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

Vanguard and Monsuno New CCGs at the Dragon's Den

So you have played Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or even Pokemon, but now it is time to give a new game a try! With the release of two brand new Collectible Card Game (CCGs) to the market, I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick little blog post about them both.

Cardfight!! Vanguard

This is a hot new CCG that uses a very different type of card mechanic and play area layout.  One very interesting side note about Cardfight!! Vanguard, is that they are sized like a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, so smaller size... finally another use for those smaller sleeves!

The game is designed around having a card in play that is your Vanguard or avatar that you use to attack and defend.  You start with a level 0 Vanguard, and can give it a Rider to increase the level.  You can also play Rear-Guards, but they must be equal or lower level then your Vanguard.  When your Vanguard is hit in combat, look at the critical score on the attacker, and you take that much damage.  When you take 6 damage, you lose... or if you have no cards to draw!

Here are some examples of the larger creatures... and in a very cool foil pattern!  Notice that they have a number of powers: constant and activated.  They also have some serious increase in power level.

The starter comes with a full deck ready to play right out of the box!  It is geared toward a clan and makes it easy to start learning the game. 

Monsuno

This CCG is based on  a TV show with the same name.  The starter is really cool as it allows 2 players to get involved right away with 2 different options for the starters.  It also comes with a booster so that you can customize your deck right out of the starter.  Below is a picture showing off the Monsuno cards for one of the starters: Core-Tech vs Eklipse!

The decks contains Monsumo cards and Strike cards.  Your deck most contain a minimum of 40 Strike Cards and exactly 3 different Monsumo cards with a launch total of no more then 15.  Each deck may contain up to 3 of any given card, but only 1 of a card with keyword Unique.

The game is broken down into turns and each player may do one of three different things: Launch a Ready Monsumo, Attack, or Recover. Combat is broken down into 3 steps: Draw a card from the Strike Deck, choose a card and play it facedown, and both cards are reveled and players check to see which card Dominates.

If you want to learn more, then stop in and give one a try!  I hope you stop in and want to give a new CCG a try.  These games look great and I can't wait to play both so that I get some more experience with each!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Dragon's Den Players of the Year for Magic Update

We have been running a Player of the Year for Magic in the store since the beginning of the year.  We have broken the this award into four different categories: Free Standard, Competitive Standard, Legacy, and Limited.  As we have been running this almost 2 months, I thought I'd post a quick little standing of the top 8 players so far for each category.  So with 10 more months left to be a part of the Player of the Year here at the Dragon's Den, you should come in and play!

Free Standard: Top 8 of 136

Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Elijah Vanaver	118	50
2	Niko Peone	96	40
3	Mike Cox	72	37
4	Scott Fish	72	43
5	Evan Odden	72	53
6	Dave Oppenheimer	66	34
7	Alex Sherman	58	28
8	John Franczak	57	31

Competitive Standard: Top 8 of 37

Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Steve Carpenter	39	19
2	Kevin Jones	36	15
3	Doug Kimball	29	11
4	Alex Sherman	25	16
5	Scott Fish	21	16
6	Carl Naumann	19	12
7	Will Cuttler	18	8
8	Daniel Stockton	18	11

Legacy: Top 8 of 32

Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Paul Lake	45	19
2	James Rynkiewicz	38	15
3	Frank Kick	30	14
4	Casey Madrick	30	15
5	Janene Andersen	24	14
6	Darryl Moss	21	12
7	Rich Cali	21	14
8	Nicholas Albonese	15	8

Limited: Top 8 of 129

Rank	Name	Points	Matches
1	Paul Lake	27	10
2	Alex Sherman	26	10
3	David Haass	24	8
4	Marcos Martinez	22	14
5	Kevin Jones	21	7
6	Mike Cox	21	10
7	Brooke Schieffer	19	9
8	Doug Kimball	18	7

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks