U2KR - Announcements ...click title of event for details

Congratulations to Tyler Sage for winning PTQ-Kyoto Vancouver. Weighing in at a whopping 134 players, it was Vancouver's first PTQ that had enough people to require 8 gruelling rounds of swiss.

Getting the guys from Washington State and Vancouver Island is really what is going to drive our events from the realm of regular (80-90) to fantastic (120+). There are lots of casual players in BC's lower mainland, but we need to reach out to get more competitive players and those 30 bodies are critical. Thanks for coming, you out of towners.

An excessive amount of game losses issued cast a dark shadow over this event. I wouldn't have been surprised with 10, as we've had a longstanding problem with tardiness in Vancouver. I understand that 25 players on the receiving end of this were definitely soured. I understand that it's viewed as excessive, or trigger-happy. That's not the case at all.

I understand that player education that also carries a penalty is particularly harsh. I don't expect to be on anyone's Christmas list.

There's an advantage to be gained from taking longer to build your deck. Try to think of this as not poor customer service for 25 players, but good customer service for the other 109 players that managed to complete the task on time. Building a deck in 30 minutes with a new set is a challenging task, and I have no doubt that if the set had been out for 4 months building would take less time.

Could this have been communicated better? Damn right.
Did I expect all players to know the consequences of not getting a list in on time? I guess I did.

I'll do my part in future to ensure that all announcements include instructions + expectations + penalty + consequences. I do think that every player got the instructions, not all players knew the penalty + consequences. I don't expect that all players are intimately familiar with the DCI Penalty Guidelines and how they interact with Rules Level Enforcement guidelines. That's the job of the judges, and that includes enforcement. Enforcing the rules sometimes makes judges unpopular.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way the Shards Prerelease went.The new set looks quite fun, and will have a deep impact on Standard.

Total peak attendance was 137 on the Saturday morning 'rush' of players, which is down from our regular of 180.
I hear that was a lot better than *many* other locations across North America, so I'm feeling the love. For all those of you who came, thank you for supporting the 'big' prerelease, and I hope you had a great time. I promised Vancouver "the same prerelease experience you were used to", as much as I could within the constraints of the changes to Prereleases. I'm sure Wizards of the Coast are deeply analyzing data from the first round of Prereleases under the Wizards Play Network, and I'd be shocked if there weren't some tweaks or changes. This is one guy who is crossing his fingers for the return of Booster Draft to Prereleases, but I'm not counting on it. Time will tell.

Looking forward to working with Eva & Dereck from www.cardkitty.com in future; their alternate art/extended art cards are hot items and I look forward to seeing more of their work.

One major change to come out of the Shards changes; U2KR Events Co (MacPhee), will no longer be offering Sunday 'big' prerelease events. I have been happy to operate Sunday at break-even in order to give Vancouver players who can only make Sunday some options. There appear to be plenty of other options, and I will be trying to funnel players to Sunday events at Craving for a Game & Connection Games 2/POW Comics. Each location can easily hold 40-50 players, and that should provide an option for the small Sunday void that I will create. I look forward to partnering with these two stores to continue bringing you quality Magic events.

U2KR is proud to present both Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy Hall of Heroes Tournaments.

40K Missions and Fantasy Scenarios are now posted!

Click for TOURNAMENT INFORMATION


Visit West Coast Mayhem 2008 for event details as they unfold.

Congratulations to Gavin Verhey for winning PTQ Berlin (Vancouver).
PTQ Berlin had 80 players.

• 1) Gavin Verhey (Faeries)
• 2) Christopher Pauly (5 color Shamans)
• 3) Nick Picard Friesen (Faeries)
• 4) Jason Fleurant (Faeries)
• 5) Kevin Gonzalez (Faeries)
• 6) Tom Beith (5 color counter)
• 7) Ben Winterbottom(Merfolk)
• 8) Sameed Merchant (Faeries)

Good to see Gavin finally take one down, even if he is a US Citizen taking down our Canadian PTQ.

Gavin has been close to the 'big show' for awhile, and he's finally there.

I might go so far as to say that Faeries needs the nerfbat, as it is far and away the best deck in the format. What do you ban? Bitterblossom? Doesnt seem to be enough, but would make more decks competitive against the mighty beast that is Standard Faeries and Block Faeries.

Magic: The Gathering

Magic News - Wizards Play Network announcement

Two big Wizards announcements released Wednesday:

Play Network

Prerelease Changes

I'm not sure how these changes will affect existing Tournament Organization I do for the Vancouver area. Networking with the other PTO's seem to think this will have a profoundly negative effect on our business model.

I am taking a 'wait-and-see' approach. Everyone is pretty sure there will be an impact, but no one is sure what that impact will be. It's 'business-as-usual' until I get more information to work with.

