Locations
Mike Robles here, and before we get into things, let me start off with a huge “Thank you!” for such an amazing response to my first article. As soon as it went live, my notifications went crazy! I started seeing tweets, e-mails, and Facebook messages with a ton of great feedback as well as suggestions for future articles. I couldn’t be happier writing this article for such a great community.
This week, I’m changing things up a bit. The Dragon’s Maze prerelease was this past weekend, and I’m going be spending most of this week’s article sharing great photos and stories from it. Not to worry, dear reader; there will still be some great treasure included in this week’s article.
Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic
Over the past few years, Seattle’s own EMP Museum has displayed some amazing exhibits that speak to geek culture. The latest edition, Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic, explores the thoughts and ideas of what it means to live in fantasy worlds. There are a ton of pop-culture artifacts, interactive activities, and costumes from the biggest fantasy movies of the past century. Magic: The Gathering is a proud sponsor of the exhibit and donated some epic artwork for the gallery. Opening night was on Friday, April 26, and I was lucky enough to attend. The celebration was called “Quest,” and the public was able to experience the exhibit for the first time.
Wizards of the Coast employees Jennifer “Tifa” Meyen, Mark Rosewater, Aaron Forsythe, Matt Cavotta, Jeremy Jarvis, and more were there to meet fans, demo Magic: The Gathering, sign cards, and spellsling in the EMP’s gaming lounge. It’s not often that these high-profile Wizards get to schmooze with the public, so it was very exciting for them to interact with fans of Magic: The Gathering. To make the night even sweeter, everyone in attendance was given an M13 booster pack as they entered!
Inside the exhibit is some of Magic: The Gathering’s most iconic artwork. Patrons of the exhibit can see pieces from Return to Ravnica, Zendikar, and more. There might even be some concept art hidden around corners of the exhibit. Being a fan of Magic, it’s amazing to see artwork, concept art, and original playtest cards featured in the same exhibit that has hand-written manuscript pages from the likes of Jim Henson and J.R.R. Tolkien. If you’re a Seattle local, I encourage you to view this exhibit as soon as possible. If you’re not a Seattle local, now’s a good time to plan your visit. To see more photos from the exhibit as well as all of Magic’s artwork featured, check out my Flickr page here.
A Gathering of Allies
My friends from Loading Ready Run were at the Calgary Expo this weekend, and even though they missed the Dragon’s Maze prerelease, they did get to see some planeswalkers. These cosplayers did a great job representing Tibalt, Garruk, Nissa, and Chandra. The costumes look fantastic, and it’s refreshing to see some of the other planeswalkers see some attention.
Dragon’s Maze Obsolescence Chart
As new sets come out, there will always be functional reprints and cards that replicate older cards with a additional benefits. The Curmudgeon was kind enough to let us know what cards in Dragon’s Maze will put older cards out to pasture. This list is especially useful for Magic players with Cubes who can now replace older cards with awesome new Dragon’s Maze cards!
Magic Flavor Text Explained
As soon as I said I was taking suggestions for community treasures, I was pointed to this Tumblr by Jesse Mason. I checked out the Tumblr and found myself laughing at the explanations of Magic’s sometimes . . . interesting choice of flavor text. Check it out if you want to see humorous explanations of some of Magic’s flavor text.
Standard
A Little Chaos
This image had the title, “Coworker left me this while I was on vacation, I’ve never seen this card before!” If I came back from vacation and saw that someone left this on my desk, I’d give that person the biggest hug. This card is such a staple in the Magic community. New and old players around the world have heard the urban legend about Chaos Orb, and now this lucky Imgur user has one of his very own! I would heed the advice of the sticky note and surprise my opponents with it. Future coworkers, listen up! When I go on vacation, I expect to see something equally as awesome on my desk when I return.
Dragon’s Maze Prerelease!
When I asked for prerelease photos and tweets, boy did the community deliver! I couldn’t even keep up with the hash tag on Twitter! It looked like everyone had a blast at their prerelease. Here are some tweets, photos, and other treasures I found from this weekend.
Izzet Staticaster
This is how you show up to a prerelease in style.
El Churro – Representing Rakdos
He even has war paint on.
Planeswalkers at Dragon’s Maze
Can’t they just planeswalk to Maze's End?
RK Post and a Plains
This guy has the best seat to watch the maze runners!
Prerelease Tweets
Well, just over 24 hours left until my first of six #MTGDGM prereleases. Time to listen to the Limited Resources set review!
— Hallie Santo (@halcansan) April 26, 2013
Encountered a dragon upon entering @villainouslair Let the race begin! #prerelease #mtgdgm twitter.com/uclarose/statu…
— Mustachio Montoya (@uclarose) April 27, 2013
My Orzhov badges make handy googly-eyes #MTGDGM twitter.com/aanallein00/st…
— Dave Crewe (@aanallein00) April 27, 2013
(Maria) HJ should not belong to any particular guild. What about all of them? #MTGDGM twitter.com/MagicJudges/st…
— Magic Judges (@MagicJudges) April 27, 2013
#mtgdgm Playing a 48 (I think?) card, 5-colour deck, because I absolutely couldn't cut any more sweet cards.
— Dan Barrett (@dangerawesome) April 27, 2013
Only 2 people picked Dimir at the @card_kingdom #MTGDGM tournament... people cheered for em. #underdog
— Justin Robinson (@RevEnFuego) April 27, 2013
@tifameyen Thought you might enjoy this lady's Simic support at our prerelease. twitter.com/MtGSkeptic/sta…
— Aaron Rasmussen (@MtGSkeptic) April 27, 2013
Other Top Tweets (This Week)
You ready to experience all that Twitter has to offer? Here are my Top Tweets (this week).
Inkwell Looter calls it like it is.
More like Death and Snaxes: twitter.com/inkwell_looter…
— Inkwell Looter (@inkwell_looter) April 22, 2013
Sick? Yes. Sick of these awesome puns from Trick and LSV? Never.
Apparently Tifa was kicking the Magic brand team’s ass at their team prerelease. She finished with a 3–0 record.
I also lost to @tifameyen in our brand team #MTGDGM but it went to 3 games. I think she crushed everyone.
— Elaine Chase (@ElaineChase) April 26, 2013
Card Kingdom spots some locals at the Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic opening night party.
Hey look! @mtgaaron and @maro254 are here for some spell slinging! #MythandMagic @empmuseum twitter.com/Card_Kingdom/s…
— Card Kingdom (@Card_Kingdom) April 27, 2013
Costumes were encouraged for the Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic opening night party.
.@jhoiraartificer and Jace at #MythAndMagic twitter.com/nex3/status/32…
— Nathan Weizenbaum (@nex3) April 27, 2013
That’s going to do it for me this week! As usual, I’m always on the lookout for amazing Magic: The Gathering anything! So, make sure you’re sharing those community treasures with me. Until next time, remember:
