Standard Top 8 as of 11/28

FREE Standard			11/28/2012
Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Evan Odden	370	240
2	John Franczak	351	176
3	Mike Cox	301	175
4	Will Shost	251	107
5	Dave Oppenheimer	245	110
6	Scott Fish	235	136
7	Carl Naumann	213	116
8	Scott Yager	199	122

Limited Top 8 as of 11/28

Limited			11/28/2012
Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Paul Lake	170	72
2	Will Shost	134	64
3	Douglas Kimball	109	50
4	Daniel Stockton	93	46
5	Alex Sherman	90	44
6	Carl Naumann	87	42
7	Mike Cox	83	45
8	Lyon Kressner	79	39

Competitive Legacy Top 8 as of 11/28

Legacy			11/28/2012
Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Rich Cali	154	81
2	Paul Lake	145	64
3	James Rynkiewicz	138	57
4	Casey Madrick	138	74
5	Janene Andersen	122	81
6	Steve Carpenter	118	58
7	Darryl Moss	97	74
8	Frank Kick	94	60

Competitive Standard Top 8 as of 11/28

Competitive Standard			11/28/2012
Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Scott Fish	111	81
2	Alex Sherman	109	64
3	Doug Kimball	103	52
4	Nick Langella	99	46
5	Steve Carpenter	89	46
6	Mica Buchanan	81	55
7	Kevin Jones	75	45
8	James Rynkiewicz	71	27

Magic Player of the Year, Competitive Legacy Update

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I thought more players might like to know the Top 8 standings in each area of our Magic Player of the Year here at the Dragon's Den. If you are curious about the whole list, I posted last month complete lists. I'll also have a hard copy printed out in the store if you really want a look and hate being online...

Magic Player of the Year, Competitive Standard Update

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I thought more players might like to know the Top 8 standings in each area of our Magic Player of the Year here at the Dragon's Den. If you are curious about the whole list, I posted last month complete lists. I'll also have a hard copy printed out in the store if you really want a look and hate being online...

Magic Player of the Year, Limited Update

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I thought more players might like to know the Top 8 standings in each area of our Magic Player of the Year here at the Dragon's Den. If you are curious about the whole list, I posted last month complete lists. I'll also have a hard copy printed out in the store if you really want a look and hate being online...

Lords of Waterdeep Boardgame

Well, it is finally here...the first Euro-style game made by Wizards of the Coast...Lords of Waterdeep! Journey back to the Forgotten Realms and try your hand at the game of intrigue, adventure and bribery as one of the many rulers of Waterdeep, the City of Splendors.

A new attempt at Euro-gaming, the Lords of Waterdeep is a beautifully made 2-5 player game.  According to the selling blurb, it is meant to be played in about 1 hour by players 12 yrs. and older, though I'm sure any child who has been introduced to the Forgotten Realms campaigns or novels would certainly be able to play. The fact that every game only takes 8 rounds should be able to keep every one's attention. Now, without further ado, let's see what's inside...

Upon first cracking the box, we first notice a folded board, many different colored tokens/markers, a rulebook, player mats and various cards. On the right side, we have buildings and 1GP coins.  On the left, 5GP coins, control markers, and various Victory Point tokens. Everything is well-packaged, but will take a while to sort! Quite luckily, you have me to do that for you...

While I'm punching everything out, let's take a look at the board. It represents all the Wards that you will need to build on and assign Agents to, and has spaces for Quest Cards, Buildings, the Intrigue Deck, and various Discard piles. The "stones" around the perimeter track player points, and the golden "track" near the bottom right marks the current round.

Alright, everything is set up now, so let's take a look...First, there are the player-specific Mats, one each for the groups controlling Waterdeep. These are (from left to right); City Guard, Harpers, Knights of the Shield, Silverstars and Red Sashes. Underneath each Mat, I've placed each of the relevant pieces. The meeple is an Agent, the circle is the Score Marker, the small token is the Building Control Marker and the large token is the specific Victory Point Counter. The amount of Agents each player has depends on the number of players per game.

In addition, there are two Neutral Agents; the Ambassador and the Lieutenant. They can only be added to your Agent Pool by use of certain effects. The Tower piece is given to the First Player, and events occur toward the left. There are also four types of Adventurers; Fighter/Orange, Wizard/Purple, Rogue/Black and Cleric/White. They are required to accomplish Quests, and form part of the Supply. The second part of the Supply is made up of Gold Pieces and Victory Points. Below are the fronts (top) and backs (bottom) of the 5GP, 1 GP and Victory Points.

