FNM Report 10-04-2013

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

We wanted to do a quick follow-up to yesterday's post about the new Magic: the Gathering standard constructed environment and which direction we are taking our 60-card stack at FNM to deliver a polished product for Theros Game Day.

As misfortune would have it, the green / white Selesnya aggro strategy we had hatched out earlier was placed in jeopardy when it was time to head off to the store and we realised we were short a few cards (traded / lost / mischievous gnomes?).  With only about an hour before OMG! Games started the first match, we scrambled and put together this list :

4x Elvish Mystic, 3x Soldier of the Pantheon, 3x Fleecemane Lion, 2x Voice of Resurgence, 4x Selesnya Charm, 4x Witchstalker, 3x Fiendslayer Paladin, 3x Ajani, Caller of the Pride, 3x Loxodon Smiter, 4x Unflinching Courage, 4x Advent of the Wurm, 3x Temple GArden, 3x Selesnya Guildgate, 9x Forest, 8x Plains.
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At OMG! Games, the crowd was lighter than usual with about 27 players.  First match was lost rather quickly to Chris who had played a blue / black strategy.  The next four matches (to Rob, TJ, Hunter, and Simon) did go rather well, usually going to game three with wins all going to our Selesnya build.  There seemed to be quite a few control decks  (like that delicious hand shown above with Supreme Verdict, Detention Sphere, Swan Song, and Azorious Charm) in the field but that certainly does not mean the same kind of showing next week.  For now, we're going to pick up a few extra missing singles from MTG Mint Card and stick with aggro for the next several weeks.

Coming in 4th place, we scored five Theros packs and the Friday Night Magic foil promo card Ghor-Clan Rampager.  

What was rather awesome was that we were actually looking to acquire (trade / buy) 3 of the 5 cards we were able to pull - Xenagos, Thoughtseize, and Temple of Abandon.  Not too shabby.

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Post Theros FNM

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Tonight we here at MTG Realm along with thousands of other Magic: the Gathering players will be heading out to local gaming stores to take part in a Friday Night Magic event.  We'll be at OMG! Games (best card shop in central Ontario) will be our first time to the store since Theros, the latest MTG set hit shelves worldwide.  Tonight was particularly difficult to prepare a new standard constructed stack to play since a number of our fav cards from Innistrad block rotated out of the format.

We received our big pile of MTG Theros singles pre-ordered from MTG Mint Card and it sat on the table for a few days while we attempted to come up with a 60-card strategy.  Where we finally began to make progress was with which decks were performing good in Return to Ravnica block constructed and decided to go with a Green / White Selesnya aggro build - aggro is a good default choice in the first few weeks of the new metagame.  There are a lot of powerful creatures in these colours and building it is fairly straightforward.  We'll eventually move on to some other build latter but here's what we have . . .

CREATURES
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Soldier of the Pantheon
3 Experiment One
3 Fleecemane Lion
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Witchstalker
3 Fiendslayer Paladin

SPELLS
4 Advent of the Wurm
3 Selesnya Charm

LAND
10 Forest
5 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Temple Garden
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Some of the decisions here was based upon the local metagame, our budget, as well as what cards we actually own.  The new Theros cards now in the Selesnya vehicle are Soldier of the Panteon (solid choice after a 'gold' multi-colour block like Return to Ravnica), and Fleecemane Lion (hexproof / indestructibly after monstrous is pretty sweet - especially if we encounter any of the new 'god' cards).  We'll continue to work tweaks on this over the next few weeks (considering adding Boon Satyr) until the games shifts again after which we really want to brew something up with B/W control or R/W aggro.

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Theros Fat Pack

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

We've been collecting Fat Packs from each Magic: the Gathering set for quite some time now.  There are of course several reasons for this - firstly, we get a decent card box to store all our new cardboard awesomeness but we also deeply appreciate the player's guide as well as it contains a solid helping of set flavor / storyline.  Call us old-fashioned but often when we're brewing up some crazy builds, we'll often forgo our tab and have several of the guides open.

