Posts Tagged ‘Khans of Tarkir’

‘Khans of Tarkir’ Holiday Gift Box is Here!

 

The highly anticipated Magic the Gathering Khans of Tarkir Holiday Gift Box has arrived both in stores and online! This fantastic new product is just in time for the holidays and make a marvelous gift! Check out what’s inside:

  • Four Khans of Tarkir booster packs
  • Beautiful storage box that can hold more than 2,000 Magic cards
  • Twenty Khans of Tarkir basic lands
  • Six illustrated plastic dividers
  • Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
  • An alternative-art Sultai Charm from the Khans of Tarkir set

That’s right, every Holiday Gift Box comes with this version of Sultai Charm:

 

Pretty awesome, right? What are you waiting for? Pick up your copy of this limited edition Magic the Gathering product TODAY!
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‘Magic the Gathering’ Board Game Announced at Pro Tour

 

During the live stream of Magic Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir this weekend, Wizards of the Coast announced a Magic the Gathering board game! Unfortunately, other than this announcement, details are hard to come by. The only other information give is the date October 16, 2014, which just happens to be the large Essen game show in Germany.

 

What do you think this board game will be? Will it be a RPG-in-a-box game, in which you assume the role of a Planeswalker trying to gain power and defeat evil?

 

Will it be a deck building game like NetrunnerDC Deck Building game or Ascension?

 

Or perhaps a economy-based strategy game or a cooperative game?

 

What do you think the Magic the Gathering board game will be? Sound off in the comments below!

 

 

 

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UPDATE: Ari Lax Wins Pro Tour ‘Khans of Tarkir’!

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UPDATE: Ari Lax, from Boston, Massachusetts, WINS Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir!!

UPDATE: Top 8 Decklists and Profiles

UPDATE: Day two of Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir has come to an end and with that, we have our final eight players who will do battle tomorrow on the Sunday stage:

  • Shaun McLaren – Canada
  • Ari Lax – USA
  • Ivan Floc – Slovak Republic
  • Lei Shi Tan – Hong Kong
  • Mike Sigrist – USA
  • Tiago Saparito – Brazil
  • Ondrei Strasky – Czech Republic
  • Yuuya Watanabe – Japan

 

UPDATE: Local Magic Pro Mike Sigrist lone undefeated player after ten rounds!

UPDATE: Join in for day two of the Khans of Tarkir Pro Tour!

UPDATE: Additional Disqualifications announced. What do you think of this unprecedented number of reported disqualifications at Magic the Gathering‘s highest level?

 

The Magic the Gathering Pro Tour returns to Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend after a long hiatus. Players will be testing their mettle in Khans of Tarkir booster draft and showcasing their hard work in a brand new Standard format.

 

Day one an day two are now in the books with the final eight players announced. Who will emerge victorious? Join in tomorrow for the top eight! Tune in all weekend along to follow your favorite pro Magic player and watch the action live!

 

Big Announcements:

Featured Articles on DailyMTG.com:

 

Don’t forget to follow the action all weekend long and let us know what you think in the comments below!

 

 

 

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This week in Magic: Sleeper special

obama sleeping kid

 

For this week in Magic, I think we’re going to have a little fun and play the prediction game. When the announcement was made that the fetchlands would be coming back into Khans, many also knew that most of the set would be taking a back set. Due to this, many cards are still at their lowest price point. However, as more tournaments pop up, these sleepers will soon be discovered.

 

Speaking of tournaments, Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir will be taking place this weekend. This will be a good chance to see if any of our sleeper predictions come true. Keep in mind though, that these predictions are called sleepers for a reason. While, I may not get any of them right, it may take a bit more to push them out of their shell – like another expansion set for example. So, have fun and enjoy. At the end of this, maybe you can add a card or two to the list by leaving a comment below. Then, if your prediction comes true, you can always refer back to the comment section and tell all your friends how you called the shot.

