PAX East- Best 3 Days in Gaming
If you’ve never been to PAX East, you might seriously want to consider attending. PAX East is the best three days in gaming ever to visit the East Coast of the United States. For three whole days, everyone you meet there is a geek, nerd, gamer, or whatever. For three glorious days, you don’t have to explain to someone you’ve just met that this card game called Magic makes up a huge part of your life, or that every Wednesday you turn into a Pixie for three hours while sharing a pizza with friends. PAX is so much more than just another gaming convention, and you really have to see it for yourself. This year’s PAX East will be held at the Boston Convention and Expo Center, April 6-8, 2012.
This year will be my third PAX. When Tom Shea asked me if I wanted to go work at PAX in 2009, I said sure. I’d done several convention type events, and I thought this would be no different. WOW, was I wrong.
PAX East was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. As far as gaming conventions go, I was in instant HEAVEN! We ran non-stop Magic tournaments. We gave away some really cool prizes, ranging from foil uncut sheets, complete sets, X Boxes, iPods, and lots of booster packs! I have also never seen Magic players use up so much Basic Land in the whole of my life! I had the most wonderful time- I went home so totally excited and already dreaming of next year’s PAX.
Here it is 2012, and once again, TJ Collectibles is preparing to meet the influx of gamers. The Event Schedule is ready. I’ve been getting website events listings prepared, and TJ Collectibles Online is finalizing the planning for the retail booth. PAX East, here we come!
There’s even more exciting news for fans of PAX East. Just today, it has been decided that PAX will come to Boston every year through 2023. Gamers rejoice!
We can’t wait to see all of you at PAX East. Check out the links above, and join us in Boston!
Brian Kibler wins Pro Tour Honolulu
After a weekend of intense competition, Brian Kibler has been crowned champion at Pro Tour Dark Ascension in Honolulu. The competition was intense, and after an exciting Top 8, Kibler brought his Wolf Run deck to victory.
If you missed the live coverage of the event, you really ought to go watch it. The final match was one of the most intense I’ve seen in a while. The link to all the Pro Tour coverage and photos can be found here.
TJ Collectibles congratulates Brian Kibler on his win!
TJ’s would also like to give a special congratulations to Matthew Costa! Congrats on your first Pro Tour Top 8 finish!
I Want Your Input!
Hey Magic Players,
Every now and again, I get a little stuck with my event scheduling. I want to give you all the best events possible, and I want to give you exactly what you want.
I was looking at the next Magic Prerelease weekend. Avacyn Restored looks like it’s going to be a great set with an awesome prerelease weekend. I want to know what YOU want to see on Prerelease Weekend. I’ll give you a few options:
Alternatively, you can also sound off at my email box. If you’d like to add your thoughts, I can be found at jenn@tjcollect.com
TJ Collectibles to Host TCGplayer.com MaxPoint Qualifiers
Want to head out to the TCGplayer.com MaxPointTM Series Championship
December, 2012 in Indianapolis, IN? Here;s your chance to start earning points in order to get there!
TJ Collectibles is pleased to bring you some weekly TCQ’s for your point-earning pleasure! Come on down and enjoy an evening of fun, friends, and Magic! If you’re looking to earn your way to the big event at the end of the year, come on down and join us for the next few weeks for some good times and great prizes!
TCG Player Max Point Series Bronze TCQ
TCGplayer.com MaxPoint Championship Qualifiers (TCQs) are local events offering players the opportunity to qualify for the $50,000 TCGplayer.com MaxPoint Championship.
The TCGplayer.com MaxPointTM Series all leads up to one of the biggest events of the year, the TCGplayer.com MaxPoint Series Championship!!! The Championship will be held in December 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. To enter the Championship Event, you will need to redeem 20 TCGplayer points. Part of the prize pool of any TCGplayer.com MaxPoint events are physical point tokens – so start collecting as many as you can!
Players will be able to redeem 20 additional points for a bye (40 points for a 2 round bye.) Players will need to bring the TCGplayer.com MaxPoint cards with them for entry into the championship event.
Event Dates:
Thu, Feb 9th, 2012 7:00 pm
Thu, Feb 16th, 2012 7:00 pm
Thu, Feb 23rd, 2012 7:00 pm
Thu, Mar 1st, 2012 7:00 pm
Entry fee: $10.00 per player
Prizes: 1st Place – Playmat + 10 Points
2nd Place – Playmat + 5 Points
3rd/4th Place – Playmat + 2 Points
5th-8th Place – 2 Points
Wait a minute… cool playmat? Check out the art by Rob Alexander!
For more information on the TCG Player MaxPoint Series Championship, click here.
Let us know if you’ll be here: RSVP via Facebook!
Prereleases are nearly here!
It’s a busy week at TJ’s. This weekend is loaded with prereleases for two of our favorite games. We kick off the weekend with our Dark Ascension Midnight Madness Party. If you want to be the first to get your hands on the new set, stay after our regular FNM and enjoy hanging out with friends as we count down to midnight and the new set.
Click here for all Dark Ascension Prerelease information.
Pokemon also has Prereleases this weekend. The Pokemon: Black & White Next Destinies Prerelease Series offers eight (8) different events over the course of two weekends.
Be the first to Catch ‘em all! Click here for details.
Whatever your game, we’ve got plenty of events for you this weekend. We hope to see you there!
Grafdigger’s Cage… Good or Bad?
Dark Ascension is only a couple of weeks away, and preview cards are appearing daily all over the Internet. Most players (myself included) can’t wait until the Card Image Gallery on the mothership is updated each day. If you’re out prowling the web today, there seems to be a LOT of discussion about this card:
Some folks seem to think that this card was designed to hate the Dredge decks that populate the Legacy format. I do play Legacy myself, but I’m not going to add this card to my Zoo main deck right away. Dredge can be dealt with already, and I’m not sure I want to go devoting any sideboard slots to it either.