And now...on to the cards. Below we have each of the Lords of Waterdeep. The bonuses listed for your chosen Lord are based on various combinations of Buildings, Piety, Commerce, Warfare, Arcana and Skullduggery. Choose carefully, as your Victory Point bonus could make or break the game for you!

Next, we have the Intrigue Cards, which include everything from "Call in a Favor" and "Assassination" to "Sample Wares" and "Research Agreement", and many others besides. By judicious use of these cards, you'll be able to both advance your agenda and foil those of your opponents...or will you?

Remember, not only do you have to watch out for the opposing Agents, but you must gain your own Victory Points and Gold by completing Quest Cards and the much-sought-after Plot Quests, which give other bonuses! Although you may perform one Quest per turn, beware of adversaries who play a Mandatory Quest on you. No other Quests can be completed until the Mandatory Quest has been fully accomplished. Don't let yourself be sucked into too much Intrigue!

Last, but definitely not least, and the Buildings. There are nine Basic Buildings, and 24 Advanced Buildings. All nine Basics are always available to assign Agents to, but the remaining 24 must be purchased during the game. Each Building has a bit of information on what effects it does, as well as where it is located in traditional Waterdeep. However, the purchaser is not limited by this "history" and can place an Advanced Building wherever she wants. Anywhere up to three Advanced Buildings are available for purchase, but there are only ten empty spaces, so buy carefully!

Having trouble keeping track of it all? Don't worry, the rulebook is a wonderfully simple 24 pages of game mastery. It contains full color pictures, photos of items, play sequences and even FOUR illustrated appendixes for the Lords, Clarifications, Agents and Buildings! Concerned about needing plastic bags or boxes to keep all the meeples and tokens in place? Fear not, as the WotC design crew have made not only the best compartments with which to hold their creation, but what is conceivably the most aesthetic as well. If I may be so bold, I would suggest this is a new step towards something trully fulfilling and sucessful for our friends at Wizards of the Coast!

-Stasi "Dengirl" King

Star City Games Invitational Qualifier March 2012

Welcome to our Star City Games Invitational Qualifier for March 2012!

We had a really nice turnout for our first Star City Games Invitational Qualifier (SCGIQ) with 40 players.  We had players come in from as far away as Long Island and NY City.  What was really great was the number of local players that did so well.  Thanks to Steve Carpenter for being a Head Judge for this event!

We also have a resident Magic Card painter.  He will alter cards and custom paint on them for players.  He has done many cards for the store and is doing a nice job. Check out his site: Alterated

Congrats to James Rynkiewicz for winning the event.  He and Chris Brellochs played out an epic game lasting almost 2 hours to complete best 2 out of 3.  

Here are the players and deck lists who were Top 8 in the event:

