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

MtG Dark Ascension Pre-release Weekend

This weekend was the Pre-release of the latest set of Magic the Gathering from Wizards of the Coast called Dark Ascension.  We had so many players for the last Pre-release that we set ourselves up for the players and even got the empty store next to us for our Saturday events.  We had 4 events on Saturday starting at Midnight.  We always get a good crowd for the Midnight events and having an empty location to use made it feel open and spacious for the players.  Here is a list of our times on Saturday and Sunday with how many players we had for each.

As is our normal Midnight fun, we got pizzas and sodas for all the players to enjoy before the event began.  We ended up about 16 pizzas and not a single slice was left when it was game time! The drinks normally last a little longer, but even they were gone before the end of the event. 

 

Saturday
1. Midnight: 88 players
2. 11:00am: 32 players
3. 3:00pm: 15 players
4. 5:00pm: 16 players
Saturday total: 151 Players

Sunday
1. 11:00am: 8 players
2. 3:00pm: 15 players
Sunday Total: 26

Total players for the weekend: 177

This was a great weekend with lots of players having a great time and playing tons of Magic.  We did a few extra things this pre-release that we have not done in the past.  We had our resident Magic card painter, Marc, altering cards for players as they played.  He also did a few for us to use as random door prizes for each round of the Midnight.  He also did a full art of Sorin for a player... and it might have been the first to be altered.  We also rented several table and chairs so we would have extra and everyone would have more room to play.

Next pre-release I'm hoping to see if one of the local Magic artists would be willing to come in during one of the time slots and do some signings or custom alters for players.  I know that there is one guy very local and several closer to the city, so it would be great for the players to meet some these great artists.

Don't forget about the Launch Party for Dark Ascension this Friday night at 6:00pm.  It will be a Draft for $15 and the first players on the list will be guaranteed a promo card.  What to check out the rest of our calendar of events?  Check out our calendar! We run many Friday Night Magic events, Monday Night Magic, and now Star City IQs!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Welcome Dark Ascension to the Dragon's Den

Today is the day before the Dark Ascension Prerelease for Magic, and people are already quite excited…none more so than certain coworkers of mine, who get to see and hold the new product ahead of everyone else!  For those of you not working in a hobby store, here’s a peek at the newest products from Wizards of the Coast.

Here you can see every Magic item we received today; Booster Packs, Intro Decks, and even our store’s new and improved Land Station. Fat Packs are only available for the Release, so that update will have to be next week.

Hopefully, since this new Land Station has an open top and can hold about 200 of each color Mana/Land, this will make it far easier for players to grab what they need. Previously, we used 500 ct. cardboard boxes.

The Booster Boxes are fairly standard, with there being 36 packs per box, and 15 cards per pack. The only difference seems to be that they have only chosen 3 illustrations for the boosters, whereas usually they have 4-5 separate cover illustrations.

There are, however, still 5 different Intro Decks. Each contains a 2-color 60 card deck, a foil card, a Dark Ascension booster, a learn-to-play guide, and a strategy insert that shows the deck-lists of all the Intro Decks. Below I have put the name of the Intro Deck, which 2 colors it has, and what the foil card is.

Dark Sacrifice has a foil "Fiend of the Shadows", and is a Black/White deck.

Monstrous Surprise is a Red/Green deck, and has a foil "Flayer of the Hatebound".

Grave Power contains a foil "Ghoultree" and is a Green/Blue deck.

The Relentless Dead deck is Blue/Black and it's foil is a "Havengul Runebinder".

Swift Justice is a White/Red deck, and has "Requiem Angel" as it's foil card.  

Now, I know what you're wondering; what about all the other great Dark Ascension themed products that I can actually buy this weekend? Don't worry, they're here too!

Once again, Ultrapro has created numerous items for those Magic players who love the illustrations from the new sets. Not only do we have an 80 pack of sleeves and vertical deck box for "Sorin, Lord of Innistrad"...

...but we also have the beauty from "Deadly Allure" gracing her own 80 ct. sleeves and horizontal deck box. Each of the deck boxes are $3.99 and the sleeves are $9.99.

As for playmats, we have 2 wonderfully illustrated ones available. Sorin graces one with his picture from the Prerelease cardboard standup...

...and here we see the mysterious woman from the "Fires of Undeath" card. Both are wrapped in a nice plastic hanger, and are $21.99.

