It's been a while since I've posted. In that time, I helped judge WV States, and ran the Sal's Sealed finale. Top 8 for that event was: Russell, Emmerich, Chris, Kevin, Jordan, Ryan, J.J., and Daniel. Prize support was a box for 1st, 6 packs for 2nd, 3 packs for 3rd and 4th, plus 1 copy of the new Wooly Thoctar and Sprouting Thrinnax for the top 4. Overall, the season was a success, especially for it being my first attempt at something like it. I learned a lot, and can hopefully get another one going in the spring.

WV Champs
Here you can find the top 8 decklists. Zach and Daniel (the same one from Sal's Sealed) are both Fairmont players, and we also know Pete from his days at WVU. Russell (5-2) and Jeff (2-2 drop) also came down for the tourney. This was my first work on a major tournament.

I worked with Jason Reedy and Jared Sylva, who was the head judge. I performed deck checks and made some rulings. I discovered that there are some areas of the rules that I should familiarize myself with more, like layers. All in all, I am well on my way to level one judge certification, though it will likely take longer than I had thought.

Magic in Morgantown
Because I've been busy with other commitments, I've had to push back my search for Magic players in Morgantown. Eventually, I intend to hold tournaments at least once a month up there. If I can get that done, and figure out a way to get more Morgantown players to Fairmont for the next Sal's Season, I think that would be very good for building the local player base. I plan to start advertising possibly over Christmas break, so I'm ready to go in January. I'll try to keep you updated.

What I'm playing
Those that know me know that I don't actually play Magic that often, but I do keep several decks built. Right now I have the following built:
Vintage
-Dredge/Ichorid
Extended
-Channel the Tendrils
Standard
-UB Faeries
-Red Deck Wins
-Helix Pinnacle

All of my builds are likely suboptimal. Currently I'm reading up on Team ICBM's Vintage decks and designing a Bant-style standard deck of my own. It should be fun. I learned a lot about how good various cards are by watching all the matches I helped judge. I'm honestly not all that interested in Extended, but I'm sure I'll cook up something for it.

This blog is intended to chronicle the tournaments I run, and perhaps keep you posted on my bid to become a level 1 judge. At the moment, that means talking about "Sal's Sealed."

How Sal's Sealed Works
Each player receives a core set preconstructed deck along with three packs (two if we're using 60 card precons) from the same set or block. The tournaments work just like a sanctioned tournament, even if it is not sanctioned. All DCI rules regarding sealed formats apply, so you build a 40 card deck with your pool. Each round's opponents are determined using the Swiss pairing method (you play opponents with similar match records during the current tournament).

The winner of each week's Sal's Sealed wins a draft set of current product.

When Sal's and Where Sealed Happens
Sal's Sealed is a tournament series held weekly at D&S Colectibles in Whitehall, WV. D&S (or simply Sal's for short) is located next to Animal Kingdom at Middletown Mall. Since it's inside the mall, it's actually the back door that faces you as you park, but sometimes that door is open.

There are two Sal's Sealed Tournaments left. One is this Friday (10/17) starting around 7PM, and the other is next Friday (10/24), starting around 6PM. The championship is set for 11/7 and will feature the top 8 performers from Sal's Sealed. It is a Shards of Alara booster draft. The champion will take home a booster box of Shards of Alara!

More Information About Sal's
On Tuesday evenings, you can susally find casual games, and Fridays are generally reserved for tournaments. Saturdays are reserved for larger tournaments, such as release events. There are plans in the works for more tournaments, bigger tournaments, and possibly Magic on Sundays. I'll keep you posted on upcoming events and changes in this blog, as well at at D&S.