Avacyn Restored: Hope is Restored!

Greetings, Magic players!  In addition to our Facebook Event pages (Midnight event: here, Regular event here), I'm posting the details for our TWO Avacyn Restored Prerelease events right here on this blog!

BOTH of our events are Helvault events.

How do you open the Helvault? You might recall that every Prerelease, I distribute a set of "Achievement" cards for you to fill out.  This time, they're actually important!  Every THREE achievements you obtain, I will be breaking ONE seal on the Helvault.  When the last seal is broken, the Helvault breaks asunder and we feast on the sweet, gooey innards (Disclaimer:  Contents may not be edible)

1) Midnight Madness Avacyn Restored Prereleases:

Start Time and Date:  12:01 a.m., Friday, April 27th.   Players are strongly advised to arrive during the half-hour prior.  Or come for FNM and stay for the Prerelease! 

Entry fee:  $25.  Cash only, please.  Alternate payment methods must be pre-approved prior to April 27th

Product:  Six (6) Avacyn Restored Booster Packs, and one (1) Prerelease Promotional Card (while supplies last).

Deck/Pool Registration:  This event will not have deck or pool registration.  Players may not trade cards into each others' Sealed Pools during the tournament.

Rounds:  Each 8-man Pod will play 3 Swiss Rounds.

Prizes:  Two (2) Avacyn Restored booster packs are placed in the prize pool for every entrant.  These will be distributed to the Top 8 based on standings.  In the event of multiple pods, relative standings between pods will be ranked and prizes awarded to the combined Top 8 finishers.

There will be no side event drafts for this event.

The Main Event:

Start Time and Date:  11:00 a.m., Sunday, April 29th.   Players are strongly advised to arrive during the hour prior to opening to help keep the registration process from slowing down immediately before to 11:00 am.  Please have your DCI number ready (if possible) for the registration process.  If you do not have a DCI number, DCI signup slips will be available for you.  It's fast, it's free, and it's the best way to play tournament Magic!  If you cannot recall your DCI number, it can be found for you with proof of identity.

Entry fee:  $27.  Cost includes price of product, prizes.

Product:  Six (6) Avacyn Restored Booster Packs, and one (1) Prerelease Promotional Card (while supplies last).

Signup Process:  The entry fee is payable upstairs at the register with cash, credit or debit.  Registration for the main tournament is downstairs at the computer desk with proof of purchase.  The Prerelease Promo is awarded upon successful entry into the tournament.

Pool Registration:  Each entrant will be required to open the 6 boosters provided (the "card pool") and register each card on the provided pool registration sheet at the start of the tournament.  The pool registration sheet will then be checked by another entrant in the tournament, or a tournament official if none are available.  30 minutes will be provided for this process.  Entrants requiring more time may inform a tournament official.

Deck Registration:  Entrants will NOT be required to submit a deck list along with their pool registration.  This means that decks can be freely changed in between rounds of the tournament and do not need to be restored to their original arrangement.  Remember, ONLY cards from your card pool may be in your deck at any time.

Rounds:  Swiss Rounds (no elimination) with a cut to Top 8 Playoff.  Number of rounds varies with number of entrants, capped at 7 Rounds, 50 minutes per round:

• 8-15: 4 Rounds
• 16 - 31: 5 Rounds
• 32 - 63: 6 Rounds
• 64 - 127: 7 Rounds

Prizes:  Two (2) Avacyn Restored booster packs are placed in the prize pool for every entrant.  These will be distributed to the Top 8 based on standings after the Playoff if the event is 35 entrants or fewer.  In the case of 36 players or more in the event, the prizes will instead be distributed to the Top 16 based on standings, with the Top 8 being awarded after the Playoff.  Additional prizes may be awarded at the Tournament Organizer's discretion.

All players are eligible for door prizes and other prizes, including Feature Match prizes, while supplies last.

In addition, every player who participates in this Prerelease event is awarded an automatic $5 credit towards all Side Event entry fees for the day.

The Side Events:  DKA/ISD/ISD 8-man 5-3-2-2 Booster Drafts!

Start Time and Date:  1:00 p.m., Sunday, January 29th and rolling start times after for each new 8-man event.  Final event start time is 9:00 p.m., Sunday, January 29th.

Entry fee:  $15.  Cost includes price of product, prizes.  All players who participated in the main event are awarded an automatic $5 off any side event entry fee for the day!

Product: Two (2) Innistrad booster packs, one (1) Dark Ascension booster pack, and one (1) Prerelease Promotional Card (while supplies last).

Signup Process:  Rolling queues - enter your name into the next upcoming queue along with entry fee. The Prerelease Promo is awarded upon successful start of the tournament.  In the case the event does not occur, a full refund is provided. and the Prerelease Promo is still awarded (while supplies last).  Players participating in a Side Event may not also be currently active in a Main Event.

Pool Registration, Deck Registration:  Entrants will NOT be required to submit a pool sheet or deck list.  This means that decks can be freely changed in between rounds of the tournament and do not need to be restored to their original arrangement.  Remember, ONLY cards from your card pool may be in your deck at any time.

Rounds:  Three Single-Elimination Rounds, 50 minutes per round.

Prizes:  All players may keep the cards they drafted for the event.  In addition, the following prizes are award at the end of the side event:

• 1st: 5 Booster packs of Innistrad or Dark Ascension (player's choice), 1 Prerelease Promo
• 2nd:  3 Booster packs of Innistrad or Dark Ascension (player's choice)
• 3rd, 4th: 2 Booster packs of Innistrad or Dark Ascension (player's choice)

The Prerelease promotional card for the Avacyn Restored Prerelease is the awesome Moonsilver Spear!

