Hello everyone,

I hope that like me you all had a good festive season and that you are
looking forward to the start of the 2008 Magic Tournament campaign at
Stafford and Birmingham. The New Year kicks off with the Morningtide
Pre-Release Weekend and the full event details can be found below as
usual. This set completes the Lorwyn mini-block and contains 150 new
cards. I think that the changes in the Magic block format have
conjured up a lot of player interest and as a result I really advise
you to pre-register for the events in order to ensure that you get
your place. There is room for 64 players at Stafford, and 72 players
at Birmingham.

At events at the end of 2007 I took the time to ask some of my regular
players about prizes at Pre-Releases. As a result of feedback I’m
going to make one change to the usual way I hand out prizes. Any
player who drops out of the main event will now get a single prize
booster, which is the minimum prize for the event. This will allow
players who are having a bad day to drop and draft but still get a
booster as a prize from the main event.

www.magicgeek.co.uk news

Lots of single cards have been added to the on-line inventory as I
have been ploughing through the Onslaught block. I’ve also put lots of
cards that I’ve had requests for from older sets in the Specials
section. Morningtide products have also been added as pre-sale items
that will ship at the start of February when the set is released.
Finally, I’ve added more to my range of deck protectors.

Thanks for reading; I hope to see you at the Morningtide events soon.

Steve

MORNINGTIDE PRE-RELEASE WEEKEND 19th and 20th OF JANUARY 2008

Event notes:

[1] As I have had so many enquiries about the forthcoming Morningtide
TM Pre-Release tournaments, this e-mail includes all relevant
information for both the Stafford and the Birmingham tournaments. Pick
and choose the information that you need.

[2] We will be continuing to use deck pool registration at all pre-
release events.

[3] Price for admission is £16.00 for two reasons. Firstly, it falls
in line with Wizards of the Coast pricing guidelines and secondly
because the product given to each player to use on the day is one
Lorwyn TM tournament pack and three Morningtide TM boosters.

[4] To encourage players to attend both events, I will be continuing
with the £2.00 deduction in the cost of entry to any player enrolling
in the Birmingham Pre-Release who played in the Stafford Pre-Release
the previous day. This makes it a nice even £30 to play in both
events. I realise that this isn't an enormous saving, but I received
positive feedback for this at previous Pre-Release weekends so I’m
happy to continue to offer this discount.

[5] As usual I'll be filling the traditional Grab Bag with the
contents of some Morningtide TM boosters as additional prizes.

[6] Again as usual, I have had winner’s trophies engraved. The
trophies are a popular part of the Pre-Release events and everybody
wants to win one!

I look forward to seeing you at the events.

Steve


Here are the usual event details:

STAFFORD MORNINGTIDE PRE-RELEASE SATURDAY 19th OF JANUARY 2008


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

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

FORMAT: The format for each Pre-release tournament is DCITM-sanctioned
Lorwyn TM and Morningtide TM Sealed Deck.

Rules Enforcement Level: 1

ENTRY FEE: £16.00 for main event

Cost of entry includes one (1) Lorwyn TM tournament pack and three (3)
Morningtide TM boosters.

PRIZES: As per Wizards of the Coast premier event prize structure.

Special commemorative Morningtide TM card for each tournament
participant, while supplies last.


SIDE EVENTS: Morningtide 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)



BIRMINGHAM MORNINGTIDE PRE-RELEASE SUNDAY 20th OF JANUARY 2008


VENUE: Quality Hotel Birmingham, 166 Hagley Road, Birmingham, West
Midlands, England B16 9NZ

The venue is probably only about 15 minutes from the city centre
easily accessible from New Street Station. Road links are very good
from the M6 and the M5 as you will see on the map.

If you are travelling by car, there is parking for over a hundred cars
but most of the spaces are at the back of the hotel. Drive towards the
red barrier at the right hand side of the venue and it will
automatically open. All you need to do when leaving is pick up a
parking token from the hotel reception. Parking is free if you have
used the hotel facilities, so there will be no parking charge for
players attending the event.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: According to locals, as far as trains are concerned,
it's quicker to go to Five Ways station if possible, walk to the Five
Ways shopping centre and then just walk down Hagley Road. From New
Street Station the 128 and the 129 buses from Corporation Street (1
min walk from New Street) go down the Hagley Road (and I'm sure there
must be others too). If you are travelling by train and you are
running late I'd suggest just getting a taxi to the venue. I suspect
that it is less than a 10 minute drive from New Street Station.

Website: http://www.quality-hotels-birmingham.com/

Directions: These are available from the Hotel's website:

http://www.quality-hotels-birmingham.com/details/GB605%20large%20map.jpg

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

FORMAT: The format for each Pre-release tournament is DCITM-sanctioned
Lorwyn TM and Morningtide TM Sealed Deck.

Rules Enforcement Level: 1

ENTRY FEE: £16.00 for main event

Cost of entry includes one (1) Lorwyn TM tournament pack and three (3)
Morningtide TM boosters.

PRIZES: As per Wizards of the Coast premier event prize structure.

Special commemorative Morningtide TM card for each tournament
participant, while supplies last.


SIDE EVENTS: Morningtide 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 events over the weekend,

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.

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.