Gambit Sunday - 31st October Halloween!!!

Today I have been at Gambit Games in East Worthing. It has been a busy day with lots of different games being played.

Highlight for me was the Magic the Gathering Innistrad Cube which Michael brought along. It was great to see all my favourite cards from the sets again and managed to play a decent red/green agro deck which included both parts of the Hanwier Garrison and Kessig Wolf Run. I couldn't manage to beat Mikes blue/white spirits/control though, but it was pretty close.

This was followed up by more MTG in the form of a constructed tournament also using cards from the seven Innistrad sets that have been released. Despite me thinking that the newer cards would be dominant, it was the old favourites that really ruled the event.

Other games being played today were Saga, Bolt Action, Dead Mans Hand, Oak and Iron, Crisis Protocal and a few different card games and board games. 

What is a Cube in MTG?

Cube Draft is a casual Magic: The Gathering format where players create a cube, a large pool of cards selected for the purposes of playing a limited game.

Cube Draft encompasses many of the most enjoyable aspects of Magic, combining elements of both Constructed and Limited play, trading, and playing the game with friends. To prepare for this format, a player (or, if you prefer, your entire playgroup) prepares a "cube" — a specifically selected set of at least 360 different cards. Many cubes contain upwards of 720 cards to provide more variety among drafts.

For this Sunday's event which will be at Gambit Games in Worthing we will be using a cube designed and constructed by Michael Pike which uses cards from the 6 Innistrad sets released.

Once the cube has been built, you can use it for any draft format. The most popular option is to build makeshift "booster packs" out of 15 randomly selected cards from the cube and then run a regular Booster Draft. But you can also use your cube for Winston Draft, Solomon Draft, or any other kind of draft format.

Building a cube is a great way to get some extra play value out of your favorite cards, or even out of cards that haven't found a home in your Constructed decks. The best aspect of it is how personalized it is. Every cube is different, and you can build the pool of cards you'll draft with however you choose. Some players even create intricate lists of the most powerful Magic cards ever created and try to include each one in their cube.

WHAT IS PIONEER?

Tonight at KD Games we are playing the MTG format - Pioneer, but for though's new to the format here is a brief overview...

Pioneer is a non-rotating format featuring cards from Return to Ravnica and forward

Pioneer is a constructed format and therefore adheres to the following constructed rules:

• Minimum of sixty cards
• No maximum deck size, as long as you can shuffle your deck unassisted
• Up to fifteen cards in your sideboard, if used

With the exception of basic lands (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest, and Wastes), your combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent.

All Standard releases from Return to Ravnica forward are legal

The following card sets are permitted in Pioneer....

• Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
• Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
• Strixhaven
• Kaldheim
• Zendikar Rising
• Core 2021
• Ikoria Lair of Behemoths
• Theros Beyond Death
• Throne of Eldraine
• Core Set 2020
• War of the Spark
• Ravnica Allegiance
• Guilds of Ravnica
• Core Set 2019
• Dominaria
• Rivals of Ixalan
• Ixalan
• Hour of Devastation
• Amonkhet
• 
  
• Aether Revolt
• Kaladesh
• Eldritch Moon
• Shadows over Innistrad
• Oath of the Gatewatch
• Battle for Zendikar
• Magic Origins
• Dragons of Tarkir
• Fate Reforged
• Khans of Tarkir
• Magic 2015
• Journey into Nyx
• Born of the Gods
• Theros
• Magic 2014
• Dragon's Maze
• Gatecrash
• Return to Ravnica

PIONEER BANNED CARDS

The following cards are banned:
Balustrade Spy
Bloodstained Mire
Felidar Guardian
Field of the Dead
Flooded Strand
Inverter of Truth
Kethis, the Hidden Hand
Leyline of Abundance
Nexus of Fate
Oko, Thief of Crowns
Once Upon a Time
Polluted Delta
Smuggler’s Copter
Teferi, Time Raveler
Undercity Informer
Underworld Breach
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Veil of Summer
Walking Ballista
Wilderness Reclamation
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills

Halloween Innistrad Event

This Halloween as part of the last Sunday of the month Gambit Games event, we will be hosting a special constructed deck tournament. 

Players will need to bring a 60 card (minimum) deck with sideboard (no more that 15 cards) which can contain cards from the following sets ...

• INNISTRAD
• DARK ASCENSION
• AVACYN RESTORED
• SHADOWS OVER INNISTRAD
• ELDRITCH MOON 
• INNISTRAD MIDNIGHT HUNT

Other than basic land only cards from these sets can be used. These are all six of the MTG sets which are based on the plane of Innistrad and are ideally suited for a halloween event.

The tournament will be open to up to 16 players and will cost £5 (which covers the entrance into the Gambit event).   Everyone that enters will receive a special Lotus Bloom promo card just for playing and there will be other promo cards given to the first and second place.

 

The event will start at 1pm and should finish around 5pm. Tickets can be booked on either the Gambit Games UK website or our KD Games site.

There will also be a special MTG Innistrad cube in the morning, which will start at 9am. This cube contains cards from the original 5 Innistrad sets and is purely for fun. The cube event will be open for 12 players. This event will also cost £5 but if players want to play both events it will cost £8.

More details on the cube will be posted next week.

MTG Companion

The Innistrad: Crimson Vow season is nearly upon us, and there’s a lot to look forward to.

We encourage our players to download the Magic Companion App and create a Wizards Account. Why? Well because Wizards of the Coast are running a get little promotion for the next set. If you sign up for an Innistrad: Crimson Vow event using the app, you can get bonus promos that you won’t want to miss out on.

We will receive three different promo cards starting November 8. Promo cards will be handed out why stocks last.

These play promos will be revealed on October 28—mark your calendars!

Pokemon League

 We are very pleased to announce that next week will see the long awaited return of ...

It was one of our most popular events before the Covid pandemic and although some of our other events have already returned it was important to wait until now for this one as we really needed to see the impact of the schools returning before we felt confident enough to operate this club safely.

The league will very similar to how it has always been, the main differences are as follows...

• The league will be slightly shorter, it will last for just 1.5 hours rather than 2 hours, this is mainly to allow proper cleaning of the tables, etc before and after the event.
• There will now be an additional league event on Saturdays, which will be in the morning. This will hopefully allow more people to participate.
• Attendance will now need to be booked in advance. This can be done either online or in person at the shop. (You do not need to pay in advance, although you can if you wish) Occasionally you may be able to simply come along to the store and join in but as space is limited booking will allow you to get a confirmed place.
• Attendance will be limited. For the first couple of events we will be restricting it to just 8 players. This will be held in the back room at the shop allowing the main shop floor to be kept clear. Once we are happy with how things are operating we will increase this attendance to 12 by using one of the tables in the shop area.  
• There will be very limited space so the club will be a drop off, although there are several coffee shops close by if parents wish to remain in close proximity.
• The first time that you come to one of the league events we will be asking you to complete a player record sheet, which we will need for covid monitoring purposes and contact details. (These forms will kept secured and confidential at all times.)

If you have any questions about the league, please feel free to message us or pop in and have a chat with us.

If you want to book then head to our website ...

https://www.kdgames.co.uk/trading-cards---pokemon