One week ago Daniel showed up to play No pity modern Monday. I played him in the 2nd round and we chatted after the match.
I gave him some sugestion for sideboard cards since he didn't have a sideboard for his deck and I suggested a card or 2 that would help his orzhov Extort deck. Apparently he listened and picked up the cards that we had talked about and then won the FNM at Rogues Gallery. Tonight he brought in his wife to join the world of MTG and share in his love of the game. Dan was excited to test his FNM winning Deck at No pity Modern Monday at Bell's Gaming Center. His wife Kiley had bought a Blue M19 Planeswalker deck and a few booster packs. It was a casual standard deck vs competitive Modern Decks. Jon "Gruul the land Destroyer" offered to lend her his Eldrazi Tron deck. It was way too complex for a brand new player. I offered to let her used my $50 pauper deck turn Modern deck that was fun and easy to play. It took a couple of mintutes to explain that almost all 30 of the creatures in the Mono Black deck had a enter the battlefield trigger. So even if they died right away to an opponents spell. They still got there triggered ability to resolve. She accepted my offer and with her 2nd round opponents permission I rode shot gun as she piloted the mono black deck. I explained the basic mechanics of the game and the phases of the game as she played. Her opponent was very patient as Kylie had to read almost every card her opponent played. She was new and wanted to learn what her opponent was doing. Her 2nd round opponent was playing Naya Burn. an all in deck that needs all of its cards to count. The mono black deck is all about making your opponent discard cards from there hand. It is actually a pretty solid match up. Kylie ground Kevin's hand into zero cards before Kevin could deal lethal damage to her. The next thing Kylie Knew. She had 2 creatures on the Battlefield and Kevin has Zero cards in hand and Zero creatures on the Battlefield. Kylie swung in for damage. Kevin Drew a card. It was a land. Kylie swung in for Damage again. Kevin drew a crad for his turn. Another land. Kylie Swung in again. Kevin Drew a card for his turn. Another land. Kylie swung in one more time and won her 1st tournament game. She was extremely happy and couldn't believe what had just happened. Game 2 was Kevin on the play which meant he doesn't draw a card on is 1st turn. Kylie Cast Duress and took Lightning helix. Saving her 3 damage. Kevin then on turn 2 cast Atarka's command and surprised me by doing 3 damage to Kylie and putting an extra land into play from atarka's command. Why did this surprise me? Kylie's deck s all about making you discard a card of your choice. So you generally save the extra land to pitch and not a good card that helps you win the game. Kevin had 1 card left in his hand at this point. Kylie cast Ravenous rats and made kevin discard Blood Braid Elf. Now on turn 3 Kevin is living off the top of his deck. Kylie was getting the hang of the deck. She kept wanting to cast Gatekeeper of Malakir on an empty battlefield. I kept telling he no, cast something else. The finally Kevin dropped a creature. On Kylie's turn she looked at me and said what should I cast? I said you know that card you have wanted cast cast since turn 2? that one. She cast it. I explained the kicker mechanic and Kevin Sacrificed his only creature. Kevin then proceeded to draw several lands in a row while Kylie got in for damage. Game 1 was much closer than game 2. And just like that Kylie won her match 2-0. She was happy and still wasn't sure what just happened. I explained to her that you ran your opponent out of resources and then won. That is how the deck works. Round 3 Kylie was sitting at table 2. A win got her top 4 and Prize support. A lost got her a Crisp High five and a thank you for playing. She was paired up against blue white control. Again not a terrible match up. Blue/white wants to do nothing but react to what you do. But Kylie's deck is all about making you discard your hand. And with no hand you can't react to what she is doing! Game 1 Again with her opponents consent I sat next to her and gave advice when needed. She had for the most part figured out what the mechanics of the deck did. Now I had to explain to her the nuance of Timing. The Naya burn player can't stop your spells from resolving. So casting spells before the combat phase is not a big deal. Now the completely the opposite is true vs the Blue/white control player. She got a turn 2 ravenous rats forcing a discard of a powerful spell. a turn 3 Duress hit Jace, the mind Sculptor. Turn 4 Liliana Specter made him discard again. I had to keep repeating. No, Attack 1st for the 1st 5 turns of game 1. She kept wanting to cast her spells before attacking. Why is this not a good idea? The control player wants options. If you attack 1st, they have to decide to take action vs the creature attacking them or take damage. If they do nothing. Damage gets through then you are closer to winning. If they take action vs your attacker. They have no mana left over when you cast your good spell after combat. Finally her opponent had 2 cards left in his hand. Once again I said No, attack 1st. So she did. Her opponent used one of his remaing 2 cards in hand. A kill spell on her attacker leaving 1 card left in hand. When she dropped liliana's Specter and he had to Discard the only card left in his hand.. His Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. One of his only win conditions. I looked at Kylie and said, now do you understand why you always attack 1st vs control? She smiled and said yes. To my amazement. Her opponent resolved a Teferi and flipped search for azcanta. I sighed and said now it gets really hard for you to win. Somehow She ripped a couple of discard spells and then a Duress followed up by a gray merchant of Asphedol for the win! She beat a FLipped Azcanta and a Teferi! Game 2 Again she ripped apart her opponents hand. It looked like she was off to the races when she duressed Terminus, a board wipe spell, out of her opponents hand. It was his last card. Kylie had 5 attack power on the battlefield. Just a couple a swings and game over. Then her opponent Miracles a terminus off the top his next draw. Wiping out the 5 power. Then he starts attacking with Celestial Colonade. Kylie went to block. I pointed out she was at 20 life. She can let that thing swing in for 4 damage several times before she needs to block it. Your life total is a resource. Wining the game 1 life to 0 life or 20 life to zero life counts as win. Nothing more and nothing less. What this did is tap 5 of her opponents lands giving her the opportunity to load up the battlefield with creatures. Her opponent Drops a Teferi and passes turn. Now it looks like she is going to lose this game. Then she rips Duress off the top of the deck like a pro. Casts Duress. Takes his counterspell. She then dropped a Gray Merchant for 10 damage and put her opponent to 1. Her opponent rips Supreme verdict off the top of the deck and wipes out Kylie's board. He had a Teferi out at this time too. Somehow he only had 2 mana open. She rips another gray merchnt off the top of the deck. I tell her either has has it or you win. She looked at me questioningly. You have to win on this turn or he takes over the game and kills you in a turn or 2 with his celestial Colonade. Drop it likes it hot and either you win or we go to game 3. So she casts Gray Merchant for 2 damage. Her opponent just drops his hand ono the table and says you win. She looked at me like what just happened. I shook her hand and said congratulations you just won and finished in the top 4 and will get prize. She was very happy with the deck and is going to come back again to play FNM Modern. She wants to buy the deck. I cautioned her. I said you know how Kevin had the bad side of variance and drew 5 land in a row game 1? Sometimes that will happen to you. You experienced the good side of Variance today. Your deck drew Hot. You will have games where you just draw 5 land in a row and loose. Dan Didn't fare so well but didn't mind because his wife had a blast and won store credit prize. Dan was amazed at how patient and helpful all 3 o her opponents were and how I taught Kylie the technical aspect of phases of the game and the nuance of timing. They were both grateful that they found Bell's Gaming Center. And I am glad that they did. I opened this store so Magic:The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons players would have a great place to play. Looks like we are doing well on that front.
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Congratulations to Anthony "The Tax Man" for winning tonight's Modern FNM going 3-0 and Qualifying for Summer Slam!
He had a few words to say after the event was over. Let me tell you how it will be. There's one for you, nineteen for me. Should five percent appear too small. Be thankful I don't take it all!!! If you drive a car, I'll tax the street. If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat. If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat. If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet. Don't ask me what I want it for... If you don't want to pay some more!! Now my advice for those who die Declare the pennies on your eyes Death and Taxes are life's Guarantee Summer slam has no Grim Reaper, but The Tax man there Will be! Powerfull Words from a Powerful man, Only 4 slots Remain for Summer Slam! Sarah burst onto the scene after a 6 week absence from the game Declaring herself "Baberaham Lincoln". She got everyone's attention after defeating Judge Dredge (Saturdays Qualifier winner) in the 1st round. She defeated "Daniel "the Rager" in the 2nd round at table 1. She was Still sitting at table 1 in her 3rd round match up vs "the Drunken Master". The outspoken "Baberaham Lincoln" taunted Magic Mike who was at table 2 in the 3rd round by saying " Are you going to bring your belt to the table for our match in the last round?" after she had defeated her 3rd straight Summer Slam qualified opponent. " No, I am going to WEAR it" replied the Champ. Baberaham Lincoln and Magic Mike won there 3rd round Matchups. Everyone thought the Champ was going to play the outspoken "Baberaham lincoln" in the 4th and Final round at table 1. Then Controversy hit. While Magic Mike was walking over to the Display shelf to grab the Championship belt for his the final round Match vs Baberaham Lincoln at table 1... The pairings went up on the big screens. The Champ was stunned. Instead of being in the Feature match for the main event...The champ got paired down and ended up at table 3. Stumbling in the 1st round came back to haunt the Champ. Sarah "Baberaham Lincoln" Lost her 4th round match vs Robert at table 1. This made them both 3-1 The champ dispatched his final opponent and also ended up 3-1 but finished 4th because of the tiebreakers due to the pair down. She earned it tonight" said the champ. "But had we played, I would have won and finished in 1st place. There will be no dodging anyone September 10th." "I am ready and can't wait for September 10th. Come at me bro." Was Baberaham Lincoln's response to the camps post tournament comments. Congratulations to Baberaham Lincoln for Winning the 7:00pm No Pity Modern Monday event August 13, 2018 and Qualifiying for Summer Slam. She won $20 in credit and used it to buy cards for a new commander deck she is working on. Robert had to work hard just to get 2nd. And won $14 in credit. Judge Dredge took 3rd. Magic Mike the Reigning Champion finished 4th Congratulations to Paul and Kale for splitting the top 2 prizes In our Sunday Standard Showdown. Alan, Kalvin, and Matt rounded out the top 5. All 5 got store credit AND a Showdown pack! Our other 9 competitors each took home a pack of there choice and 4 of those 9 also won a a random Showdown pack. You want a story of perseverance? Chris went 0-4 and didn't win a game all day during the Sunday Standard Showdown. We had given away 3 of 4 Random showdown packs. There were 6 people left that hadn't won a random pack. Chris was number 6 out of 6. Chris's phone was blowing up. His parents wanted him to leave as they were ready to pick him up. Our Judge Dredge rolled in front of everyone to determine the last random giveaway. And the result was a 6. Chris shouted in joy as he finally won something. He was the happiest player in the building. He went 0-4 and still was happy when he left. That is why they call them Magic Cards. What amazing coolness will happen next at Bell's Gaming Center? Will it happen to you? Come on in and find out! Marcia hadn't played Magic:The Gathering in over 20 years. She came into Bell's Gaming Center to Host Cards Against Humanity. We needed 1 more player to fire the draft, so Marcia Volunteered. This was the Deck that Marcia Drafted. She 100% drafted the deck on her own with a little advice from me like make sure you draft at least 15 creatures. I built her mana base for her while she decided on what cards to play and what cards to cut. I also helped her pilot her deck by giving advice on what the best play would be from time to time during her matches. Just like riding a bike, She remembered how to play Magic:The Gathering. And after shaking off a little rust in the 1st game of the 1st round she rolled to a 3-0 finish. Act of Treason and sleep helped her overcome her 1st opponent. Game 1 Marcia's opponent tried to go big. And she took his Big creature not once but twice. Like the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody see's the 2nd act of treason coming. "You have a SECOND one?!" In the 2nd game of round 1 her opponent tried to go wide and gained life up to 23. It was a standoff that Marcia was quickly loosing. Then it happened. She got her 4th mana and cast Sleep. Tapping a board full of eight 1/1 goblins, a life link creature and a mid sized creature. She attacked for 13. Then the next turn she act of treason his only blocker and swung for more than 13 and the win. Round 2 Summary Turn 2 Tormenting voice and Act of treason in game 1 and Turn 2 Tormenting voice and Sleep in game two helped finish the game along with her perfect curving out and her opponent running out of cards. Round 3. The 2-0 vs 2-0. Marcia won game 1 by casting act of treason targeting her opponents gutter snipe. Then she cast her 2nd Act of treason Triggering gutter snipe to do 2 damage. This brought her opponent to 11 life. Marcia could attack for exactly 11 damage and the win by attacking with her creatures, the gutter snipe from the 1st act of treason and the 2nd creature she took with act of treason #2! Game 2 she mulliganed to 5 and got blown out. Game 3 Marcia once again had Tormenting voice on turn 2. Her 2 land hand, plus tormenting voice, plus 1 manalith, plus two 5 mana spells meant she could pitch one of the 5 mana spells and draw 2 cards. She drew into her 3rd land and dropped a Manalith on turn 3 Giving her 4 mana. Meanwhile her opponent had mulliganed to 5 but was putting up a good fight and buying time with 2 essence scatters and a bounce spell. Eventually Marcia played a card that said draw a card if you control an artifact when this creature enters the battlefied. Then she said Catch and threw a lava axe at her opponent for 5 damage. The 3rd extra card she drew plus her opponents mulligan to 5 finally ground her opponent out of cards. Marcia cast the blue creature that has an enter the battlefield trigger that reads When this blue creature enters the battlefield target artifact you control becomes a 5/5 artifact creature for as long as this blue creature is on the battlefield. She targeted her Manalith with the ability and the artifact became a 5/5 creature. Manalith was now a 5/5 creature and could attack completely unopposed. Manalith ended the game in 2 turns. Marcia Had drafted a foil Omniscience with her 1st pick, pack 1. Selling this paid for the Draft entry fee. Then she gave her 1st and 2nd round opponent 1 pack each. Then she gave her 3rd round opponent 2 of her prize packs for being the only person to take a game from her. By the time the draft was over the D&D crew had finished there Saturday night session. They joined Marcia and I and we all played cards against Humanity with her until well after midnight!
What a great Saturday at Bell's Gaming Center! Celest and her Mono Green Stompy Deck splashed black for Scrapheap and Fatal Push. It was the right combination of Cards as she lost 1 game in 4 rounds!
Celest took home $18 in store credit and a Dominaria Showdown Pack. We had 14 players for Sunday Showdown. A record for Bell's Sunday Showdown! We do it all again Sunday August 5th at 3:00PM Congratulations to Matt Fahrenz for winning our 1st ever Box Give away (M19 Box) during our 1st Casual Commander week 4 Box Giveaway! We give away a box every month. Come out and play Casual Commander with us, meet some cool people and maybe win yourself a Box!
Ricardo won our weekly Casual Commander giveaway on August 2nd. This weeks prize was Nicol, Bolas, the Ravager currently selling for $40.00!
We give something cool away every week. And if you play in at least 3 of the 1st 4 Thursdays of the month. You qualify for our monthly box giveaway on the 4th Thursday of every month. How to read this. The 1st section is all about the current Modern Mana Slam Champion and his Austin Accomplishments. Then there is a small section that has a button to click for Summer Slam Main Event Details. The section Directly beneath the Summer Slam info button has Times and Dates you can ATTEMPT to prove your worth and qualify for the Main Event. Beneath that section there is a image of each the current qualified players and a few words about them. We are having lots of fun with this. Can you smile and laugh at yourself? Not for the weak or easily offended. Let the Wresting Drama Begin! Are you sure you can handle the words of the Champion? Can you handle How Great he is? Can you handle how Benevolent he is? April 28th, 2018 Magic Mike wins another event when something REAL is on the line. And now the Benevolent Champion is willing to put his belt on the line in the Summer Slam Modern Event! Monday September 10th, 2018 @ 7:30pm! Do You think you have what it takes to take this Championship Belt From Magic Mike the Zombie Master? Magic Mike the Mana Slam Modern Champion of 2018? Magic Mike the Winner of the $50 Win Mikes Money Modern Event at Nerdstock? Magic Mike the Winner of the 1st ever No pity Modern Monday Event at Nerdstock? About the Champion: Magic Mike steps it up a notch when there is Everything to lose and NOTHING to win. The last Monday of the year 2017... It is The Final "Win Mike's Money" at Nerdstock for the year 2017. Magic Mike Ups his Usual Win Mike's Money from $20 store Credit to $50 CASH for this event. Pictured above is Magic Mike the Winner of This "The Winner Gets $50 Cash of MY money in addition to normal prizes." Event. Imagine playing in an event where if you win you get nothing but keeping your money. If you lose you are out the entry fee plus $50. No pressure in the final round at table 1. That is what nothing to win and everything to lose means. NOPE! I went 4-0 and kept MY money. That is why I am the Champion son! About the Champion: Benevolent Champion Here I am Winning the 1st EVER No Pity Modern Monday At Nerdstock. I got $20 Store Credit for my effort. And win Mike's $20 was born. Every Monday after this event pictured above became " Win Mike's Money." I would buy $20 in store credit and give it to the winner in addition to the normal prizes. EVERY WEEK the Winner got $20 credit paid for by Magic Mike the Benevolent Champion of Modern Magic in addition to the normal prizes. I give back to the Community son, Just like a true Champion. This was the Win Mike's Money Event Image. When you are the Champion. You are the face of the game! To Prove your worth and skills you need to win one of our Modern Events to Qualify to have the privilege of trying to win the MANA SLAM CHAMPION belt from me. Modern is Every Monday @ 7:00PM Modern is Every Friday @7:30PM Modern is Every Saturday @1:00PM Listed Below are the Current Qualifiers for Summer Slam! Congratulations to Paul "The Crusher" Kosnik for winning a 3 way tie for 1st place tonight in No Pity Modern Monday. "The Crusher" became the 15th out of 16 possible qualified players for September 10th Mana slam! Paul edged and Nolan and K.O. for 1st. All finished 3-0-1 in our 4 round 16 player event. The 3 undefeated took home $20 credit each! Robey took 4th and $10 credit. Joseph took 5th and $10 credit. Thank you to all 16 of our competitors! You still have 2 chances to fill in the last spot for Summer Slam. Friday at 7:30pm Saturday at 1:00pm. Congratulations to Sam "R.N.G. sus" for Qualifying for Summer Slam by going 3-0 in Saturday September 1st 1:00pm Modern event. R.N.G. sus took home $12 in credit and is the 14th player to Qualify. Only 2 slots left and only 3 Qualifiers left. Including MONDAY Labor Day September 3rd at 7:00PM Francisco "Controlled his own Destiny" by going 3-0-1 and wins the August 24 FNM to Qualify for Summer Slam! Francisco and his Jeskai Control deck was 2-0-1 going into the 4th round. All he had to do was beat the Immovable Object at table 1 to Qualify for Summer Slam. Francisco won a 35 minute game 1 and