 

Villainous Wealth

Epic Experiment was a fun card when it first came out, however, it had several limitations that made it hard to play. Villainous Wealth, however, is a card they seem to have gotten right. First of all, this card mills your opponent. Okay, it’s actually worse, since we’re exiling cards from their library. Oh, and that’s another bonus, the cards are coming from your opponent. That means your can dedicate your deck to setting up and protecting yourself while taking advantage of whatever your opponent is packing. Imagine casting this card against Naya Planeswalkers and hitting one of each Planeswalker in their deck?

 

The potential for this card is very high in my book. If the field continues to stay as aggro as it has been, I think this card will do just fine and could compete with the best of them. There is a catch, though. If the tides shift and we begin to see control decks, this card may be doomed to the EDH binder for a while.

 

See the Unwritten

Another card I was a big fan of was Summoning Trap. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one who quoted Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars every time I cast this spell. Playing spells for free is very exciting, and it’s a little more exciting when you’re not quite sure what spell you’re casting as well. The secret formula for a card like this is to play creatures you could never dream of playing because it costs too much to play, or it’s just plain terrible – i.e. Stormtide Leviathan.

 

admiral-ackbar

 

Furthermore, I’ve been pretty adamant in saying that we’re going to be seeing the Eldrazi making a return at some point. If this holds true, this card is going to become very popular among casuals and me.

 

Embodiment of Spring

This card first popped up some of Tomoharu Saito’s decklists. Carl Godon has also been claiming it’s standar worthy. Well, I’m here to back him up. First of all, the creature is an okay wall. You do get an 0/3 for only one Blue mana. However, what makes this card special is it’s ability to fetch up any basic land and put it into play.

 

While it’s not anywhere near as good, this card does remind me a lot of Sakura Tribe Elder, and that guy got played a lot. In a format where multiple colors are being played in decks, the ability to fix yourself is rather important. It also ramps. This is another very important point. If this creature didn’t put the land into play, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now, but it does, and here we are. It may not reach $5 or even break $1, but don’t be surprised if it turns out to be one of those annoying commons you need, but no one owns.

 

Ugin’s Nexus

This one is inspired by Scott Seitz. Before FNM last week, he showed me the latest nutty contraption he was playing. His decks may look silly, but never take him or his deck lightly. Anyways, he had put in Ugin’s Nexus as a Shrapnel Blast target. That’s right. Not only was he going to blast you in the face for five damage, but he was going to get an extra turn for doing so. It can’t be that easy, can it? Something tells me this has to potential to be broken. I can’t wait to see what the next expansion brings us.

 

Quick wrap-up

Well that’s it for this week. I just wanted to reserve this space as a friendly reminder that Battleground Games & Hobbies will be hosting 24-hour gaming marathons at both locations for the Extra Life fundraiser! I just want to say how happy I am to have the support of the store and to see how many people are just as excited as I am to play games for 24-hours.

 

We’re still setting up some special events to occur during the marathon. We’re also going to have some special items to raffle off to help raise money for the cause including some personal artwork from local gamers. Also, if things work out the way we want them to be, there may be some special one day only Dungeons and Dragons campaigns that will be “Pay to Play.”

 

Also, don’t worry, not everything will be magic themed. This started out as a video game event that has evolved to include gaming of all kind. One last thing, we’re hoping to broadcast to Twitch during the event. So if you can’t make it out at all or want to check out the scene during times you can’t be there, then you can always tune in. That’s it for now. Have a great weekend!

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

Donate to the Extra-Life fundraiser!

 

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Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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This week in Magic: Looking at Khans in Standard

Sarkhan
 

This past weekend was the first time Khans showed its ugly face in Standard. There were three major events and each one holds a clue as to what next deck you should play at FNM this week. So let’s take a quick look at the top 8 for each event.

