Kings Games announces $5000 MTG Championship

Kings Games is proud to announce a $5000 Magic: The Gathering championship to be held on February 20th in Edison NJ.

Date: Feb 20, 2010
Time: Registration opens 9am, play begins 10am
Location: 81 Seymore Ave, Edison NJ
Directions: http://stmatthewtheapostle.com/node/26
Format: Standard ( Swiss style event cut to top 8 )
Payout:
Winner – $2000
Finalist – $1000
Top 4 – $500
Top 8 – $250

Vendors will be on site to buy and sell cards (if you are interested in vending at this event, please call or e-mail us at the store). Side events and booster drafts will be available throughout the day.

Additional non-Magic events on site will include Epic TCG demos and a YuGiOh Laptop tournament.

Real Treasure in Zendikar Packs

Wow, did not see this one coming. We just found out that some Zendikar packs will include an ultra-rare old Magic card instead of the basic land. We are not talking about some lame cards either – some rumored cards include Moxes, Ancestral Recall, dual lands, etc.

Wizards of the Coast confirmed this on the judge list posting though they would not comment on the specific cards available in the packs nor on exactly how rare pulling such a card would be. “Yes, certain authentic vintage cards have been inserted in some booster packs for Zendikar.” reads the official WOTC post. These are apparently old cards, hand-inserted into the packs. They are not reprints.

Earlier this month Wizards released an update to their tournament rules. One key aspect of the rules is that judges/organizers are now allowed to play in non-premier events such as Friday Night Magic or pre-releases. Another seemed to address the Zendikar inserts directly:

“Other than basic land, only cards from the expansions of the boosters opened (and only cards opened in that player’s pool) may be used in a player’s deck. For example, in a Magic 2010 Sealed Deck tournament, any card in a booster other then the Magic 2010 game cards received by the player and basic land may not be used in a player’s deck during that tournament.”

This means that if you open that Ancestral Recall in your Zendikar Sealed Pack at tomorrow’s pre-release it is not a reason to play blue – you’ll have to wait until the next Vintage tournament to cast it. Also, in any tournament where there is a deck swap it is the player who physically opens the packs who will be keeping the vintage card.

Kings Games playmats are coming

We have ordered Kings Games branded playmats and they should be arriving at the store before the end of this month. We will sell them for just $10.00 Here is a preview of what the playmat is going to look like:

Magic weekly tournaments update

Effective immediately we will be changing the structure of our two weekly MTG tournaments. Formats will remain the same – draft on Wednesdays and Type 2 on Fridays. The changes are as follows:

Wed 7:30pm draft. Entry fee is $12. Booster pack will be added to the prize pool for every player who enters the tournament. Promo cards will also be awarded to top finishers and as door prizes at the rate of 2 per draft pod. The draft format will be individual pods (if there are 12+ players in the event) and prizes will be awarded to top finishers based on the final standings. Current draft format is going to be M10 (while supplies last). Like most stores, we are very low on M10 and may have to revert back to Alara block if we run out of product.

Fri 7pm Type 2. Friday Night Magic. Entry fee is $5 and a booster pack will be added to the prize pool for every entry. Packs will be awarded to top finishers. Additionally top 2 players and two randomly selected players will recieve FNM promo cards.

Off To Pittsburgh

Kings Games is one of the vendors at the Yu-Gi-Oh National Championship in Pittsburgh this weekend. While it is great news for us, some of our customers may be inconvenienced because the bulk of our singles inventory will be traveling with us and unavailable at the store. We are leaving today and the inventory will be back in the store on Monday, July 13th.

YGO July 5 Regional Deck Lists

The last Regional of the season sold out by 8:45 in the morning (doors opened at 8am) as everyone wanted a last chance at an invitation to Nationals in Pittsburgh next weekend. Here are the top 8 deck lists from the event:

Top 4:

Raymond Torres

Timothy Howell

Jayson Tam

Marshaun Young

Top 8

Matt Wrona

Ivan Cortez

Peter Cheng

Ira Jones

Epic in July

We are going to continue hosting weekly $100 Epic tournaments on Thursdays in July with the following changes to prize support and format:

Entry fee: $10
First Place: $60 store credit, Stolen Memory promo card
Second Place: $40 store credit
Random door prize #1: The Shield promo card
Random door prize #2: Stolen Memory promo card

This prize support will be awarded for tournaments with 10+ players. If less than 10 players show up, store credit will be awarded to top 2 at an approximate 60/40 split equal to the full amount of entry fees collected. Stolen Memory promo cards will be awarded regardless of attendance and The Shield will be awarded in any tournament with 4+ players.

We will also continue to run booster drafts on Tuesdays with one Stolen Memory promo given to winner and one awarded as a random door prize.

2008 Origin Award Winners Announced

Every year, Origins Awards recognizes some of the best games and accessories released in the previous year. List of the 2008 winners was just announced. Here is the complete list of winners by category:

Board Games:
Pandemic by Z-Man Games, Inc.
Designed by Matt Leacock

Children’s, Family, and Party Games:
Say Anything by North Star Games
Designed by Dominic Craphuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri

Historical Board Games:
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear by Academy Games
Designed by Uwe Eickert

Card Games:
Dominion by Rio Grande Games
Designed by Donald X Vaccarino

Collectible Card Games:
Magic the Gathering: Shards of Alara 1 by Wizards of the Coast
Designed by Bill Rose and Devin Low

Fiction:
Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons Volume 2 Published by Devil’s Due
Edited by James Lowder & Mike O’Sullivan

Non-Fiction:
Tour de Lovecraft: The Tale Published by Atomic Overmind Press
Written by Ken Hite

Miniature Game Rules:
Classic Battletech: Tactical Operations by Catalyst Game Labs
Designed by Randall N. Bills and Herbert A Beas II

Miniature Figure or Line of Miniature Figures:
Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars by Wizards of the Coast

Historical Miniatures Line of the Year: Tie

Fields of Glory Miniature Rules by Osprey Publishing / Slitherine Software
Designed by Richard Bodley-Scott

Song of Drums and Shako by Ganesha Games
Designed by Andrea Sfiligoi

Historical Miniature Figure Game Rules Supplement:
Rise of Rome (Fields of Glory Supplement) by Osprey Publishing

Historical Miniature Figure Line:
SS-Panzerdivision ‘Das Reich’ Panzerkompanie (GEAB06) [15mm Line] by Battlefront Games

Role-Playing Game: Mouseguard Role-Playing Game by Archaia Studios Press
Designed by Luke Crane and David Petersen

Role-Playing Game Supplement:
Serenity Adventures by Margaret Weis Productions
Designed by Alana Abbot, Billy Aguiar, James Davenport, Ted Reed, and James M. Ward

Game Accessory: D-Total die by Gamescience
Designed by Dr. A. F. Simkin, Frank Dutrain, and Louis Zocchi

We carry several of these products at Kings Games and can get the rest as special order items for those who are interested.

Epic 5K Coverage

We hosted the first Designed Deck $5,000 championship for Epic this weekend. A total of 40 players attended the event – a bit less than I expected (my guess was 60) but in line with what Rob and others had anticipated. A number of Epic pros such as Will Morgan and Tim Capes traveled from outside the region while most (about 30) of the players were from NY, NJ, PA and CT. 5K Florida champion and YuGiOh pro Jerry Wang was considered a favorite to win the event but failed to make top 8 this time around. He made up for it on Sunday, by winning free airfare to 5K in California this September.

Perhaps the saddest story of the weekend was that of 5K MA winner Jason Tien. His flight got canceled, stranding him in an airport for close to 20 hours. He ended up arriving in Brooklyn toward the end of the day on Saturday, way too late to participate. Jason graciously volunteered to write up some feature match coverage of the later rounds, and it will be posted soon at epictcg.com

On the brighter note, Epic designer Rob Dougherty was on hand talking freely about the future of the game, upcoming set, and gunslinging against all comers with some wacky decks. Anyone who played Rob got a free token card while anyone who managed to beat him got a complete set of all 7 tokens. A Hall of Fame Magic player, Rob was not easy to beat even though he was playing with intentionally casual decks.

In the finals it came down to Marc Paschover vs Tim Capes. Marc hails from a Magic background and once represented Belgium (where he used to live) as part of the national team at a World Championship. In addition to being one of my oldest friends personally, Marc has been a Kings Games regular since day 1 so of course it was great to see him do so well. Tim Capes is a Vs System pro from Canada who is active and well-known in the Epic online community. It was great to see him again (last time I met Tim, our teams split in the finals of a Vs System 10K championship). Tim and Marc split in the finals and played it out for the title, bragging rights and the Doom promo card and trophy. It was an exciting match that went on for about an hour and lasted all three games. In the end, Tim’s Unstoppable deck persevered against Marc’s control build 2-1.

Below are the top 8 deck lists from the event:

——————
Tim Capes

3x Frankenstein’s Monster
3x Echoing Mage
3x Obliterate
3x Living Nightmare
3x Dreaded Judge
3x Dimensional Incompatibility
3x Imposter
3x Charmed
3x Can’t or Won’t
3x Food for Thought
3x Determination
3x Confiscate
3x The Facilitator
3x Ambush

3x Anything but That
3x Compromise
3x Seaside Cave
3x Now
3x Quick Strike
3x Take Cover

Sideboard

3x Bladed Vampire
3x Giant Spider
3x New World Order
3x Madness Demon
3x Mithril Armor
——————–

Marc Paschover

3x Jason
1x Mr.Hyde
3x Facilitator
2x Dreaded Judge
3x Fire Breathing Dragon
3x Echoes of Despair
3x Execution
3x Food for Thought
3x Nightmare’s Past
3x Can’t or Won’t
3x Confiscate
3x Dimensional Incompatibility
3x Forgotten Wisdom
3x No
3x No Escape

3x Muse
3x Priestess
3x Sage
3x Werewolf
1x Relentless Chant
3x Anything but That
2x Nullifier

Sideboard-

1x Dreaded Judge
3x Charmed
3x Echoes of Martyrdom
3x Echoes of Inspiration
2x Rend
3x Mithril Armor
——————–

Daniel Ketani

3x Can’t or Won’t
3x Forgotten Wisdom
3x No Escape
3x Food for Thought
3x Ring of Speed
3x The Facilitator
3x Call of the Wild
3x Deep Thought
3x Doppelganger
3x Graft-Steel Thoughtkeeper
3x Salvage
3x Mithril Armor
3x Echoing Mage

3x Exhume
3x Nightrise
3x Deathblow
3x Compromise
3x Now
3x Thought Stealer

sideboard-

3x Frankenstein’s Monster
2x Charmed
3x Obliberate
3x Gold
2x Dimensional Incompatibility
2x Nightmare’s Past

———————

James Kandziolka

3x Can’t or Won’t
3x Forgotten Wisdom
3x No Escape
3x Food for Thought
3x Ring of Speed
3x The Facilitator
3x Call of the Wild
3x Deep Thought
3x Doppelganger
3x Graft-Steel Thoughtkeeper
3x Salvage
3x Mithril Armor
3x Echoing Mage

3x Exhume
3x Nightrise
3x Deathblow
3x Compromise
3x Now
3x Thought Stealer

sideboard-

3x Frankenstein’s Monster
2x Charmed
3x Obliberate
3x Gold
2x Dimensional Incompatibility
2x Nightmare’s Past

—————————

Colin Deicke

3x Charmed
3x Gold
3x New World Order
3x Frankenstein’s Monster
3x Obliterate
3x Knowledge
3x Ring of Speed
3x Food For Thought
3x Diamond Golem
3x Dimensional Incomatibility
3x Can’t or Won’t
3x No
3x Forgotten Wisdom
3x Graft-Steel Builder

3x Exhume
3x Relentless Chant
3x The Shield
3x Anything but That
3x Compromise
3x Thought Stealer

Sideboard-

3x Spontaneous Combustion
3x Mithril Armor
3x Nightmare’s Past
3x Rend
3x Warped Space

———————

David Hanna

1x Deep Thought
3x Echoes of Inspiration
1x Crystal Ball
3x Begone!
3x Dimensional Incompatibility
3x Enlightenment
3x Graft-Steel Thoughtkeeper
3x Guns Lots of Guns
3x Knowledge
3x Blue Dragon
3x Mithril Armor
3x Pegasus
3x Return Home
3x Spirit of Yesterdays
3x Raise the Dead
2x Book of Secrets

3x Druid
2x The Hard Way
3x Tranquil Retreat
3x Compromise
3x Muse
3x Naturalist

Sideboard-

1x Confiscate
3x Forgotten Wisdom
3x Leave Me!
3x Never
3x Timekeeper
1x Reality Check
1x The Shield

——————

Fredrick Chang

3x Frankenstein’s Monster
3x The Facilitator
3x Dreaded Judge
1x Necromancer Lord
3x Imposter
3x Nentack
1x Mr. Hyde
3x Echoing Mage
3x Dominator
3x Confiscate
3x No Escape
3x Food for Thought
3x Dimensional Incompatability
3x Ambush
3x Charmed
1x Ring of Speed

3x Thought Stealer
3x Comprimise
3x Seaside Cave
3x Take Cover
3x Now
2x Nullifier
1x The Shield

Sideboard-

2x Echoes of Inspiration
2x New World Order
3x Nightmare’s Past
3x Mithril Armor
1x Echoes of Calm
1x Ring of Speed
3x Archangel

——————

Noriyuki Ayukawa

3x T-Rex
3x Fire Breathing Dragon
2x Frankenstein’s Monster
1x Necromancer Lord
1x The Herald
1x Mr. Hyde
2x Hunting Raptors
3x Spontaneous Combustion
3x Force of Nature
3x Rend
3x Ambush
3x Charmed
2x Forgotten Wisdom
2x Can’t or Won’t
1x Pay Tribute
3x Firespitter
2x The Facilitator
3x Food for Thought
2x Dimensional Incompatibility

3x Lizard Guard
3x Relentless Chant
3x Now!
3x Compromise
2x Night Rise
1x Nature’s Renewal
3x Seaside Cave

Sideboard-

2x Salvage
2x New World Order
2x Smash
2x No Escape
2x Timeripper
2x Warped Space
3x Time Out

Kings Games 7th Anniversary

It is hard to believe it’s been seven years already.

Kings Games opened its doors on June 15th 2002 as a humble and relatively small game store. We were among the very first companies to combine an Internet Cafe and game store models, paving the wave for many more hybrid game centers to come. We have moved twice since, each time to a larger and better location and have grown both our store and New York’s gaming community.

This year our focus has been on utilizing the Internet to better communicate with everyone. Technologies like this blog, Twitter and Facebook will help us keep everyone up to date on what’s going on at KG. We are also going to redouble our efforts on premier events. Many game manufacturers have been scaling back their premier events and/or moving away from the professional organizer model to game store model. As someone who was a competitive gamer way before becoming a tournament organizer I strongly believe that players crave large, exciting events in addition to the local store tournaments. Kings Games will continue to develop large tournament series across the North East.

This year alone we have been entrusted with running World Championship events for two games – Epic and Chaotic. Both will take place in Philadelphia this winter – a city we believe to be a perfect destination for large tournaments. We are also working on large-scale tournaments for Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic and potentially other yet-unreleased games.

If we are lucky, the next seven years are going to be as much fun as the first!