That's pretty much it for now. Be sure to check back for our other posts on Saturday, when we tell you about how our Midnight Dark Ascension Prerelease event went. We're offering free soda and pizza, have lots of prizes to give away, and expecting over 140 players, so check our Twitter and Facebook accounts for hourly updates!

Stasi "Dengirl" King

Grand Prix Trial Baltimore 1/21/12

Today we ran our Grand Prix Trial (GPT) for Baltimore.  We ended up with a pretty good turnout even with the snow falling all morning and keeping many players at home.  So we got 10 players, which ends up being 4 rounds with a cut to 4.  Here is the standings going into the Top 4:

1. Paul Lake
2. Casey Madrick
3. Doug Kimball
4. Jonah Acosta
5. David Haass
6. Carl Naumann
7. Alex Sherman
8. Nick Langella
9. Dave Oppenheimer
10. Evan Odden

In an effort to help more players with deck construction and play, I've decided to publish the top 4 deck lists here on our Blog.  I've listed them:

Doug Kimball
5x Swamp
7x Forest
1x Mountain
2x Kesig Wolf Run
4x Inkmoth Nexus
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Glissa the Traitor
1x Olivia Voldaren
4x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Acidic Slime
4x Primeval Titan
4x Grave Titan
2x Geth's Verdict
3x Doom Blade
2x Green Sun's Zenith
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Ratchet Bomb
4x Sphere of the Suns
4x Rampant Growth
Sideboard:
1x Go For The Throat
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Garruk, Primal Hunter
3x Curse of Death's Hold
2x Batterskull
3x Nihil Speelbomb
1x Black Sun's Zenith

Casey Madrick
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Giest of Saint Traft
3x Invisible Stalker
2x Merfolk Looter
2x Runechanters Pike
1x Sword of War and Peace
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
4x Ponder
4x Mana Leak
3x Vapor Snag
3x Gitaxian Probe
2x Gut Shot
2x Midnight Haunting
1x Plains
9x Island
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Seachrome Coast
3x Moorland Haunt
Sideboard
3x Dissipate
2x Oblivion Ring
2x Flashfreeze
1x Vapor Snag
2x Mental Misstep
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
2x Celestial Purge
1x Negate
1x Dismember

Jonah Acosta
UW Delver
4x Glacial Fortress
9x Island
3x Moorland Haunt
1x Plains
4x Seachrome Coast
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Giest of Saint Traft
3x Invisible Stalker
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Gut Shot
4x Mana Leak
1x Oblivion Ring
4x Ponder
2x Runechanters Pike
2x Sword of War and Peace
4x Vapor Snag
Sideboard
2x Dismember
3x Dissipate
2x Divine Offering
1x Mental Misstep
1x Oblivion Ring
2x Phantasmal Image
3x Timely Reinforcements

Paul Lake
U/W Delver
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Giest of Saint Traft
3x Invisible Stalker
2x Merfolk Looter
2x Runechanters Pike
2x Sword of War and Peace
4x Ponder
4x Mana Leak
3x Vapor Snag
3x Gitaxian Probe
3x Gut Shot
2x Midnight Haunting
9x Island
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Seachrome Coast
4x Moorland Haunt
Sideboard
2x Divine Offering
2x Dissipate
1x Negate
1x Phantasmal Image
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Vapor Snag
1x Mental Misstep
2x Timely Reinforcements
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Celestial Purge
1x Marrow Shards

Heading into the first Round of Top 4, we saw Paul Lake vs Jonah Acosta and Casey Madrick vs Doug Kimball.  They all played well, and with no time limit still finished in about 50 minutes.  Paul Lake and Casey Madrick moved on to final 2 players after winning the first round.  Paul Lake and Casey Madrick then sat down to play the final round of the GPT Baltimore, the winning of this event would then recieve a 3 round bye at the Grand Prix in Baltimore.

In the last round, Paul Lake emerged victorious and won the 3 round bye for Baltimore!  We are excited to see Paul head down to Baltimore and we are hoping he does well! 

There is another GPT for Baltimore tomorrow at our sister store in Fair Lawn NJ, The Gamer's Gambit.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Dark Ascension Promo Cards

In case you missed it, here are all the promo cards coming out for Dark Ascension!  We still have some space for the Buy a Box promo, but I would hurry in to make sure you get one! 

Dark Ascension Prerelease

The Dark Ascension Prerelease is January 28-29, which seems so far away now. But it's only three weeks! Less than that, in fact. And here's what's available for playing in one. While supplies last.

Dark Ascension Launch Party

A week after the prerelease, Dark Ascension goes on sale for real on February 3. And that kicks off the Launch Party, where this foil card lives:

Just like the prerelease card, you'll get it just for participating (while supplies last).

Dark Ascension Game Day

Dark Ascension Game Day is February 25-26, and while supplies last, you'll get this for participating:

And if you make the Top 8, you'll get this!

Dark Ascension Buy-a-Box Card

Finally, here's the "Buy-a-Box" card! It goes to the first twenty people to buy a Booster Box of Dark Ascension at participating locations. We'll post the locations later, but here's the card now!

Here is the link to the Wizards article with this information.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Plans for Magic at the Dragon's Den for 2012

Well 2011 is almost over and it has been a fantastic year!  I have been so pleased with the number of players and the level of play I've seen develop at the Dragon's Den over the past year.  We have seen many of our players head off to big events and do very well.  Well now it is time to try and step it up, and offer some new incentives to our players. 

Hang on to your hats as this might be a long post from me, but I think you will like what you read! Read on and help us get excited for Magic in the new year here at the Dragon's Den!

Player of the Year at the Dragon's Den

We are going to start a program to name several players of the year here at the Dragon's Den.  We will be keeping track of points earned during matches played in the store.   The points will be broken down by Competitive Standard, FREE Standard, Legacy, and Limited.  We will be taking the top 8 players of each event per week and adding them into the list.  We will be using the points that you earn during the game: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a lose.  The total from the event will be added to the total from previous events. 

We will begin this on January 1st, so the Monday Night Magic event on January 2nd will be the first chance to earn points.  We will be ending the points on December 14th and we will award the Players of the Year at the Dragon's Den after Magic on Friday 21st.  If players are curious as to how they stand in the running, then you might want to read about the Leader Board next. 

Leader Board

Every week will be posting a Leader Board in the store for the 4 different Player of the Year categories.  These boards will contain as many players as we can fit on the form, but I'm hoping for at least 20 names.  It will list the ranking, name, number of points earned, and number of events played in.  We will attempt to update and post the Leader Board weekly on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Events, Events, Events

We are planning so many great events for the year.  We will have GPTs as they become available.  We will also be run PTQs as soon as Wizards approves a location between NYC and Albany.  We are running the maximum number of Prerelease and Launch Party events for every new release.  We have now begun looking at running Star City Games invitational events as well.  We will continue to run FNM events, Drafts, Sealeds, Standard, and so much more.

We are also planning a special deal.  If you play in the 3:00pm FNM Standard event and win, you will get a FREE entry into the Competitive $5.00 FNM Standard at 6:00pm.  This is a special weekly deal to help get more players playing Competitive!

I'm very hopeful that adding in these cool add-ons will help bring in players and keep all other players excited to play weekly.  Ohhhhhh.... I did not mention what you will get if you are the player of the year.  That was intentional, you will have to play, come in, follow us, or read the blog for more information!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Gamers for the Greater Good

 Gamers for the Greater Good (G4GG)

As the holidays are approaching I know that many of the recent storms have left people in our area wanting for some basic needs.  We at the Dragon's Den have decided to plan a week of events that will help the local food banks in the Poughkeepsie area. Here is what we are hoping to do:

Every event you come in and play during this week we are asking you to bring in several non-perishable food items as a donation.  To help sweeten the deal we are going to ask several vendors to make donates and we will have raffles on the last day of the event.  To be entered in the raffle you will need to bring either 5 canned items or 3 boxed items of food per event you play in.  Even if you do not want to play in any events, you can still make a food donation and be entered in the raffles.

To make the raffle even more potent, we will add a raffle ticket for EACH group of donations you bring in! So yes that means for ever 5 canned items or every 3 boxed items you will get your name entered again!  YES, that means that every event you play in can get you an extra raffle entry. 

We are also planning some extra special events just for the week and we will have some super special offers to tie to those.

The dates for this event will be: December 5 until December 11.

