5th Annual Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship 2016

The Annual Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship took place on 8/20/16.  This year Anime Kat and Mark’d Body Art were the sponsors.  We had a good turn out for our small town.  A total of 17 players competed to win a part of the prize pool valued at over $1,000.  Big prizes include a booster box of Eternal Masters and a certificate for a tattoo at Mark’d Body Art.

There was a nice variety to the decks this year.  Final standings were:
1. Evan – Merfolk
2. Casey – R/G Tron
3. Connor – Dredge
4. Dan – Infect
5. Joey – Abzan Company
6. Dillon – Esper Control
7. Joel – R/G Tron
8. Jake – Living End
9. Kyle – G/B Elves
10. Colin – Storm
11. Travis – Mono Red Artifacts
12. Conan – Mono Black Demon
13. Tyler – Pillow Fort
14. Marcus – Bogles
15. Will – Mono Red Goblins
16. Troy – Soul Sisters
17. Ben – W/U Knight Control

Watch the final match between Evan and Connor.

Watch our award presentation.

 

Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship 2015

We just finished the 4th Annual Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship.  The Championship is a chance for players to participate in a Modern Format tournament to win big prizes.  This year we had over $1,400 worth of prizes from Anime Kat, and Mark’d Body Art including a full booster box of Modern Masters 2015 and a tattoo vouchers.  This year, we had 11 players.  Here is the final standing and decks the players used:

1. Luke J. – Splinter Twins
2. Kyle P. – Tron
3. Travis R. – R/G Goblins
4. Eric H. – Tezzerit Control
5. Joey K. – Dredge Devine
6. David P. – R/B Falkenrath (Friends for Dinner)
7. Colin T. – Podless Collective
8. Greg V – B/W Tokens
9. Kevin T. – Mono B, Discard/Control
10. Colton F. – R/W Heroic
11. Jake E. – Mono Black Vampires

3rd-Travis, 1st-Luke, 2nd-Kyle

Khans of Tarkir Prerelease, Release, & Game Day at Anime Kat

From MTG Salvation, Khans of Tarkir is the 65th Magic: the Gathering expansion, and the first in the Khans of Tarkir block.  Tarkir is a world embattled with ambitious warlords and powerful clans that wage eternal war for supremacy of their plane, a conflict that spans over a thousand years. Tarkir is also the home plane of the planeswalker Sarkhan Vol.  Tarkir was previously inhabited by dragons, all of whom were killed before Sarkhan’s arrival.  The clans each worship one aspect of the extinct dragons.

Anime Kat offers several events whenever a new set is about to be released.  Always first is the prerelease event.  The First Khans Prerelease event was the largest event Anime Kat has ever hosted.  With 33 total players, the event lasted for 6 rounds.  Congrats to all of the winners from the two days of prerelease events.

The following Friday, we hosted the Khans of Tarkir Release event.  The event was a 3 round Draft.  Cliff and Troy earned 1st and 2nd place respectively.  Our top top 2 players competed the following night against Dragonrail’s (another local store) top 2 players to earn the title of Top Khans of Tarkir Player and earning their store the Title of Top Store for the Khans of Tarkir Release.  Congrats to Cliff for winning the title for himself and Anime Kat.

The last major event during the release of a new set is the Game Day.  Game Day is a Standard Format tournament that gives players a chance to play with the newest cards.  Allow players at Anime Kat walk out with promotional cards.  The Top 8 earn additional foil promotional cards, and the 1st Place winner also receives a Champion mat.  For this Game Day, Anime Kat owner Drew took 1st place running a Jeskai Tempo deck.  However, Greg (2nd place) and Will (3rd) were very close behind.  The final standings were based off of Opponent’s Match Win Percentage (you get more points for beating a player with a higher standing).

The next set in the Tarkir block, Fate Reforged, is released January 23, 2015.  We hope to see you at one of our events.

Third Annual Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship

We recently had our annual Clallam County Magic: the Gathering Championship.  The Championship is a chance for players to participate in a Modern Format tournament to win big prizes.  This year we had over $1,500 worth of prizes from Anime Kat, Mark’d Body Art, and Northwest Fudge and Confections and included a custom Anime Kat playmat, full booster boxes of Magic cards, tattoo and piercing vouchers, and other great stuff.

This year we had a total of 12 players for the event, but only one can come out on top.

Congratulations to Travis for his First Place victory.  Good luck to everyone at next year’s Championship.

Hang With Garruk; Win a Box of M15

Hey everybody.  We just finished a contest that ran from the release of the Magic 2015 Core set until last Saturday’s Magic Game Day.  The contest was simple:

1. Take a picture with the cutout of Garruk in the store
2. Post it directly to Anime Kat’s Facebook page
3. Tag yourself and anyone else in the picture
4. Add Anime Kat as the location tag for the post
5. Share the post with anyone you know.

The person with the most “Likes” would win a free box of M15.  6 of our players took the challenge and with a commanding finish of 48 “Likes,” Greg won!  Congratulations Greg with your impressive photo with Garruk.