held off the white weanie rush to take game 2 to a draw and win the match. The Tax Man Won the August 17 FNM and Qualified for Summer Slam Sarah burst onto the scene after a 6 week absence from the game Declaring herself "Baberham Lincholn". She got everyone's attention after defeating Judge Dredge (Saturdays Qualifier winner) in the 1st round. She defeated "Daniel "the Rager" in the 2nd round at table 1. She was Still sitting at table 1 in her 3rd round match up vs "the Drunken Master". The outspoken "Baberaham Lincholn" taunted Magic Mike who was at table 2 in the 3rd round by saying " Are you going to bring your belt to the table for our match in the last round?" after she had defeated her 3rd straight Summer Slam qualified opponent. " No, I am going to WEAR it" replied the Champ. Baberaham Lincoln and Magic Mike won there 3rd round Matchups. Everyone thought the Champ was going to play the outspoken "Baberaham lincholn" in the 4th and Final round at table 1. Then Controversy hit. While Magic Mike was walking over to the Display shelf to grab the Championship belt for his the final round Match vs Baberaham Lincholn at table 1... The pairings went up on the big screens. The Champ was stunned. Instead of being in the Feature match for the main event...The champ got paired down and ended up at table 3. Stumbling in the 1st round came back to haunt the Champ. Sarah "Baberaham Lincholn" Lost her 4th round match vs Robert at table 1. This made them both 3-1 The champ dispatched his final opponent and also ended up 3-1 but finished 4th because of the tiebreakers due to the pair down. She earned it tonight" said the champ. "But had we played, I would have won and finished in 1st place. There will be no dodging anyone September 10th." "I am ready and can't wait for September 10th. Come at me bro." Was Baberaham Lincoln's response to the camps post tournament comments. Congratulations to Baberaham Lincoln for Winning the 7:00pm No Pity Modern Monday event August 13, 2018 and Qualifiying for Summer Slam. She won $20 in credit and used it to buy cards for a new commander deck she is working on. Robert had to work hard just to get 2nd. And won $14 in credit. Judge Dredge took 3rd. Magic Mike the Reigning Champion finished 4th Congratulations to Greg "Judge Dredge" for qualifying for Summer Slam by going 3-0 in Saturday August 11, 2018 1:00pm modern event. Your next chance to qualify is Monday August 13 at 7:00PM Congratulations to Daniel "the Rager" for Raging his way through the Friday August 3 Modern event finishing 3-0 and qualify for Summer Slam! Stone Cold Sam won today's 1:00pm Modern event going 3-0. This qualified him for Summer Slam. Stone Cold collected his $15 store credit and said I will have to check my schedule to see if I have something better to do on September 10. The world now knows I belong in Summer Slam. You will have to wait and see if I show up or not... Man, that's cold. Stone Cold. Alex "the Drunken Master" had better tie breakers than "Knock Out" and Qualified for Summer Slam going 3-0-1 in our Friday July 26, 2018 Qualifier. David "the Final Boss" defeated Magic Mike, the Reigning Modern Champion, in the last round at table 1 and Qualified for Summer Slam going 4-0 in our Monday July 23, 2018 7:00PM qualifier. Jon "Gruul the Land Destroyer" Demolished the competition and Qualified for Summer Slam going 4-0 Saturday July 21, 2018 in our 1:00PM event Rebecca "the Axe" Dismembered all competitors and Qualifies for Summer Slam going 3-0 Saturday July 14, 2018 in our 1:00pm event David "The Immovable Object" Not only Qualified Monday July 9, 2018 by going 4-0 but also Denied Bebop Ardvark qualification on Monday July 16, 2018 by going 4-0. On Friday July 20, 2018 he Denied Sean Z Qualification by defeating Sean at table 1 in the last round and finishing 1st on tie breakers. Kale Qualified for summer Slam on Tuesday July 10, 2018 by finishing 1st.
We had an amazing 19 player turn out for the 1st casual commander Thursday July 5th 2018! we also had 7 D&D Adventures league Players in the back room. What an opening Day! See everything Happened July 5th Blog post for Details. Ugin, The spirit Dragon was the Random Giveaway Tonight.
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