I will continue to keep everyone updated, and we'll see what happens.

Regionals 2008 is in the books, and has qualified the following players for Nationals in Montreal on August 2-3:

• 1) Ryan Perez (Faeries)
• 2) Adam Redfern (R/G Mana Ramp)
• 3) Wilson Mok (B/G Elves)
• 4) Kevin Gonzalez (Faeries)
• 5) Nick Picard Friesen (Faeries)
• 6) Ryan Zawalsky (B/G/w Doran/Goyf/Colossus/Elves/Lots of Black removal)
• 7) Iain Cassels (B/G Elves)
• 8) Jeff Fung (Reveillark)

Good luck at Nationals, guys!

Congratulations to Ryan Perez on being 2008's Regional Champion!

No super power cards/chase rares are immediately evident, and not a lot of removal, are the quick observations.

Art for the set is gorgeous, mana/color screw is way down due to an abundance of hybrid cards, and word on the street is the set is fun to play and the new untap mechanic is pretty hot. Go go Springleaf Drum.

Lorwyn was Vancouver's biggest prerelease ever (427 total entries, 285 sealed deck, 92 2HG, 50 open dueling), but this event ran a close second with (381 total entries, 279 sealed deck, 46 2HG, 56 open dueling).

178 players in the morning of Saturday is the biggest morning rush we've ever had, and I'd like to congratulate the Vancouver Judge staff for kicking butt on a very busy day. I'm very proud of the development of the Vancouver judge community! A huge thank you to everyone involved in running this event. Great job, and I'm looking forward to Eventide!

Proving GBW can win instead of just being a contender, Brian piloted his Death Cloud deck through a small field of 58 players to win PTQ Vancouver. Congratulations, Brian! Good luck in Hollywood!

Check out the Scenarios, schedule, rules and more in Upcoming Events.

Don't forget to sign up on the U2KR forum before you go!

All the Details

Check out the Upcoming Events section for Details, Rules, Location, Scedule and more!

Don't forget to sign up on the U2KR forum before you go!

Prerelease - Magic: The Gathering

Thanks to everyone who came out to Morningtide. It was very busy on Saturday, and a crazy weekend overall.
Huge thanks to everyone (judges and players) who worked to make this event a success.

If the prizes at the prerelease seemed a little light, they were.
I only distributed 66% of what I should have for prizes to players by mistake.

I'd like to apologize in advance for my error with Morningtide prizes and let everyone know I'll do my best to fix it.

One pack per player might not sound like much, but when you add it up over an entire busy weekend, it comes out to around 300 packs (8.5 boxes) that I have to get out to 60+ players.

It works out to something like 2-3 packs for X-1-1 or 8-12 packs for X-0, depending on the size of your flight.

I have sent an email to the DCI to contact the affected players (almost everyone who got prize). They have your email addresses, I don't.Some people I will catch by email, others will contact me through this forum post. If you read Rogue, and you know someone who got prizes, please pass this on to them.

I will bring my list of players I owe prizes, and buckets of Morningtide to Mishra's FNM on Friday, January 25. If you come to collect your missing prizes from me then I'll also pay for your FNM entry, if you want to play. I'll be playing, and you can come (try) and beat me down, too.

If you can't make the FNM, please email me at mikemacphee@gmail.com (email preferred) and let me know which of the following local stores is most convenient for you. Based on who tells me what store, I'll do deliveries accordingly and you can pick it up at your closest store or FNM.

Imperial Hobbies - Richmond
Connection Games - South Vancouver
Craving for a Game - Surrey
Mishra's Game Factory - Burnaby
Wiser's Collectibles - Langley

In order to make sure prize packages reach each player, each player needs to contact me in email to advise which location is most convenient for them. If none of these locations are great, or you are an out-of-towner, email me and we can discuss delivery options.

Thanks for coming to the prerelease and supporting local Magic.
Apologies again for me being a bonehead!

