“Hello Game Players, TheConundrum here…” The Magic the Gathering tournament I am hosting tomorrow can now officially go ahead as I have finally received the DCI membership cards needed for new players (or for players who have lost their previous numbers). Now I only have one more concern when it comes to getting the tournament up and running, having enough players.

All Magic sanctioned events require at least eight players in order to be officially sanctioned and after the last game night I have had serious concerns on whether I will have enough players come Saturday. My plan was to make a serious local media blitz with ads in the local paper, more flyers and possibly radio reminders, but with my truck breaking down, funds to do this quickly withered. I have had to make a push to all the people that I personally know to attend and play.

I have had to put some thought into what prizes I will make available to winners. This would have been easier if Wizards of the Coast extended its prize support to new organizers but alas they don’t so I have had to try and come up with something. My wife asked me about this the other day trying to find out what the prizes were going to be. I answered by saying that the experiences gained from playing in a sanctioned tournament should be all the reward players need. Well the look she gave told me otherwise and I have tried to think what I could do. Originally the tourney entry fee was going to be used to help pay for the venue but I have decided to directly tie the entry fee to the end prize now. I have decided the top two players will split an amount of store credit equal to the total of the entry fees (2/3 the total for the winner, 1/3 for second place) or give the players half their credit in cash.

I still am hoping for other game players and not just Magic players to come and check out the game nights as I don’t believe that focusing on one game will be conducive to growing my business. I have made contacts with other game publishers to be able to hold sanctioned events for games other than just for Wizards of the Coast.

(For more information about myself, my business venture Conundrum Games or my blog “TheConundrums View” please go to www.ConundrumGames.com or www.congam.com. Also you may send any questions or criticisms you have to: TheConundrum@ConundrumGames.com.)

As with Mondays blog post here are some “do’s” and “don’ts” for Magic the Gathering tournaments. These rules are taken directly from the current DCI universal floor rules and are not negotiable.

Do bring a way for you to keep your score if you wish, but I recommend during a tournament to use pencil and paper as well as each player keeping both players life total. Conundrum Games will provide pencil and paper if players wish to use it.

Do bring your own counters and tokens if you wish. Conundrum Games will supply tokens/counters for anyone who needs them.

Do be respectful of your opponents and event staff and act in a sportsmanlike manner.

Do listen to the Judge as all players MUST follow the rules and guidelines as interpreted by him. As of now I act as organizer and judge and I promise to make as complete of rulings as I can in an expedited manner. I will try to research all rulings to make sure what I have ruled on is correct.

Do allow your opponent the opportunity to cut your and or shuffle your deck before play begins during a game or whenever the deck has been shuffled during play. Players have the right to ask for a judge to shuffle a deck if they do not wish an opponent to do so. The judge may do this at his own discretion.

Do take notes. Taking notes is allowed is constructed tournament play as long as they are taken in a timely manner. Notes may only be referred to during the match in which they are taken and must be placed out of play or discarded after the current match.

Do use card sleeves on your cards. Players who wish may use their own choice of card sleeves but must follow some simple rules. First, all sleeves must be identical. Second, sleeves with holograms must have the hologram facing up appearing on the face of the card.

Don’t wager on the outcome of a game. Gambling is not allowed in this form of game playing.

Don’t be Tardy for your matches. Players need to be ready and in their seats when a round begins.

Don’t use proxy cards. Proxies are not allowed in DCI sanctioned tournaments unless special conditions are met. These conditions rarely apply to constructed tourneys.

Don’t speak, as all spectators are expected to remain silent during matches. It is also important to note that communicating with players while a match is in progress is not allowed.

Don’t watch if a player requests it. Players may make this type of request to the judge.

Don’t interfere. Spectators who believe they have observed rules violations should inform a judge, but must not interfere with the match.

(For more information about myself, my business venture Conundrum Games or my blog “TheConundrums View” please go to www.ConundrumGames.com or www.congam.com. Also you may send any questions or criticisms you have to: TheConundrum@ConundrumGames.com .)

With my first Magic the Gathering tournament planned for this Saturday I feel it’s necessary for me to remind players of what is currently available to use. Standard constructed tournaments use cards from the newest Magic sets and are designed to level the playing field and allow newer players with smaller collections a better chance at success. After our first game night I realized there is a need for extended constructed format tourneys that use a larger card pool, but as my first tournament, standard will make it easier for me to judge and answer questions before moving to other formats.

The card sets allowed in standard, at it’s most basic, is the latest core set and the last two expansion blocks. This allows cards published in the last two years to be the most commonly used. By standard definition these are the sets currently available: Ninth Edition core set, “Ravnica” block (Ravnica, Guildpact and Dissension sets) and “Time Spiral” block (currently “Time Spiral” and “Planar Chaos”). Also any cards that were printed as part of any earlier set that are reprinted in any of these sets are also legal, i.e. Eighth Edition cards that were reprinted in Ninth are usable, but sometimes the cards are reprinted with newer wording, so it may be in a players best interest to check www.magiccthegathering.com and check “TheGatherer” to find out the most current wording and rulings for specific cards.

