Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Grand Prix are easily the biggest open events the DCI offers. They're high-energy and held around the world. Plus, no invitation is necessary—anyone can attend. No pro points? No problem. Playing a good game is all that matters, and with Pro Tour invitations down to 16th place and a cash prize pool of $30,000 that goes all the way down to 64th place, one thing is certain: a Grand Prix is a sure-fire great time. Plus each participant gets an alternate art Chrome Mox!

- Wizards of the Coast, Grand Prix Information Page

Extended season has finally kicked off and Manawerx is proud to be hosting Grand Prix Trials : Singapore. So if you intend on attending GP Singapore which is from 22nd to 23rd March 2009 make sure you attend to try and get the 3 round byes or you could just attend to boost your rankings or clock in some events for your player rewards.

- MANAWERX NEWSLETTER, ISSUE 10

GRAND PRIX TRIAL SINGAPORE

Venue: Manawerx Trading
Date & Time: 4th January 2009, 10.30 am (Registration opens at 10.00 AM)

Entry Fee: RM30

Format: Extended
8th Edition, 9th Edition, 10th Edition, Onslaught, Legions, Scourge, Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa, Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension, Coldsnap, Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide & Shards of Alara.

Banned Cards:
Aether Vial, Disciple of the Vault, Sensei's Divining Top & Skullclamp

Prize Payout
1st Prize: 15 Booster Packs & 3 Rounds Bye
2nd Prize: 9 Booster Packs
3rd & 4th Prize: 5 Booster Packs
5th to 8th Prize: 3 Booster Packs
9th to 16th Prize: 2 Booster Packs
17th to 36th Prize: 1 Booster Pack

Manawerx Operating Hours :
2.00PM-10.00PM (TUES, WED, FRI, SAT)
2.00PM-7.00PM (MON, THURS)
FOR SUN, PLEASE CALL.

For more information , feel free to contact us at :

Manawerx - 03-79609199
Zu Yong - 012-6700156
Victor - 012-6663500 (after 3pm)
Email - manawerx@gmail.com
Manawerx Trading Website

For more information about Grand Prix, click here.

GP Singapore will be held on March 21-22 and is in the Extended format.Read more!

4 members of the same team did a clean sweep of the top prizes of the RM2.4K MTG Showdown held at The Summmit USJ by Decards Enterprise last Sunday on the 21st of December 2008.

There were 47 players and with the Swiss + 1 format, the standings were determined by 7 rounds of swiss play.

The top 8 finishers are:

1st - Shamsul Bahrin Zainuddin
2nd - Arif b Kamaruddin
3rd - Zac D Hill
4th - Nico Surinindran
5th - Jo Ch'ng
6th - Daniel Gan
7th - Eddy Ng
8th - Andrew Choong


The tournament scene


1st - Shamsul Bahrin Zainuddin


2nd - Arif b Kamaruddin


3rd - Zac D Hill


4th - Nico Surinindran


5th - Jo Ch'ng


6th - Daniel Gan


7th - Eddy Ng


8th - Andrew Choong

Read more!

Grand Prix are easily the biggest open events the DCI offers. They're high-energy and held around the world. Plus, no invitation is necessary—anyone can attend. No pro points? No problem. Playing a good game is all that matters, and with Pro Tour invitations down to 16th place and a cash prize pool of $30,000 that goes all the way down to 64th place, one thing is certain: a Grand Prix is a sure-fire great time. Plus each participant gets an alternate art Chrome Mox!

- Wizards of the Coast, Grand Prix Information Page

Grand Prix Singapore '09 is coming soon, and if you'd like a head start with 3 free wins as well as the additional time to prepare yourself for the tournament over the 3 rounds worth of time, play a Grand Prix Trial to prove yourself worthy!

The Comics Corner Subang Jaya is organizing a GPT on the 28th of December!

GRAND PRIX TRIAL SINGAPORE

Venue: The Comics Corner Subang Jaya
Date & Time: 28th December, 10.30 am

Entry Fee: RM30

Format: Extended
8th Edition, 9th Edition, 10th Edition, Onslaught, Legions, Scourge, Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa, Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension, Coldsnap, Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide & Shards of Alara.

Banned Cards:
Aether Vial, Disciple of the Vault, Entomb, Sensei's Divining Top & Skullclamp

Prize Payout
1st Prize: 15 Booster Packs & 3 Rounds Bye
2nd Prize: 9 Booster Packs
3rd & 4th Prize: 5 Booster Packs
5th to 8th Prize: 3 Booster Packs
9th to 16th Prize: 2 Booster Packs
17th to 36th Prize: 1 Booster Pack

For more information about Grand Prix, click here.

GP Singapore will be held on March 21-22 and is in the Extended format.Read more!

The HUGE standard tournament offering a whopping RM2.4k in CASH prizes is this weekend! MagicMalaysia.blogspot.com is told that if this edition of the tournament is well received, there will be future editions of the event with possibly even bigger payouts! So be sure to support the event!

Even if you're not interested in the main event, there's still the RM28 drafts that not only cost less than what you pay for 3 boosters, but there's even prizes for the top half of each draft pod of up to 4 packs for first place!

If you're a Magic fan, you HAVE to come and show your support for this wonderful opportunity and initiative to promote higher level competitive play!

Decards Enterprise proudly presents...

The Decards @ USJ Summit MTG Showdown 2008 (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.)

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

Main Event information:

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 click here.

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.)

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: click here.

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

Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.



The quarterfinals were over.

Zac Hill, Chen Tze Kang, Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin and Nur Effendy Shahabudin all made it through 6 grueling rounds of play and a brutal elimination round.

But only one can be champion.

PTQ Kyoto @ KL/PJ December 14 2008 – Semifinals
Zac Hill vs Chen Tze Kang

Game 1

Zac chose to draw first and both players were happy with their opening hands.

Chen led off with 2 tri-colored lands in a row but Zac led the action with a Cylian Elf. Chen had a Sprouting Thrinax however, forcing Zac to hold back his Elf and instead just build his mana base with an Obelisk. Chen dropped a Rhox Charger which allowed him to hit Zac for 4 with the now 4/4 Thrinax thanks to the Charger's Exalted ability. On the following turn however, Zac was quick to kill off the Charger with his Bloodpyre Elemental, sacrificing it immediately to use the ability on the Charger before attacking Chen for 2 with his Cylian Elf. Chen then strike back for another 3 with this Thrinax, taking Zac to 13 before adding to his hand a Skeletal Kathari and an Arcane Sanctum from the Gift of the Gargantuan he cast next. Zac then went the offense with a Bull Cerodon hitting Chen for 7 with the 5/5 and his 2/2 elf. Chen then played his Skeletal Kathari but held back his Sprouting Thrinax. Zac chose to hold back his army as well on his turn but Chen then started to chip Zac's life totals off from the air with his 3/2 flying Kathari, that took Zac down to 10.



Chen then added a Fire-field Ogre to his side of the board after which Zac cracked his 2 panoramas who have been hanging around on his side of the board for a while now before Chen dropped an Arcane Sanctum that caused some confusion from the players, as Zac thought that Chen has passed his turn after the Ogre, which was the reason why he cracked his panoramas but Chen asserted that he thought Zac was doing his actions in response to the Fire-field Ogre he cast.

Zac who seemed to be unwilling to drag the game down unnecessarily let the issue slide as he attacked on the following turn with his 5/5 alone which got blocked by Chen's Sprouting Thrinax that gave him 3 1/1 saproling tokens at it's death. Zac then took a little time to considers his options before playing a Fire-field Ogre of his own.



