Islandhome #4

==ISLANDHOME #4==

March 19th 2008 ---- $Q

==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==

Friday: Brothers Grim Standard and Draft starting at 7 PM
Saturday: City Champs Store Finals and Standard starting at 3 PM

==THE THRILLING CONCLUSION OF THE FNC 2007-2008 CITY CHAMPS SEASON!==

Yes sadly this year's City Championship season is over, at least on a local level. Veteran players Matt Brocking and Michael "Hey Paskoff, mention that I won a GP Trial" Bauer will be moving on to the City Championships on April 12th, where they'll be competing in a small but important 24k Standard event for an invite to US Nationals, or a bye or two at Regionals! Everyone who played in the Store Finals got a foil Oona's Blackguard and a foil Cenn's Tactician, and no one went away without any packs.

The three rounds with no cut thing was a little disappointing, but the lack of a time limit meant that the top 8's three rounds were finished at about the same time as the regular event's fourth round.

Final Standings after Round 3:

1. Michael Bauer - UB Faeries
2. Matt Brocking - BG Ramp
3. Michael Evans - Big Paskoff (WGr Ramp)
4. Bryan Fazio - RG Ramp
5. Chris Redman - Mono-Green Elves
6. Dean Duprez - BG Elves
7. Dylan Duprez - Red Reveillark
8. Travis Tricoche - Reveillark

Michael Bauer - 1st Place
4 Island
1 Swamp
4 River of Tears
4 Underground River
4 Secluded Glen
3 Faerie Conclave
3 Mutavault
3 Bitterblossom
2 Profane Command
4 Oona's Blackguard
4 Rune Snag
3 Cryptic Command
2 Notorious Throng
3 Sower of Temptation
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Scion of Oona
4 Pestermite
4 Spellstutter Sprite

SIDEBOARD:
4 Flashfreeze
2 Familiar's Ruse
2 Razormane Masticore
4 Deathmark
3 Peppersmoke

Matt Brocking - 2nd Place
4 Groundbreaker
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Shriekmaw
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Timbermare
4 Wall of Roots
3 Damnation
1 Dread Return
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Nameless Inversion
3 Profane Command
3 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Pendelhaven
6 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

SIDEBOARD:
3 Stupor
3 Extirpate
3 Krosan Grip
3 Thoughtsieze
3 Pithing Needle

In other tournament news, Lee Cruceta split with Rob Grippa in the finals of FNC's regular Saturday event. Grippa was playing a very fashionable and stylish blue-red aggro/control deck, and Lee was playing some blue-black deck.

Ralph Navarra won Brothers Grim's Friday Nite* Magic draft, and Mohammad "Ani" Hamdani (playing Sonic Boom) and Dean Duprez (BG Elves) split in the finals of Grim's Standard event.

* No relation to Friday Night Magic

==I-CON 27==

I-Con 27 is fast approaching, and I've got details on the coolest/nerdiest event on all Long Island! All kinds of stuff will be going on April 4th-6th at Stonybrook University. Billy West, the voice of Fry, Dr. Zoidberg, and other characters from Futurama will be there, Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, and a bunch of other guests from sci-fi/fantasy stuff. Wizards of the Coast will be there, showing off 4th Edition. Dungeons and Dragons, not Magic, sorry. I'll be running tournaments all three days in the SAC Ballroom, so if anyone knows where that is, please get me there so I don't accidentally walk into the Lord of the Rings LARP room.

The schedule looks like this:

Friday at 7 PM: Standard, 1/2 box prize.
Saturday at Noon: Type 1 Unsanctioned; grand prize is a Moat from Legends.
Saturday at 3 PM: Standard, 1/2 box prize.
Sunday at Noon: Extended, 1/2 box prize.

There'll be drafts going on as long as we have product to support them, with entry for each draft being only $5! Entry into the constructed events is FREE, but of course you need an I-Con membership to get into the event.

Donato Giancola, the Magic artist most famous for Chrome Mox, Coalition Relic, Memory Jar, 10th Edition Shivan Dragon, and the recent Magic Player Reward promo Mana Tithe will be there, as will Larry Elmore, who's done Might Weaver and a couple of older basic lands. I can't promise they'll be signing cards, but I will be, so bring your Tarmogoyfs!

==SHADOWMOOR==

There's only a little over three weeks until the Shadowmoor prerelease, and there's surprisingly not many details about the set. Hybrid mana, first introduced in Ravnica, makes another appearance, with almost half the set having a hybrid mana cost. If you weren't around the game back then, hybrid mana is shown as a regular mana symbol split in two, divided between two different colors. Two cards that were "futureshifted" in Future Sight are being reprinted - Mistmeadow Skulk and Graven Cairns, and there may be a cycle of lands like Graven Cairns in the other four allied color pairs (UW, UB, RG,and WG). And then there's the "Q" mechanic, which sounds like it has something to do with an untap symbol. Reflecting Pool from Tempest is being reprinted too, so you might want to dig through your old collection for some. Torture's being reprinted too, but it's a Homelands card and isn't Serrated Arrows so you might not want to look for that one too hard. There's also a confirmed plainswalker in the set (yes you read that right) - hopefully it'll be as useful as Garruck!*

I also have an announcement about the prerelease - I'll be the head judge of the Long Island prerelease! I'll be making sure the event runs smoothly, handling appeals, DQs (none of those please), etc. Fun times, and I hope to see everyone there on April 19th! It's on Passover, but my rabbi told me Shadowmoor's kosher.

==UPCOMING EVENTS==

April 4th-6th: I-Con at Stonybrook University
Magic events will be run by me, in association with Brothers Grim, all three days, beginning Friday night. There'll be drafts running all three days while product is available, as well as sanctioned Standard and Extended events and even unsanctioned Vintage!

April 19th-20th: Shadowmoor Prerelease
Long Island and New York City prereleases will be held on Saturday the 19th, and New York City on the 20th. Not much is known about this set yet, but read The Rumor Mill forum on MTGSalvation.com as we get closer to the release date for up to date information. I'll most likely be judging Long Island Saturday and NYC Sunday.

Summer 2008: PTQ Season for Berlin
The next PTQ season starts this summer, and it's going to be Lorwyn Block Constructed! Lorwyn block will consist of Lorwyn, Morningtide, and Shadowmoor. Eventide won't be available during the beginning of the PTQ season, and I'm not sure if it'll be released in time for the end of it. I don't have a date yet on the official start of the PTQ season, but I should know relatively soon. To help prepare for it, I'm going to try to sanction some Block Constructed tournaments after Shadowmoor is released.

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I'll see everyone Friday and/or Saturday!

-Brian Paskoff