Born of the Gods Prerelease

The second set of Magic the Gathering’s Theros block is Born of the Gods.  On February 1st and 2nd, players got to participate in a prerelease event where they were able to play with the newest cards before they are released on February 7th.  Born of the Gods is a smaller with only 165 cards.  The set introduces a new planeswalker: the blue/green Kiora, the Crashing Wave.  As a continuation of the Theros’ gods, the set also introduces the ten demigods of Theros.  The demigods are dual-colored and uses their controller’s devotion to both of the demiogods’ colors.  Born of the Gods will feature five of them with allied-color combinations while Journey Into Nyx (the final set of the block) will feature the remaining five.

We want to thank everyone that came out to the store for the prerelease event.  A special thanks to the players who came to our Sunday event (Go Seahawks).  Hopefully, next year Wizards of the Coast won’t schedule the prerelease during Super Bowl weekend.

Anime Kat Supports the Seattle Seahawks with Free Booster Packs

Greetings and salutations.  It’s been 2 months since our last entry.  The holiday season is a busy time for everyone, and we wanted to wait until things slowed down a bit.  But, things aren’t slowing down; they’re speeding up.  Last week’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Sneak Peak started off 4 weeks straight of card game weekends at Anime Kat.  In the middle of all  that is the Born of the Gods prerelease event on February 1st and 2nd.

What else is on the 2nd of February…the big game!  All season Anime Kat has supported the Seattle Seahawks.  If you listen to the radio coverage of the Seahawks’ games on Twilight 96.7, you’ve hear Anime Kat and Mark’d Body Art‘s joint radio ads. (If you haven’t, feel free to listen to the ad here).  You may have noticed we were closed during the Saints and Seahawks playoff game (we were at the game!)

Now, we are giving a gift to other fans.  If you play in any of our three Born of the Gods prerelease events (Feb. 1 & 2) in Seahawks colors or team apparel we will give you a voucher valid during the release weekend for a free pack of Born of the Gods.  That’s right.  Get a free booster pack for supporting the Seahawks.  Only at Anime Kat.  Go HAWKS!

Wizards University 2013

By Drew S.

On November 14, 2013, I had the opportunity to go to Wizards University.  Wizards U was a retailer only event put on by my Magic the Gathering supplier, Magazine Exchange.  Wizards U was a day filled with fun, spending time with other store owners, and learning how to strengthen my relationship with Wizards of the Coast to improve the store.  There were about 120 people with store owners as far away as Rhode Island and Florida.

The entire day was filled with opportunities to learn new things to improve the store.  For those curious, I’ve list the schedule and some of my thoughts on how I can use the ideas presented to better Anime Kat and the community:

8:00 to 9:00 AM: Breakfast

It’s always nice to start of with a nice bacon and eggs breakfast…especially if it’s provide for me.

9:00: Introduction from Roger of Magazine Exchange Inc.

It was nice to put a face to a name in my email’s inbox.

9:15 to 10:00: “Community Building & Engaging the New Customer” with open discussion: Mark Price of Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast did a study: How do new players prefer to learn Magic – read the instructions, one on one instruction, or using the How To of Duels of the Planeswalkers.  What they found was 2/3 of new players preferred learning using Duels of the Planeswalkers.  Players preferred using Duels of the Planeswalkers because it engaged the players with the back store of the game, it scaled difficulty with the new players abilities, and each match revealed new rules.  I want to see about getting Duels of the Planeswalkers in the store for new players.

The discussion also lead to community outreach.  One of the ways is to get involved with the Boy Scouts of America.  The Boy Scouts offer a merit badge in Game Design.  I’m already a Scoutmaster for a local Boy Scout troop.  I’m now also a registered merit badge counselor for the Game Design merit badge.  If you or anyone you know would be interested in earning this merit badge and live near Port Angeles, WA, please contact me at Anime Kat, and I will gladly help you.

10:00 to 10:15: Ultra-PRO Presentation

Ultra-Pro told ups about some of the new product that will be coming out soon.  There are two product that I’m on the look out for.  The first is a new premier sleeve.  The sleeves are said to out perform Dragon Shield.  I was allowed to play with a deck sleeved in them.  The welded seams appear strong than in a normal Ultra-Pro.  I’m a mash shuffler.  I separate a deck in half and then push the stacks back together.  The new sleeves made this method very, very smooth with no catching of corners.  When the deck was placed on the table, none of the cards slid.

The second product is a new deck box.  The boxes are leather-like and have your choice of Planeswalker or different mana symbols.  A magnet keeps the deck box closed with a soft inner liner.  Unlike the ones we already have, the new ones holds up to 200 sleeved cards.   My favorite part is the adjustable divider that allows the dual compartments different sized decks and room for oversized cards.

10:15 to 10:30: Break

10:30 to 11:15: “Beyond Advanced – Running Premier Level Play”: Mark Price of Wizards of the Coast

Anime Kat is not an Advance level store yet.  However, we are very close to meeting the criteria.  Once we do, we can run Premier events.