 

SCG NJ

First up is the SCG Open Series that took place in Edison, NJ:

 

  1. Jeskai Midrange
  2. Mardu Midrange
  3. Gruul Aggro
  4. Mono Green
  5. Mono Green
  6. Jeskai Midrange
  7. Boros Control
  8. Mono Green

 

As you can obviously see, there is quite a lot of green. However, I wouldn’t take this as a fact that green is here to stay. In fact, if I remember correctly, this is what happened when Theros first debut in Standard. Green was just a solid choice in the beginning because it had some pretty big monsters. Once people realized how to play against it, the deck quickly disappeared and eventually evolved into GR Monsters and would later become Jund Monsters.

 

I’m surprised there wasn’t more Mardu going around that day. I had stayed up the night before and watched the stream that Tomoharu Saito has at his game shop in Japan, and Mardu was played by about 80% of that field. Every time a feature match made its way onto the camera, you found yourself watching a mirror match of Mardu.

 

Going forward, don’t be surprised if more of these decks show up. Butcher of the Horde is a very popular card in general and, sitting at only 4cc, it’s really easy to get out into play. Typically, players will play a Mardu Charm on turn three to get blockers out, and then by turn four, they’ll have enough fodder on the board to sacrifice to the Butcher. Added aggro and removal, and this deck has potential to become an early powerhouse in the format.

 

Jeskai was the overall winner. Is anyone shocked at this result? I guess the answer would be “not really.” A big reason may be due to the ever popular Mantis Rider. I still wish this thing was a Lightning Angel, but it’ll have to do for now. One thing I am surprised about is how this card was not a $8-10 card to begin with. it started at a low $2 in most markets, and thanks to the recent success, it shot up over the weekend.

 

mantisrider

 

SCG IN

Can someone tell me why there were two Open Series going happening on the same weekend? After looking at these results, they may have well been the same even. The only difference here is that there was no Jeskai in the Top 8. Let’s take a look:

 

  1. Abzan Graveyard
  2. Abzan Midrange
  3. Mono Green
  4. Gruul Midrange
  5. Mono Green
  6. Mono Green
  7. Jund
  8. Naya Planeswalker

 

Once again Mono Green seemed like a safe bet. However, let’s take closer look at the multi-colored decks.

 

Abzan Graveyard is a terrible name for deck. Can we just call it Junk Reanimator again? The deck looks pretty simple. You either delved your way to a Necropolis Fiend or reanimated something via Whip of Erebos. Thanks to four Siege Rhinos in the deck, you could handle the early onslaught of a lot of weenie decks that failed to make the Top 8, but could be found in either Top 16 or Top 32 lists. In the past, I compared the Siege Rhino to a miniature version of Tragtusk. Some people disagreed, and rightfully so – you don’t even get a beast token. However, this thing comes down on turn four and causes a six point life swing. The Siege Rhino might get just as annoying as Thragtusk.

 

Abzan Midrange does away with the graveyard shenanigans and plays the control game. It utilizes Standard’s best removal spells in Hero’s Downfall and Utter End, and then lays down some heavy hitters in Brimaz and the new Wingmate Roc. To add insult to injury it also has no problem playing Elspeth. Hope you don’t get to the late game against this deck because your chances of winning are slim to none if you’re another aggro deck.

 

Gruul Midrange is just a faster take on the Mono Green decks. It adds red for more aggression in the form of burn spells. Jund and Naya Planeswalkers round out the Top 8. Jund is just an evolution of it’s old counterpart from when Return to Ravnica was still in Standard. Naya Planeswalkers basically takes all of the powerful planeswalkers from those colors and forces them to work together. Playing against it is almost like taking on four other players at the same time.

 

TCG 5K Waco, TX

I think out of all three, this event said the most. Here’s a look at the Top 8:

 

  1. Temur Midrange
  2. Esper Control
  3. Abzan Reanimator
  4. Temur Midrange
  5. Mono Back Aggro
  6. Mardu Midrange
  7. GB Devotion
  8. Boros Burn

 

This Top 8, I feel, is how Standard will eventually pan out to be. Look, there are even control decks that make an appearance. I find it odd that there wasn’t even one deck that was near the top at the SCG events.