Monday: Magic Modern 6:00pm

Friday: Magic Sealed 2 Headed Giant 6:00pm $20 entry plus the food donation! 5 boosters and build 2 decks. Also, if you bring a new player (one who has never had a DCI number, the top teams with a new player will win a special prize!)

Sunday: Yu-Gi-Oh Structure Deck Challenge:  Legend of the Six Samurai, $8.00 entry plus food donation!

We will update this page often as we plan more events and get more fun and fantastic information.  Stay tuned and we hope that we can help local families and have a lot of fun while doing it!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

NYC Comic Con... The Aftermath

NYC Comic Con

So Comic Con is now over and we have survived... although Zombie Petz are still dead and Iron Age may be Jaded (Ha, just a play on the titles... it has been a long weekend)! We had a chance to talk to MANY people from all over the area and beyond, and I thought we would share some of what we heard at the booth.  I know that our roving staff may have more to talk about the show itself, but I was trapped at the booth and have a lot to share about that experience.


One huge comment that we heard was: "How come you guys aren't at Cross County in Yonkers?" or "Are you the same Dragon's Den that was in Cross County in Yonkers?" Matter of fact, the Owner of a fantastic comedy club in Midtown called Ha, used to shop at the Dragon's Den in Yonkers! Oh and if you get down to Midtown, the Dueling Pianos at the club were fantastic!

Another huge comment that was heard many, many, MANY times was: "Where is the Wizards of the Coast booth?"  Wizards of the Coast, WotC, did not have a booth this year was the answer.  WotC did send a single staff member to run some demo games and give out some promo items.  He stopped by the booth on more then one occasion, but their lack of presence was felt and we heard about it from many people/players. Hey WotC you might want to come next year... you were missed.

I think one of the big things we are thinking about for future cons (gaming, comic, pop culture, or anything else), we will be thinking about the lay out of the booth and product.  We notice that some product moved well, and other product very slowly.  We also noticed that some product areas we were some of the only people really carrying.  There are many things I will keep the same with how the event went, but I have started the mental list on how to make it better next time! If you have ever stood for 9+ hours on a cement floor, you know what I'm talking about!

So I know that Scott is working on a review of Comic Con from his trip on the floor.  He spent multiple days walking the floor, attending panels/seminars, and doing the show... not from the booth perspective.  So stay tuned for more information about Comic Con.  We promise that there will be plenty to read.

Enjoy, and hope to see you at the show next year!


Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Support Your Friendly Local Gaming Store

OK, I'll keep this simple.

SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL GAME STORE for Magic!

This Saturday is the Prerelease for a new Magic the Gathering set, Innistrad. I personally think it looks great and I know that while not everyone is a fan on the new 2 sided transform mechanic cards, I give WotC credit for trying new rules and ideas to keep the game fresh! However, that is not the point of this post...

If you do not buy your Magic cards and play in your local game store for these types of events, then you are hurting both yourself and the Magic community has a whole! Why you ask? I'll give you a few simple reasons.

First, your local game store gives you a place to PLAY! You can't play on-line with that great new box of Innistrad you just got off the web at a few bucks cheaper than your local store, can you! Yet, here is your friendly local game store (FLGS) giving you table space to hang out for FNM and many other times during the week. That table space could be replaced with a pool table or a new product line of model train accessories that would make your FLGS money.  Buy your Magic at your FLGS to help your FLGS provide PLAY SPACE FOR YOU!

Second, who is there for you when you need help with your deck or when you wanted to learn how to play in the first place? Yeah, you might have learned from your friends or family but when you really needed unbiased advice on your bud's really annoying mill deck or how do I beat Red Deck Wins, I bet your FLGS was there to help. I'll even bet the guys and gals at the FLGS didn't even charge you to ask those rules questions or help you adjust the mana ratio of your new deck. Go find that service for free on-line! Buying your Magic and playing in FLGS store events helps to keep that resource alive for YOUR FUTURE NEEDS!

Third, your FLGS helps find you new people to play with. Tired of beating your kid brother for the 347th time? Come in for FNM and see if your "unbeatable merfolk" deck does so well against a former state champ. Hey, maybe you get to draft with a Pro Tour player or win one game against the guy who won GP Providence this year. Chances are, these other players won't be dropping by your kitchen table to play with you. Looking to trade an extra Stoneforge Mystic or 4? Well, these guys are more likely to need them than your mom. You might even make some new friends - ones that like playing the same game you play! In short, you get to be PART OF A COMMUNITY!