11:15 to 11:45 Araca Group & Red Monkey presentations

The Araca Group is who makes the licensed Magic t-shirts.  The interesting thing I learned was that although Walmart carries Magic shirts, they are not the same ones I can order.  Red Monkey makes lifestyle products.  The make beautiful, hand made in Portland, wallets, leather goods, messenger bags, and other items.  Even if we don’t have any of these items in the store at the moment, I will gladly show you some pictures and place a special order.

12:00 to 1:00: Lunch

1:00 to 1:15 Store Improvement Scholarship Program: Roger of Magazine Exchange Inc.

Magazine Exchange is offering 5 – $1000 store improvement scholarships.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise if I’m awarded the scholarship, so I’m not telling exactly what I’m planning.

1:15 to 2:15: “Wizards Play Network Tools & Resources” with open discussion: Mark Price & Stephanie Speece of Wizards of the Coast

We were given time to complain about what we didn’t like about the Wizards Play Network to the guys at Wizards.  Most of the suggestion revolved around the software store owners use to run Wizards events.  Even if everything suggested is put into practice, it’s unlikely players will ever see any changes.  Everything focused on making it easier and faster for us to use the software.

2:15 to 4:15: Magic Event with live Wizards Even Reporter demo: Hosted by John Grant of Wizards of the Coast

During Wizards U, we had a chance to play a free, causal, sealed Theros event.  Sadly, I didn’t pull very good cards (or I don’t know how to work with what I did pull) and didn’t do very well.  But, I did have fun and met new people and that’s the whole point of playing card games.

4:15: Closing comments and Raffle Prizes

Everyone had a lot of fun, and learn new things to take back to their stores.  What better way to end a day than with raffle prizes and gift bags!  I won a From the Vault: Realms among other things.

If you are curious about what else I’ve learn, or you have suggestions, feel free to contact me via Facebook, our website, or stop in a talk to me.

Magic the Gathering Commander Event at Anime Kat

On Saturday, 11/9/13 Anime Kat hosted its first Commander Tournament.  According to Wizards of the Coast, Commander (sometimes called “Elder Dragon Highlander”) is a multiplayer Free-for-All game in which any number of players compete against each other as individuals.  It’s played with the Singleton format (in other words, except for basic lands, each card in your deck must have a different name), and each player starts with a life total of 40 rather than the usual 20.  Most importantly, the centerpiece of each deck is a legendary creature that serves as that deck’s commander.

To build a deck, you first choose a legendary creature, called a “commander” or “general,” then construct a Singleton deck around it containing exactly 99 other cards. Only cards of the commander’s color(s) and colorless cards may be included in the deck.

Appropriately enough for a format named after the legendary creature that’s leading your team, your commander works differently from other cards in the game.  Before the game begins, each player removes his or her commander from the game.  You may play your commander from the command zone (no matter how it got there) for its normal costs plus an additional {2} for each previous time it has been played this way.  If your commander would go to the graveyard or the exile zone from anywhere, you may put it into the command zone instead . In addition to the normal Magic loss conditions, if a player is dealt 21 points of combat damage from a single commander over the course of the game, that player loses the game!  Currently, MTG Commander hosts the complete rules for the format.

For our event, we ran 2 rounds (which turned into 3).  All players were divided up into 3 groups for the first round.  The winner of each group went on to play all other winners in a second round.  Because of a great play by Mike,  he and one other player lost simultaneously in the second round forcing a draw.  They went on to a third round were Mike was the last person standing.

Fighting to win Round 1

Fighting to win in Round 2

Theros Prerelease Events

With the Magic 2014 Core Set release still fresh, we are diving head first into the newest Magic the Gathering block, Theros.  According to Wizards of the Coast, the plane of Theros is ruled by a pantheon of all-powerful gods.  Krakens, minotaurs, and other monsters threaten the safety of walled cities.  Heroes rise to battle, bolstered by their devotion to the gods.  Theros is a very dangerous land outside of the walled cities Meletis, Akris and Setessa (which are inspired by Athens, Sparta and the legends of the Amazons).  Nyx is the night sky, and home of the gods, it moves around each night.  The five main gods are: Heliod (white), Erebos (black), Nylea (green), Thassa (blue) and Purphoros (red).  The gods can take multiple forms and walk among mortals.  The planeswalker, Elspeth Tirel, will fight a Hydra and attracts the attention of Heliod.  Elspeth doesn’t want to be a hero and does not believe she will be called on to be a leader in a world of gods.  Minotaurs are the rampaging savages of Theros.  The Merfolk of Theros are called ‘Tritons’. Thassa (goddesss of the sea) favors appearing as a Triton when she’s among mortals.

Waiting to get inside Anime Kat to register for Theros.

With every new release, there is a prerelease.  Anime Kat had a more limited than usual number of available player slots for this prerelease.  We did sell out and had to turn away hopeful players from our final event.  Players were able to get their hands on the newest cards before the official release date.  Congrats to all who came to Anime Kat to kick off the new Theros block.