxville, TN as an unofficial sponsor (I guess?) of Saturday Morning Magic!

The owner of Organized Play, Morgan Hardy, found this blog via a post I made on the MTGSalvation message boards. He read about our Rise of the Eldrazi "Release" Draft and wanted to pitch in and help...at no charge!


So what has his generosity helped us afford? How about...

10x copies of the Launch Party promo Lord of Shatterskull Pass! (which should mean one for everyone, but it's a first-come, first-served basis if we get more than my expected number of players)

3x additional copies of the Prerelease promo Emrakul, the Aeons Torn!

1x new promotional Planechase plane! (for use in any future Planechase format play only) (I'm not sure which one this is, so we'll be surprised!)



And finally... a box of promotional half-decks on the off chance we get any new-to-MTG players in.




Guys, I'm really looking forward to potentially having an ally in Knoxville who can help us up our numbers over the next few months...and hopefully longer. But this is only the first step toward getting our image more out and available. Let's hope we can keep this up and get some serious gaming going once again and return Saturday Morning Magic to its former glory!  :)

Chattanooga Dicehead Games Closing

Unfortunately, Chattanooga is losing one of its premiere game stores.

Dicehead Comics and Games on Lee Highway will be closing its doors soon according to an E-mail sent out by its owner. The exact closing date hasn't been determined, but it's fairly soon if they're making the announcement now.

I hate that players will now have to travel to Cleveland to get any sort of official Wizards-supported tournaments. Those who loved the Chattanooga location because of how close it was, I feel sorry for you most of all.


This is why I'm opening the invitation for those who lost a Magic hangout with Dicehead closing.

Any displaced Chattanooga Dicehead players can feel free to come to our unofficial Saturday Morning Magic series.

Granted, we don't have tournaments every single week, and we're not a Wizards of the Coast location, but we do provide good friends, good comradere, and good games.


This Saturday is a Rise of the Eldrazi "Release" draft. Feel free to come by and play. If you were a Dicehead regular and you mention it, I'll give you half-off the entry fee. That means you only pay $4 to pick up 3 packs and have a chance at a free Emrakul, the Aeons Torn promo. How much better can you get for an unofficial tournament? ;)

We hope to see you there!

We Can Haz a Draft and Promo Giveaway

I got everything!

I got our 2 booster boxes of Rise of the Eldrazi.
I got our promo Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for a Promo Giveaway (see the post below this for details).

And in case anyone doesn't believe me...or just wants to see the actual booster boxes and promo...

See ya Saturday for our "Release" Rise of the Eldrazi draft! :)

Extra Surprise for Rise of the Eldrazi Draft

Hey guys!
  So I came across an offer on two of the pre-release foil Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. I picked up one for myself.

The surprise?

Have you not figured it out by now?

One random player who didn't win the Rise of the Eldrazi draft will receive a free promo Emrakul, the Aeons Torn!

I wanted to give this "Release" more of an official Pre-Release/Launch Party feel so I picked up an additional Emrakul to give out. I don't know if I'll have it in time for Saturday; if I don't, I'll either mail it to you or you can pick it up the weekend that I E-mail you that I have it.

Will this be a regular thing? I don't know. It depends on how you respond to it. The best way to let me know is to, well, show up! Or you can respond to this post, but I prefer the former option to the latter. ;)

I hope this gives some of you extra incentive to try us out Saturday, May 1st for the Rise of the Eldrazi "Release" Draft!

Don't forget, the entry fee is $8 and loose packs are $2.50 each. Even more incentive to come around: cheap packs!


Until we see ya, take care.

EDIT: As a point of clarification, I won't put myself in the running for this. I'll have one for myself, so I won't take away the chance from someone who doesn't have one locally.

Legacy Proxy Tournament TO BE RESCHEDULED

Due to lack of participants, I'm going to postpone the Legacy Proxy tournament.

The tentative date for this will be May 15th. I'll have a date for this tournament next week at the latest.

Sorry for anyone looking forward to this. But I promise we'll be back at this and stronger than if we'd done it tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience!

EDIT: Because we're rescheduling it, Rise of the Eldrazi cards will be legal for the tournament. The set will have been out for 2-3 weeks, which I feel is enough time to get cards you need.

Cube Draft Report Previews

Looks like final exams will get the much better portion of my time until the middle of next week.

But I promised some form of a report on the CUBE DRAFT...so here are just a few pictures to tide you over...

Sorry for all the delays! I promise, once school lets out I'll get back on the ball. :)

Schedule Update into May

APRIL
24th: VINTAGE PROXY TOURNAMENT; Follow the Vintage banned/restricted list when building your decks, but you'll be allowed to use up to 9 proxies. More details in the post below this.