Now as with anything in Magic the Gathering there are some exceptions, and there is a couple currently in standard format. First is the special addition of the expansion set “Coldsnap” to standard, as it isn’t part of any current expansion block “Coldsnap” has been given a special exception and is allowed. Also “Time Spiral” introduced Time-shifted cards to the mix, this 121 card subset and the original versions are usable currently in standard format.

Lastly here are some other basic concepts that need to be noted for constructed tourney play. Decks must be a minimum of sixty (60) cards, there is no maximum number of cards in a deck but a player must be able to shuffle their deck without assistance. Players may use a sideboard, a fifteen (15) card side deck that a player may swap cards on a one for one basis between games in a match. Sideboards must contain fifteen (15) cards, no more, no less. Also note, a player must “reset” their decks at the beginning of a new tournament round, meaning that all sideboard cards must be in the sideboard during the first game against a new opponent.

(For more information about myself, my business venture Conundrum Games or my blog “TheConundrums View” please go to www.ConundrumGames.com or www.congam.com. Also you may send any questions or criticisms you have to: TheConundrum@ConundrumGames.com .)

First let me start and write that I did not mean to post this on a Saturday but equipment difficulties have forced my Friday blog post back a day. My wireless modem I found out are susceptible to failure caused by lightning and I have not been able to access the internet until I received a replacement modem.

I recently decided to rename my open gameplay events, mostly due to the fact the name is long and is not understood by the general public. For now on all of my events will be called game nights so my intentions will be better understood. Recent personal financial happenings are having adverse effects on my business so unless my luck changes around and the local gaming community decides to check into the game nights, I will be forced to suspend the events until I can be more assured that the time and money I have invested is not completely wasted.

My next attempt at hosting a game night will be different than the first two times. There will be no sanctioned tourney taking place that night as I want to try a “Learn to Play Magic the Gathering” workshop for new players. I believe that in order to do my mission and foster the game scene I need to take time and introduce games to the players.

For those who already know to play Magic can use the facility to play and discuss games. Also I am still holding out for some non-Magic playing gamers to make there selves known so I can begin branching out a little. I cannot help supply any needs for games if I do not know if there is any demand.

Lastly a note on the upcoming Magic the Gathering sanctioned tournament that I have to report. I notified Wizards of the Coast through there tournament body, DCI, nearly three weeks ago of my intentions to host the tournament and was quickly assigned a number for the event. But, I have not yet received the required organizer support that I need to run the event as of yet. This material includes DCI membership cards (and numbers) for players and is required for playing in a sanctioned event still has not been received by myself. I will be contacting DCI as soon as possible to see about the delay and try to correct the situation. I have been over the information that I have been given so far and cannot find anywhere in it that says I need to make a special request for the organizers support. Hopefully I’ll get this situation resolved and I will only have too worry about not having enough players attend the tournament.

(For more information about myself, my business venture Conundrum Games or my blog “TheConundrums View” please go to www.ConundrumGames.com or www.congam.com. Also you may send any questions or criticisms you have to: TheConundrum@ConundrumGames.com .)

While at my recent open gameplay event I was asked to help build a green and black deck using common and uncommon cards from Magic the Gathering‘s last set “Planar Chaos.” Of course I tried to oblige as best I could, it’s hard to put together a deck in a short amount of time, but we definitely tried and I think what we came up with was a good deck. I started rethinking about what I would have done if I had more time and a slightly less hectic place to put a deck together using the same card pool.

I first decided that one thing I would change would be to try to make the deck more competitive by making the deck less random. Doing this will make the deck perform more uniformly and I believe make the decks weak spots more noticeable when playing, allowing it to be better customized in the future. I decided to use the same card pool using common and uncommon cards from “Planar Chaos,” but I also decided to tap a couple of inexpensive rare cards.

This is the build I came up with:

Creatures x22

Fungal Behemoth x2

Fa’adiyah Seer x4

Big Game Hunter x2

Darkheart Sliver x2

Muck Drubb x2

Rathi Trapper x2

Ridged Kusite x4

Sophic Centaur x4

Other Spells x18

Circle of Affliction x2

Cradle to Grave x2

Dash Hopes x4

Evolution Charm x2

Healing Leaves x2

Keen Sense x2

Seal of the Primordium x2

Land x22

Forest x10

Swamp x11

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth x1

I designed it heavy with black creatures with the madness mechanic and other creatures that allow you to discard your own cards from hand so you can play the cards with the more efficient madness cost. The other spell cards are mostly utilitarian balancing life gain, counter spells, card draw and targeted removal effects.

(For more information about myself, my business venture Conundrum Games or my blog “TheConundrums View” please go to www.ConundrumGames.com or www.congam.com. Also you may send any questions or criticisms you have to: TheConundrum@ConundrumGames.com .)