Last, and this may not mean much to some of you but buying and supporting your FLGS is good for your wallet. The money you spend locally goes back into making your town a better place to live. Maybe you want a job at your FLGS. Maybe your friend already works there. Maybe you like the hot chick who works there (Yeah, they do work at FLGSs and I have pics to prove it!). It would be a real shame if your FLGS closed because johnny internet was $5 cheaper for a box of Innistrad (Bet you forgot to add shipping) and now you have to wait for it to be delivered instead of cracking those minty fresh packs at midnight on release day! In other words, keeping your FLGS strong HELPS YOUR LIFE!

So, when it comes time to buy your Magic, stop and think about the secondary benefit to you and your friends, family and neighbors and SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL GAME STORE otherwise, you might be home on a Friday Night playing Magic with, I mean by, yourself!

Good Luck with Innistrad!

Dave

PS. Yes, I own a FLGS and may have a biased view BUT, I can prove each of my points objectively so I would love to hear from you folks out there.

PPS. Support Your Local FLGS is a nod to two great James Garner movies done in the 70s, Support Your Local Gunfighter and Support Your Local Sheriff. If you are unfamiliar with these flicks or James Garner, I am sure Netflix can help you out.

Mordenkain's Magnificent Emporium

Alright you old time "I started playing D&D with the boxed set..." fans out there, the coolest magic item collection has arrived.  Mordenkain dug deep into the vaults at Castle Greyhawk or where ever he keeps his really good stuff to give us 4E stats on some of my personal favorite magic items from all the old editions.  Here are just a few of the items listed in MME:

Armor; Mostly new stuff but we get Plate Mail of Etherealness and Robe of the Archmage

Weapons; Flame Tongue, Frost Brand, Giantslayer, Greater Dancing, Greater Luckblade, Maul of the Titans, Mighty Dwarven Thrower and more

Implements;  Candle of Invocation, Necklace of Prayer Beads plus others
ROD OF ABSORPTION!!
Greater Staff of POWER! (Now, if they just did the Staff of the Magi I could happily convert my 3.5 Epic Level evoker to Paragon)

Wands; Fire, Frost, Lighting and yes, the best wand ever, the Wand of WONDER

AND SO MUCH MORE....including Cursed Items

All right, I could keep going but the best thing I can say is that this book brings to current 4E D&D a lot of my personal favorites and best loved magic items from many of the past editions.  MME also adds some feats, new weapons and armor, a section on henchmen and hirelings, and a random magic item generation table for all the items in the book.  I felt like I was back in AD&D 2E for a while!

Mordenkain's Magnificent Emporium is only available, at least right now, in hobby and gaming stores so if we aren't your Friendly Local Gaming Store, drop by yours.  Of course, we can always get you a copy!

Dave

Innistrad Magic Events at the Dragon's Den

Innistrad

As we are getting closer to the release of Innistrad for Magic the Gathering, we wanted to post some quick information about the events we will be running over the next few weeks.  We have events at the Dragon's Den for the pre-release, the launch, and a games day all set and ready to go.  So read on and learn about all the different Innistrad events that are coming up!

Pre-release:

We have 4 different Sealed events that are coming up for Innistrad.  All the sealed events are $30.00 and include 6 packs, plus the promo card (while supplies last).  Prizes will be determined by the number of players that sign up for the events.

Sealed #1
Midnight 9/24/2011
Special at the midnight only: FREE pizza and soda!

Sealed #2
Noon 9/24/2011

Sealed #3
Noon 9/25/2011

Sealed #4
5:00pm 9/25/2011

Launch Party:

The official Launch Party for the release of Innistrad will be held Friday night on 9/30/2011.  We will be running a draft at 6:00pm as the official event!  The cost of the event is $15.00 and will include 3 packs and a promo card (while supplies last). Prizes will be determined by the number of players that sign up for the events.

Game Day:

Game day is a constructed event so it is open for players to try and build the best deck.  The event will be run on Saturday 10/29/2011 starting at noon. Everyone who players will get a promo card and the top 8 will get a special promo card. The cost of this event will be $5.00 and prizes will be determined by the number of players who sign up.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Gen Con 2011 The Best 4 Days of Gaming

Welcome back from the "BEST 4 DAYS OF GAMING" also know as Gen Con!

