MTG GES3

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Some rather exciting news out today for those Magic: the Gathering fans who aspire to work with Wizards of the Coast to help continue to create entertaining and engaging cards to be played in countless future games.

First, let's have a brief history of 'The Great Designer Search' contest by Wizards of the Coast -

2006 - Great Designer Search 1

The three finalists, Alexis Janson, Ken Nagle and Graeme Hopkins were among the cohort of fifteen cadidates or finalists who had undergone six challenges with eliminations each round.  Alhough Alexis Janson won the contest, all three finalistswere eventually hired by Wizards of the Coast.

2010 - Great Designer Search 2

The final candidates were Ethan Fleischer, Jonathon Loucks, Shawn Main, Devon Rule, Jay Treat, Scott Van Essen, Daniel Williams, and Jonathan Woodward.  Both the winner Ethan Fleischer and runner-up Shawn Main were hired by Wizards of the Coast.  Ethan developed the keyword 'Evovle', and the ability 'Assault' while Shawn would develop the 'Battalion' ability.

2018

This is kicking off January 16, 2018.  The goal of the contest is to find new talent for Magic design and the grand prize was a design internship and thus is in general a job interview.  Like its former iterations, The Great Designer Search 3 begins with the candidates answering ten questions in essay form, with a 350 word cap per question.


For more information, check out the announcement (linked here) and the terms and conditions (linked here).

If you are contemplating of competing in this contest, be sure to prime yourself with some of the tenets which have kept Magic: the Gathering a great game.  Here are the Principles of Magic Research and Design.

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Asgard Gear Deck Box Review

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Today, we want to provide our unbiased review for the hand-made Loki Deck Box from Asgard Gear.  We've been rocking with this box for about a week now and have traveled with it from our lair thrice to develop an opinion. 

MATERIALS

• Exterior Casing  - material is natural wood - specifically Walnut.  We've exposed the box to our regular use and have certainly Rustled the Jimmies.  The shell is solid, durable and has not scuffed or taken on any visible signs of wear.

• Joints -  Not that that kind.  Given the thickness of wood, through dovetail joints are not very practical, so Asgard Gear went with box joints.  All joints have wood adhesive and we're impressed with the work with the tricky work required for clamping.

• Finish - Tung Oil.  Walnut is a beautiful wood but unless it gets appropriate finishing, it could look just kinda meh.  Tung oil makes the lovely grain here just pop.  Benjamin Moore has been producing Tung Oil (from the Chinese Vernicia fordii tree seed_ since about the 1930's.  In our opinion, this environmentally considerate oil delivers the very best finish availble.

• Embellishments - All exterior wood parts are laser cut giving a very clean look. The crisp Asgard Gear logo, and Beta model marking are aesthetically pleasing.

• Interior Casing - Acrylic plastic. Perfect choice of material to protect cards, sleeved or not, from acquiring any undesirable wear.  Sleeved cards fit perfectly and slide out easily like snot on hot glass.

• Closure - Separate flush-fitting top sliding closure secured with two neodymium magnets.  These rare earth magnets provide a strong fastening.  we could not get the lid dislodged with a highly scientific drop test from the height of a gaming table.  We have preference to mag closures over exterior clasps which are more prone to damage.

USE

• The Asgard Gear Loki holds our sleeved 100-card Commander decklist perfectly.  At the moment, it is holding our Emmara Tandris list and the literal crap-ton of tokens this list generates - beasts, snakes, saprolings and elves are all house comfortable inside and perhaps there is a comparative to Doctor Who's TARDIS somewhere here.

SUMMARY

This is a great deck box and we love the look of it.  The price for the Deck Box is about what we would expect to pay for a high quality card storage box.  We do not have any complaints at all but would suggest that Asgard Gear should consider looking into offering  gamers the opportunity personalise the deck box with their name, deck name or perhaps even a simple graphic.

GIVEAWAY !!

This weekend at the Magic: the Gathering - Aether Revolt PreRelease at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario, there are a number of very cool random prizes up for grabs including the Asgard Gear Loki Deck Box.  There will be draws every event for free entries to regular weekly events at the store, as well as a chance to win an Aether Revolt Planeswalker Deck (2 available), and the Deck Box.  

OMG! Games will be running events all weekend long -
• Saturday - 12:00 am (Friday Midnight), 10:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 7:30 pm

• Sunday - 11:00 am, and 4:00 pm (Two-Headed Giant)

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Aether Revolt - Yahenni

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We are still absorbing the very early Aether Revolt leak from yesterday which delivered three full and one partial Magic: the Gathering spoiler.  

In summary, these were :
• Quicksmith Rebel - Launch Promo
• Scrap Trawler - Buy-A-Box promo
• Trophy Mage - Game Day participation promo
• Yahenni's Expertise - Game day top 8 promo

The MTG community at large were most decidedly abuzz with the Yahenni card.  Akin to an ever so slightly diminished Languish, but delivering a free spell of three converted mana cost or less from your hand.  We fully expect to see this get popular play in standard constructed.  

Speaking of Yahenni, it is of great surprise that this Aetherborn is the subject of today's Magic Story Installment.  Do pop on over to the mothersite to read 'In the Dead of Night', wonderfully penned by Alison Lurhs.  Today we learn that the Atherborn creature known as Yahenni, is a notable citizen, socialite and philanthropist, but also has just become something more dangerous -  an Essence Drainer.  Not all Aetherborn can draw life essence from other beings into themselves to prolong their own existence, but Yahenni is able to.  Certainly not an evil being leeching life from another, but more like Louis (played by Brad Pitt) in 'Interview with a Vampire', who detests the thought of becoming a murderer.

With today's new Magic story (linky over here again), there are a number of lovely new arts, in all liklihood to see print in the upcoming Aether Revolts set:

• Yahenni's Expertise, by Jason A. Engle

• Ghirapur city scene, by Jonas De Ro

• Energy containment scene, Joseph Meehan

• Gonti's artificial hears, by Vincent Proce

• Statuary Garden scene, by Kirsten Zirngibl

• Essence drain scene, by Lius Lasahido

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Asgard Gear CONTEST

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Saturday MTG Miscellany

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

We skipped yesterday's daily post as we wanted to get one for you today for to announce the winner of the Power 9 Pro Dragon's Egg tournament bag contest.  We received 43 entries who answered correctly the four questions.  All entries were assigned a number (in the order we received them) and we used an online random number picker which picked Nick 'nicl1015' which we'll send that really swell tournament bag to.  Thank-you to all who entered.

Anywhoos - the rest of the post is a whole bunch of random Magic: the Gathering thingys, so get ready for a bumpy ride !
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Over on StarCity Games, artist Liz Nugent has made some very sweet 'Acorn Mystic' gaming accessories.   

You can pick up playmats, sleeves, deck boxes, dice bags, and a Complete Collection bundle all with that sweet adorable woodland critter on it.

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There's another Magic 2015 core set preview which was floated out by TouchArcade.com a few days ago.  Monday (23rd June) should be the start of official previews on the mothersite, so ensure you check back often.  Anywhoos, say hello to this new artifact - 

Avarice Amulet, 4
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0 and has vigilance and "At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card."
When equipped creature dies, target opponent gains control of Avarice Amulet.
Equip 2
Designed by Penny Arcade
illus. Steven Belledin # 212/269
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Lastly, we recommend heading on over to our Tumblr page and catch up with all the shenanigans there -

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MTG Realm Power 9 Pro Contest

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

Hope you are all having a great weekend so far.  If you are attending Grand Prix Manchester this weekend, may the odds be ever in your favor.  You can catch the coverage to this Magic: the Gathering tournament at this linky. 

Anywhoos, a while ago, we had done a product review for the Dragon's Egg Tournament Bag from Power 9 Pro and still maintain, it's the best and we take it to every Friday Night Magic Event and tournament - here's the brief video if you needed to put in your six minutes of YouTube time this week -

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We have a brand new, still in the package Dragon's Egg tournament bag we want to give away so we are running something of an internet scavenger hunt - drop by the urls provided or use the Google machine to answer the following four questions - 

• Q1 - On the Power 9 Pro video "Introducing The New Dragon's Egg, Now With SideKIt" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvn4MM8YCYk) name the animal costumes the MTG player is skating by ? (about half-way through video)

• Q2 - What did Power 9 Pro tweet about on January 15th 2014 (https://twitter.com/power9pro) ?

• Q3 - What did Power 9 Pro post about to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/power9pro) on 24 April, 2014 ?

• Q4 - What is 'Magpie' by Power 9 Pro ?

Send all entries to MTG Realm via CopySix@gmail.com with the subject line "P9P Contest" and a random winner will be drawn on Saturday 21 June 2014.  This giveaway contest is open to those only in continental United States and Canada.

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MTG Nemesis

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Today marks the very last Friday Night Magic event before the Magic: the Gathering game format evolution when the next Journey into Nyx set is released next weekend.  In the forefront of players thoughts are this weekend's Journey into Nyx PreRelease event.  

Our local gaming store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario is running multiple events all weekend long including a midnight event tonight.  Join MTG Realm at OMG! Games at the Saturday morning PreRelease event when someone's name will be drawn to win a very cool Power 9 Pro Dragon's Egg Tournament Bag.

Anywhoos, as we look forward to the new Journey into Nyx set we can't help but also look back.  Today's post is a bit of nostalgia for us - here's a quick look at two Nemesis Intro Packs we picked up a long time ago . . .
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Storyline
For eons the twisted machine rulers of the hellish world of Phyrexia have watched Dominaria, world of magic. For centuries they have plotted their invasion and conquest of this world. Now the long-awaited time is approaching.

The plans of the Dark Lord have assumed their final shape. On the artificial plane of Rath, staging ground for the invasion, the Phyrexians prepare to stop their greatest enemy, one who has combated them down through the millennia, one who alone can halt their attack: Urza Planeswalker.  

Nemesis released in February 2000 as the second set and first small expansion in the Masques block.  The Masques block is a Magic: The Gathering block that is set on the planes of Mercadia, Rath, and plane of Dominaria. It consisted of Mercadian Masques (October 1999), Nemesis (February 2000), and Prophecy (June 2000). The Masques block was the first set that is not subject to Wizards of the Coast's Reprint Policy.  Here are our two Intro Packs we picked up -

Eruption Nemesis Theme Deck
Eruption is bubbling over with creatures that can spell death to your rivals. Anything they fail to destroy is fodder for the laccolith and flowstone brutes that inhabit this deck.

Mercenaries Nemesis Theme Deck
With Mercenaries you enlist an infantry of vile fiends to do your bidding. Where there is one, there are many as you use these creatures' recruiting ability to spawn other monstrosities until the victory is secured.

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Ignite Your Spark

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

It's sort of a good news and bad news today.  The motherboard on our machine finally cack'd and we're moving into a new machine (the new iMac), which is kind of like moving IRL and a pain in the posterior.  Given this, we'll rise from the ashes in the next few days or so, which is also when we'll have a ring at our door from the courier delivering a box of awesome new Theros singles from MTG Mint Card.  
 
Anywhoos - for today's post - some news which will make CosPlay fans happy.  Wizards has wrapped up their 'Ignite Your Spark Contest', which challenged fans to submit a photo of themselves auditioning to become the Planeswalker of their choice. Contestants could choose any of the following Planeswalkers: Ajani Goldmane, Chandra Nalaar, Elspeth Tirel, Garruk Wildspeaker, Gideon Jura, Jace Beleren, Karn, Koth of the Hammer, Liliana vess, Nicol Bolas, Nissa Revane, Ral Zarek, Sarkhan Vol, Sorin Markov, Tamiyo, Tezzeret, Tibalt, Venser, or Vraska.

Felicia Day made the announcement over on the mothersite today . . .

Congratulations to Laura H. (Sumyuna Cosplay) from Madrid, Spain, on her winning Chandra cosplay! Laura will win a trip for two to a PAX of her choice in 2014!
'After some destructive attempts at pyromancy trying to imitate Chandra, Laura proposes herself as a stand-in for her promotional duties and leave her free to go on with the usual incinerating business.'

Fan Favorite winner Christine X. (Cspranklerun / Christine Sprankle) - Wins a laptop and a Magic swag bag including a copy of Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers
'I am Elspeth. I live my Dreams as a Planeswalker playing Magic: The Gathering. You too can become a Champion of Light, Knowledge, Nature, Fire or Death. Live the Game. Play the Game.'

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3 Million !

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Happy July 4th to everyone especially to our American cousins south of the border who are celebrating Independence Day. There, as well as around the globe, Magic the Gathering players are celebrating week two of Magic 2012 core set previews. Here at MTG Realm, we are celebrating our 3-Millionth visitor to the site - How are we celebrating? As announced on June 19th, we are giving away a Commander Deck - more on that latter - for now, let's get into some M12 spoilers and previews.

First off, there are some reprints to bring to your attention. Most of these reprints do not come as much of a surprise and we won't spend too much time on them. We welcome back the following cards to our favourite game : Autumn's Veil, Birds of Paradise, Blood Seeker, Celestial Purge, Combust, Deathmark, Flashfreeze, Honor of the Pure, Merfolk Looter, and Ponder.

Next up, some new cards to salivate over and start working into potential builds . . .

Garruk, Primal Hunter, 2
Planeswalker - Garruk, Mythic Rare
+1: Put a 3/3 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield.
-3: Draw cards equal to the greatest power among creatures you control.
-6: Put a 6/6 green Wurm creature token onto the battlefield for each land you control.
3

A new Garruk! With a converted mana cost of two colourless and three green, this will be pretty much restricted to mono-green. If you will play this, you will need two tokens - a 3/6 beast and a 6/6 wurm. We were expecting some relative theme with the signature planeswalker spells Garruk's Companion and Garruk's Horde but apparently that link is tenuous.
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Doubling Chant, 5
Sorcery, Rare
For each creature you control, you may search your library for a creature card with the same name as that creature. Put those cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.

Obviously no chance of play in Commander / EDH unless sneaky ninjas sabotaged your deck to make you look like a derp at the game table. Otherwise, this could be splashed in any deck to dump additional (non-legendary) critters onto the field. We feel that this could be rather situational in standard constructed.
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Arachnus Spinner, 5
Creature - Spider, Rare
Reach
Tap an untapped Spider you control: Search your graveyard and/or library for a card named Arachnus Web and put it onto the battlefield attached to target creature. If you search your library this way, shuffle it.
5/7

If you were hoping for some weird casual tribal spider deck, you are likely to be happy with this card. This is huge on flavour and there are a number of great card choices out there to consider. As for the pre-release this weekend, if you open up this card as well as Giant Spider, and Stingerfling Spider, we think you are in good form.
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Grand Abolisher,
Creature - Human Cleric, Rare
During your turn, your opponents can't cast spells or active abilities of artifacts, creatures, or enchantments.
2/2

We rather like this card - especially against blue mages who may be running Mana Leak and / or Spellskite wanting to steal your precious auras. More importantly, this will also also put a stop to those irratating activated abilities that your opponent may vex you with.
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Righto - onto our 3-Millionth visitor contest result.


We have now surpassed our 3-Millionth visitor to MTG Realm, and as promised, we are now delivering a new Commander deck to a lucky contestant. We received 57 entries who all correctly answered the three questions. Participants were literally from coast to coast (Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland to Nanaimo, British Columbia) and had to provide a Canadian postal code to be eligible. From this pool, we used a program, called 'The Hat' to painstakening enter this lengthy list of eMail addys and then electronically pick a name from the hat.

. . . and the Winner is . . . 'Matt S' ! We will eMail Matt and get his details and mail off his prize. We want to thank everyone who participated and continues to read the MTG Realm blog daily. Next time, we hope to open up the contest to everyone worldwide (we've had some complaints from some guys in Buenos Aires and Bangkok actually).

Be sure to stay tuned to daily updates as we wrap up M12 spoilers this week and check out our M12 Spoiler List.
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M12 Minisite

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Some more Magic the Gathering spoiler 'n' preview news. Wizards of the Coast has now put up the Magic 2012 core set mini-site. This M12 product page contains everything you need to know about the upcoming set and includes linkage for set mechanics, wallpapers, product information, pre-release promo card, and of course the visual spoiler / card image gallery.

clicking the image will take you to the M12 mini-site.

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With the posting of the mini-site and the accompanying card gallery, the following cards have now been confirmed for inclusion to the M12 set :

Elite Vanguard, Grim Lavamancer, Incinerate, Levitation, Manic Vandal, Overrun, Primeval Titan, Quicksilver Amulet, and Rites of Flourishing.

In addition to this, the Lucky Charm cycle is also confirmed as returning (this is a cycle of artifacts that let you gain life whenever a player casts a spell of the appropriate color).

Most notable in this set of M12 previews . . .
Grim Lavamancer,
Creature - Human Wizard, Rare
, Exile two cards from your graveyard: Grim Lavamancer deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
1/1

Turning your graveyard into an arsenal is excellent. Your Standard metagame is starting to take form and we think there is a place for burn decks here. Even though Stoneforge Mystic has left the building we know that you are still thinking about getting a Basilisk Collar on this for death-ping or perhaps giving it poison via Grafted Exoskeleton - or even Phyresis to drop two poison counters on your opponent.
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Quicksilver Amulet, 4
Artifact, Rare
4: You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.

Being able to slide a huge fatty from your hand onto the game table on the cheap is never a bad thing. You also reduce the risk of your expensive creature spell of being ccountered. We're sure if this is better or worse than Elvish Piper but we still like it and it may certainly grow more on us after Innistrad is released.
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Rites of Flourishing, 2
Enchantment, Rare
At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player draws an additional card.
Each player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns.

This is just an excellent card if you are able to slide into your Commander deck. We suggest that you start brewing ideas for a Valakut or Primeval ramp deck as we are sure that these builds will make a splash at your local FNM.
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We have an intact Political Puppets Commander deck we want to give away as we celebrate our 3-Millionth visitor mark to the MTG Realm blog. This contest is open ONLY to CANADIANS (sorry to our cousins south of the border).

How to win :

1 : Send an eMail to us : copysix [at] gmail [dot] com
2 : Include your Canadian postal code to verify you are Canadian
3 : Answer the following 3 questions - (1) "Who is the sponsor of our Magic 2012 spoiler list?", (2) What is the title of the book image used in our post from May 20th, 2011?", and finally (3) "What was the sad news we blogged about in our post from January 11th, 2011?"

Good luck to the participants - send 'em in now ! We give you our promise to safekeep and not spam your eMail addy. Correct contestants will be chosen at random by our hound, Isamaru and we will eMail you for your full address and ship it off to you. We will draw shortly after we hit the 3-million mark (expected in another week or so).

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Lastly - a very kewl contest run by our friends over at MTG Mint Card

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