=========================================================================

Allinson, Chris +3 packs from Saturday Flight 2
Baba, Taishi +3 packs from Saturday Flight 2
Baker, Matthew +4 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Barnett, Stephen +8 packs from Saturday Flight 5
Beaulieu, Chris 5 packs from multiple events
Bittner, Ed +6 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Cassels, Iain 9 packs from multiple events
Chan, Adrian +10 packs from Saturday 2HG
Curtis, Michael +2 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Denno, Sebastian +3 packs from Saturday Flight 4
Dooley, William J +4 packs from Saturday Flight 5
Dumycz, Mike +5 packs from multiple events
Ericksen, Chris +3 packs from Saturday Flight 2
Findlay, Morgan +2 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Fleurant, Jason +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Gonzalez, Kevin F +4 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Gray, Jason +6 packs from Saturday Flight 4
Hashimoto, Shu +5 packs from Sunday Flight 2
Heinrich, Sam 7 packs from multiple events
Hirsche-Smith, Wesley 5 packs from multiple events
Hoffman, Jeff +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Johnson, Derek B +8 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Johnston, Kiel T 10 packs from multiple events
Karila, Jamie +3 packs from Saturday Flight 5
Kosiski, Alex +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Kovich, Chris +2 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Kyabji, Kaz +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Leong, Victor +3 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Leung, Conan +3 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Leung, Johnathan 7 packs from multiple events
Levinson, Simon 6 packs from multiple events
Lin, Ian +3 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Liu, Josef +4 packs from Sunday Flight 1
MacDonald, Dylan +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Martinuk, Mather +2 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Maxmen, Donald +12 packs from Saturday Flight 4
Melnychuk-Smith, Aaron +2 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Momen, Adham +2 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Nixon, Michael +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Petersen, Mikal 5 packs from multiple events
Phillips, Andrew +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Pratt, Dylan 6 packs from multiple events
Scholte, Matthew +10 packs from Saturday 2HG
Son, John 7 packs from multiple events
Stockbrugger, Kurt +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Sung, Stephen +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Talbot, Adam +8 packs from Saturday Flight 5
Teehankee, Mark +2 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Tefa, Oliver +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Thiessen, Jacob 13 packs from multiple events
TianSeng, Jeff 7 packs from multiple events
Tingey, Vince +2 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Turner, Thomas +4 packs from Saturday Flight 2
Ursulak, Jesse +2 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Wall, Chris +3 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Wan, Frederict +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Warren, Jason R +4 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Wolfe, Jason +4 packs from Sunday Flight 1
Wong, Jimmy +4 packs from Saturday Flight 1
Wong, Kenny +4 packs from Saturday Flight 4
Wong, Lawrence +2 packs from Saturday 2HG
Yeoh, John +3 packs from Saturday Flight 4
Yip, Mowah +6 packs from Saturday Flight 3
Zhu, Benny +2 packs from Saturday 2HG

PTQ - Magic: The Gathering

Terry Lau fought his way undefeated (5-0-2 in the swiss, 3-0 in the draft) to earn the single slot for PTQ:Kuala Lumpur.

A strong US contingent (about 25 players) and Vancouver Island folks (6-8 players) really helped push this event up to a large-ish status of 120 players. Perilously close to 8 rounds! (129 players is 8 rounds of swiss).

Congratulations Terry!
Check out Elliot Fisher's full tournament coverage here
See the Top 8 Decklists here

Lorwyn Prerelease - Magic: The Gathering

Strong attendance by Vancouver makes this the biggest turnout we have ever had (4% bigger than TimeSpiral) with a total of 427 total entries (285 sealed deck, 92 2HG, 50 open dueling). I hope everyone had a great time; the new set looks like a blast with lots of complex interactions. It will take a while to master.

Thanks a ton to the event staff of William Laycraft, Jordan Murari, Matt Baker, Patrick Constant and Tom Beith. You guys did a killer job and I'm very proud of you!

West Coast Mayhem Recap

Our first Warhammer Fantasy Tournament is in the books, and so far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Some things were beyond our control (length of time for games), but we're taking your feedback to heart to improve for the next event. We'll do our best to share it when we get our forums active.

Huge thanks to Thor and Mighty Miniatures for taking the reins and putting on a great event. Thor, you did a fantastic job!

Look for event photos and army shots up in Events Coverage by the end of the week. Hope to have forums up and running ASAP; September is kind of nuts busy at work, and the last thing I want to do is stare at more computers. When will it be ready? Soon, baby. Soon.

Site goes live!

Urge To Kill Rising (U2KR) are a gaming group based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, determined to bring you quality events to please your inner gamer.

We've spent a lot of time as gamers, and we always find ourselves leaving an event we attended saying "That was pretty decent, but it could have been awesome if...."

U2KR is the product of a group of dedicated gamers working on the "if". We've seen enough to know that an awesome experience comes from the Event Organizers getting the little details right. We want to make sure that we do the little things right, and put on awesome events so local gamers can have an awesome time!

Wish us luck - we'll do our best to raise the bar for organized play for Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, and Warhammer FantasyBattle events. We'll start with that, and branch out into Flames of War and other great games as we find our stride.

U2KR are:

• Michael Adams
• Erik Arntsen
• Ed Law
• Mike MacPhee
• Mike McAree
• Dave O'Neill
• Jason Saunders

Good luck lads! It's ali-i-ive!