James Rynkiewicz

UW Delver

4 Geist of Saint Traft

4 Delver of Secrets

4 Mana Leak

4 Ponder

4 Gitaxian Probe

3 Invisible Stalker

4 Vapor Snag

4 Snapcaster Mage

2 Thought Scour

2 Dismember

2 Sword of War and Peace

2 Runechanter’s Pike

9 Island

1 Plains

4 Seachrome Coast

4 Glacial Fortress

3 Moorland Haunt

Sideboard

2 Corrosive Gale

2 Celestial Purge

2 Dissipate

2 Phantasmal Image

1 Batterskull

1 Jace, Memory Adept

1 Revoke Existence

1 Surgical Extraction

1 Divine Offering

2 Timely Reinforcements

Dave Oppenheimer

UB Zombies

4 Gravecrawler

4 Diregraf Ghoul

4 Geralf’s Messenger

4 Diregraf Captain

4 Phantasmal Image

4 Tragic Slip

4 Geth’s Verdict

2 Phyrexian Obliterator

2 Liliana of the Veil

1 Sword of War and Peace

2 Fume Spitter

3 Mortar Pod

4 Darkslick Shores

4 Drownyard Catacomb

14 Swamp

Sideboard

3 Ratchet Bomb

1 Sever the Bloodline

1 Corrosive Gale

1 Mental Misstep

2 Surgical Extraction

2 Black Sun’s Zenith

1 Phyrexian Obliterator

1 Dismember

1 Go for the Throat

2 Nihil Spellbomb

Frank Demerie

UB Zombies

4 Mortarpod

4 Diregraf Captain

2 Phyrexian Metamorph

2 Skirgsdag High Priest

4 Gravecrawler

4 Diregraf Ghoul

4 Geralf’s Messenger

3 Geth’s Verdict

2 Fume Spitter

3 Porcelain Legionnaire

2 Phantasmal Image

3 Tragic Slip

1 Go for the Throat

14 Swamp

4 Darkslick Shores

4 Drowned Catacomb

Sideboard

3 Nihil Spellbomb

3 Corrosive Gale

3 Distress

2 Go for the Throat

1 Cemetary Reaper

2 Phyrexian Metamorph

1 Fumespitter

Jason Arensini

UW Humans

3 Moorland Haunt

4 Glacial Fortress

3 Seachrome Coast

11 Plains

4 Doomed Traveler

4 Champion of the Parish

2 Gideon’s Lawkeeper

3 Gather the Townsfolk

3 Geist of Saint Traft

4 Hero of Bladehold

2 Elspeth Tirel

4 Honor of the Pure

4 Intangible Virtue

4 Oblivion Ring

4 Midnight Haunting

1 Island

Sideboard

2 Revoke Existence

2 Celestial Purge

2 Day of Judgment

3 Mirran Crusader

2 Nihil Spellbomb

2 Leonin Arbiter

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Surgical Extraction

Christopher Brellochs

UB Tokens

4 Doomed Traveler

3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

2 Elspeth Tirel

4 Intangible Virtue

4 Honor of the Pure

4 Oblivion Ring

4 Gather the Townsfolk

4 Lingering Souls

4 Day of Judgment

2 Midnight Haunting

2 Ghost Quarter

3 Vault of the Archangel

4 Evolving Wilds

4 Isolated Chapel

10 Plains

2 Swamp

Sideboard

1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

2 Hero of Bladehold

3 Mirran Crusader

2 Celestial Purge

2 Divine Offering

1 White Sun’s Zenith

2 Doom Blade

2 Surgical Extraction

Douglas Kimball

Wolf-Run Ramp

6 Forest

2 Kessig Wolf Run

3 Inkmoth Nexus

1 Mountain

2 Plains

4 Razorverge Thicket

3 Sunpetal Grove

3 Copperline Gorge

1 Clifftop Retreat

2 Batterskull

2 Green Sun’s Zenith

1 Birds of Paradise

2 Acidic Slime

4 Primeval Titan

2 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

4 Huntmaster of the Fells

1 Gideon Jura

4 Rampant Growth

4 Sphere of the Suns

4 Day of Judgment

2 Ratchet Bomb

Sideboard

2 White Sun’s Zenith

1 Autumns Veil

2 Karn Liberated

2 Ratchet Bomb

3 Celestial Purge

2 Combust

2 Ancient Grudge

1 Ray of Revelation

Lyon Kressner

RG Aggro

2 Hellrider

2 Galvanic Blast

2 Sword of War and Peace

4 Huntmaster of the Fells

4 Green Sun’s Zenith

1 Garruk Relentless

2 Phyrexian Metamorph

4 Llanowar Elves

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Rootbound Crag

4 Copperline Gorge

4 Strangleroot Geist

1 Vorapede

1 Devil’s Play

2 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Acidic Slime

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

1 Incinerate

1 Daybreak Ranger

2 Kessig Wolf Run

10 Forest

3 Mountain

Sideboard

2 Slagstorm

2 Traitorous Blood

2 Autumn’s Veil

2 Ancient Grudge

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

1 Naturalize

1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast

1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

2 Combust

1 Bellowing Tanglewurm

David Reed

UB Zombies

12 Swamp

1 Island

1 Buried Ruin

4 Darkslick Shores

4 Drowned Catacomb

2 Fumespitter

2 Phantasmal Image

2 Phyrexian Metamorph

3 Porcelain Legionnaire

3 Diregraf Captain

4 Gravecrawler

4 Diregraf Ghoul

4 Geralf’s Messenger

2 Lilliana of the Veil

1 Go for the Throat

2 Mortarpod

3 Tragic Slip

3 Geth’s Verdict

3 Mana Leak

Sideboard

2 Mimic Vat

2 Nihil Spellbomb

2 Surgical Extraction

3 Distress

1 Sever the Bloodline

2 Black Sun’s Zenith

1 Phyrexian Metamorph

1 Ratchet Bomb

1 Cemetary Reaper

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks