Birmingham GP Stuttgart Trial Report

Well, this wasn't expected to be a large event but a turnout of just
13 players was a little bit disappointing. After four rounds of Swiss
and the Top Eight Draft Jonathan Randle won the event, well done
Jonathan!

On to the next event.....

STAFFORD BIG BAG DRAFT SATURDAY 8th OF DECEMBER 2007

Do you have what it takes to be a BBD Champion?

Well, the Big Bag Draft for 2006 attracted a massive 39 players and
everyone seemed to really enjoy the event. The BBD seems to be one of
the most anticipated events of the calendar so it was great to see so
many of my regular players in attendance. We used boosters from THIRTY-
TWO different Magic expansions to draft and when the dust had settled
after 6 rounds of Swiss, Simon Pearce won the trophy. This was a
repeat win for Simon who also took the trophy in 2005. Can he make it
a triple in December 2007? Please note that the BBD is an unsanctioned
event as it is an unusual format and therefore does not affect DCI
rankings.

Here is a brief explanation of the way the BBD format works:

The BBD works like this. All the players in the event sit in one huge
circle and they will all pass left/right/left as in a normal draft,
except that there may be 20 or more draft players in this circle so
you probably won't see the same booster twice as it will run out of
cards after 15 players which is probably long before it has gone all
the way around the circle of players. Also, the boosters are chosen at
random out of the Big Bag by each player so you may end up drafting
from Ice Age or Mirrodin or 9th Edition or Invasion or Masques or
Torment or 7th Edition or Kamigawa or Ravnica or Time Spiral.... well,
you get the idea. This is a truly fun and interesting format but is
obviously unsanctioned so that it doesn't affect your rankings. Once
everyone has finished drafting, we all deck construct like a normal
draft and then we play Swiss rounds like a normal large tournament
until we have a winner. There is a trophy for the Champion as usual,
so come along and earn some silverware for your mantelpiece!!!! The
bragging rights potential alone is enormous....

Event notes:

[1] This event is limited to 50 players so please make sure that you
pre-register to guarantee your place. Pre-registration for the event
ends on FRIDAY THE 7th OF DECEMBER. Please help me to ensure that I
have an accurate assessment of attendance figures by pre-registering.
It helps me enormously.

[2] Standard or extended side events can be put on if enough players
wish to participate. Please bring standard decks with you if you want
to take part and ask about a sign-up sheet on the day of the event.


VENUE: The Centre for the Blind, North Walls, Stafford, Staffordshire,
ST16 3AD

START TIME: Enrolment from 9:30am till 10:30am. The draft will start
at about 11:00am.

FORMAT: The format for the main event is Big Bag Draft

Rules Enforcement Level: Casual

ENTRY FEE: £10.00 for main event

PRIZES: The prize pool will be dependant on the number of players
participating.

I also have a Big Bag Draft Champion 2007 trophy for the winner to
take home.


SIDE EVENTS: Time Spiral TM, Planar Chaos TM and Future Sight TM mixed
OR triple Lorwyn TM Booster Draft side events available all day long.

ENTRY FEE: £8.00 for Booster Drafts (12 Boosters as prizes split
5/3/2/2)

TO PRE-REGISTER FOR AN EVENT:

Send an e-mail to this address: stephen DOT avann AT ntlworld DOT com
with your FULL NAME and DCI NUMBER (If you have one) BEFORE 5:30PM on
the FRIDAY NIGHT before the events, as this is the last time that I
will check my e-mail before the tournament. Alternatively I can be
contacted on my mobile from 6:30pm until 10pm on the following number:
07989201808. Please don't try to phone me before 6:30pm as I will be
busy.

Hope to see you at the event,

Steve

FUTURE EVENTS 2008

Here are details of my events that are planned for the first half of
2008. Please note some events are marked 'TO BE CONFIRMED'. More
details will be added as soon as I am able to once PTQ applications to
Wizards of the Coast are processed.

January - Saturday 19th - STAFFORD - Morningtide Pre-Release
January - Sunday 20th - BIRMINGHAM - Morningtide Pre-Release

The second set to complete the new Lorwyn block arrives in January.

February - Sunday 3rd - STAFFORD - Morningtide Release Event

The release event at Stafford for the Morningtide set. If you have
enjoyed the Pre-Releases this will be another chance to play with the
new cards in a limited format event. I will have boosters and single
cards on sale and you can also collect your www.magicgeek.co.uk orders
in person and get the postage costs refunded.

February - Saturday 9th - BIRMINGHAM - PTQ Hollywood

My February event in Birmingham has been confirmed as a Pro Tour
Qualifier for Hollywood. I'll update this event with more details when
I have them. The full season of PTQs in the UK for the Hollywood
season can be found here:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/protour/hollywood08-uk


March - Saturday 8th - STAFFORD - TO BE CONFIRMED

When I have more details confirmed, I'll update this event.

March - Saturday 15th - BIRMINGHAM - TO BE CONFIRMED

When I have more details confirmed, I'll update this event.

April - Saturday 19th - STAFFORD - Shadowmoor Pre-Release
April - Sunday 20th - BIRMINGHAM - Shadowmoor Pre-Release

The first set of the new Shadowmoor block arrives in April.

May - Sunday 4th - STAFFORD - Shadowmoor Release Event

The release event at Stafford for the Shadowmoor set. If you have
enjoyed the Pre-Releases this will be another chance to play with the
new cards in a limited format event. I will have boosters and single
cards on sale and you can also collect your www.magicgeek.co.uk orders
in person and get the postage costs refunded.

May - Saturday 17th - BIRMINGHAM - TO BE CONFIRMED

When I have more details confirmed, I'll update this event.

> STAFFORD BIG BAG DRAFT SATURDAY 8th OF DECEMBER 2007

Sorry Steven, I can't make this due to prior commitments - I have
added the event to the Manascrew calendar though:
http://manascrew.co.uk/calendar.aspx

Regards,

Russ