RQ 8/29

The top 8 combatants took their seats...

1 Corey Burkhart
2 Matthew Okimoto
3 Jacob Holker
4 Scott Burkhart
5 Brandon Kelch
6 Dan Lujan
7 John Patchell
8 Paul Hollingsworth

Corey Burkhart defeated Paul Hollingsworth
Scott Burkhart over circuit newcomer Brandon Kelch
Matthew Okimoto defeated points leader John Patchell
Jacob Holker, another new face to the BattleGroundSanDiego events, dropped Dan Lujan

Round two was seated featuring a father, son matchup and Jacob Holker looking to make a finals appearance in his first BattleGroundSanDiego event.

Corey Burkhart defeated Scott Burkhart, Scott was seen shortly thereafter departing for In-N-Out burger, something that has become some what of a BattleGroundSanDiego tradition.

Jacob Holker saw his day come to an end versus Matthew Okimoto.

The finals match up is set and two veterans from 4 Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga found themselves faced with the hurdle of one another for the tournament champion. This was a rematch from arlier in the day with Corey winning the first.

In the end, Corey was declared the tournament champion and his Velindra Sepulchre deck withstood them all. Curiously enough, it wa the only Velindra deck being fielded for the day.

The prize support was handed out and Corey performed a quick interview for Paul Hollingsworth and the day came to an end.

All in all a great day with some highly skilled combatants talking the battle ground.

The decklist have been updated on the website as are the points standings.

Now to bed.

www.BattleGroundSanDiego.com

RQ 8/29/09

The Final 8 Is Up And Running...

Back soon with a recap of the last round

RQ 8/29/09

The 5th and final round of the RQ commences, and with the Bye, Robert Woros will not be winless on the day.

RQ 8/29/09

In the premier matches of the round featuring the last 3 undefeateds, Matthew Okimoto bested Paul Hollingsworth and Corey Burkhart remained perfect coming out on top of John Patchell.

Brandon Kelch defeated Dan Lujan

Scott Burkhart comes out victorious over Michael Hayes

Jacob Holker drops Allen hodge in the match featuring the infamous "Stab in the Dark" scoop

Jose Flores wins one, taking down Dan Roth

Alex Bykov, of Edgeworld fame, bests Ronald McFarlin

Noah Tool is victorious as well over Robert Woros, extending Robert's winless streak


Corey Burkhart 4-0
Matthew Okimoto 4-0
Scott Burkhart 3-1
Jacob Holker 3-1
Brandon Kelch 3-1
Paul Hollingsworth 3-1
Dan Lujan 2-2
John Patchell 2-2
Alex Bykov 2-2
Jose Flores 2-2
Michael Hayes 2-2
Noah Tool 2-2
Allen Hodge 1-3
Parker Kelch 1-3
Ronald McFarlin 1-3
Dan Roth 1-3
Robert Woros 0-3

RQ 8/29/08

Okimoto and Corey Burkhart remain undefeated in earlyh match completions.

RQ 8/29/09

Allen Hodge pulled a "Stab in the Dark" and after spying his opponents hand, quickly scooped and got the hell outta town.

RQ 8/29/09

Round 3 has come to a close...

Matthew Okimoto brought Scott Burkhart's undefeated day to an end

Corey Burkhart remained perfect versus Jacob Holker

Paul Hollingsworth remain undefeated in his annhialation of Allen Hodge

Brandon Kelch defeated Alex Bykov

John Patchell handled Dan Roth

Dan Lujan came out atop of Jose Flores

Michael Hayes kept Robert Worors winless

Noah Tool finally cracked the win column against Parker Kelch

Ronald McFarlin with the Bye


Standings through three rounds

Burkhart, Corey 3-0
Okimoto, Matthew 3-0
Hollingsworth, Paul 3-0
Holker, Jacob 2-1
Burkhart, Scott, 2-1
Lujan, Dan 2-1
Patchell, John 2-1
Kelch, Brandon 2-1
Hayes, Michael 2-1
Flores, Jose 1-2
Hodge, Allen 1-2
Bykov, Alex 1-2
McFarlin, Robert 1-2
Roth, Dan 1-2
Tool, Noah 1-2
Kelch, Parker, 0-3
Woros, Robert 0-3

And as expected...In-N-Out, the most perfectly prepared burger on the planet, has made its first appearance.

RQ 8/29/09

Technical Difficulties Solved...

We lost our internet...back up now...I will update the last round shortly.

RQ 8/29/09

Round three is off and running and the wheat is quickly being seperated from the chaff.

Round two recap:

Holker defeats Patchell
Burkhart, Scott defeats Bykov
Hollingsworth defeats Flores
Burkhart, Corey defeats Lujan
Okimoto defeats Kelch, Parker
Roth defeats Woros
Hayes defeats Tool
Hodge defeats McFarlin
Kelch Brandon has the bye

Standings after round two

Burkhart, Scott 2-0
Holker, Jacob 2-0
Burkhart, Corey 2-0
Hollingsworth, Paul 2-0
Okimoto, Matthew 2-0
Flores, Jose 1-1
Bykov, Alex 1-1
Lujan, Dan 1-1
Hodge, Allen 1-1
Roth, Dan 1-1
Kelch, Brandon 1-1
Patchell, John 1-1
Hayes, Michael 1-1
Woros, Robert 0-2
McFarlin, Ronald 0-2
Kelch, Parker 0-2
Tool, Noah 0-2


Round three feature matches are between Scott Burkhart at 2-0 and Matthew Okimoto at 2-0, and Corey Burkhart at 2-0 versus Jacob Holker at 2-0.

Updates to come...

RQ 8/29/09

The matches are fast coming to a close...update shortly

RQ 8/29/09

Matthew Okimoto take the first match reported of the second round over Parker Kelch.

That puts Okimoto's record at 2-0 and Parker Kelch at 0-2.

Chalk one up for Loraala!

RQ 8/29/09

27 Minutes left and no matches completed yet

RQ 8/29/09

Just finished an interview for the folks down at Upper Deck Entertainment.

RQ 8/29/09

With the completion of round 1

Matthew Okimoto defeats Ronald McFarlin

Alex Bykov over Michael Hayes

Jacob Holker takes down Dan Roth

Jose Flores needed end of game to finish Brandon Kelch

Elder Statesman Scott Burkhart defeats Allen Hodge

Corey Burkhart drew the bye



Scott Burkhart - Ryno the Wicked

Allen Hodge - Gyro of the Ring

Corey Burkhart - Velindra Sepulchre

Jose Flores - Emek the Equalizer

Brandon Kelch - Ryno the Wicked

Dan Roth - Loraala the Frigid

Jacob Holker - Ryno the Wicked

Alex Bykov - Gyro of the Ring

Michael Hayes - Ryno the Wicked

Matthew Okimoto - Loraala the Frigid

Ronald McFarlin - Savitir Skullsmasher

RQ 8/29/09

End of round one...two matches go to end of game proceedures.

I will be back with match updates after we organize the second round.

RQ 8/29/09

It's official...54 minutes into round one and the REDBULL already has made an appearance.

RQ 8/29/09

Upper Deck is here filming as well. Look for the youtube video shortly.

RQ 8/29/09

John Patchell reduces Noah Tool's deck by limiting draws.

Paul Hollingsworth defeats Robert Woros.

John Patchell - Andarius the Damned

Noah Tool - Zophos the Vengeful

Paul Hollingsworth - Ryno the Wicked

Robert Woros - Savitir Skullsmasher

Back soon

RQ 8/29/09

Our first match is over with Dan Lujan dropping Parker Kelch in 22 minutes.

Dan Lujan is heroed up with Emek the Equalizer.

Parker Kelch chose Boarguts the Impaler.

By the looks of things, the matches are starting to round themselves out.

Realm Qualifier, August 29th 2009, Block Constructed

Today we find ourselves at Artifex in Mira Mesa, a small enclave of San Diego, for an RQ for the World of Warcraft TCG. This event marks the return of both Realm Qualifiers and sanctioned events to San Diego.

Seventeen combatants make up the playing field for today's event. Regulars John Patchell, Los Angeles, Noah Tool, Orange, and Corey Burkhart, Rancho Cucamonga, as well as San Diego's own Michael Hayes are among those facing off for a chance enter the Realm Championship for the Tanaris Realm.

Action started promptly at 11:00 am....

More to come

The Day After

BattleGroundSanDiego had its second event of the inaugural tournament season yesterday in beautiful Irvine California.

We had a great turnout for the constructed event with 14 combatants taking to the tables and wittleing themselves down to a 4 person final for event champion.

In the end, John Patchell took the day playing a Bonewall deck that had the others guessing. Sorry Woros, maybe next time you'll finish a man when he is down instead of "Monologuing". :)

For those of you there, you know what I mean.

The spoils for the day were a Servants of the Betrayer Playmat, a Servants of the Betrayer Warlock Deckbox and two autographed EA cards. In addition, the packs that went out saw a "Foam Sword Rack" scratcher as well.

Congratulations to Patch and a thank you to everyone who showed for the event. It was a great time.

I will be publishing the top 8 decklists shortly for your perusal.

Fields of Honor Sneak Peak, or the TO and His Labor of Love

This past Saturday I made my way up to Orange County to check out the Sneak Peak being held at the Upper Deck Store in Huntington Beach. The Sneak Peak event, highlighting the newest release of the World of Warcraft TCG, Fields of Honor.

I saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Noah, Patch, Robert, etc. They had 48 combatants show up for the event. Will Estrella, the host and store manager did a great job of promoting and facilitating the event. In my view a good time was had by all.

In looking at the event from an organizers point of view, I was very heartened by the turnout. 48 persons is nothing to scoff at. Then it got me to thinking about the turnout at other events held, both by this tournament circuit and by other tournament organizers. What was so special about this event that it was able to break the glass ceiling of 12 to 16 players that most other events get. Obviously the hype to get new cards. Definitely the participation reward of a new EA brought out a few faces. But could that possibly be it? Is that all that is really necessary for a turnout?

If so, then why are the regional qualifiers doing so poorly? Is there that much of a difference between the Sneak Peaks and the other "qualified" events?

The event was certainly a great time. The first head to be hunted belonged to Patch, who was dispatched with great fanfare giving up his prize. Will offered some bounties to several matches to keep the interest going. The location was ideal due to the size of the shop. With the mobility that Will has with the rolling merchandise racks, he is able to create a rather large place allowing a comfortable tournament area. The shop being immediately off the 405 freeway is definitely centrally located in Orange County and being located in a shopping center with plenty of parking and access to food and such obviously plays into his favor.

All of these factors are great, but I would submit that they are not it. They are not the direct reason why the event was such a great success. Yes, you can obviously make the argument that they assisted, but I would submit another factor that I believe was the decision maker.

Persistence.

Will is a consistent and persistent poster on the WOWTCG posting boards for tournaments. He offers two great events a week and is consistent in the timing and execution. Will has gone out of his way to ensure that his player base is always taken care of. Long and the short of it, Will cares about the player base as much as the product. Believe me, as being involved with a great many businesses in my life thus far, this is a quality that is not lost among those he calls his client base. Will gets what so many people in his arena do not. That the player base is more important than any other factor in building a community.

Take it from someone who is attempting to build as strong a player base in my region as it seems he has in his. This is not an easy foray. There are several of outside factors that affect the execution of a tournament and a tournament circuit. Player bases, costs of doing business, competition, player loyalty, support from retailers and manufacturers, locations logistics...the list can be overbearing and at times unmanageable. These factors can and do sometimes yank the attention of the TO away from the player base in order to manage each of these details in turn.

So my hat is off to you Will. Congratulations on the great event and on the well earned rest you had that night I'm sure.

Persistence was the key factor in the great event in Huntington Beach.

I Take A Few Day Off from posting and BAMM!!!

Well, either UDE read my blog about dropping peaks like candy, or it was in their marketing plan all along to build the buzz (more than likely the latter :)). Where do I start? Do I keep moving with my short, amusing and partially brilliant assessments of the FOH cards or take a look at what it is that I have been craving for oh so very long, the beloved DK?


I know, I know, it may seem that I am "slightly" worried about how the DK is going to affect the TCG, but does that mean that I can't drool at the possibilities a little? While I personally was not happy with how the new Uber class took the MMO world by storm and set back raiding guilds for months, that doesn't mean that in the end the decision wasn't a smart one by Blizzard. After all, it did allow for people who were so attached to the game that they never really developed an alt to be able to skip a couple...well 50 to be exact...levels in order to have a respectable alter ego. As if the game didn't lend itself to that in the first place. I am sure that Blizzard is seeing people on more as a result of having the option of developing two toons versus just the single. Obviously they had the fore site to realize that when a person had geared that toon to a certain point, they would leave the game behind until the next expansion. Now, the user in question simply moved to the second toon and brought that one to god-like proportions of gear, gold and achievements.


Enough with that tangent, back to the TCG. Over the last few days we have seen the previews for the Death Knight. We have seen that they will employ pets, as expected. We have seen two of the heroes, my personal favorite is Randolphe Mortimer due to the obvious reference to that epic 80's movie "Trading Places" with the antagonists of the film being two brothers, Randolph and Mortimore Duke. His flip ability isn't half bad either. We have seen one of the new abilities, Mind Freeze, and believe me when I say that when quadruple stacked in a deck, it will have game changing potential.

Overall, these initial releases seem as though the Death Knight will have a very welcome introduction to the game. It can pretty much be said without reserve that when the set goes legal and the first booster packs with additions hit the shelves, they will be hitting the tournament tables shortly thereafter.

Interesting to say the least.

From the Stores to the Floors

I started my day at 4:30 am west coast this morning. I am typically an early riser, but this morning I had an agenda to follow. First on my list as usual was to log into wowtcg.com and check out the posts from the night before. As my PC fired up I pondered the latest releases from the ladies and gentlemen at UDE. I had seen some new locations, arena plays, those damn gnomes (how I hate em), and some ramblings about the new dwarf allies featuring the "find treasure" aspect of the game.

Then it hit me. UDE was handing out sneak peaks of FOH like candy, and I was eating it up. As of this post, UDE has released seven peaks at several cards, and if you actually took the time to read the entire posts as I do, you would have found an easter egg for the image of an eighth. The druid, the gnome, the dwarf, the undead, the arena, a peak into honor...what's next. The sneak preview at in-store locations, happens in just over a week and UDE is feeding my addiction with a very slow but consistent infusion of text and artwork. The mind wanders aimlessly at the wonder that is the internal plan for play. How the hell do I get Drek'thar into play before that damn druid Illidan's again?

If you aren't excited about sneak previews, then perhaps you should check your pulse. Partnered with UDE's decision to go completely in-store with the sneak preview releases, has been an obvious attempt to build buzz with releases in as fast and furious a manner as possible.

So the next obvious question is, are the store ready? Do they have any idea what is in the cards for them (pardon the pun). The biggest question is, have they ordered enough product? Has UDE done enough to ensure that the players showing up for these events will get to walk with new product in hand awaiting the grand release with the 10's and 20's ready to go? These are not indictments of past transgressions nor glimpses into the future based upon some misinterpreted "inside information". These are honest questions. UDE, the card stores and more importantly the player base has an opportunity to be a part of the next progression in game play. It is limited to one day. It is limited to the size of the store and the product ordered based upon the forecast of interest.

Here's to hoping it is one hell of a home run.

will of the forsaken...WILL OF THE FORSAKEN

The call rings true in my ears even now. I hearken back to Karazhan in a 10-man raid, being one of the tanks and an orc at that, partnered with another tank from my guild, a member of the undead race. Without exceptions, at least twice to three times a run, you could hear the shout..."WILL OF THE FORSAKEN" as the undead warrior extricated himself from the hold of one immobilizing effect or another.



Now, WoW TCG has taken the call to all new levels, introducing the ability to the TCG format. The effect is slightly different in the TCG than in the MMO. Currently the sneak peak details two allies that can utilize the ability and ensure that they either can't be removed from play, save fatal damage, or may take damage in place of another recipient. It almost makes me want to yank out my collection of heroes and dig through for an undead or two to build decks around this ability, if for nothing else than to say that I did.

Fields of Honor Sneak Peak and All that It Entails

Currently up at wowtcg.com is the sneak peak for the next release in the WoW TCG family of cards.


Fields of Honor as it has been designated will be the third and final release for the Drums cycle and brings together a very solid corps of cards. We saw Arena Grand Melee bring a short release of cards that took the game to a more cartoonish level (not necessarily a bad thing). We saw the introduction of flip heroes with costs and the almighty Ravager. Now, as we wait for FOH to come down the pipe, we are offered the traditional glimpses of cards that UDE has graced the pages of the WoWTCG site.

In reviewing the cards listed the themes become evident. UDE is taking the card game on a path, at least with this release, that brings it more in line with the MMO. One of the pillars of the MMO's popularity and longevity has been the Arena. Since the first days of Arathi Basin and the 4 hour Alterac Valley it was evident that those partaking in the World of Warcraft desperately desired the means to battle with live, sentient beings. You could only kill Ony so many times before you began to move on to other forms of mental stimulation. The Battle Grounds were the answer. Then came the Arenas, the next progression in the line was the two, three or five man teams that could use short burst tactics and quick wits to overcome adversaries in a format that took typically no more than 10 minutes at the very max. Very distinct rewards awaited players of any of the three formats that they chose to enjoy. The result has spoken for itself, as the World of Warcraft MMO has continued to destroy the competition and continued to be the gorilla in the living room of on-line play.

Now comes the Arena counters and effects to the TCG. Another great advance. Not only does this bring the TCG player a little bit closer to his or her on-line personality, but allows the minds at UDE to expand the rewards for counters infinitely. In fact, if I had to pin point the single aspect that makes these cards so important to the growth of the game, I would state with resounding certainty that it was the ability these cards provide to get more cards into play. With 40 to 60 plus cards in a playdeck in any given limited or constructed match, very rarely does the aspect of being decked out even come into play. This allows for great range in the ability to allow the combatant to get 4 or 5 additional cards into hand.

The initial cards revealed are pretty amazing. A brief overview reveals

Location : Arathi Basin, Remove 5 honor and draw a card

Location : Alterac Valley, Remove 8 honor and resurrect a card

Quest : Eye of the Storm, Pay 3, draw a card and add honor counter

and Drek'Thar a 14 point Ally that I may just put into my decks just to see if I can ever even get it out of my hand.

SICK

The First Stomping Ground is in the Books

After a very well deserved exhale, I can now sit back and focus upon what was, what is and what hopefully shall be.

The first Stomping Ground for the BattleGroundSanDiego Tournament Circuit took place this past Sunday, May 24th. If you have read this blog before, you know my thoughts and efforts regarding this first event. I won't bore you with a rehash of what can be found below. However, I can state that my resolve is as strong as ever to ensure that a quality tournament circuit is available for Southern California's TCG players.

On to the event...

We had four players take part in the inaugural event. I will admit that this number was disappointing only when I take into effect that I had 11 players pre-registered. Other than this small caviot, I thought the event was great. I was able to introduce myself, my goals and my vision for BattleGroundSanDiego and the tournament circuit.

In the end, we opted to change the format from a constructed format to a draft format with rares being chosen based upon final place. John Patchell, was declared the tournament victor.

Patch, as he is known by the others on the circuit, travelled down from Los Angeles to participate.

I had hoped for a little larger of a turnout, but no worries though as this only solidifies what it is I am trying to do. Create a tournament circuit that is of both high quality and consistency. One of the great positives that I took from the event was being able to meet 4 great individuals who I found were as dedicated on the combatant side of the event as I was on the organizer side. I had great conversations ranging from some great successes each of these individuals has had in putting on their own events to what it was they liked and disliked at others.

