Friday 19 August 2016

Dice Master Rainbow Draft Rules

Tomorrow at the shop from 1pm we will be running a Dice Masters Rainbow Draft. So just incase you are new to the format here are the rules we will be using ...

Dice Masters Rainbow Draft Format: 12 Pack Draft (per player) –
6 Player Pods recommended 

How it works: 

Each player should come to the event with 8 Sidekick Dice, 12 Basic Action Dice, 4 Indicator Cards, and 2 Basic Action Cards (players may choose which Basic Action Cards they’d like to use after completing the draft, but must use the same 2 throughout the event). 

Each player in the draft sits down with 12 packs of Dice Masters to draft with. A set of 6 packs is opened. As each player opens their packs they should verify that the cards and dice match. Keeping their cards secret, players should set them aside into a pile of 12 cards. The next 6 packs are opened and when complete are placed into a separate pile of 12 cards in front of the player (the piles are not to be mixed). 

All dice are placed into the center, and arranged as below so players can see exactly which dice and how many of each will be available during the draft. We call it Rainbow Draft as players may elect to sort them by color to allow for easier visual spotting of which cards correspond to which dice during the draft. An example of 4 player draft (Recommended is 6). Reminder: all dice from all packs are placed in the middle before drafting begins. 


Notice that each player has oriented the two piles they’ll be drafting from differently in order to not mix them up. Each player then takes the deck they most recently prepared and after a short amount of time to review the cards, they select one, setting it face down in front of them, and passing the remaining cards to the player to their right. This card begins a pile of cards that players will be able to use in their team. After all players have selected a card, they take the pile from their left to select their next card and repeat the process until they are passed a single card to be placed into their pile. After the first stack of 12 cards have been depleted, players should take a moment to review the cards they drafted (each player should have 12 cards at this point). After reviewing their cards, players will return them to a face-down pile in front of them and draft the second pack the same way as they did the first, this time passing in the opposite direction (left). 

After drafting all packs, players should take dice from those that were set aside to match each of their cards. They will then construct a tournament team based on the Basic Action Cards they own and the cards they drafted. 

This tournament team can have up to 8 cards and up to 20 dice across those cards (many teams will have less than this). The basic action dice and cards and sidekick dice do not count against this limit of 8 cards and 20 dice. 

Guidance: If for some reason a card and die within a draft pack do not match, the card is considered to be correct. If a suitable die is available to swap in, that may be done up to the tournament organizer’s discretion. Alternatively, a pack containing an error may be replaced by a new unopened pack if it’s identified before the draft begins.

In the event that the draft has occurred and a player has a card that they drafted that does not have a matching die, the store should allow a die to be added to the player’s dice after verifying it has not made its way into another player’s pile. 

MTG : From the Vault Lore

Magic has always told stories. Each plane is a unique world, with its own history and culture, its own distinct ecosystems and recognizable landscape. Every card represents some piece of the set's story, even if it's simply a single, unnamed soldier charging into battle. Some cards, however, stand apart from the rest, depicting particularly iconic characters, events, places, and objects and translating them into gameplay.

From The Vault: Lore brings you a collection of fifteen memorable cards (and one token) from throughout Magic's history, showcasing some of the most exciting story moments to ever occur in the Multiverse. Now you can see all of those moments, and the gorgeous art depicting them, like never before, in special From The Vault–exclusive premium foil.

So which cards, exactly, have been chosen to represent the epic lore of Magic? Read on to find out!

(Note: Everything below is in alphabetical order, not chronological.)

Beseech the Queen

The queen in question is Oona, Queen of the Fae and manipulator of The Great Aurora, on this card originally from Shadowmoor. Hers is the form that appears in the clouds, impassively weighing the pleas of the tiny figure before her. Jason Chan's artwork beautifully conveys her ethereal, incomprehensible form; she's less a true Faerie and more a being of pure magic, and she does not grant favors without a price.

Cabal Ritual

In the Odyssey block storyline, the Cabal were a truly evil, black-aligned religious faction that would bolster their power with occult rituals and dark magic. Torment, where Cabal Ritual originally appeared, was heavily weighted toward black and contained a lot of graveyard-related abilities, making the card a perfect intersection of story and gameplay. The new art by Kieran Yanner (and the updated flavor text) suggests that even now, the Cabal has not given up its sinister ways.

Conflux

"The Conflux" is the name given to the reunion of the Shards of Alara, an event that would release massive amounts of power. And of course, who else would have their claws wrapped around this colliding font of multicolored mana but Nicol Bolas, whose machinations sought to steal the power released by the Conflux. Much like the Conflux in the story, this card allows you to put your ultimate plan into motion, as all the different pieces come together.

Dark Depths and Marit Lage

A land that produces no mana is always a strange sight, but at least the reason is obvious here: there is an enormous, otherworldly tentacle monster frozen inside the Dark Depths, suppressing or consuming its magical energy. As the frozen continent of Terisiare began to thaw in the Coldsnapstoryline, some things were revealed that perhaps should have stayed hidden...including Marit Lage. She is a cosmic being of inscrutable origin and incredible danger, and to this day has the highest base power and toughness of any creature in Magic.

Glissa, the Traitor

Poor Glissa. An Elf of Mirrodin once called Glissa Sunseeker, she spent many years seeking answers and vengeance for her family's deaths, only to be faced with bad luck and betrayal at every turn. After finally defeating the mad construct Memnarch at great cost, she returned to her people—only to be blamed for every atrocity she'd fought against. Shunned by those she cared for and corrupted by Phyrexian oil, Glissa succumbed to the Phyrexian infection, becoming Vorinclex's greatest champion. Now she fights for Phyrexia.