Chen then played Blightning on Zac to hit him down to 7 and forcing him to discard 2 cards before hitting Zac with his Kathari for another 3 damage to take him down to 4. Zac attacked on his following turn with his Cerodon again but all it achieve was to kill off one of Chen's saproling token. Zac then played his Elspeth, Knight-Errant and made a 1/1 soldier token but Chen has an Outrider of Jhess to allow his 3/2 Kathari flyer deal the lethal 4 damage to finish off Zac.

Chen Tze Kang 1 – Zac Hill 0

Game 2

Zac chose to draw again and both players again were happy with their opening hands.


Chen Tze Kang

Zac started off fast and furious with a turn 1 Wild Nacatl and turn 2 plains made it a 2/2 to take 2 damage off Chen to go down to 18. Chen took some time to consider before playing a Grixis Panorama and passed his turn. Zac has a Court Archers that allowed his Wild Nacatl to attack for 3 to take Chen down to 15 while all Chen could do was to crack his panorama for a swamp. Chen continued to build his mana base with an Obelisk of Naya which is taken advantage of as Zac continued his attack with his 1/3 Human Archer and 2/2 Cat Warrior who took Chen down to 12 before adding an Esper Panorama to his side of the board.



Chen played a Savage Lands and finally played a creature in the form of a Mosstodon to his side of the board. Zac cracked his Esper panorama for an Island, drew for his turn before playing a Forest and then attacked with just his 2/2 Cat Warrior, which became a 3/3 from the Archer's Exalted ability, went unblocked and took Chen down to 9. Chen takes a huge chunk off Zac's life totals as his 5/3 hit Zac for 5 to take him down to 15 before A Gift of the Gargantuan gave Chen a Stoic Angel that got cast immediately. Zac then played an Oblivion Ring to deal with Chen's Stoic Angel, sent his Cat Warrior to chip another 3 life off Chen to leave him hanging dangerously at 6. Chen then attacked for another 5 to take Zac down to 10 with his 5/3 but passed his turn without doing anything.



Zac noted that his opponent had 7 mana open and 4 cards in hand before drawing for his turn and thought for a while before attacking with his 3/3 Cat (with exalted). Chen tapped 3 mana, played Grixis Charm, choosing to just bounce his Wild Nacatl instead of attempting to kill it with the -4/-/4 ability, perhaps fearing a pump spell from Zac. Before ending his turn however, Zac decided to play his Agony Wrap to kill off Chen's Mosstodon before replaying his Wild Nacatl. A Skeletal Kathari came into play for Chen and had to face an attacking 2/4 Court Archers from Zac that went unblocked as Chen went to 4.



Zac then added a Carrion Thrash to his side of the board to maintain pressure on Chen. Chen then played another tri-colored land before playing an Archdemon of Unx as he held his Kathari back, fighting to survive. A Grixis Charm from Zac killed off his Kathari and when Zac decided to attack with his whole army, Chen just scooped up his cards for the 3rd game.

Chen Tze Kang 1 – Zac Hill 1

Game 3

As Chen chose to draw this game and both players took some time to consider their openng hands before decided to keep.


Zac Hill

Zac opened the game with another Wild Nacatl, quickly took Chen down another 2 again with a Plains on turn 2. The Cat Warrior took Chen to 16 while all Chen did was to play lands for 3 straight turns. On Zac's next turn, he cracked his panorama for a Mountain to make the Cat Warrior a 3/3 but Chen has a Resounding Thunder to stop the bleeding. Zac simply passed his turn while Chen dropped a Fire-Field Ogre into play. Zac decided then to play an Oblivion Ring to remove the 4/2 first striker from the game after which Chen followed up with a Carrion Thrash. Zac played a Carrion Thrash of his own which died blocking Chen's Carrion Thrash when it attacked on Chen's following turn, but not before Zac took a little time to check that Chen's graveyard was empty. Chen however cycled his Jungle Reaver, then paid 2 mana to get it back as it hit the graveyard with the Thrash's ability. Zac played a Necrogenesis, but Chen has enough mana to play his Jungle Reaver. Zac made a 1/1 saproling creature token before devouring the 1/1 token with a Tar Fiend, making it a 6/6, forcing Chen to discard a card. Chen attacked with his Jungle Reaver, and Zac moved his Tar Fiend towards the Reaver but hesitated, took note of Chen's open mana but then decided to block the 5/6 anyway. Chen then played Infest to finish off the Tar Fiend before playing a Skeletal Kathari.

Zac simply played Blightning on Chen forcing him to discard the Stoic Angel he had in his hand. Then, Chen's 3/2 flyer attacked Zac for 4 damage, thanks to the newly joined Rhox Charger, dropping Zac to 16 as Zac played his Qasali Ambusher for free but chose not the block with it and made 2 1/1 saproling creature tokens. A Grixis Charm killed off the Charger and Zac attacked Chen for 4 with his 2/3 and 2 1/1 tokens. Chen untapped, drew for his turn, took a look at his graveyard, and took some time to think his play through before playing a Scourge Devil.



Zac made another 2 1/1 tokens as Chen passed his turn before mulling over his options. He then played and sacrificed his Bloodpyre Elemental to kill off Chen's Devil and his 4 saproling tokens attacked Chen taking him down to 6 as Chen's Kathari blocked a token before Zac removed his Devil from the game with his Necrogenesis for another 1/1 saproling token.



Elspeth comes in for Zac and he used the +3/+3 and flying ability on one of his saproling tokens and attacked with all of his creatures, taking Chen down to 3 as he blocked the flying token with his Skeletal Kathari and the Ambusher with his newly cast Outrider of Jhess, sacrificing the Outrider to regenerate his Kathari but when he knew he had no answer for the incoming onslaught from Zac, Chen conceded the match giving way to Zac to advance into the finals.

Chen Tze Kang 1 – Zac Hill 2

Zac Hill advanced to the finals winning the semifinals defeating Chen Tze Kang 2 - 1!Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.


Final Standings

PTQ Kyoto @ KL/PJ December 14 2008 – Quarterfinals
Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin vs Chooi, Yew Vern V

As transcribed by Jason Yap

Game 2

During side-boarding, Yew decided to sideboard in a Courier’s Capsule, replacing an Island and also a Dispeller's Capsule to possibly deal with the Goblin Assault seen earlier in Game 1.

Yew drew his opening hand and immediately announced he’s keeping the hand. Hafiz however shouted out loud “Mulligan!”

“JAHAT! JAHAT! TAK FAIR BETUL” shouted Hafiz when he decided that his next hand was unplayable as well but he decided to keep the next 5.

The game started off with Yew play an Akrasan Squire which got killed immediately by Hafiz’s Blister Beetle but Yew followed up with a Windwright Mage. Not willing to fall behind, Hafiz played a Blood Cultist but an Esper Guildmage threatened to kill it off soon. Hafiz with 3 mountains and a swamp played and attacked with Hell’s Thunder, taking 5 off Yew with the 4/4 flyer and 1/1 beetle which went unblocked. Hafiz then shot his Hell’s Thunder for 1 before it has to be sacrificed to get a +1/+1 counter with Blood Cultist to avoid dying to Esper Guildmage’s -1/-1 ability.


Onlookers during the Hafiz-Yew match

Yew then attacked with his Windwright Mage, taking 2 off Hafiz to 18 while gaining 2 life points to go up to 17 before playing an Obelisk of Esper. Hafiz passed his turn doing nothing and Yew then thought hard before attacking with his Mage which got blocked by Hafiz’s Beetle, killing it off and gained 2 life points for Yew to go up to 19. Yew then played an Oblivion Ring on Blood Cultist, which was used to kill off the Windwright Mage before sent into oblivion. Yew then played Sanctum Gargoyle, got his Windwright Mage back and passed. Hafiz had nothing and passed his turn as well, but Yew has plenty of action as he cast back his Windwright Mage, played a Tidehollow Sculler and Hafiz soon scooped up his cards in frustration as he failed to find any action to keep himself in the game.

Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin 1 - Chooi, Yew Vern V 1

Game 3



Hafiz jokingly asked Yew to mulligan, but unfortunately, Yew decided his opening hand is playable. Hafiz is happy with his opening hand however, noting that it was “Sangat Boleh.”

Yew starts off with a Dispeller's Capsule followed with a Courier’s Capsule while Hafiz opened his play with a Dregscape Zombie and a Jund Battlemage. Yew sacrificed his Courier’s Capsule to draw two but went down to 14 after 2 turns of combat from Hafiz’s aggressive start. Yew finally played a creature with an Akrasan Squire but Hafiz had a Blister Beetle to kill it off once again, and go Hissing Iguanar in play to take Yew down to 7 in a blistering fast game before following up with an Executioner’s Capsule to solidify his board position. Yew had an Oblivion Ring to deal with the Iguanar, but went down to just 2 life points from the following combat phase. Hafiz attempted to alpha strike Yew but a bounce spell prevented Yew from dying from combat, only to die from Jund Battlemage’s life loss ability.

Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin 2 - Chooi, Yew Vern V 1

Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin wins his quarterfinals match defeating Chooi, Yew Vern V 2-1Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.



Another Sunday has gone by and so did the last PTQ Kyoto for Malaysia as about 70 players showed up to battle for the last chance to qualify for Pro Tour Kyoto and win the invite to PT Kyoto and flight ticket to Kyoto, Japan.

7 rounds and another long day of dueling later – once again only 8 were left still standing.

The top 8 single elimination playoffs - random pairings

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

Johan Jamal Yacob vs Zac D Hill

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



Kenny Tan vs Chen Tze Kang

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



Mohd Hafiz Mokhtaruddin vs Chooi, Yew Vern V

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



Nur Effendy Shahabudin vs Sebastian Wu

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

PTQ Kyoto @ KL/PJ December 14 2008 – Quarterfinals
Zac Hill vs Johan Jamal Yacob

Although lacking in major finishes, Johan Jamal Yacob did recently made back to back top 8 appearances for 2 GPT Taipei early during this Shards of Alara sealed limited season, winning one of them. Although this will be his first PTQ: Kyoto top 8, Johan must be hoping to clinch the title to prove his mastery of the format.

Meanwhile, Johan’s quarterfinals opponent Zac Hill is a popular StarCityGames.com columnist and Pro Tour regular including a 2nd place finish at Grand Prix St. Louis. The American is currently working in the country for the Malaysian Centre for Independent Journalism. Unfortunately for the local players, a lack of major finishes on the international circuit this year season for Zac means that he has to come to fight with everyone else for a flight ticket for Pro Tour Kyoto, and only 3 others remained standing in his way...


Johan Jamal Yacob

Game 1

Zac won the dice roll and chose to draw first to the surprise of Johan.

Johan started off with a tri-colored land, while Zac led off with a Puppet Conjurer, who is used by Zac to attack Johan for 1, before following up with an Obelisk while all Johan had were lands for 4 straight turns. Zac then added a Bloodpyre Elemental to his side of the board, attacked Johan for another 1 damage with the Conjurer before playing a Bull Cerodon on his following turn, and attacked Johan with all 3 of his creatures to knock 10 points off Johan’s life totals but Johan was ready for it as he played Skeletonize to kill off Zac's Puppet Conjurer, blocking Zac's 4/1 Elemental with his 1/1 Skeleton token creature from Skeletonize to kill off the 4/1, but he still took 5 damage from the 5/5 beast.