After a great draft event, each combatant was able to take home three prized cards for their collections and free booster packs as a thank you for making it to the event. Now looking forward, I am as excited as ever to plan my next event. I am reassured that I have made contact with four great individuals who can pass on the word of what the Tournament Circuit is and what we hope to make it.

I am planning on moving the next event to Orange County to capitalize on the great player base there and make it a bit easier for the folk from Los Angeles to make the trip. I have some great ideas for prize support and giveaways. My next goal after the finalizing of the location of our next event will be to update the Player Bios page of the website. It has drawn a bit of a buzz and it will offer a great bit of personality and individuality to the circuit.

The Day Has Arrived...

As I write, I currently sit in the Valley Room at the Mission Valley Resort in San Diego. Today is a very special day for BattleGroundSanDiego.co as we are hosting our inaugural event. I breath a light sigh of relief as the event begins in 90 minutes and I think back to what it took to get to this point.

The website launch was a great success in my view. We didn't try to be everything to everyone. We focused on the inaugural event itself and the schedule for the future events. Our goal was to create an online forum and community where Southern Californians with a passion for the World of Warcraft TCG could find a detailed description of what exactly the BattleGroundSanDiego Tournament Circuit was. Again, we focused upon simplicity. The sole goal was a tournament circuit that was both consistent and enjoyable. Let's face it, after all we are playing a card game not shaping the events of a political revolution. I hope that we were successful in doing this.

I spoke with members of the TCG community on what it was they were looking for. Why they would be interested. What would get them out. I spoke with all the major card shops in the region. Artifex and Game Empire in San Diego, Sky High Comics in San Marcos, just to name a few. I read intently and participated in the forums of WOWTCG.com and a few others. It was a labor of love to try to get the information that really mattered. Primarily, what are you looking for, and what will it take to get you to come out?

Early on I decided that if I wanted this to be a successful circuit that I would need to find a Head Judge who could allow me to focus intently upon the management of the circuit. Not only did this allow me to remove myself from tournament rulings, a must for an above the board league of any kind, but it also provided me with a sounding board to bounce ideas and thoughts off of. I chose Jeff Nelson. Jeff is a constant in the TCG gaming community in Orange County California. If there is an event going on, you will probably find him at it. He has been a great help.

I attempted to make contact with UDE regarding their suggestions. I became a vendor for their products and look forward to meeting with them, hopefully soon, to discuss my venture and my attempt to grow this great community.

I contacted several locations in San Diego to acquire meeting room space for the event. I had decided that if the event was to be able to grow, I would need to select a location not located within a card shop. The only reason for this was the shear space that would be required once the events began to roll. I am very intent upon partnering with as many of the shops as possible and hope to prove myself more of a partner than competition. If this community is to grow, then it will take more than just myself to see it through.

In the end I chose the Mission Valley Resort for the location. The Valley room is ideal. The lighting is excellent, parking abundant and with the venue being over 1200 square feet in size, is more than enough space for additional growth.

So here we are. approximately 1 hour prior to start and the first combatants are beginning to arrive.

Hopefully the next post will be describing a very successful event with the tournament champion being named.

The Lighter Side of Loot Cards...

I definitely understand the idea of the loot card. Truth be told, I love it. Being a relatively addicted player, somewhat well known within my guild and proud holder of a sandbox tiger, I find it a bit cheeky to be able to take my love of the TCG to my 80 orc warrior. After all, if we take ourselves too seriously within an MMORPG, perhaps we need to find a new hobby.

Then it happens. I see the newest love of my life and must therefore possess it at all costs. (Well maybe not all costs as I saw the price for the foam sword rack just after it dropped and decided to pay my car payment instead.) One of the newest loot cards that will be dawning the latest expansion of the TCG, Fields of Honor, definitely has the look of the next card to eclipse the value of you average Armani suit.

El Pollo Grande

Yes ladies and gentlemen it is finally upon us. I must admit that I truly look forward to seeing the myriad of races engaged in full sprint aboard the likes of a Happy Meal ingredient. If you haven't seen the potential screen shot, check it out here.

http://www.wowtcg.com/

Instant home run as far as I'm concerned.

In fact, now that I think about it, the only thing that may have been able to top this one would be that immortal Texas icon...the Jackelope.

Arena Grand Melee......Drip...Drip...Drip

Blood of the Gladiators isn't even cold yet and we get our first taste of Arena Grand Melee.

On May 12th, courtesy of the minds at UDE, we received our first taste of two of the newest heroes to grace the cards of World of Warcraft TCG. Emmi Sprinklestrike and Kauno Stonehoof join the line of heros but with a slightly new twist.

Pay 5 and flip.

Rather genius if you ask me.

UDE has incorporated yet another interesting wrinkle. Where before you could simply free flip your hero for a quick heal boost or double damage to an attack or even the ability to become a protector. Now, imagine the ability to be able to flip into an additional point of damage per hero's attack or flip into an additional 12 HP on a moment's notice. I guess this proves that UDE is willing to bend traditional thought and use both side of the card now, and much to their credit.

But the question is still out there, how will this affect the game and what will the remainder of the heros to be incorporated, let alone the Death Knight, be graced with in the area of flip powers. I am typically a calm person, but I have to admit that I find myself strangely anticipative and slightly giddy at the thought of this new twist and how it has the potential to turn the game on its head. If anything it has reassured my belief that the minds at UDE are as creative as ever. On top of that they are willing to think outside the box to ensure the next generation of game play is as enticing as its predecessors.

Undoubtedly, over the next week, we will be slowly spoon fed a compilation of cards of Arena Grand Melee.

Check out the official post for the sneak preview at http://www.wowtcg.com/.

From 16s to 32s or Of Tournaments and Card Shops

It has been a few weeks since the Shonen Jump hosted by Konami for its blockbuster Trading Card Game Yu-Gi-Oh!. With, what Konami reports, 900 plus attendees at the event, one finds himself very easily stating the obvious.....Yu-Gi-Oh! is alive and well.

In this humble writer's opinion, I don't even think that Konami expected such a huge turn out. This means great things for the TCG community at large. Obviously, duelists are still out there and looking for competition. Definitely, duelists are willing to make their ways to venues to seek competition and to test their deck building skills. Possibly, there is room for other games to make a beachhead into what must be considered the strongest of the TCGs.

If you visit the local card stores you will find the usual suspects. You will find Magic The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and World of Warcraft among others. On any given afternoon or weekend, there is always competition to be found be it a local tournament ranging from 4 to 16 combatants, or just friendly people looking for a new face to introduce to the game that they enjoy so much. Local card shops are hosting events weekly. Social media outlets such as Meetup.com and Facebook.com have listings for every game possible. On-line auction sites have single cards for sale ranging from cents to hundreds of dollars. The TCG games are enjoying exposure unlike anything they have ever seen.

When one compares each TCG to the others, the collector finds a miriad of play options. Diversity is definitely a strength of the industry. A collector can not only complete his or her set for competition, but they can find themselves collecting card of all sorts for the beauty of the artwork, the rarity of the card itself or to complete an entire collection of the latest booster drop. In fact, a well rounded collector of TCGs can find competition in just about every city in North America from San Diego , California to Edmonton, Alberta. Log on to any of the sites, or the plethora of pop-up sites that ride the wave of following created by the hosts sites themselves, and a person can easily find themselves a game in minutes. Then, low and behold, the professional leagues have emerged. Competition that can have rewards in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes to the playing field. One can only wonder the amounts to which the payouts will climb and the luck of the draw that will create tomorrow's champions.

The only real worry that the TCG community has is, when will the player base plateau? When does the game reach saturation? Have we already come to this point or is there so much more room out there that the TCG community has but to sit back and wait for the next challenge at the next regional or national championship. Is there enough of a true effort out there by the makers of these great games to continue the upward climb for the industry?

Konami has reclaimed its distribution rights for Yu-Gi-Oh! in Europe from Upper Deck Entertainment and with the recent success of Shonen Jump! Anaheim, it appears to be in great shape.

Magic the Gathering, with its natural following from all things Wizards of the Coast continues its strong play with the latest release of the Planes Walker expansion.

World of Warcraft continues to push the Dark Moon Faires with success. The natural following from the MMORPG doesn't hurt either. The newest expansion, Blood of the Gladiators, partnered with the regional qualifiers in sealed deck format ensure solid sales and participation from the local card shops that supported the UDE product.

It seems that at this point, the intellectual and creative aspects of the TCGs are covered. The artwork has never been better. The diversity, as I have already mentioned, is expanding at a solid pace with each quarterly release. The collectibility can send your head spinning as you scramble to find cards with ferocity not seen since your father's attempts at locating the famed Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle or Roger Maris. Inventories remain readily available.

The only wild card left seems to be the middleman.

The card shop.

I have always been very curious to learn what the card shop honestly views as their place in this wondrous soup of an industry. Do they see themselves as leaders, do they feel themselves as stewards of the TCG community or do they simply view themselves as the provider of the addiction of choice for us and our friends?

If I may be so bold, the card shops seem to be in a precarious position. As the TCG distributors jockey for market share and the collector searches for his or her next match, the card shop makes attempts to appease both. But what happens when they come into conflict? What happens when the community of duelists from one TCG begins to push out the purveyors of another? With the limited space in card shops, and the card shop owners attempts, rightfully so, to maximize his or her revenues with a majority of the square footage dedicated to product, what happens?

Eventually, the TCG of choice or conversation needs to push beyond the card store. Eventually players will begin asking for events larger than 10 to 20 duelists. Eventually, as these great games grow, the space will become a premium. Preferred Friday nights and Saturday afternoons will become as hot a commodity and sometimes as hard to find as the Foam Sword Rack in a booster pack of Blood of the Gladiators. Especially, when you take into account the fact that the games that we enjoy so much take so damn long to play in tournament format. Rarely shorter that 8 hours for a regional swiss format of 16 or more participants.

The natural growth of the games will need to take it from the shops and into the community in another format or another location. If the TCG community ever expects to expand beyond the group of 10 or 12 on Saturday afternoon to 32 to 64 Sunday morning at 9am, then the locales have to change.

What does this then mean for the shops? Unfortunately, the store is then somewhat left in the lurch, or is it? Is there a way for the store to take advantage of this situation? I guess the real question is, is the store ready or willing to make the jump? What about the independent tournament organizer? Is there an opportunity for partnership or will it be outright competition for the fledgling organizers and the communities they attempt to create?

No doubt these are the questions that have to be asked and answered over the next year if the TCG community is going to make the leap from past time to prime time.

My only hope is that these questioned are asked and answered in response to growth and not in response to death.

Southern California's Newest WoW TCG/CCG League

BattleGroundSanDiego launches May 24th 2009 with its inaugural event at the Mission Valley resort in San Diego.

The league is best described as an Annual Tournament Circuit complete with quarterly playoffs and both an annual Points Champion and Finals Champion in the Constructed and Sealed Deck formats. The Tournament Circuit will have events twice monthly at non-shop locations. Players in the circuit will earn points toward the points championship through participation and final standing at each event. Each format will carry its own prize structure and final 8 playoff pairings. Each event will be UDE sanctioned as required and will be staffed by a sanctioned Tournament Organizer and Tournament Judges.

The Mission Valley Resort in San Diego was chose for the inaugural event due to its central San Diego location and it close proximity to the 5, 8 and 805 freeways. The resort is easily accessible and with plenty of complimentary parking as well. The event will take place within 1200 square foot of function space and registration begins at 9:00 am with play beginning at 10:00 am thereafter.

The goal for the field will be 32 player registrations for each format. This may very well be the closest that you can get to a "Faire" atmosphere in a regional event. There is plenty of room for growth and the tournament is being advertised in San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.

Information can be found at http://www.battlegroundsandiego.com/ as well as registration for the event and a write up in PDF format regarding the Tournament Circuit.

Hope to see you there.

Victor Cantu
Circuit Commissioner