TJ’s Online had a little discussion about this card earlier today. Online general manager Jon Lewis remarked that Grafdigger’s Cage will be a very interesting card to have in Innistrad Block Constructed. He’s also confident that the more casual FNM crowd will devote a couple of sideboard slots to it in their Standard decks.
Time will tell how important Grafdigger’s Cage will be. I’m excited to see what creative uses this card will have after Dark Ascension is released.
Have a comment? Let me know what you think about this card!
Pokemon Next Destinies Prereleases Announced
Pokémon: Black & White Next Destinies Prereleases
1/28/2012 – Science & Hobbies – 1623 2nd Ave. – Watervlite, NY
1/28/2012 – Game Castle – 123 Nashua Rd. -Londonderry, NH
1/28/2012 – Harrison’s Comics – 3850 Mystic Valley Pkwy – Medford, MA
1/29/2012 – TJ Collectibles – 160 Main St. – Milford, MA
2/4/2012 – The Grid Games – 52 Purnell Pl. – Manchester, CT
2/4/2012 – Batter Up – 1875 Main St. – Tewksbury, MA
2/5/2012 – X9 Games- 367 Russell St. – Hadley, MA
2/5/2012 – Relentless Dragon – 493 Amherst St. – Nashua, NH
Registration for all events begins at 10:15 a.m. Prerelease starts at 11:00 a.m.
Entry fee is $25.00 per player.
Each player will receive 6 booster packs to build a deck with. Once the tournament is over and any borrowed energy cards have been returned, each player will receive 2 additional Noble Victories Booster Packs!
Dark Ascension Prerelease Promo
Dark Ascension is on it’s way. Previews have started, and so far we’re seeing good cards to drool over and discuss, debate, and playtest with. Since I’ve had folks asking me, here’s the shiny one that you’ll get at the Prerelease:
Wait a minute… It transforms.
Get your demon at Midnight Madness here at TJ’s. Supplies may be limited, so be sure to get here early!
See the full schedule of Dark Ascension Prerelease events here.
Dungeons & Dragons 5.0 Coming Soon!
Exciting news has come for all D&D fans!
Wizards of the Coast has announced that the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons is in the works, and YOU get to help make it! In this article, the new system is announced, along witht the exciting news that Wizards of the Coast is asking the player community at large to be part of the playtesting process:
D&D is more than just a set of rules for fantasy gaming. It launched an entire gaming genre and played a pivotal role in creating the entirety of the gaming industry, both analog and digital. The game has lived and thrived because it has awoken a spark of creation, visions of daring adventure, wondrous vistas, and untold horrors that pull us all together as a community of RPG fans. It is the countless players and DMs who have brought it to life over the years. The game is at its best when it is yours.
For that reason, we want your participation. The goals we have set for ourselves are by no means trivial or easy. By involving you in this process, we can build a set of D&D rules that incorporate the wants and desires of D&D gamers around the world. We want to create a flexible game, rich with options for players and DMs to embrace or reject as they see fit, a game that brings D&D fans together rather than serves as one more category to splinter us apart.
-Mike Mearls
It appears that the players will have the opportunity to leave important feedback and let their voices be heard. Wizards of the Coast wants to make sure that they’ll deliver an outstanding product, so let your voice be heard and tell them exactly what you think when the new system debutes!
It’s an exciting time to be an adventurer! I’ve already submitted my email for the playtesting phase of Dungeons & Dragons 5.0. If you’re a D&D fan, click the link above, and sign up for yourself. It seems that D&D 5.0 is bringing some great new adventurers into the world, and that leaves this author one happy Pixie. Happy Gaming!
Links to more D&D news around the web:
Wild Nacatl Banned (Modern format)
Greetings friends!
I (Jenn fom TJ Collectibles) am up late reading the news from the Mothership.
It seems that Wild Nacatl and Punishing Fire have been added to the Modern format baned list.
My first personal reaction was literally, “Oh NO, not my favorite kitty cat!’ See, for me personally, I really do enjoy a Turn 1: “Kitty, Go!”
Evidentaly, WotCsees it differently: Wild Nacatl is a creature that simply attacks and blocks very efficiently. It is very unusual to ban such a card. We looked at our Modern tournaments and previous Extended tournaments to find when the attacking decks were fairly diverse, and when they were dominated by Zoo. At Pro Tour Austin 2009, won by Brian Kibler playing Zoo, most attack decks were of the Zoo variety. Next year, at Pro Tour Amsterdam 2010, won by Paul Rietzl playing white weenie, the Top 8 had a variety of attacking decks: Brad Nelson and Brian Kibler played Doran decks, Paul Rietzl and Kai Budde played White Weenie, and Marijn Lybaert played Merfolk. The format was different but, other than the lands, the only cards in Brian’s main deck that could not be played were two copies of Lightning Helix. The lands were the big change, and a very important difference was that the mana base in Austin meant Wild Nacatl was a very reliable 3/3, but would not be so reliable in Amsterdam. (Source: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/174b
Wow. I find it amazing how one Shards of Alara common could change the face of competitive Magic forever. Yes, this card is very popular in zoo decks. I personally maintain this little kitty in my Legacy Zoo deck. I do understand that Wizards is looking to balance out the Modern format, and I am anxiously awaiting the first Top 8 decklists of the ModernPTQ season. Will the newly banned cards shape the future of the modern format? Let meknow in the coments below.
TJ Collect Admin
jenntjs