Anywhoos - As is our custom, we've dropped over to OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario (our fav card shop like evar), and picked up our Theros Fat Pack at approximately five minutes after midnight on the 27th.  There was a HUGE line of other players getting in very early to buy the very latest cards.  Anywhoos - for a suggested reatail price of only $40, you get the following -
• 9 Theros booster packs 
• 1 card box
• 1 player’s guide
• 1 80-card land pack
• 1 learn-to-play insert
• 1 Spindown™ life counter
• 2 deck boxes

By half-past midnight, we had the Fat Pack on our kitchen table and started cracking.  Here's what we were able to pull . . .

Spear of Heloid
Thoughtseize
Abhorrent Overlord
Whip of Erebos
Firedrinker Satyr
Labyrinth Champion
Hammer of Purphoros
Reverent Hunter
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

No mythics (Gods), but  we've gotta say, we're rather happy.  Now have a few extra cards and our MTG Mint Card singles pre-order should be in by day's end, our friends will either (a) not see us for a few days, or (b) join us in the MTG Realm Lair as we build for the next Friday Night Magic event.
 
Happy Brewing to all !

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Theros PreRelease Event

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

This weekend, Magic: the Gathering players will converge upon local gaming stores around the world to participate in the Theros PreRelease event.  Similar to the Return to Ravnica block sets, gamers will have the opportunity to choose one of five Theros PreRelease packs which will contain just about everything you need for an amazing afternoon (or morning) of great gaming.  A few players we know will be attending more than one event to collect additional PreRelease Promos, cards, and a chance to win prizes.

Here at MTG Realm, we'll be going to our favourite Card Shop, OMG! Games here is Barrie, Ontario and will provide coverage of the Theros prerelease event so look for those posts after the weekend.  Anywhoos - here's the info you need to know if you find yourself in Central Ontario (just north of Toronto) this weekend -

OMG! Games
130 Bell Farm Rd., Barrie, Ontario
Close to highway 400 and Georgian College.
(705) 721-4263  www.omggames.ca
 

Date & Times
Saturday Sept 21st : 12:00am (Friday Midnight) / 10:00 am / 3:00 pm / 7:30 pm
Sunday Sept 22nd : 11:00am / 4:00pm (Two-Headed Giant)

Format - Sealed Deck — Each player receives a Prerelease Pack containing• 5 Theros booster packs• 1 seeded booster pack• 1 promo card• 1 Choose Your Path activity card• 1 Spindown™ life counter• 1 Hero’s Path Welcome Letter• 1 Hero Card

For these events, players may use the promo card included with the Prerelease Pack in their tournament deck.
Two-Headed Giant — Each team Two Pre-release packs for constructing two decks with.

Cost & Prizes
$35 For all regular sealed events
4-0 record receive 16 packs Theros
3-0-1 record receive 12 packs Theros
3-1 record receive 8 packs Theros

$60 Two Headed Giant ($30/player)

Prizes given out based on attendance.  Win against the Owners in swiss rounds and receive 2 additional prize packs.

5 Pre-Release Special – $150 enters you in any five events. 

 

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M14 Favs

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

We are finally at last out of the wilds of northern Ontario which is a complete and utter WiFi desert - or at least where we were.  We were harassed by raccoons, saw a bear, and played a lot of Magic: the Gathering - analog that is - the old fashioned way.

Anywhoos - we were rather sore about missing both the PreRelease and FNM launch of Magic 2014 but we are now back with a bang.  We have our MTG Mint Card pre-orders rapidly winging it's way to us, picked up some extra Ultra PRO sleeves and boxes and are now ready to fully absorb the new set.  To catch up, we dropped by our fav card shop, OMG! Games here in central Ontario, Canada-Land and yattered co-owner Señor Ricardo about notable new cards in the set - Let's have a looky-loo at the vid now -
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Here's the short list of some of our new fav cards :

 







• Archangel of Thune
This essentially makes all your critters an Ajani Pridemate

• Kalonian Hydra
No fertilizer needed - this monster grows to an incredible size.

 













• Garruk, Caller of Beasts
Could be a star in a creature-based EDH / Commander build.

• Chandra Pyromaster
Almost certainly to be played by red mages in multiple formats - who doesn't like card draw in RDW?

 







 





• Sanguine Bond

Old fan favorite - you gain, they loose.
 
• Congregate
Sooo nostalgic - Loved it in Urza's Saga, love it now.  
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Dragon's Maze PreRelease

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

This is a reminder that we'll be without any interweb next week as we try to survive the wilds of Northern Ontario - expect us back online 6th May with tons of Magic: the Gathering updates.

Today, for our last post ahead of our so-called 'vacation', here is some coverage of last night's (Midnight) Dragon's Maze PreRelease at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario . . .  
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First up, here's the vid -

 
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We took an Orzhov Guild Pack with Golgari as the 'secret' guild.  Here's the pulls -

Rares - Guild Packs :
• Orzhov - Merciless Eviction
• Golgari - Deathrite Shaman

Rares - Dragon's Maze Packs :
• Pack 1 - Emmara Tandris
• Pack 2 - Catch // Release
• Pack 3 - Blood Scrivener
• Pack 4 - Skylasher + Blood Crypt
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. . . And here's a bunch of pics from the event -

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We had some good games but dropped early because of the trip.  Make sure to get your Dragon's Maze preorders in to MTG Mint Card and get the newest cardboard awesomeness in your paws fast. 
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RTR PreRelease Event

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We hope you were able to make it out to a Return to Ravnica PreRelease event this weekend, scored a bunch of new cool Magic the Gathering cards, played some great games and had a blast.  We dropped into OMG! Games in Barrie, Ontario briefly to talk to Owner Rick.  Here's the video . . .


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We returned to take in an afternoon event on Sunday.  For this, we had reserved a Selesnya prerelease Guild Pack, and not surprisingly played green / white with a splash of blue.  Unfortunately we lost the first two matches, won the third and then dropped to be with our new cardboard awesomeness, and get the last of our Return to Ravnica pre-orders in to MTG Mint Card.



Return to Ravnica Pack Pulls 

• Grove of the Guardian  (prerelease promo)
• Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
• Martial Law
• Supreme Verdict
• Abrupt Decay
• Slaughter Games
• Death's Presence

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Return to Ravnica PreRel Prep

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We thought this day would never come and finally, here it is - the Return to Ravnica PreRelease event is this weekend - Saturday / Sunday 29th / 30th September.  We've been talking to a few Magic the Gathering players who want to attend all the flights in order to play all the five Guilds featured in Return to Ravnica - Azorius, Selesnya, Golgari, Izzet and Rakdos, in order to score each of the special prerelease Guild packs.

Anywhoos - Make sure you check ahead at your local gaming store, as most are taking preregistration and reserving your Guild of choice.  As for us, we'll be at OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario to participate in at least one prerelease event (but hopefully two).  We expect several new players to drop in as well from this year's new batch of Geogian College Frosh (across the road from OMG! Games).

We've talked to Rick, the owner who indicates that many players are already preregistered now to reserve their guild pack for one of the six events being held over the weekend.  Here are the times . . .

Return to Ravnica Pre-Release Date & Times 

Saturday Sept 29th : 12:00am(Friday Midnight), 10:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 7:00 pm    
 
Sunday Sept 30th : 11:00am and 4:00pm (Two-Headed Giant)
Format

For the regular events, the format is Sealed Deck - Each player receives one Return to Ravnica Guild Prerelease Pack to use for building a deck, and for the special Two-Headed Giant even on Sunday, each team of two players receives two Return to Ravnica Guild Prerelease Packs to use for building their decks. (one Guild Prerelease Pack per player)

If you missed our earlier post on what's in each Guild Prerelease Pack, here again are the contents -
• 5 Return to Ravnica booster packs
• 1 Guild Booster Pack
• 1 Promo Card
• 1 Achievement Card
• 1 Spindown™ Life Counter
• 1 Letter from the Guildmaster
• 1 Guild Symbol Sticker

For the PreRelease event, players may use the promo card included with the Guild Prerelease Pack in their tournament deck.

As for the Cost, it will be $35 For all regular sealed events, and $60 Two Headed Giant ($30/player).  If you are a hardcore Magic the Gathering player wanting to maximise your Return to Ravnica prerelease experience, for $150, you can play in any 5 events with the guild pack of your choice reserved for each event.

And here is the breakdown for the Prizes to be had -
4-0 record recieve 14 packs Return to Ravnica
3-0-1 record recieve 10 packs Return to Ravnica
3-1 record recieve 6 packs Return to Ravnica
If you win against OMG! Games Onwers Rick and Josh, you can score an additional 2 prize packs.  Additional Prizes given out based on attendance and may even include Guild Prerelease packs.
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Last Friday at FNM, we talked to a few players who had some questions as to exactly what was in the Guild Booster Pack.  Basically, this booster pack should be able to get your chosen Guild off to a good start and will only contain cards from your guild or from your guild's colors.  

The Guild booster will have;
• Foil Prerelease promo
• 1 Rare
• 3 Uncommons
• 11 Commons

In today's article on the mothersite, For that rare slot, there is only one mythic rare you might open: your guild's leader. You won't open Jace, Architect of Thought or Vraska the Unseen. 

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Magic Celebration 2012

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

EDIT - NEW IMAGES AT BOTTOM
Tonight is Friday Night Magic, so if you happen to be in a new town (start of school / whatever), pop over to the Wizards of the Coast Store and Event locator, and find a nearby place to pick up a few games of Magic the Gathering.

This year's Magic Celebration is a special no-charge event where new and existing players can get together and celebrate all things Magic: The Gathering in their local participating stores.  Join your local gamers at OMG! Games for free gameplay, fun, and prizes!

OMG Games is located at 130 BellFarm Rd. Unit#10, in beautiful Barrie, Ontario and will host Magic Celebration 2012 on Saturday, September 8th.  Call if you have questions (705-721-4263) about the event or if you just want to breath heavy on the line.

Hello Josh . . .

Time: Registration opens at 11:00am. Play starts at 12:30pm.
Cost: Free
Format: Mini Master tournament

Event Features
• Mini Master tournament: This quick, casual format is the perfect way to introduce new and digital players to Limited play – at no charge to the players! All players start out equal, no matter their experience, in this fast-paced tournament. Feel free to add other casual activities to enhance your players’ experience.

• Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 item code: Duels players will be directed to a Magic Celebration event through in-game content to receive a digital item code. This code will allow your Celebration attendees to unlock in-game content.

OMG! is where Magic lives in central Ontario

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Booster Battle Pack

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,
Today we want to yatter about the (relatively new product) put out by Wizards of the Coast - the Booster Battle Pack.  Here at MTG Realm, we've played mini-Master / Pack Wars a few times but had not cracked open a Booster Battle Pack until now.  We caught up with gaming store owner Rick Bates at OMG! Games in Barrie to yatter about this product.

Rick said that this is a popular product at his store, not only for new players getting into Magic the Gathering but also for more seasoned players as well.  In between tournament rounds at the store, players can bust open a Booster Battle Pack and get a quick 20-minute game in before the start of the next round of play.  Rick also indicates that all the essentials for a newer player are contained within this product to hone there skills and take their game to the next level. 

We had done a short video of the unboxing, some game play as well as a summary and review but apparently our camera hates us and the audio did not come through very well (perhaps it was that wad of chewed gum / whatever over the microphone pick-up) - so - in it's place, we have some screen caps and stills.

Anywhoos - here's the 4.1.1. from the mothersite -
The Booster Battle Pack contains two 20-card starter decks with which you do battle with an opponent in a world of mystery and magicka. These decks are a great way to introduce yourself and a friend to Magic : The Gathering, and offer a fast and fun way to play Magic.

This pack contains :

•  Two 20-card decks
•  Two 15-card Magic 2013 Core Set booster packs
•  One Quick-play guide
•  One Rules Insert


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The games that yours truly (CopySix) and R-Stomp had were fun and fast-paced.  It should be noted that with a MRSP of only $10 and the product contains two booster packs, this is good value for your money.  So stop by OMG! Games on 130 Bell Farm Road in Barrie (less than an hour's drive north of Toronto) near Georgian College at the north end of Town and tell Rick, Josh or Matt and we sent ya.  You can ring them at 705.721.4263 or click over to www.omggames.ca and visit them electronically.