So we got back from Gen Con last night, and it was a fantastic show! We had a chance to try many different games, check out product that is not released just yet, and see all the greatest product that could be seen.  We are going to share some pictures, share some stories, and give some insight into some games.  To make life easy, I'm breaking it down by vendor so you can see the different areas you'd like more info about.  So if you are ready to read on and want to learn more, continue through the trip to Gen Con 2011!

Wizards of the Coast:

There is a lot to talk about with WotC. They had a great booth set up as a ruined castle, and a live action D&D event behind it.  The booth was amazing as was the D&D Mega Adventure that was set up through out Gen Con with QR Codes.  The players got into trying to find the codes and earn points for their faction.  All of this was for the soon to be released Neverwinter campaign setting.  Away from the booth you show the two locations for all the events: The Sagamore Ball Room and the TCG Hall.  At the TCG hall you had so many Magic events, it was almost overwhelming, with the highlight being Nationals!  So many players going in and between events, it was incredible to see.  Upstairs in the Sagamore there was Dungeons and Dragons. It was not just the RPG though, they also had 3 Dragon Ante, all the board games, and the D&D National event as well.A big announcement was for the Lords of Waterdeep board game which is a Euro style board game set in the Dungeons and Dragons world.

Wizkids:

What can I say about Wizkids other then WOW! The new Star Trek game that involves fleets of Federation and Klingon ships looks amazing.  The price point at first looked a bit high, until you started to count up all the ships you got in the base game.  We would love to get a copy of this game a give it a try to get the Trek fans into a great looking ship to ship minis game.  Another game that they had out was Quarriors! Quarriors is a fantastic game involving dice that is similar to the deck building games.  We had such a blast playing this game, that I had to buy a copy for myself then and there.  It played fast and had the option of adding new abilities to the dice without having to make all new dice.  We will be demoing this game soon and getting players excited to try a new type of game.  I really can't talk about Wizkids without mentioning the Heroclix.  They had a number of great items out for sale including Heroclix, Street Fight, and Gears of War... BUT the items that had people looking were the painted pieces (not on bases) of The Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder.  They all looked great!  Check back as more information becomes available we will be writing more.

AEG:

We had the opportunity to go over and talk with the people at AEG as well as attending their Big Game Night.  I would have liked a little more structure to the big game night and maybe in an area that was a little quieter so that we could really check out the games.  We did have a chance to play Ninja, which is a very secretive board game involving Ninjas and guards set in the L5R world..  It was a blast! We will have a copy in this week and will be running some demo games to give players a chance to check it out.  We also got a chance to see Thunderstone, Parthenon, and Legend of the 5 Rings CCG.  AEG has a bunch of really great games out now and if you are looking to give something new a try, they would make a great choice.

Gary Games:

Gary Games is the publisher of the game Ascension.  This is a great deck building game that was created by a number of Magic players who were looking for another game to play between Magic.  The same design group also created Redakai, but we can talk about that later.  I had a chance to play in a tournament for Ascension, but sadly came in second in my pod, so did not advance.  They also had a number of great promo cards that you could pick up at their booth.  We also had a chance to discuss the Dragon's Den becoming a part of the Game Day program that they run, so hopefully we will be a part of the next one which is coming up soon.  

Fantasy Flight Games: 

Well the big announcement here was that Fantasy Flight Games picked up the rights for Star Wars.  To show case this, they had several games on display and were running demo games of several of them.  Star Wars X-Wing looked fantastic! It is a miniatures ship to ship combat game that takes a few elements from Wings of War.  Instead of a deck of cards for movement, each ship has a disk that you pick your movement from and place face down next to the ship (for that hidden movement similar to Wings of War).  They used different templates then for movement and attacks.  They kept some of the flavor with the weapons and abilities on the different star fighters, but we only got to see the X-Wing and Tie Fighter.  They also did a new card game for the Star Wars universe, but we did not get a chance to demo that game.  Some other items of note at the booth would be their release of the Gears of War board game and the new revised edition of Dust Tactics. 

Plaid Hat:

Plaid Hat is the maker of Summoner Wars.They have a new starter box that will be coming out in a month or so... or maybe we will have several copies in a few days! We had the chance to demo the game with them at Gen Con, and they allowed us to get a few copies while we were there.  The new starter has new factions, which if I remember correctly is an addition 6 new factions.  It also has a double board so that it is a little easier to play on and see your side of the board.


I hope that you have found some new information or got to experience some of the Gen Con trip from the write up.  We will be adding more information over the week and get some other impressions so you can hear about some other games and events.  There will always be more to add about Gen Con, but I think this is long enough, so watch for the next post soon.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Magic Innistrad Corrected Information

Welcome Magic players! 

So I'm here to talk to you about the stupidity of some of the newest (or oldest) posts that now have players in a tizzy over what might or might not be in Innistrad.  We have had many players come in freaking out over the new 8 card format for booster packs, as well as the new rarity or time shifted add  into the set.  As an Advanced Level TO who can call Wizards and ask silly questions about this, I'd like to set the record straight.  So if you would like some new info, read on... if you would like to stick your head in the sand and believe the nonsense then stop right here.

8 Card Boosters:

 

 So here we have a picture of the new boosters... or a clever fake.  First off, as confirmed from Wizards, there will not be a 8 card booster pack.  Second, do we think that Baron Sengir, Apocalypse Chime, and Willow Priestess will be the cover art for the set? Come on players, I think we can be a little smarter and not just blindly believe everything that some dope posts on a website to get players excited.  Remember that we will have the boosters and events here at the Dragon's Den... and they will be 15 cards not 8!

New Color Rarity:

Well here it is, I see 5 colors with purple just like a Time Shifted card from Timespiral... but wait, that can't be correct... can it??? NO it is not correct! Again, after contacting my rep at Wizards to confirm or deny these crazy stories, I have found that there is no truth in these wild tales.  So we will only have the normal 4 levels of rarity, there will NOT be any time shifted cards or a new rarity! Come on players, do I have to spell it out for you?!?!

So I hope this helps clear up some questions and helps players to calm down and relax.  I'm glad that so many players have come in concerned about these possible changes and brought this to our attention so we can try and answer the questions and kill the bad rumors.  As we run many events at the Dragon's Den, we really do try to give our players some good information and have great events.  So stop in and play a (real) game!

Public Service Announcement:

Please do not believe everything you read on the internet! We have called Wizards and asked these questions to get correct information. If any of this information is faulty, then it is faulty from Wizards, the people who MAKE MAGIC!

Wizards Ban announcement 6/20/11

Ok, so Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has finally added new cards to their ban list, the first time in Standard in a very long time.  What does this mean for the game, and what does it mean in general.....

Well it does make me wonder why? Why did they make this announcement with only a few months before rotation and both Jace and Stoneforge would leave Standard anyway? Why did they put Stoneforge in the Event Deck when they had to know what the format was doing before they created the decks? Why did they allow the format to stagnate for so long?

Wait a minute.... are you saying you have no idea what I'm talking about??? Well you need to read what WotC has to say about the new banned cards!

New Phyrexia Releases

So after a very rocky start with retail stores being told that the name would not be spoiled until the pre-release (which oddly enough the cartoons are all labeled "Action") and the massive early spoil of the entire set list (thanks pro guys for that), New Phyrexia has released!

We ran many events last week-end for the pre-release events, including 85 players at midnight.  That brought the total number of players on Saturday to 140 for the day.  Now some of those players played twice, but it is still impressive to see so many players come in and enjoy the game.  Sunday was very light, but with the fact it was Mother's Day... I'm glad to see so many players visiting with their moms.  We ran many different sealed events so the players could enjoy as much of the new set as they possibly could before the official release. Many players really enjoyed getting the promo, Sheoldred, Whispering One.

The launch party was a success as well. With 34 players drafting the new set, there are many players opening some great cards. The promo card Phyrexian Metamorph is a cool card, and why would you not want to copy a Sword of War and Peace with it.

Many players went crazy when they saw that Surgical Extraction would be the buy a box promo.  This is the most expensive rare, not mythic, in the set.  We ended up selling out boxes so fast so players could get one... This was the best buy a box promo, in my opinion, so far.

So as far as I can see, the events and the set it self have been wildly enjoyed! I'm personally looking forward to drafting one of each from this block as I think they will please really well together... better then other expansions did.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks