We have another write-up from the Bloomington store’s Magic Jon:

It is release season once again at the GP-BT. When last we met the proud humans of Innistrad, they were in a pretty bad place… and now it’s even worse.  The assault from unruly ghosts, zombies, vampires, and werewolves continues. The humans, without Avacyn’s magic, are not in the best of positions.  This might be bad if you lived in Innistrad, however, if you’re merely playing with cards you are likely pretty psyched about the idea.  Hexproof spirits?  Fast striking vampires?  Killer Zombies?  Unchanging werewolves?  Bring ‘em on!

And on they came at our Dark Ascension pre-release.

The event lasted much later than usual, but that didn’t stop our patrons.  They thought it fitting that the event would last into the dead of night.  People started opening their sealed packs for the tournament around 3 p.m.  Shortly thereafter, people started hearing the exited exhalations of people opening the new planeswalker, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. I wasn’t so lucky, although I did open a Havengul Lich.

My sealed pool was quite nice. It had the making of a good Green/Black morbid deck. I had done some practice for the deck construction online, but most of the cards I had opened online were nearly unplayable. However, this was the real thing, and I had a surprising number of great cards. I had a good mana curve topping out at five mana for my numerous bombs, and, if need be, I could extend to six for a sick 8/8 trampling Wurm. I, of course, splashed a smidgen of blue for my sick Havengul Lich.

• Typhoid Rats x 1
• Strangleroot Geist x 2
• Scorned Villager x 1
• Somberwald Dryad x 1
• Disciple of Griselbrand x 1
• Walking Corpse x 1
• Highborn Ghoul x 1
• Ulvenwald Bear x 1
• Splinterfright x 1
• Lambholt Elder x 1
• Warden of the Wall x 1
• Grizzled Outcasts x 1
• Bloodgift Demon x 1
• Fiend of the Shadows x 1
• Morkrut Banshee x 1
• Havengul Lich x 1
• Gravetiller Wurm x 1
• Pray Upon x 1
• Undying Evil x 1
• Dead Weight x 1
• Mask of Avacyn x 1
• Death’s Caress x 1
• Swamp x 8
• Forest x 7
• Island x 1
• Shimmering Grotto x 1

The deck proved very effective. I won four out of the seven rounds of the tournament.  I ran into some issues with fliers and perfectly curving Sorin decks.  The rounds I lost were also against some of the better drafters at our store, who were no strangers to the limited format.  All of my matches were fun and thought provoking, and really that’s all I ever ask for when I play Magic.  I would take a loss and a great game over going 7-0 due to land screw.

So far, I am just amazed at how good the Innistrad bock limited environment is.  Thoughts may differ, but I’m a huge fan of this environment’s play style.  It feels very question-answer.  There are threats at every turn (literally) and if you don’t answer the right card at the right time you can set yourself up for failure.  These already tough questions are now complicated further with the Undying mechanic.  Even if you answer a card, with undying you now have to answer the same card, only bigger.

This also becomes apparent during the combat phase.  The combat phase in the Innistrad environment is a great deal more interesting than it was in the Scars of Mirrodin era.  Do you block and trade and possibly turn on Morbid?  Do I cast Undying Evil here?  How about this creature with flash? Do I have anything in the graveyard that will help me?  Or perhaps I just take the 5 damage?  The combat phase feels like it has become the meat and potatoes of the format. I know that limited is always about creatures and removal, but it seems like since there are dangerous creatures at all mana costs it is more than simply answering four or five mana cost bombs.  This is the up tempo aggressive play I really enjoy.  The format is just extremely interactive. The best part is that it is interactive with creatures rather than just with spells.  When I have a creature killed rather than just countered it feels like I’ve at least done something.  Basically, this play style reminds me a lot of the Legend of Five Rings TCG (which we also carry *wink wink*) which, to me, is a good thing.  However, if it’s not for you, I’m sure the format will swing the other way when the new block comes out and spells with be a’fly’n.

I highly encourage you not to just pick up some boosters to supplement your casual, commander, or standard deck, but to also come in and try out drafting this set while you can.  If you don’t know, you only have a few months of this format, since Avacyn Restored won’t be drafted alongside Dark Ascension and Innistrad.  You can check our Event Calendar on this website to see when The Game Preserve closest to you has draft nights.  So come in and draft this extremely exciting set while you can. I’ll at least be participating in our Triple Dark Ascension Midnight Draft later this week, and I hope you will be as well!

Share on Facebook

We apologize for the inconvenience but our event calendar for the chain is currently unavailable. We will have it up and running as soon as possible. If you need to check times for any of our events, feel free to contact us. Thank you.

We should be up and running correctly now. Thank you for your patience.

Share on Facebook

This year’s Essen International Gaming Fair has come and gone. But The Game Preserve and it’s customers have had an opportunity presented to us that cannot be passed up!  We have an extremely limited quantity of 7 Wonder Catan Wonder Boards! Get yours while supplies last!

Share on Facebook

After the turkey is eaten, before the snow falls, it’s become an American tradition to go forth after Thanksgiving and look for the best deals retailers have to offer. The Game Preserve has a  few offers of its own. Time is of the essence on these select items. Come in early to make the best of what we have.

These select items on sale

45% off until 10:00 AM

40% off until 12:00 PM

35% off until 2:00 PM

30% off until 4:00 PM

25% off until 9:00 PM

Dreadfleet Regular Price $114.95

M12 Battle Packs Regular Price: $9.95

Star Trek Fleet Captains Regular Price: $99.95

Note: Offer good while supplies last. No special orders and no transfers will be honored.

Also, Each store will be offering store-specific sales. Please visit your local Game Preserve and see what we have to offer.

Share on Facebook

The Holidays are nearly upon us and as always, The Game Preserve develops a list of recommended games to get that are hot and new. Each year’s recommendations are always different, after all, there are new games coming out weekly. We try to make it just that much easier for you.

Trigger

Players: 3 – 8

Ages: 8 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Made by Blue Orange Games, the same folks who brought us Spot  it, one of last year’s recommendations; trigger is a speed game where you race against other players to touch a trigger marker in the center of table answering only true or false questions. Just remember left hand is false and right hand is true.

Morphology

Morphology is the game of charades turned on its head. Draw a card, use any or all the available props provided to get your teammate to say the correct answer.

Players: 4 or more!

Ages: 13 or up

Time:  30 minutes

Faux-cabulary

Ever play that new classic, Apples to Apples? Like “apples” this game, from Out of the Box, has all the players except a judge to make up their own words to definitions.

Players: 3 – 7

Ages: 13 or up

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

Dabble

Dabble is a simple scrabble-like game where you take lettered tiles and must make a two, three, four, five and six letter word. You get points for each accomplishment. Scrabble fans and wordsmiths will love this game.

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Konexi

Also a game for the wordsmiths out there, Konexi has each player take one letter and connect it to another letter hoping to make a word all the while building a tower of letters! It’s jenga meets scrabble.

Players: 2 – 6

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

The Man Game

As the name implies, this a man-centric party game. Not only are there questions of style like, do the color of your shoes have to match the belt your belt? But also, play a hand of poker, or paper football or golf.  Be the best man and prove it.

Players: 3 – 6 players

Ages: “For men of all ages and women who think they’re man enough!”

Time: 30 minutes

Gubs

A card game for kids, having each player collect and protect as many “gub” card as they can before time runs out. Play other cards that allow other players to steal, or remove other player’s gubs.

Players: 2 – 7 players

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Thanks A lot!

Ever get a really bad gift? Think you can do better? This is your chance to shine. Pass out a gift to each player you think that he/she would best like, then find out when they rank them from highest to lowest.

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 12 or up

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

For a list of last year’s great Holiday Suggestions, please go here.

Share on Facebook

Both the Northside(Fashion Mall Commons) and Southside(Greenwood) Game Preserve have a unique opportunity to have our customers share in a  Sentinels of the Multiverse demo. This extraordinary card game has grown steadily from a grassroots approach using sites like kickstarter.com and boardgamegeek.com. In fact, they now have a new kickstarter set up for their first expansion. For all the details for the dates and times of the demos, please see our online event calendars: gw.gamepreservestores.com and fm.gamepreservestores.com. Please note: there will be limited copies of the game to purchase. In the event we run out, both stores will be happy to take special orders.

Share on Facebook

One reason I have such a love hate relationship with Magic is because of my love hate relationship with the release cycle. I have to attend the pre-release, then the midnight release, then wake up early to go the release—all of this within a week. I know, it’s hard being me, but when you lose as much as I do, it can take a lot out of you. Either way, despite my despondence I was at our Midnight Draft for Innistrad.

We had about 30 folks brave the cold autumnal air to play this appropriately Halloweeny set. As I reviewed our four pods for the event I noticed I was in a pod with some of the top players at the store. The Wizards Event Reporter really does hate me. To top it off I remain woefully bad at drafting, and that night was no different. Instead of remembering to get dudes, dudes, dudes, I got too cute with my strategy.

I originally drafted a Red White deck based around Burning Vengeance, but after my flop of a first round I changed it to be a bit more creature heavy. It was not easily accomplished. At least I got two mythics in the draft, and I was able to run one of them.

• Doomed Traveler x2
• Selfless Cathar x1
• Reckless Waif x1
• Spectral Rider x2
• Ashmouth Hound x2
• Village Ironsmith x1
• Bloodcrazed Neonate x1
• Kruin Outlaw x1
• Crossway Vampire x1
• Tormented Pariah x1
• Falkenrath Marauders x1
• Pitchburn Devils x1
• Geistflame x2
• Furor of the Bitten x2
• Nightbird’s Clutches x2
• Cobbled Wings x1
• Grimoire of the Dead x1
• Mountain x11
• Plains x6

For the first round of the night I was up against someone who just drafted creatures. He said he had about 20 creatures in his deck. And I believe it. Now keep in mind that for this round I was running a deck based on Burning Vengeance, Rally the Peasants, and other flashback cards. It may have been possible to win if I had had Devil’s Play and Divine Reckoning, but sadly it was not the case. My Reckless Waif and Doomed Travelers couldn’t keep up with his 7/7 Krallenhorde Wantons. I was stomped into the ground. After the two game lost I quickly reassessed my deck. I tried my best to jam more creatures into it, but sadly I just didn’t have enough. I had to bank on evasion and auras.

My second match went a little better. I had two long games with a Blue White flying deck. It had a lot of great removal with Smite the Monstrous and Rebuke. But what really made the deck was Zombie Alchemist. It was made even worse when he milled four creatures with it. To make matters worse whenever I would manage a trade he would then cast a Stitched Drake. It was a bad scene. In game two I was able to stall while waiting for my Grimoire of the Dead to power up. I was able to swamp the board but his Zombie Alchemist empowered army of zombies was able to thin it back out again. I was unable to pull it out. I lost in two long games. Metal note: draft dudes, dudes, and more dudes.

In match three I was a given a bit of a reprieve. My opponent’s deck was also filled with tricks and a little low on dudes, but his tricks were better than mine. He was running Werewolves, so he had his Moonmists and Full Moon’s Rises. Both of which were wicked. He had mostly higher cost ‘wolves though, so I was able to out race him in game one. Game two was a little more hairy. (get it?) He was able to get out his big beefy werewolves and flip them. Not only did he have a Mayor of Avabruck but also Ulvenwald Mystics. After a Travel Preparations and a Full Moon’s Rise, they were simply too big. They tore my eyes out. Game three thankfully ended up being another race. I quickly got out my Waif and Iron Smith. They let me to get in there for massive damage. I was just glad his ‘wolves were more costly. My Nightbird’s Clutches also came through for me in the end, so I was able to take game three and the match.

In the end my drafting skills just didn’t cut it. I had needed to draft more creatures, or simply better removal . I know that in draft creatures and removals are important, but it seems that in a creature and combat heavy set like Innistrad they become even more so. Don’t underestimate the power of a 7/7 for five mana, nor combat tricks like Moonmist. Also remember that boardwipes are amazing in this set. The board gets locked down very quickly. If I had kept all of this in mind during the Midnight Draft maybe I would have ended better than 1-2 in 21^st place overall. No matter, it was a great night and an even better learning experience.

Share on Facebook

It seems like ever since the M12 launch Magic has been forcing me to play Vampires. Thankfully, the most resent Magic: the Gathering set, Innistrad, was built with these children of the night in mind. In Innistrad players are thrown into a Victorian Gothic setting filled with giant mutant lizards, transforming werewolves, holy warriors of the Church of Avacyn, and of course the “vampyre”. This set not only brings back the Flashback mechanic but also introduces the controversial Double-Faced Cards. These cards have no standard Magic back, but instead have two cards back to back much like the Kamigawa flip cards. Some people love them, some people hate them. But, on Pre-release weekend we all played with them.

Innistrad ended up being more highly anticipated then anyone at our store knew. We signed up eager participants for two hours, reaching our cap of 108 just moments before the event was due to begin. This was mainly because the set was extremely popular among the casual and EDH crowds. I love seeing the more noncompetitive players coming out to our events, and when they do it really makes a difference. The events feel more laid back and fun. Rather than a tournament, it makes the event feel more like a huge party hosted by bunch of people who have gathered just to enjoy a game.

Either way, in due time we were seated and started opening our six packs of Innistrad. I joked that I was going to open all rare lands. I was not wrong. Out of my six packs I opened seven rares (one was a rare werewolf) four of which were lands and one was a junk rare I ran just for first strike. My deck ended up looking something like this.

• Typhoid Rats x1
• Disciple of Griselbrand x1
• Bloodcrazed Neonate x2
• Markov Patrician x2
• Kessig Wolf x1
• Crossway Vampire x1
• Kruin Outlaw x1
• Tormented Pariah x1
• Morkrut Banshee x1
• Victim of the Night x1
• Vampiric Fury x1
• Nightbird’s Clutches x1
• Traitorous Blood x1
• Brimstone Volley x1
• Tribute to Hunger x1
• Unburial Rites x1
• Into the Maw of Hell x1
• Devil’s Play x1
• Runechanter’s Pike x1
• Mask of Avacyn x1
• Trepanation Blade x1
• Mountain x9
• Swamp x8

I thought first strike would be useful with so many 2/1’s and 3/1’s. The real stars of my deck were the uncommons, and of course Devil’s Play and Kruin Outlaw. My deck had a nice curve topping out at just one 5 mana creature. It also had a decent mix of evasion and removal. I hoped to go far, but I didn’t realize how far I would go.

For my first match I played a primarily Blue Black deck. It had not one, but two Evil Twins. They can be nasty little buggers. They clone your dudes and can then kill them outright.  Thankfully I had a trick up my sleeve, well more of a mask really. It can be a lot harder to kill things that have Hexproof, and while it’s no Swiftfoot Boots, Mask of Avacyn at least boosts toughness. This meant that even if my opponent blocked what he had just cloned he couldn’t trade.

In this first match I also started noticing one of the breakout uncommons of the set. Codename: “Chainsaw,” its real name is Trepanation Blade. It was a devastating card. It would crew up my opponent’s deck while boosting the power of one of my dudes. It was sicknasty. Due to my equipment, I won the match in only two games. I was off to a decent start.

My second match was harder. I was against another Black Red agro deck. The major difference being he had flyers, curses, and two-ofs. He beat me handily in the first game. Not only did he plop down a Curse of Pierced Heart early game but followed it up with Vampire Interlopers. He quickly finished me off with a couple Bump in the Nights. That’s right, he had two Interlopers, two Pierced Hearts, and two Bumps. It was wicked. All I could do was hope to be faster and regain life efficiently with my Markov Partitions. I ground out game two after some lucky mana screw and good draws.

However, game three was a different matter altogether. I rushed out a Partition and my trusty Blade.  I swung in against his one creature. He milled eight cards. My Markov Partition became an 11/1 lifelink. He had to block. He lost his only defense and I went up to 31, putting me out of reach. I went to 2-0.

Just when I thought I was done with Black Red Vamps, it was time for round three. It was another Vamp match up but this time with ever more tricks. I won game one with help from the usual suspects, Blade and some Devil’s Play action. In game two my opponent fielded a Curse of Pieced Heart and an annoying Creepy Doll. Then, late game, he got out a Bitterheart Witch. I removed it only to find he had a second Curse of Pierced Heart to fetch with it. He ground me down. Then things got interesting.

He swung in for lethal, but luckily I had my Disciple of Griselbrand out. Not only could I block his guys but gain life off of each of the creatures I would lose. We both got down to two life. It was my turn and I got a third mountain into play. There was something nagging me in the back of my mind about this. I knew there was something important about having three mountains, but I couldn’t remember what. So, I played a dude and equipped it up with Trepanation Blade. The next turn he flashed back Nightbird’s Clutches and killed me off. Then it hit me. Three red…that was the flashback cost of the Devil’s Play in the graveyard. I could have killed him off with a flashed back fireball for just two. Oh well, at least I wouldn’t make that mistake again. It was on to game three.

He played an early game creepy doll. Not again. I used my Tribute to Hunger to make him sac it. That was the end of that. I started working my mojo. However, it wasn’t but a few turns later that he used Unburial Rites on the Doll. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one with Nightbird’s Clutches. I got around the doll and managed to take the match. I thought that surely I was done with these tense matches.

Oh, how mistaken I was. Round four of the Innistrad prerelease tourney was most likely the most intense match of Magic I have ever played. In game one he played Cobbled Wings on the two. “Great,” I thought, “just what I need, more fliers.” On turn four he played a Geist of Saint Traft. “Annoying, but no biggy, at least I can block it,” I thought to myself. It was then that he equipped the wings to it. I lost game one. Game two however, I was ready. Once he fielded his Geist I make him Tribute it. I squeaked by game two with a deck that is absolutely horrid against fliers. It’s even worse when their hexproof.  In game three I got out my Trepanation Blade. I swung and milled his Geist. I breathed a sigh of sweet relief. He sensed my comfort and decided to shatter my happy-place by playing a Geist of Saint Traft anyway. It was only then that I realized the horrible truth. The Geist I faced in the second game had been foil, while the Geist in game one hadn’t been. He had two of them! I nervously played around the Geist the best I could. I took six damage a few times while I wishing for my Tribute to Hunger. It was not forthcoming, but a third mountain was and this time I remembered was it was for. My Devil’s Play got there from the graveyard. I won in three impossible games.

Match five was equally intense. I was going into it undefeated. I had a winning record with no byes. Life was good.  However, my next opponent was one of the best limited players in the store. He has won several of our pre-release events in the past and he was looking to do the same again that day. He was playing Red Green wolves. He beat me quickly in game one. It was close, but quick. His double Rakish Heirs tore through me. The second game was just as close. I had promised him before the round that my flashed-back Devil’s Play would kill him, and it did in game two. In game three I quickly gained board advantage, but he wiped it with a Blasphemous Act. After that he planted his Rakish Heirs once again. It was game over. I put up a heck of a fight, but he remains one of the best. He told me I had given him the most trouble up to that point. I was 4-1 with just one round left. I hoped to prove myself by going 5-1.

But it was not to be. Round six was rather uneventful, and quite disappointing. I was up against Blue and Black fliers. It was probably my worst match up. I had had trouble with fliers all day and Blue has some of the biggest. For the first match we both mulliganed down to six card hands. We each played two lands, and then we both got stuck. For four turns we both missed our land drops and had to discard. However, my opponent got his third land first and planted a Stitched Drake since he had primed his graveyard. He hit me for two turns as I dug for my land, and I scooped. Game two was just as bad. He quickly got out his Drakes and got me with some removal. There was nothing I could do. I lost quickly and pathetically.  It put a major damper on the event for me.

That doesn’t mean it was bad day though. Everyone seemed to have a blast. The fellow that beat me in round five ended up going undefeated and took first place. That helped me take 19^th. Our store also tried a method of different prize distribution. Instead of basing prizes on rank we gave prize based on record. This led to a more liberal distribution of the ample prize support. While this meant that 1^st place got 12 packs, the majority of player got between 3 and 5 packs. It was a good day to be a more casual player. To top it off everyone walked away with a promo Mayer of Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha. The prize rarely means much to me though. I just want to do well and have great matches. Thankfully this set seems to promote that.

Innistrad limited seems to be heavily creature based and focuses on making you make tough combat decisions. These decisions are complicated by a number of combat tricks, as well as “skaabs,” and the morbid mechanic both of which make you leery of “trades.” I would learn more of these dangers and decisions in the midnight draft.

Share on Facebook

It’s that time of year again. We are gearing up for Game Preserve’s Slam at the Ram. A Warmachine and Hordes tournament that takes place at the Downtown Ram Brewery. This is now the 5th “Slam” which is amazing. To look back and keep up on all the details, check out this page.

Update!

Picture of 2011′s Slam at the Ram can be viewed here.  Keep in mind, we will be adding pictures as time permits.

This year’s winner is a Press Ganger from our southside Game Preserve at Greenwood store. Jake Leeman’s been an enthusuiastic teacher of the game ever since the beginning. He’s one of those players not married to any particular faction, it’s all about the game itself for him. With Jake’s Blindwater Congregation list victory was hard fought but certainly well worth it.

Bloody Barnabas
Blackhide Wrastler x2
Ironback Spitter
Bull Snapper
Wrong Eye and Snapjaw
Feralgeist x2
Gatorman Posse (Full)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew
Thrullg
Totem Hunter

Other winners:

Todd Dunn – Best Painted

Taylor Peterson – Best Sportsman

Michael Welling – Largest VP Spread

Jake Leeman – Quickest ‘Caster Kill

Share on Facebook

For two bleak decades the Undead reavers of Count Noctilus have plagued the oceans of the world. After each raid, the Dreadfleet disappears into its lair as quickly and silently as it appeared, far from the reach of Man. And yet there remains hope. Captain Jaego Roth of the Heldenhammer has vowed to hunt down and destroy Count Noctilus and his Undead captains once and for all. With him sail the most notorious and cunning of the pirate lords of Sartosa, each borne to battle upon a giant warship bristling with cannons, organ guns and bolt throwers. At the stroke of midnight on Geheimnisnacht, most forsaken of nights, the Heldenhammer and her companions sail into the realm of undeath known as the Galleon’s Graveyard. One by one, Count Noctilus and his vile allies move in to stop them.

Dreadfleet is a boxed game for two (or more) players that includes everything you need to make war on the turbulent seas of the Warhammer world. At your command are two fleets of ships – the Dreadfleet led by the Vampire Count Noctilus, aboard his gargantuan sea-hulk the Bloody Reaver; and the Grand Alliance commanded by the Pirate Captain Jaego Roth, who recently stole the Heldenhammer – the pride of the Imperial Fleet, and one of the largest galleons to ever sail the high seas.

As your ships engage in furious battle, it’s down to you, the fleet captain, to make important split-second decisions. Do you bring all guns to bear on the closest enemy warship, or do you sail into position for a furious broadside? What happens when the warship catches fire, or worse, the powder kegs ignite? Exactly how much punishment can your warship take before it sinks without a trace? Are those Undead seagulls or flying piranha fish? And, when all else fails, do you have the courage to ram your foe, board their ship, and engage them in a duel to the death?

This boxed game contains:

98-page Rulebook
Seascape Gaming Mat
10 Warships
10 Scenic Bases
7 Cog Auxiliaries
1 Dragon Auxiliary
1 Dirigible Auxiliary
7 Islands
5 Shipwreck Pieces
3 Sea Monsters
5 Treasure Tokens
12 Dice
1 Wind Gauge
2 Ship’s Wheels
1 Navigation Rod
10 Warship Cards
55 Damage Cards
40 Fate Cards
12 Auxiliary Cards
10 Wound Cards
11 Miscellaneous Cards

Like the Spacehulk release, this is very limited. Contact your nearest Game Preserve and pre-order yourself a copy immediately. There’s no telling how fast this item will last.

Share on Facebook