 

CopySix used this Red / White build, while R•Stomp gamed with Black / Green pack.

 

The Vocanic Strength aura on the War Falcon won this particular game. 

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M13 PreRelease

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,


We are freshly returned from our camping trip in the wilds of northern Ontario are are none the worse for the it.  We have survived black flies, bears, a crazed chipmunk and more importantly, without an internet connection.  We have a lot to catch up on.

First up, the all Magic the Gathering M13 spoilers and previews are out - check out the updated Spoiler List here.  You may also want to check out the Magic 2013 Frequently Asked Questions page over at the mothersite here.  As there are many midnight prereleases going down tonight, check out the 4.1.1 on where, what and when over at the mothersite prerelease page here.

We here at MTG Realm will be headed out to OMG! Games, our fav gaming store, here in Barrie, Ontario - just an hour north of Toronto to take in one or more PreRelease events.  Here is the lowdown on  whats going down at OMG! Games this weekend . . .

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M13 Pre-Release - Date & Times
OMG! Games - Barrie, OntarioJuly 7th-8th
July 7 12:00am (Friday Midnight)
July 7 10:00am
July 7 2:30pm
July 7 7:00pm  with a raffle for box of M13
July 8 11:00am
July 8 4:00pm - Two-Headed Giant

Format - Sealed Deck:
Each player receives six M13 booster packs to use for building a 40 card deck.

Four Rounds Swiss pairings

Two-Headed Giant Sealed:
Each team of two players receives eight M13 booster packs to build two 40 card decks.

Swiss with cut to top 4 or 8 depending on attendance.
(see WOTC for details on limited formats)

Cost & Prizes - $35 Entry for Events
all participants receive a  Xathrid Gorgon promo card
4-0 record receive 14 packs M13
3-0-1 record recieve 10 packs M13
3-1 record recieve 6 packs M13
$40 Two Headed Giant

Beat the Owners in swiss rounds and recieve 2 additional prize packs.  5 packs M13 added to prize pool for each team.
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FNM Love

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Indeed, one of our fav day of the week.  Tonight, Friday Night Magic tournaments are being held in game stores all around the free world.  These events are designed to be a beginner-friendly introduction to Magic the Gathering organised play.  Here at MTG Realm, we've had around 1,100 posts since January 2008 and have had about 4.5 million visitors drop by to read the latest MTG spoilers, news and reviews.  We've never been to a professional event and spend a lot of time at the kitchen table slinging cards - but - we rather relish our Friday evening visits to the local game store as is provides a great cross-section of different 60-card builds put together by intelligent and innovative players, which keeps us on our toes and never lets the game get stagnant.

If you've not participated in an FNM event, we encourage you to do so.  Check out the new 'n' improved Store / Event Locator with some slick fetures to find your nearest store.  To prepare for your evening of MTG merriment, you should check out this article over at the Wrong-Way-Go-Back website, written up by our Twitter buddy Thomas (aka hobbesq).  In addition to giving that a read, perhaps it's time to watch our all-time favourite video put out by Wizards of the Coast.  We have yet to meet a player who did not care for the vid.  Here is the Magic the Gathering Friday Night Magic promotional video filmed at Games & Gizmos in Redmond, WA featuring Music by Caspar Babypants and WUBRG, a crazed MTG Muppet who now loves FNM.

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Tonight, we're off to OMG! Games in Barrie, Ontario which is home to Ontario's (maybe even Canada's) largest Friday Night Magic events to try our luck to win one of those fancy promo cards.  Here's the list of FNM promos so far this year . . .

1/2012    -    Glistener Elf
2/2012     -    Despise
3/2012    -    Tectonic Edge
4/2012    -    Dismember
5/2012    -    Ancient Grudge
6/2012    -    Acidic Slime
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And here is some 4.1.1 for Gamers who want to hit up the Friday Night Magic event at OMG! Games :
FNM Standard starts at 7pm Cost $6, or free without prize support. FNM Draft draft queue opens at 5:30pm and will start upon 8 players Cost $14.  The store, near Georgian College is easily accessible from the highway.

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