MAY
1st: Rise of the Eldrazi Draft. I'm looking at having only 2 boxes of ROE available, but if I get overwhelmed with demand I can buy another box. Just come back the week after I E-mail you I've got your order if that happens. SUBJECT TO CHANGE DEPENDING ON FUTURE SCHEDULING
8th: Back-up Date: Rise of the Eldrazi Draft
15th: TBD
22nd: TBD
29th: TBD

The Rise of the Eldrazi Draft will be 3 packs of Rise of the Eldrazi with normal draft rules.

For those who haven't drafted before, we've got a few changes compared to normal drafting:
1) Write down every Rare and foil in your pack when you open your packs.
2) The Rares and foils will go to the prize pool at the end of the tournament except the one Rare/foil you choose to keep. If you don't keep a Rare/foil, you'll get priority in picking one of the remaining Rares until everyone has 1 Rare/foil. Starting with the second Rare/foil picks, we go in order of finishing order.

Price is $8: $7.50 for 3x packs, plus $.50 toward extra prize packs.


We need at least one tournament idea for May as well as a date for it. Any ideas? Post a reply here. I'm open to any ideas!

We hope to see you for the Vintage Tournament Saturday!

Next Week's Tournament (4/24): Vintage with Proxies!

I hope everyone's having a good Friday as they read this first real update in nearly 2 weeks (gosh, 2 weeks nearly!? I'm glad school's almost over for the Spring. Ugh...)

Our next tournament, coming up a week from tomorrow, is Vintage format with Proxies!!!

We've never done a Legacy tournament where the Power 9 have been available, so here are the rules we're using:

1) Follow the Vintage Restricted List found here: Wizards of the Coast Official Vintage Restricted List

2) You are allowed up to 9 (Nine) proxy cards. For those unfamiliar with the term, it's one card used to stand in for another. For example, if you're using a Plains and you write "Black Lotus" on it, you're signifying you're using that card as a Black Lotus.
    * Proxies can take most any form. They can be as simple as Basic Lands with the intended card's name written on it (along with most all information, abbreviated of course for room), or they can go as high as full-color printouts used in a sleeve over another card.
    *What you cannot use as Proxies: non-Magic cards (you can't say a Hitmonchan from the Pokemon card game is really a Goblin Lackey), singleton cards whose only purpose is a proxy for another card but with no identifiable information for the card really being used (for example, a lone Mountain being used as a Mox Ruby with no writing signifying it's a Mox Ruby).

3) As a courtesy, we ask that you not build any FTK (First-Turn Kill)/FAST Kill decks. FTK decks will just get you hated and make you feel unwelcome in our crowd. We do like to play the game, but not a whole match inside of 10 minutes due to your wicked 1- or 2-turn combo. However, since there's no way to enforce a "no FTK decks" rule, I can't make this a hard-and-fast rule.

4) Even though Rise of the Eldrazi releases the day before the tournament no Rise of the Eldrazi will be allowed. This is a fairness thing to those who couldn't pre-order cards and because our area generally doesn't get product in until a week after release.

5) Entry Fee and Prize: $2 entry fee, prize split can either be Worldwake this week or in 2 weeks be Rise of the Eldrazi. We'll take our pick the day of the tournament.


For those unfamiliar with the Vintage format, I want to clue you in on a few cards you might want to proxy for your decks.

The Power 9 cards are regarded as the 9 most powerful cards in Magic the Gathering history. They can go into almost any deck (since their color requirements are minimal to non-existant), and almost always they'll turn the tide of a game in your favor. They all were printed in Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited before being cut from the reprint lineup. It's very hard to get a single copy of any Power 9 card as each goes for roughly $600 on the low end. That's what makes these cards decent choices for inclusion in almost any deck.

Introducing your Power 9!!!!
(NOTE: All images come from magiccards.info)

 

There's one more card that kind of slots in as the "10th piece of the Power 9" because of how ridiculous it gets with a big hand...

Library of Alexandria sees use for its first-turn draw ability. If you're starting on the draw, you'll start with 8 cards in hand. Play Library of Alexandria, you're now down to 7. Tap to use its "Draw a card if you have 7" ability and you're back up to 8 and you got a land in play! Next turn, you'll be up to 9 cards, play a land, cast a spell, then Alexandria again! I got mine at $160, but magiccards.info is showing over $200! With a price tag that high, you can't ignore the power behind it.

If you're either A) running Blue or B) can afford to splash for it (like maybe making proxies of certain expensive blue-producing dual lands) it wouldn't be a bad idea to use a couple of the blue Power 9. Or if you need more along the lines of free mana fixing, use all the artifacts (I especially like the free ones. ;)  ). Card draw? There's more than one "Library" in this game, if you catch my drift.

Another tip on what you might proxy: If there's anything you've wanted to use but couldn't afford (that final Tarmogoyf, that one Baneslayer Angel, etc.), feel free to use those too. Just don't exceed your 9 proxy limit!


I'm looking forward not so much to the decks people make but what proxies they've chosen. How much more powerful than the Power 9 can you get? We'll see next Saturday!

I Exam Next Week

Hey guys!
Sooo...I said I'd update with a new Magic School, new Eldrazi previews, and new deck content.

...Welcome to my world!

School and home have kept me busy beyond belief! This weekend, though, I plan (fingers crossed) to provide a CUBE DRAFT REPORT! Complete with couple pictures (hey, I'm just starting doing "serious" reporting. It's gonna be slow going for a bit here!) and even a video of a Cube game! Check it out Sunday evening for sure.

Once again, I'm sorry for the constant state of update-lessness. In about two weeks I'll have a summer I can devote entirely to this site, so start looking for updates about 3-5 times a week (potentially more when M11 comes closer to release with previews!).

I hope everyone's enjoying this wonderful weather (well, in Tennessee at least) and hopefully it's not getting you down health-wise. We hope to see you around soon!

More Eldrazi Previews, Because MOAR!!!! Part 2

Alright! We're back on track with our remaining 3 spoilers for this go-around. Our hints?

*An Elf that gives all your Elves the ability to produce mana?
*A Totem enchantment that can help Control decks? also, Mick's love of Bears pays off.
*A Planeswalker that can become a creature?

All this...AFTER THE JUMP!

More Eldrazi Previews, Because MOAR!!!! Part 1

 I've got another exciting set of previews for you all today!

*What do you get when you mix Gifts Ungiven with Green?
*A recent card type makes a re-debut thanks to the Eldrazi.
*Mick's obsession for Bear-related stuff may pay off soon.
*A Planwswalker that doesn't add counters to itself?
*A Planeswalker that becomes a creature!?
*

All that...after the Jump!

Cube Rules! Tournament 4/10/10

Hey guys!
  We've got the Cube Draft coming up next week, so I figured it was time to finalize the rules for the draft.

EDIT (4/4): End-of-Match Procedure modified to say "if you're at the end of a match due to time being called..." This was always intended but got left out.

Cube Rules: Tournament Procedure

1. Each person will receive 3 "packs" of cards. Each "pack" will be 20 random cards picked from my collection in no certain rarity scheme.


2. We will draft as normal: First "pack" you'll pick 1 card and send the rest of the pack to your left, second "pack" to the right, third to the left.

3. After we have all our cards, we'll have 40 minutes to build a 60-card minimum deck (counting basic lands). (This is different from normal drafts where you need a 40-card minimum)

4. Stay in the building.   If cards go missing, I want to be able to track everyone down quickly and easily to make sure you didn't misplace it while packing up (for example).


5. We'll do a Swiss-style tournament: Each player will have the chance to play each opponent once. 3 points to the match winner, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for losing a match.

6. TIEBREAKERS: Keep track of your total life at the end of each game. If we need a tiebreaker, we'll go based on whoever had the highest total life points remaining throughout the tournament.

7. END OF MATCH PROCEDURE (CHANGE): For at least this tournament, I want to try this end-of-match procedure: If you're at the end of a match due to time being called and the game is still going, finish the turn, then play an additional 5 total turns (this counts yours and your opponent's turns, along with any extra turns that are created).
    EXAMPLE 1: If you're in the middle of your turn when time is called, continue through your turn, then here is the 5-turn order: Opponent, You, Opponent, You, Opponent.
   EXAMPLE 2: Let's say you can create two extra turns with Time Warp and Time Walk*. It's the end of time, and you're in your normal current turn after you had just cast Time Warp and Time Walk. The 5-turn order after you finish your current turn is: You (Time Walk's turn), You (Time Warp's turn), Opponent, You, Opponent.


TREATMENT OF CARDS
I'll be honest. Along with the cards I already had, I've put a ton of extra investment into this format and my collection. So I ask a few basic rules be followed:


1. Do not bend my cards. Please find a way to shuffle without bending the cards. When I do a rifle shuffle, for example, I do my best to keep the cards straight (even though it doesn't lead to the best shuffle). I've got 1 $100+ card, a few $50+ cards, and some decent foils that I'd like to preserve as much as possible.


2. Do not steal my cards. This should need no explanation. :p


3. Do not de-sleeve my cards. They're sleeved for a reason.


4. Enjoy playing with some of the most powerful cards in the game I could get ahold of...some in foil, no less! :D

Other Details
1. Entry fee is $2.
2. Prizes will come from a Worldwake pack split.
3. Even though this is a draft, our normal "pick one card from the pack and keep it" rule does not apply. This is my collection of cards, which means they're not up for grabs as prizes.





I'll post some pictures next week of the cards you may get to play with next Saturday.


Until then, we hope to see you for the Cube Draft!





*NOTE: I do not have a Time Walk (one of thoser uber-expensive Power 9 cards). I used this just for illustration.