Johan dug into his library with an Elvish Visionary, and then played an Oblivion Ring to temporarily deal with Zac’s Bull Cerodon. Zac however had an Oblivion Ring of his own to remove Johan's Oblivion Ring from the game, a play which drew a collective gasp from the on-looking audience. Zac then sent his Bull Cerodon who returned from oblivion into the red zone to immediately hit in for another 5 thanks to the beast’s haste ability but Johan put his Elvish Visionary in front of it to avoid losing his grip further in the game. A Cloudheath Drake joins Johan's side of the board and he took another 5 damage to go down to 8 from Zac’s Bull Cerodon, choosing not to block with his 3/3 flyer. Zac then added more pressure on Johan with a Fire-Field Ogre. Johan took some time to consider his options before simply passing the turn.

Zac then attacked with his 5/5 alone, deciding to play it safe and not attack with his 4/2 first strike ogre. Johan forced to act, played Naya Charm, choosing to return his Skeletonize to his hand from the graveyard but Zac was ready for it with a Bant Charm which countered Johan's instant. Johan put his Drake in front of the 5/5, then played a Rhox War Monk on his turn and passed his turn. Zac attacked with both his creatures, with his 5/5 beast blocked by Johan’s War Monk. The combat step took Johan down to 4 from the 4/2 first striker, but went back up to 7 with the life gained from the Monk.


Zac Hill

“Kiss me?” - Zac, playing a Kiss of the Amesha.

“Sure, Zac” - Johan.

Zac drew 2 cards and went up to 27 from the spell, and when Johan drew blank, there was little he could do but to scoop up his cards for game 2.

Zac Hill 1 – Johan Jamal Yacob 0

Game 2

As both players drew their opening hands Zac chose to keep his hand quickly, but Johan had to mull over his hand for a while before deciding to just keep his opening 7 with him on the draw.

Both players only have land for the first 2 turns as Zac cracked his panorama on the end of Johan 2nd turn. Zac then continued to build his mana base with an Obelisk of Naya while Johan simply played another land and said go. Zac then played his Bloodpyre Elemental, but Johan is still light on action with just an Obelisk of Grixis as his first spell of the game.



Zac attacked Johan into 16 with the 4/1, played a Wild Nacatl and passed his turn. On the following turn, Johan had his own Bloodpyre Elemental, sacrificed it immediately to kill off the other 4/1. Unfazed, Zac sacrificed his 2nd panorama on the end of Johan's turn before attacking with his now 3/3 Nacatl, made smooching sounds as he played his Kiss of the Amesha to draw 2, and went up to 27.

Johan then tried to disturb Zac’s mana sources with a Volcanic Submersion destroying Zac’s plains but Zac simply cracked another panorama to allow his 3/3 Cat Warrior to take Johan down another 3 to10 before playing Fire-Field Ogre to maintain pressure on Johan. Johan passed his turn without any action again which made Zac felt wary, took some time to considers the possibilities before attacking Johan to just 3 life left with his 4/2 and 3/3 before adding an Elspeth, Knight-Errant to his side of the board, making a 1/1 Soldier with the Planeswalker. Johan drew for his turn again but once again has no answer to Zac’s overwhelming board position and extended his hand.



Zac Hill 2 – Johan 0

Zac Hill won the quarterfinals match defeating Johan Jamal Yacob 2-0!Read more!

Smalltalk: The coverage for the final local PTQ: Kyoto @ Manawerx on the 14th of December are being written and will be posted as soon as possible. Check back soon!



Finland’s Antti Malin and the U.S. team of Michael Jacob, Sam Black, and Paul Cheon are your 2008 World Champions!



Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for Team Malaysia as Au Yong Wai Kin, Chong Kin Leong and Terry Soh finished 5th on the Team Championship, missing out the top 4 single elimination rounds on tiebreakers.

Each of them will receive US$1,500 for their 5th place finish.

Malin and his Faeries deck defeated a resurgent Jamie Parke and his Five-Color Control in the finals to take home the World Champion trophy and the $45,000 first prize. Malin defeated Akira Asahara and Hannes Kerem en route to his first major championship.

Team USA captured the team title on the backs of wins by Black and Cheon in the Team Finals. Black defeated Rookie of the Year Aaron Nicastri in the Extended matchup, while Cheon outlasted Justin Cheung a the Legacy duel featuring an epic Standstill that finally cracked in Cheon’s favor. That win rendered the outcome of the Standard matchup between Jacob and Brandon Lau moot in the best-of-three Finals.

That’s not all the hardware that was handed out over the weekend. Shuhei Nakamura fended off all challengers to win the 2008 Player of the Year trophy, and the Pro Tour Hall of Fame inducted its five newest members: Dirk Baberowski, Mike Turian, Jelger Wiegersma, Olivier Ruel, and Ben Rubin. Nicastri’s 17th-place finish in the individual standings and runner-up status in the team competition cemented his Rookie of the Year, culminating a mad dash around the world for Pro Points that started back when he won the Australia National Championship.

Congratulations to all the champions crowned this weekend in Memphis. As the curtain comes down on this 2008 Pro Tour season, all we have to say is thank you...thank you very much.

See you in Kyoto!

- Official MagicTheGathering.com Coverage Team

Player profiles, decklists, news, photos, stories and many more on the World Championships are available on the official coverage here.Read more!

An endless war rages in the heavens.

The skies blacken and crackle with dark magic. Bellows of grim laughter drown out the beating of black, leathery wings. The demons have come.

Then, a ray of golden light pierces the darkness. A flight of angels arrives, swords gleaming. The champions of law have arrived to cleanse the sky.

In April, you will wage this eternal battle between good and evil. Which celestial force will prevail?

Duel Decks: Divine vs Demonic contains two ready-to-play 60-card decks that showcase some of the best spells the forces of light and darkness have to offer. The set includes 7 cards that feature new artwork, including two alternate art foil mythic rare cards.

Deck Design and Development: Nate Heiss and Erik Lauer
Release Date: April 10th, 2009
MSRP: $19.99

Original announcement: click here.

Read more!

This is where legends are born. Four annual worldwide stops make up the Tour, with each event showcasing a prize pool of more than $230,000. Travel the world, face off against the best players the game has to offer, and enjoy the spoils available to those living the life of a professional Magic player.

Exterior of Kyoto Station by Bentley Smith

Reminder: PTQ Kyoto for KL/PJ @ Manawerx is this coming Sunday! Don't miss your last chance locally to win a chance to play against the best in the world along with a return flight ticket to Kyoto to play in Pro Tour Kyoto and a shot at huge cash prizes, or win USD$375!

For more information, click on the link below.

Original post - PRO TOUR QUALIFIER KYOTO, JAPAN (KL/PJ) - DECEMBER 14th, 2008


View of Kyoto city from Kiyomizu temple by j snodRead more!

Do you want one of these?

You can get your copy of Treva simply by coming to the 2008 World Championships in Memphis or to any of the 2009 Pro Tours (Kyoto February 27-March 1, Honolulu June 5-7, Austin October 16-19). Participation in the main event isn't required—anyone who comes to the event hall can get a free promotional card (while supplies last). For more information on next year's Pro Tour season, click here. Qualifiers for Pro Tour–Kyoto are going on now.

The shiny Chrome Mox can be yours for attending any 2009 Grand Prix (while supplies last). You can see the complete schedule for next season here.

Original announcement can be found here.Read more!

The 2009 Grand Prix season kicks off January 17-18 in Los Angeles and showcases the Extended format across two days of exciting tournament action. Like with all Grand Prix, Day 1 is open to all players--no invitation needed! Day 2 features the new 2009 policy on second-day cuts with all players X-2 or better advancing to Sunday.

Read more for complete schedule and more information!

Date - City - Format
January 17-18 - Los Angeles, California - Extended
February 21-22 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Sealed/Booster Draft
March 7-8 - Chicago, Illinois - Legacy
March 14-15 - Hanover, Germany - Extended
March 21-22 - Singapore - Extended
April 18-19 - Kobe, Japan - Extended
May 23-24 - Barcelona, Spain - Standard
May 30-31 - Seattle, Washington - Standard
June 13-14 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Standard
August 1-2 - Boston, Massachusetts - Sealed/Booster Draft
August 8-9 - Brighton, United Kingdom - Sealed/Booster Draft
August 22-23 - Bangkok, Thailand - Sealed/Booster Draft
August 29-30 - Niigata, Japan - Sealed/Booster Draft
September 5-6 - Prague, Czech Republic - Sealed/Booster Draft
October 3-4 - Kitakyushu, Japan - Sealed/Booster Draft
October 10-11 - Melbourne, Australia - Sealed/Booster Draft
October 24-25 - Tampa, Florida - Sealed/Booster Draft
November 7-8 - Paris, France - Sealed/Booster Draft
November 14-15 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Sealed/Booster Draft

For more information about Grand Prix, click here.

Original announcement on MagicTheGathering.com is available here.

Read more!

Decards Enterprise proudly presents...

The Decards @ USJ Summit RM2,900 Standard Open 2008!


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.)

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

Main Event information:

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 click here.

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.)

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: click here.

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

Read more!

This is where legends are born. Four annual worldwide stops make up the Tour, with each event showcasing a prize pool of more than $230,000. Travel the world, face off against the best players the game has to offer, and enjoy the spoils available to those living the life of a professional Magic player.

PTQ: Kyoto at Manawerx, 9th November 2008

One of Pro Tour Kyoto's Qualifier Tournaments will be held in Manawerx Trading, PJ on the 14th of December!

Read on for more details!

PRO TOUR QUALIFIER KYOTO, JAPAN

Venue:
Manawerz Trading
1-008 1st Floor, Millenium Square,
Dataran Millenium PJ,
98 Jalan 14/1,
46100 Petaling Jaya.

Date:
14th DECEMBER 2008 (Sunday)

Time:
10.00AM (Registration starts at 9.00am)

Entry Fee:
RM70.00

Format:
SHARDS OF ALARA SEALED DECK with TOP 8 BOOSTERS DRAFT

PRIZE STRUCTURE:

1st place Invitation + Return Airline Ticket to KYOTO, JAPAN or USD
375.00
2nd place 24 SHARDS OF ALARA Boosters
3rd – 4th place 12 SHARDS OF ALARA Boosters
5th – 8th place 6 SHARDS OF ALARA Boosters
9th – 32nd place 3 SHARDS OF ALARA Boosters

If U have any questions please call me 012 2608438 or U can email me at
ccgorganizer@myjaring.net

Michael Toh
KL TO

Read more!

Terry Soh is PTQ Kyoto @ Ipoh November 30 2008 winner!

Rick Lee dropped along with Allan Chong and Eddy Ng as they gave way to Terry Soh who wish to attend Pro Tour: Kyoto in what could hopefully be a revival of Malaysian glory on the Pro Tour.

Terry Soh joins past winners Nico Surinidran and Wearn Chong - all of them planning to attend in what could be a breakthrough Pro Tour for Nico and Wearn.

One last chance to qualify for Pro Tour Kyoto in Malaysia, in another PTQ that will be held in Manawerx in PJ on the 14th. Detailed post on the event coming soon.

Keep reading for a photo gallery of the rest of the event!


Players milling about, trading, hanging out before the tournament


A view of part of the tournament room


Hobby merchandise for sale


Players waiting for deck registration


A common sight within Game Vault, Ipoh


Another common sight during the tournament


Battle of the bombs


Game Vault's collection of Magic artwork


Final standings


Loco's top 8 deck in construction


Rick Lee's top 8 deck in construction


Ong Dun Chuan's top 8 deck in construction


Yau Mun Yip's deck construction was over before photographer had a chance to take a picture of


Allan Chong's top 8 deck in construction


Eddy Ng's top 8 deck in construction


Terry Soh's top 8 deck in construction


Muhd Hazim's top 8 deck in constructionRead more!