We’re playing a ton of Conspiracy with our Launch Party
It’s BAACCKKK….This special version of magic is specially tuned as mutant hybrid of the “everybody starts out evenness” of Drafting with the “I get to play with/ whomp on my buddies” group play of Commander. This time its adding a couple of new mechanics:
Goad (the ability to provoke another creature to attack)
Melee (rewarding spreading the love by adding +1,+1 to a creature for every opponent you attack that turn)
Council’s Dilemma (where each vote really counts, since each vote does an effect all by itself)
The Monarch, not the butterfly, but a king of the hill style crown that gives all sorts of goodies, but gets taken away whenever another player takes a successful shot at ya.
“Really, they reprinted that!!” Eternal Masters (releasing 6/10/16) is the third set in the limited print run Masters series, this time bringing back some of the best cards from the eternal formats (cards from before 8th edition, special editions, and those that got banned because they were just too good.) Like there predecessors, these packs won’t come cheap, and will almost definitely go up and up in price over the next year, but we will do our best to allocate them for playing over just buying boxes.
Before you ask, no there are not duel lands or power nine in this set. Wizards has been good to their promise never to reprint those items on the so called Reserve list, but short of that, this set looks beyond amazing, with a shocking number of some of the best cards in all of Magic, from arguably the king of Planeswalkers, Jace the Mindsculpter, to Mana Vault, Sensei’s Divining Top, and even Force of Will, these packs are just, well, packed with goodness.
Boxes will pre-sell in VERY limited quantities for $349.99 ($339.99 for regulars). And we will do a number of special events. For the limited events, to make the more affordable, we will offer player the option of taking $10 off the event price if the opt to take any prize packs they win in regular packs rather then Eternal Masters packs. (Obviously, BEFORE they look at their deck pools). Events will include:
Plus we will be doing a Tuesday Night League. $75 to Start, and $11 a week for a new pack (four weeks) or $110 for the whole event. Players report the weeks match results by the end of each Tuesday and get their new packs when they come in on or before Tuesdays.
For the next few weeks after Iconic Masters ships…we will do Regular draft ($15 ) side by side with Iconic Masters ($40/$35 with regular prize packs). Both will run as long as we have enough for standard draft.
Cost is $15 and comes with an optional pack of $3.50 ultra pro sleeves for only $2 extra. Format is casual, playing 3 rounds, with a pack for a prize for the winner of each round.
The Friday drafts start later, so are recommended for adults (or more advanced kids). We run more kid friendly events on other times
BTW…GREAT Draft Practice sites
Wizards Site (Simple and limited, but a great place to start)
Come on in. Drafts are a great way for everybody to start out on the same footing and have an equal chance to win and an guaranteed chance to have fun. While we have some great competitive players, we take great pride in remembering that playing games is supposed to be fun and focusing on helping everybody have a great time.
Players should know how to play the game, but players who have never tried drafting, new players, and players who haven’t played for a long time will find us a warm and welcoming group, who will help them to get comfortable so we can add new people to our mix.If you want help in getting more comfortable before hand, come on in and we’ll hook you up with one of our regulars to help out. Being a comfortable and fun place to play is our specialty.
We also run kid specific drafts on the first Saturday of each month. We also do Two-headed Giants on most other Saturdays that end by 8:30 and are friendly for almost every age and experience group.
Cost is $15 and comes with an optional pack of $3.50 ultra pro sleeves for only $2 extra. Format is casual, playing 3 rounds, with a pack for a prize for the winner of each round.
The Friday drafts start later, so are recommended for adults (or more advanced kids). We run more kid friendly events on other times
BTW…GREAT Draft Practice sites
Wizards Site (Simple and limited, but a great place to start)
Come on in. Drafts are a great way for everybody to start out on the same footing and have an equal chance to win and an guaranteed chance to have fun. While we have some great competitive players, we take great pride in remembering that playing games is supposed to be fun and focusing on helping everybody have a great time.
Players should know how to play the game, but players who have never tried drafting, new players, and players who haven’t played for a long time will find us a warm and welcoming group, who will help them to get comfortable so we can add new people to our mix.If you want help in getting more comfortable before hand, come on in and we’ll hook you up with one of our regulars to help out. Being a comfortable and fun place to play is our specialty.
We also run kid specific drafts on the first Saturday of each month. We also do Two-headed Giants on most other Saturdays that end by 8:30 and are friendly for almost every age and experience group.
You can’t have a good conspiracy on your own. And that is the secret sauce to the special Magic set , coming out on June 6th. This draft -centric, multi-player set is all about what we can do for, er, to each other. This is a special set, much like Modern Masters, with limited initial qualities, though they say that there will be some reprinting after (we are being wary..squirreling away our boxes to let people play with until we know the score.)
We will be drafting this like crazy on that first weekend, and will do it regularly afterwords. Drafts will be $20 pp, with each player getting at least one prize pack, and the top two players getting a free entry into the next draft (or 3 prize packs.)
Lore Seeker…get to go and add a Worldwake booster to the draft?
Messing with a Draft:Drafting is one of the most fun things you can do in magic. And this set takes the standard “get 3 packs, open 1, pick a card and pass to the left/right” and tosses it in the blender. One of our customers described it beautifully by saying that it “broke the 4th wall” of a draft, and I think that’s true. In this set, there are cards that start the game during the draft itself, letting people mess with each other as the draft is going on. (BTW…all Conspiracy drafts are casual format–will of WOTC.)
King of the Hill: Conspiracy is designed to play very differently. When a 8 (or 6) person draft is done, the players are broken into two random groups, and the winner is the last one standing. Most of the drafts we will do will have everyone getting a single bonus prize pack, and the top player in each of the pods, getting the chance to keep on drafting with a free entry into the next draft ( or 3 prize packs). There is the draft and one big multiplayer game, and then the next draft. Kind of cool…that way you are playing to build up your collection, rather then just buying packs. (Packs will cost minimum of $5, so the draft is a great way to go.)
And the winner is….
Democracy and Conspiracy? Sure…these have always been strange and familiar bedfellows. There cards in the set that have effects where the players put what is going to happen next up to a vote!?!?!
More info on the different Mechanics (from the Wizards of the Coast website)
These are permanents that affect what goes on with the way the game is played (like who goes first or letting everybody draw a whole second hand and then chose which one to play with….)
With this ability everybody reveals the top card of their library, then whoever did it gets some benefit from what is revealed, but EVERYBODY gets to draw a card at the end. A good parley is good for everybody.
IMPT…D20 will be closed on Sat Aug. 24th and Sunday the 25th For Grand Prix Oakland. No Pokemon or Vanguard this weekend…back next week.
Friday the 23rd is Ben’s 50th Birthday, and to celebrate he’s going to join the rest of the team to go to the Magic Grand Prix at the Oakland Convention Center this weekend.
A few last minute changes for the events this week: GP practice moved from Weds to Thursday.
Weds:-NOTE–Closed at 6 except for D&D Encounters Players
League from 4:30 to 7 (open short hours this week.)
D&D from 6-9-(No D&D on the first week of school….)
Thursday–Pick up Team D20 Tee Shirts….Last Practice m14. Sealed ($20–play at 5:30 pm)
Event list is out of date…problems with the system…sorry
Thursday…great special treat…. The creators of one of our favorite games, Castle Panic, are coming to visit the store and play. For those who don’t know the game, it a wonderful game for both kids and adults, and because it is everyone against the game, is particularly wonderful for siblings (action without frustration), or only kids (great to play with buds, but also one of the few games that can be played solo, since it is the player against the game.) For fans, get to meet the creators and bring in your game to have them sign them…for parents, it is very, very cool for kids to see that things like this are created by real people…very inspiring for what they can do.
Grand Prix Oakland M14 Sealed Practice times: (ok to get packs ahead of time and to come late w/game loss…just call and let us know)
Mon. 7/29 @ Noon (11 am deck building)
Weds. 7/31 @ 5:00 (Ok to mix with League decks if you don’t add new pack before event)
Thurs: 8/1 @ 5:30 (limed to 8)
Sat: 8/3 @ 6 pm
Sunday 8/4 @ 3 pm
The week that was and will be…
Magic:
Tuesday @5:45: Modern Masters Modern Tournaments $5 entry. 100% into prize. For first event…guaranteed extra Modern Masters Pack added to prize pool and second pack for random giveaway.
Weds:
League from 4 on…League tournament at 5:30 (don’t add extra pack so we can blend this with…)
5:30, M14 Sealed Practice
Friday: FNM
Sat:
5:30, Date Night Magic ($15 plus $5 for pizza)
6:00 (Packs at 4): Practice M14 Sealed
Sunday
11:30 Magic Standard ($5)
3:00 (packs anytime) Practice M14 Sealed
Pokemon
Sat
11-1 Pokemon League ($5–includes pack)
WRONG DATE–This will be on Aug 17th…11:00 Plasma Blast Release(11 to get packs, 12 to play…~ 1 hour for non-competitive, 2 hours for competitive)
Sealed deck tournament. 6 packs provided. Make your best deck and then play. There will be a choice of two packs per player bonus for non-competitive, or 1 pack plus an additional pack per round won for the adults or more competitive younger players. (best 2 out of 3)
—-Coming Thursday August 1st…IN STORE VISIT BY THE CREATORS OF CASTLE PANIC!! 😉 ———-
Special announcement about From the Vault at the bottom of is post…
This weekend–Pokemon and Vanguard Back to Normal, Release Events for M14 (including 2-headed Giant) and Oakland Grand Prix Qualifier on Sunday!
Had a great set of Prerelease events for Magic M14. Some interesting highlights…
Most Busted cards in the set so far….Kalonian Hydra…Comes into play with 4 counters and doubles ALL counters on All your creatures when it attacks! Oh, and did I mention the trample. Remove it in the next 2 turns or that’s game….sheesh. (Found out about this by being on the wrong side of the card…)
Winner–most Busted Card in M14
Magic M14 is Here!!! This week—M14 release events….
Tuesday–Last Modern Masters League Pack week…Come in and find your partner for next week’s League Two-headed Giant!!–Special Bonus Prize cards and goodies for the regular players tonight…We will Draft at 6 if we get 8 (again..) (and full participation credit for league members who show up and don’t wish to draft.)
Weds–Last Dragon’s Maze League before we start M14–come in for special tolkens and other prizes, Also D&D Encounters ($5 fee) LOOKING for another good DM to help run a table…will be compensated in store credit, but must be good enough to represent the store…
Grand Prix Trial for Grand Prix Oakland!!! Reg at 10 but start will be 11 am on time. Since the packs need to be opened and registered by other players, there will be no ability to show up late for this one. This will be a $35 sealed event using M14 (the same format that the Grand Prix will be) This will be a competitive level event…so much more strict on the rules, though we still aim to keep the D20 Good spirit in place. 😉
Draft at 3 for those who want to redeem their pride (or luck)
From the Vault Twenty will be coming out on my Birthday, Aug 23rd, and as usual there will be very limited numbers. We will start two sign up lists. The first will be for 6 guaranteed copies at $150 each. The second will be for a price TBD once we see what’s in the thing, but will be about 10% below what the going ebay sold rate is. This will be a lottery, with the entries based on the two things I want to most reward, participation in store events and money spent in the store over ehe last few months. (This year, I’m going to do estimates for both of these so I don’t spend 3 days looking through wizard’s event reporter). ONE BIG CHANGE…
I will be adding extra bonus entries for the following:
One extra entry for every event participated in from now until the release on the 23rd
Bonus entry for People who attend more then 2 events a week
Double entries for people attending Leagues, including participating in M14 league
3 Bonus Entries for people who bring in a player to an event who as not ever played with us before
And I reserve the right to give out extra entries (at my discretion) for players who help teach a new player how to play, or who in general are showing above and beyond kindness and support to new or intimidated/nervous players, or general good Duckishness…
For the next few weeks after Iconic Masters ships…we will do Regular draft ($15 ) side by side with Iconic Masters ($40/$35 with regular prize packs). Both will run as long as we have enough for standard draft.