 

Termur Midrange is exactly how I pictured it would be. A RUG deck that took advantage of some of the major bombs to make their way into Standard – Sarkahn, the Dragonspeaker and Savage Knuckleblade. However, in a field with little to no removal, it’s hard to tell how well a deck like this will do in the future. One thing it does have going for it, at the 3cc mark and onward, every creature is a threat. With early mana via Ravenclaw Mystic and our elvish friends, we’re looking at possibly threats hitting the board as early as turn two.

 

I may have been on a streak with Mono Red for a while, but it’s nice to see a control deck in the Top 8. Weirdly enough, while most people like to go the mono-colored aggro route at the beginning of a new Standard rotation, I like to go the opposite with a complicated control deck. No surprise in what’s in this deck. Replacing Jace, Architect of Thought is Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. If Standard remains to be as aggro as it has been in the beginning, Ashiok will be a force to reckon with. If Ashiok gets to stick around long enough, you may see some of your creatures facing you down. This will be my go to card this Standard format.

 

Mono Black Aggro is a deck I’ve been considering running for a while now. Mainly, I just want to play with my promo Pain Seers. However, this deck can just win out of no where and can severely punish your opponent for making early mistakes or hiccups. The deck’s curve tops off at three. If there was any better opportunity, now would be the time for Pain Seer to shine. The new Bloodsoaked Champion makes it’s debut in this deck and really shines. It may not be able to block, but that’s not the point of this deck. Be prepared to be all-in when playing this.

 

champion

 

Well, that’s it for now. I know we didn’t get into detail about the decks, but I hope this gave you some insight as to what may come in the upcoming months. If you want, you can really try out one of these decks or one of your own creations at the GPT in Plainville this weekend. Hope to see you there!

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

Donate to the Extra-Life fundraiser!

 

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Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

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Popular Fat Pack Challenge Event – TODAY!

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TODAY at both Battleground Games & Hobbies – Abington and Plainville, MA:

 

 

Join us for Battleground’s Fat Pack Challenge is for Khans of Tarkir!

Khans of Tarkir (KTK) will be released on Friday, September 26th and we will have a full line-up of events for you to crack packs, build decks and play Magic at both of our stores!  The weekend will kick off with our flagship Sealed Deck style event.

The Battleground Fat Pack Challenge is taking place on Friday night, 9/26/14, at both locations (run as our FNM).  These are the ultimate sealed events – where you open packs, build a deck and play with just the contents of an Khans of Tarkir Fat Pack!

The concept of a Fat Pack Challenge is pretty simple.  Each player will receive an Khans of Tarkir Fat Pack with which to build a 40 card deck.  Players may use ONLY what is inside of their Fat Pack to construct their decks.  No additional land will be provided!

This time around we’ll be awarding the prizes a little differently than before.  During the deck building period, each player that enrolled in the event will receive 1 raffle ticket.  An additional raffle ticket will be awarded to players for every match they win.  Raffle tickets will be pooled throughout the event.


Battleground will do several drawings each round.  If your ticket is drawn you’ll win 3 booster packs of Khans!  We know you’ll want to open as much of this set as possible, so we’ve got you covered.

The booster pack raffle will be accompanied by other random giveaways that might include playmats, pins, and tshirts.

We’ve got two of these events for you, one at each Battleground location:

Abington and Plainville:
Format: **Fat Pack Sealed**
Date: September 26th, 2014 a FRIDAY
Time: 7:00pm
Entrance Fee: $40.00

Abington:
1423 Bedford Street
Abington MA 02351
781.261.9669
Plainville:
25 Taunton Street
Plainville MA 02762
508.316.1195

 

Don’t forget to check out Battleground’s Online Store for Magic Product and Supplies!

 

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