Helvault

Sorin Markov created the Helvault at the same time as the Archangel Avacyn, out of a sliver of Innistrad's silver moon. That moon has powerful magical properties, and even this sliver was enough to contain the hordes of Demons assailing the plane. But when Avacyn sought to trap the ancient Demon Griselbrand, he dragged her in with him, allowing evil to flourish unchecked on Innistrad. Only through the Helvault's destruction could Avacyn be freed to balance and protect the plane once again—at least until the events of Shadows over Innistrad.

Memnarch

Created by Karn as the sentient incarnation of the maddeningly powerful Mirari artifact, Memnarchwas an artificial being of immense curiosity. Karn left him to watch over the metallic plane of Argentum, but he came into contact with Phyrexian oil and gradually became corrupted by its influence. He renamed the plane Mirrodin, began filling it with kidnapped life forms from other planes, and performed terrible experiments on them in his obsessive quest for a Planeswalker's spark.

Mind's Desire

The Mirari was a dangerous artifact, and its power was seductive. Not only did it offer a tremendous amount of magical energy, it had the ability to see and manifest its user's deepest dreams and desires. However, it also had an unfortunate tendency to bring its users to eventual ruin, and its presence on Dominaria led to magical chaos. Adam Paquette's vivid new art, like the Scourge original, offers a glimpse of the Mirari's swirling, wish-granting power.

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary

No one else embodies the Simic Combine's focus on the evolution of life itself quite like Momir Vig. Under his influence, the guild shifted from fighting to preserve the essence of Ravnican life forms to working to improve them, regardless of whether the subjects particularly wanted to be improved. Victor Adame Minguez's new art zooms in more closely than the Dissension original, to show us Momir Vig impassively eying some sort of hybrid frog-lizard he has no doubt created.

Near-Death Experience

Though Gideon is the figure depicted here—exhausted, wounded, but triumphant against incredible odds—the name could just as easily refer to all of Zendikar. When the Eldrazi titans first began to stir in Rise of the Eldrazi, their broods of monstrosities nearly destroyed the plane once and for all. But with Gideon's help, the Zendikari survived and thwarted the initial assault, forcing the Eldrazi to regroup and setting the stage for the events of Battle for Zendikar.

Obliterate

The wizard Barrin played many important roles in his life: headmaster of the Tolarian Academy, right hand of Urza, slayer of Keldon champions. But he could not save his wife, Rayne, who fell in battle, nor his daughter Hanna, who was killed by a Phyrexian disease. When he returned to the Academy and found it overrun by Phyrexians, it broke him, and he unleashed a forbidden spell that annihilated everything in the area, including himself. His last act is depicted here, fittingly, on the ultimate board wipe.

Phyrexian Processor

The Phyrexians have been a scourge of the Multiverse for a very long time. Yawgmoth, their progenitor, was obsessed with "perfecting" all life forms under his control through the hideous fusing of metal, flesh, and magic. Even after his demise, the Phyrexians continue his work, spreading their corruption wherever they can. Phyrexian Processor, originally from Urza's Saga, is emblematic of their methods: pain and death are entirely reasonable prices to pay for true power.

Tolaria West

All of Dominaria has been battered by various destructive forces throughout Magic's storyline—time rifts, bloody wars, an ice age, and more—but the island of Tolaria, home of the famous Academy, might have gotten the worst of it. Many years after the entire island was obliterated by the grieving wizard Barrin, a new magical academy was founded, named Tolaria West in honor of its doomed predecessor. This card originally from Future Sight also has the distinction of being the only transmutable land in the game!

Umezawa's Jitte

Toshiro Umezawa (Toshi for short) was a rogue Samurai from Kamigawa whose journey took him from criminal enforcer, to servant of dark spirits, to hero of the Kami War. He wielded kanji magic and possessed a powerful artifact that allowed him to move between any shadows in the world. His Jitte, from Betrayers of Kamigawa, offers us a glimpse of his cunning and versatility, appropriately represented by one of Magic's most sought-after pieces of Equipment.

Unmask

The saga of the ship Weatherlight and its crew, and their multi-planar series of adventures, spanned many Magic blocks. One of those blocks was Mercadian Masques, in which the Weatherlight crash-landed on Mercadia and her crew became embroiled in the conflict between the Mercadians and the Cho-Arrim. Meanwhile, the shapeshifter Volrath sowed confusion and dissent among the crew while disguised as Takara, eventually murdering Takara's father, Starke. Here, we see him shapeshifting out of Takara's form.

Sunday 14 August 2016

Stak Bots Red

With the new set of Stak Bots due in later this year, here is a look at the new rules...



Tuesday 9 August 2016

New Pokemon Lines

Today we have lots of new Pokemon items in stock...


First we have the new collectors folders that come with a booster for just £4.

Next is the tripple packs which have a foil card and a collectors pin as well as three new boosters, these are £12

There is also the Elite Trainers Boxes at £35, these have 9 new boosters, 65 sleeves, 45 energy cards, damage counters, flip coin, 2 acrylic markers and a great box to store your cards in.

For those collecting the mythical collection there is the new Arceus boxes at £12.

Of course if you prefer boosters we have the new ones at £3 each or a full box at £80.

All are in stock and on the shelves now, why not pop along to Pokemon League today or Thursday and have a look.