GP Trials awards you 3 byes, or 3 free wins for the first 3 rounds of the tournament during the actual GP itself, in this case, GP Taipei.

GP Taipei itself is a large tournament with hundreds of players and cash prizes in the tens of thousands US Dollars.

Both GP Trials and the GP itself are open tournaments, no invite necessary.

yup to what kelveen said.

http://www.freewebs.com/manawerx/ is their website

and this is the map from their website.

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/4301/manawerxnp6.jpg

hope it helps.

PTQ Kyoto Nov 9 2008 Quarterfinals coverage report, for those who might be interested.

http://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/11/...ber-9-2008.html

Sorry for the super late report.

PC went kaput, wallet went lighter by RM500. :'(

No PC for almost half the week. /sob

As usual, any comments or feedback at all is greatly appreciated.

@playbook

I think it's about RM15, last i checked. Buy price at about RM5.

---

Added on November 17, 2008, 11:04 pmhttp://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/11/ptq-kyoto-manawerx-november-9-2008_17.html

Now with Semifinals coverage. Sean Vs Nico.

This post has been edited by qjwong: Nov 17 2008, 11:04 PM

There's Swee Guan in Puchong Jaya, Jalan Merak I think?

Ussually not many players but Friday nights tend to have many players.

Haha... Hmm, that takes out Summit too, since same boss. You can try Manawerx at PJ or CCEgames at OUG.

No no... Different boss. Don't worry, lol.

Unless you thought the OUG boss is Swee Guan's boss... Hahaha...

PTQ Kyoto @ Penang Quarterfinals - Mun Yip vs Mohd Ikmal!

http://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/11/...er-23-2008.html

>Anyone has any idea how much does the new Duel Decks: Jace Vs Chandra costs?

55 or 60. IIRC.

Sorry, I'm afraid not. What I can do is give you Marcus, the shop-owner's number.

0124251263

Just to add on - actually, whether or not they're playable depends on who you play with. If you're not playing in a constructed tournament where there are certain sets and cards that legal or otherwise, you don't really have any obligation to follow those rules.

As for 4th edition being 'weaker' than newer cards or not - I don't really think it's about the strength of individual cards but rather the strength of the deck in it's whole.

@ how Penang MTG community isn't big - if it ain't big... make it big!

There's Decards @ USJ Summit, Manawerx and Toybox in PJ as well.

PM / ask me if you need details. I'll help find out if I can.

@ talexeh - well, there's always the cost of shipping. I don't know where Hasbro Malaysia ship from or whether or not retailers have to go to them themselves to get stock or not, but when there's a large distance between them, I'm not surprised that prices are higher than CCE to cover the extra costs.

Besides, the 6 / 7 RM boosters are older sets... I'm not sure how much they selling Alara boosters since it's not mentioned on their website.

Yay for Michael Toh!

@ Dark Kai

4th Edition is a very long time ago, nowadays with alot more modern approach to design and development (not to mention better art), it's not surprising that modern cards work better with each other. Actually that's (in my opinion) a very smart way to make cards powerful, without making them too powerful on it's own.

Most important about playing magic is about having fun and different people have different definition of fun. Some people just want to win, some people just want to play with cards or combos they think are cool.

So, if you feel like your 4th Ed cards isn't gonna give you the fun you want, I guess it's time to get some new cards, or buy cards from shops or people if you don't want to try your luck with boosters.

Feel free to PM / email me at qj.wong@gmail.com if you'd like to know where to get cards / boosters, decks or deck ideas etc. Always happy to get more players into the game I love.

Might be slow to reply though, gonna be rather busy until the weekend.

---

Added on December 3, 2008, 1:28 pmOh! also - PTQ Kyoto @ Ipoh Nov 30 2008 Top 8 coverage at http://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/ !

The Top 8 players - http://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/12/...2008-top-8.html

Quarterfinals (Terry Soh vs Mun Yip) - http://magicmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/12/...8-top-8_03.html

Any mistakes pointed out or feedback will be greatly appreciated.

This post has been edited by qjwong: Dec 3 2008, 01:28 PM

It's not too difficult - all you have to do is know how to tell a spell and an ability apart.

Devour is an ability that says - Devour N (As this comes into play, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature comes into play with N +1/+1 counters on it for each creature you sacrificed for this ability.)

As you can see, Devour is not a spell on it's own, it's an ability that happens as you successfully play the creature. So the creature spell itself can be countered, but if no one counters the spell and the creature spell resolves, the devour ability cannot be countered by spells that counters spells.

Meanwhile, Unearth says - Unearth "cost" ("cost": Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from the game at end of turn or if it would leave play. Unearth only as a sorcery.)

As you can see Unearth is an activated ability (You can tell from the "Cost : Effect" style of wordings) from a card in the graveyard. Therefore, it cannot be countered by spells that counter spells.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Rules knowledge:

The term “spell” is used to refer to a card, or a copy of a spell or card, while it’s on the stack.

(What is the stack?

When a spell or ability is played, it is put on the stack.

If anyone wants to play spells or abilities in respond to the first spell on the stack, it goes on top of it, until no more players plays spells and abilities.

Then the spells and abilities resolve in the order from the top. Last spell or ability resolves first, followed by the second last and so on.)

The stack keeps track of the order that spells and/or abilities were added to it. Each time an object is put on the stack, it’s put on top of all objects already there

Then there are abilities.

An ability is text on an object that’s not reminder text or flavor text. The result of following such an instruction is an effect.

There are three general categories of abilities: activated, triggered, and static. Abilities can generate one-shot effects or continuous effects. Some effects are replacement effects or prevention effects.

An ability isn’t a spell and therefore can’t be countered by anything that counters only spells. Abilities can be countered by effects that specifically counter abilities, as well as by the rules (for example, an ability with one or more targets is countered if all its targets become illegal).

This post has been edited by qjwong: Dec 3 2008, 10:43 PM

// Posting on behalf of Decards //

Decards Enterprise proudly presents...

Decards @ USJ Summit MTG Showdown (21/12/08) - RM2.4K CASH in prizes and more!


Note: The event will be held on the ground floor of the shopping complex, not at the shop itself.

With a grand prize of RM1,000 to the tournament champion and cash prizes to the rest of the top 8! (Prizes for up to 32nd place.)

Venue:

Ground Floor (Next to Black Canyon Coffee Shop),
The Summit USJ Shopping Complex,
Persiaran Kewajipan USJ 1,
47600 UEP Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia

Date: 21st DECEMBER 2008 (Sunday)

Time:

10.00AM (On-site Registration)
10.45AM (Round 1)

Pre-Registration not required, but can be done at Decards Enterprise (LOT 1.68, First Floor, near Popular Bookstore, USJ Summit Shopping Complex)

Entry Fee: RM50.00

Format: Standard Constructed
For more information: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources...ces/sfrstandard

Structure: Swiss + 1 Rounds, No Top 8 Single Elimination Rounds

(The tournament will be played with the normal number of swiss rounds according to number of participants plus 1 extra round to determine the final standings.)

PRIZES:

1st: RM 1,000
2nd: RM 500
3rd-4th: RM 250
5th-8th: RM 100
9th-16th: 8 Shards of Alara booster packs
17th-32nd: 4 Shards of Alara booster packs


--------------------------------------------------------------------


Also happening on the day itself:

SIDE EVENTS

On-Demand 8-Player Shards of Alara Booster Drafts

Entry Fee: RM28

Structure: Single Elimination

1st: 4 Shards of Alara booster packs
2nd: 2 Shards of Alara booster packs
3rd-4th: 1 Shards of Alara booster pack


--------------------------------------------------------------------


The Summit Hotel USJ is attached to the Shopping Complex itself if you are from out of town. Rates starts at RM130++

For more information on the hotel and reservation: http://www.summithotelusj.com/


--------------------------------------------------------------------


Don't know how to play, or have friends who would be interested in learning how to play?

Come and visit our Learn To Play booth!


--------------------------------------------------------------------


For any additional information, feel free to contact

QJ Wong at 017-3479512 / qj.wong@gmail.com or Wayne at 017-3165671


--------------------------------------------------------------------

This post has been edited by qjwong: Dec 10 2008, 09:33 PM

Thanks for reading my blog!

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Arti...nts/prereleases for official info, but basically...

Yes, the pre-release events are usually one big major tournament where players play against each other round after round for a specific number of rounds before prizes are giving out based on how well you did during the tournament. The prize schedules are changing, so we won't know for sure how Conflux's structure will be like yet, but I'm sure more details will come as it gets nearer.

It's up to the stores themselves on what sort of events they want to have. But the main event will be for sure, a sealed deck tournament.

In case you're unfamiliar with sealed deck: It's a format where players each receive the same number of products, open them and build a min 40 card deck out of the cards to play with in the tournament. During the Conflux pre-release, players will receive 3 Shards of Alara boosters and 3 Conflux boosters to build their deck from.

Wizards have been pushing for a format called intro pack dueling where you can buy and receive an intro pack and play with it against other ppl but I don't remember it ever getting run officially locally.

Stay tuned on my blog, I'm be sure to update news about Conflux pre-release and release events!

So far from the initial data I got, there will be pre-release events at

Both days

- Micheal Toh's before Alara style 'big' pre-release at Citidel Hotel, Midvalley.

Micheal's announcement here - http://mtg-malaysia.com/smf2/index.php/topic,670.0.html

- CCEgames at their store at Old Klang Road

- Comics Corner Subang Jaya SS15/4

31st Jan 09 only

- Mindslaver Games & Trading, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

1st Feb 09 only

- MMU Melaka (Mine! )

- J-C0NNECT lot 1815,blk E, jalan jee foh 6, krokop, miri, sarawak

There will also be a huge number of launch parties.

This post has been edited by qjwong: Dec 18 2008, 04:59 PM

> lanci ppl

Pre-release is like real life in any other situation - there will always be asses as long as you interact outside your social circle.

> anyone confirm going for pre-release at mana werks?

I know CCE got along with Micheal's, Manawerx also got?

Actually the better answer is, of course - unless you're playing in a particular tournament with a particular format with set restrictions, then evo's answer is correct. Or your friends you're playing with don't like / allow it.

Hey Violin, I'm living at puchong too... but i do most of my magic playing in MMU melaka where i study. Swee Guan is where I used to play, not sure if they still have FNMs or not...

Great to hear.

It's sad about Swee Guan. I used to play there so often with my invasion pre-con back then when i just started after school... ^^

Maybe one of these days we'll play each other without realizing it at decards, haha. I got there every now and then for tournaments.

Yup! You too?