Magic: The Gathering nights
There are several developers who play Magic: The Gathering casually. We try to get together when I'm in town on non-"Montreal Week" visits and do a sealed deck tournament. Anyone in the company is welcome to join (but please no joiners from outside the company).
What this involves:
- Each person gets 6 booster packs + unlimited basic lands to build a 40-card deck.
- We then play three matches (best of 3 games each). Whoever wins... is the coolest?
- It's free - I provide the booster packs and take the cards home at the end.
- I order pizza since it usually runs something like 5pm-8:30pm depending on game speed.
- It's very helpful if you tell me you want to play BEFORE I get on the plane so I can bring enough packs. Chat is best for this. I do a calendar invite for RSVPs.
Several folks involved never play Magic outside of this periodic event, and at least one learned Magic just for this, so please don't think "I'm not good enough" is a reason to not join us. This isn't serious or competitive, and we're happy to provide tips and clarifications along the way.
Feel free to ask questions here. I'll continue to re-use this discussion as we do more of these to announce the next time we're doing it.
Also, join us in the company chat room Magic: The Gathering for nerding out about things any time.
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We'll be playing with the new-ish set Ixalan on Wed, Jan 17. It's a "tribal" set (meaning it rewards building a deck based on 1 type of creature) that revolves around Dinosaurs, Pirates, Mermaids, and Vampires in an adventure land setting. It has 3 key mechanics:
- Enrage: Creature gets a bonus if it's dealt damage. Only Dinosaurs get this.
- Raid: Gets a bonus if you attacked this turn. Only Pirates get this.
- Explore: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land, you draw it. If it's not, the creature gets +1/+1 and you can either put the card back or into your graveyard.
There are also a few Vehicles (artifacts that become creatures if you tap other creatures to activate them), and Transform cards (they flip when a condition is met, revealing a completely new card on the back).
Ping Lincoln if you'd like to join us. So far Stephane, Alex, Adam, and Frank will be there.
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I'm down! I've learnt some basic magic gameplay from the Android app and I'm definitely a fan
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Player Points OMP GWP OGP 1: Alex 9 44.44 85.71 41.27 2: Adam 6 66.67 57.14 61.9 3: Linc 6 44.44 66.67 41.27 4: Joe 3 66.67 33.33 61.9 5: Frank 3 44.44 33.33 44.44 6: Stephane 0 66.67 25 58.73
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The next Magic: The Gathering night is scheduled for Wed, April 11. Please let me know if you'd like an invite as soon as possible so I can bring enough cards.
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1: Alex 9 55.56 66.67 58.93 2: Frank 6 66.67 71.43 52.38 3: Stephane 6 55.56 62.5 50 4: Linc 6 44.44 57.14 51.59 5: Adam 3 55.56 50 54.17 6: Joe 3 55.56 42.86 50 7: Chris 3 55.56 20 55.75 8: Ryan 0 44.44 0 44.44
Frank came close to unseating the reigning champion, but tonight was not the night.
Ryan and Chris played for their first time, and we had 8 players for the first time. We're gonna see if we can get it to 10 next time.
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@franciscaisse said:
There is only one way to go when you are at the top @DaazKu
Bring it on!
Was super fun again! Thanks @Linc !0 -
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For future reference.
(I had this among my card to show folks but I forgot it was in there)
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The next game night will be Wednesday, May 30 and we'll being again doing a sealed deck 3-round tournament, this time with the set Dominaria that came out yesterday. If you haven't gotten a calendar invite and would like to play, please just let me know. Anyone in the company welcome. We're tentatively at 9 players; I can support up to 14 with advanced notice.
Dominaria is the original plane of Magic's history! Nearly every set prior to 2003's Mirrodin took place here. The story last returned here for 2007's Time Spiral block. In game time, 60 years have passed.
In modern Magic, each plane has its own easily distinguishable identity (adventure world, Gothic horror world, city guild world, etc). On Dominaria, so much happened early on that it is very detailed with no overarching theme. And thus, the theme of the plane is now its very historic nature.
Every booster pack contains a legendary creature in one of the uncommon slots or the rare slot. Legendary creatures are restricted in that only 1 of each can be in play on your side per turn (no having 2+ copies in play).
A "Saga" is a new type of enchantment that plays out over time, typically 3 turns. Much like a 3-act play, each turn renders a new effect that changes the state of the game. The sagas depict major events in Dominaria history.
The new "Legendary Sorcery" card type can only be cast if you have a legendary creature OR Planeswalker in play. (All Planeswalkers are legendary, now.)
"Historic" is a new word to describe a card that is one of: artifact, legendary, or Saga. Some cards give bonuses when you play a Historic card.
This set was designed to give a strong sense of nostalgia to long-time players "coming home" to where it all started, but also has one of the strongest and most fun set of mechanics for every player in recent years. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive at release tournaments and online. I'm super excited to give this set a try.
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Had a great round playing Dominaria tonight!
Player Points OMP GWP OGP 1: Alex 9 55.56 100 46.67 2: Adam 6 66.67 66.67 66.67 3: Joe 6 66.67 40 71.43 4: Stephane 6 44.44 57.14 44.44 5: Chris 3 83.33 20 78.57 6: Linc 3 55.56 42.86 46.67 7: Pat 3 50 0 50 OMP - Opponents’ Match-Win Percentage. A player’s match-win percentage is that player’s accumulated match points divided by X times the number of rounds in which he or she competed, or 0.33, whichever is greater. GWP - Game-Win Percentage. Similar to the match-win percentage, a player’s game-win percentage is the total number of game points he or she earned divided by X times the number of games played. OGP - Opponents’ Game-Win Percentage. Similar to opponents’ match-win percentage, a player’s opponents’ game-win percentage is simply the average game-win percentage of all of that player’s opponents. And, as with opponents’ match-win percentage, each opponent has a minimum game-win percentage of 0.33.
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Magic: The Gathering Nights will return in January. I'll aim to get in 4 in 2019. More details as we get closer, but I'm hoping at least one will be a draft (pick-and-pass) rather than our typical sealed deck.
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On Wed Jan 30, we'll be playing sealed deck (build a deck with 6 boosters + basic lands) with the sets Return To Ravnica & Gatecrash, released in late 2012 & early 2013.
Ravnica is the plane of guilds! There are 10 guilds that run this city-world, one representing each 2-color pair.
If you're tuned into Magic news, you'll know the November 2018 & January 2019 sets are on Ravnica for a third time: Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiances. Guess what we'll be playing later this year. :) I thought a flashback to our last visit 6 years ago would be a fun lead-in.
5 of the guilds are represented in Return To Ravnica, and 5 guilds are in Gatecrash. Half of you will play one set, and half will play the other. Less experienced players will get to choose first, but there's no real difference here besides preference.
Here's a very brief summary of what you'll find in each. Every guild has a unique mechanic or ability that plays into its themes. And keep in mind that guilds with overlapping colors tend to have a lot of synergy, so don't go in with blinders on trying to build a 2-color deck no matter what!
Return To Ravnica
- Azorius Senate (White/Blue): "Control" theme (tapping effects, "bounce" effects, counterspells, "taxation" effects). Combat abilities, particularly "Flying" and "Vigilance", and effects subtheme.
- Cult of Rakdos (Black/Red): "+1/+1 counters matters" subtheme.
- Selesnya Conclave (Green/White): Weenie (small creature) token and, more broadly, creature token subthemes.
- Izzet League (Blue/Red): Spells subtheme.
- Golgari Swarm (Black/Green): "Graveyard matters" subtheme.
Gatecrash
- House Dimir (Blue/Black): "Grind" and, more broadly, "Milling" subthemes (library depletion). "Graveyard matters" subtheme. Saboteur subtheme.
- Gruul Clans (Red/Green): "Number of land you control" subtheme
- Orzhov Syndicate (White/Black): "Bleeding", or life gain and life loss, subtheme.
- Boros Legion (Red/White): Weenie (small creature) token subtheme.
- Simic Combine (Green/Blue): "+1/+1 counters matters" subtheme.
If everyone enjoys the guilds theme, there's a lot of fun ways we can play with it in different formats as the year goes on.
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I'm in! This is awesome. Can't wait to lose multiple games :D
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I only have 6 confirmed "Ins" for Wednesday night so far! Please RSVP to the calendar invite, or DM me on Slack to get an invite.
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We had a 9-person tournament last night. Thanks to everyone who stayed late to join us.
Player Points OMP GWP OGP
1: Linc 9 55.56 85.71 55.36
2: Alex 6 55.56 71.43 52.18
3: Frank 6 55.56 57.14 52.18
4: Ryan 6 50 40 50
5: Adam 6 44.44 62.5 36.94
6: Farhan 3 77.78 37.5 62.74
7: Joe 3 66.67 20 66.96
8: Pat 3 55.56 37.5 53.97
9: Stephane 3 50 20 47.32
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There is a poll in Slack room #magic-the-gathering about the day for our next Magic night!
This time will be sealed deck again, but with the NEW Ravnica sets that just came out this year. The same 2-color guilds with a new spin! I'll post more info when we get closer.
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when we get closer.
Time wise or geographically?
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Yes.
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😂
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An unexpected round 2!
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Our next Magic: The Gathering night will be Wed. Aug 14, and we'll be playing sealed War of the Spark, which I've been having a ton of fun with.
Please hit me up in Slack if you didn't get a calendar invite! If you want to participate but don't know how to play yet, ask @slafleche or @D̸̨͝ą̸͂a̵͍̔z̴̙͋K̶̤̀u̷̢̇ for a quick tutorial. New players welcome, but it shouldn't be your very first game. :)
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Even if everyone currently invited attends, I’ll still have enough cards for 2 more.
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Results from last week.
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