And that's it!  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at our spectacular Prerelease!  Remember, you can still pre-order a box of Avacyn Restored for our promotional price of $100, tax included.  The deadline is April 27th!

As always, questions, comments and suggestions can be emailed to lamoodmagic@gmail.com

Magic Schedule for August, 2011

Greetings, Spellslingers!  August is shaping up to be a pretty exciting month for Magic at L.A. Mood, so here's the first of many posts to keep you updated on all the events and promotions and astounding product coming out!

IMPORTANT! Please make every effort to arrive by the posted start time.  I will be more diligent about starting events at the posted start time for the month of August, and it'd be great if you guys could be, too!  Note that the start times for all evening events have been officially set at 6:30 pm.

The schedule of events for August 2011 is as follows:

Monday, August 1st - Civil Holiday!  Our regularly scheduled draft is CANCELLED for Monday, August 1st.  Enjoy the long weekend!
Friday, August 5th - FNM! Standard-legal deck required.  6:30 pm start time, no entry fee.
Sunday, August 7th - L5R Tournament!  The Samurai of Rokugan fight for honor, glory and power this Sunday; because of this, our regularly scheduled EDH and casual play event is CANCELLED for Sunday, August 7th.

Monday, August 8th - Monday Night Draft! M12x3. 6:30 pm start time, $12 entry fee, rare re-draft.
Friday, August 12th - FNM! Standard-legal deck required.  6:30 pm start time, no entry fee.
Sunday, August 14th - Magic Game Day!  Come compete with your Standard-legal deck for a chance at the special Game Day full-art promotional cards.  Check out the later post for further details!  11:00 am start time, no entry fee.

Monday, August 15th - Monday Night Draft! M12x3. 6:30 pm start time, $12 entry fee, rare re-draft.
Friday, August 19th - FNM! Important: This week's FNM overlaps with the Canadian Nationals Last-Chance Qualifying Events.  This week's FNM will be scheduled to accomodate the London players (including myself) who will be attending the Canadian Nationals.  Time is TBA!
Sunday, August 21st - Due to overlap with the Canadian Nationals, Sunday Casual has been CANCELLED for this week.

Monday, August 22nd - Monday Night Draft! M12x3. 6:30 pm start time, $12 entry fee, rare re-draft.
Friday, August 26th - FNM! Standard-legal deck required. 6:30 pm start time, no entry fee.
Sunday, August 28th - Grand Prix: Montreal Trial tournament!  Compete in an M12 Sealed event for the chance to win three byes at the upcoming Grand Prix Montreal!  Three byes is an exceptionally awesome prize, and M12 Sealed is just the way to earn them!  Look for all the details in an upcoming announcement!  11:00 am start time, $30 entry fee.

May's FNM Prize foil is the solid land-fetching staple, Cultivate!  Sure to make your Valakut brews that much fancier for their remaining span in Standard, and what's better than a pimped-out Extended deck?

Also, a reminder that it's never to early to pre-order upcoming promotional sets like Premium Decks: Graveborn or Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Bolas. All pre-orders will be honored and if any promotions are announced, they're always retroactively applied to existing pre-orders!  It's a can't-lose proposition!

Preorders have been officially closed for FTV: Legends!  Additional requests for this exciting set will be accepted; however, no guarantees can be made in regards to availability or price.
As always, questions, comments and suggestions can be directed to lamoodmagic@gmail.com.

See you in the Blind Eternities!

Magic: The Gathering: The (Very, very belated) Schedule of Events for April!

Hello, all! My April post is shamefully late, but nevertheless here. I am extremely happy to see everyone made it through the first few uncertain weeks safe and sound, and I am here again to guide us through the rest of April. Check the bottom of this post for exciting information regarding New Phyrexia Pre-orders!

The schedule for the rest of April is as follows:

Friday, April 15th- FNM, Standard. No entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.

Sunday, April 17th - Casual Sunday Madness! Come try out your crazy EDH, Pauper, and what-have you concoctions! No entry fee, open gaming from 12:15 p.m. onward.

Monday, April 18th - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m. Rare Re-draft.

Friday, April 22nd - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m. This is the last chance for you to test out that awesome Standard deck you'll be trying to win your National Invitation with!

Saturday, April 23rd - L.A. Mood's National Qualifier Tournament! Full details posted in a separate post. $10 entry fee, includes a lunch voucher for Los Comales, our next-door Latin Restaurant. Standard-legal deck required, 11:00 a.m. start.

Sunday, April 24th - Sunday Madness is CANCELED for this week. Enjoy your Easter!

Monday, April 25th - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m.

Friday, April 29th - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.

As many of you have seen, our FNM prize foil for this month is Artisan of Kozilek, with a snazzy new FNM foil layout and watermark and simply spectacular art!

BONUS! For all of our New Phyrexia Buy-A-Box Preorders, we are offering a very special deal for the release weekend: Pre-ordering a box and picking it up by Monday, May 16th entitles you not just to the promotional card "Surgical Extraction", but also a special release-weekend-only-price of a mere $100 per box, taxes included! Wow!

And, for the curious, Surgical Extraction looks like this:

Pre-order your box today!

Check in my next post for the full details of our National Tournament Qualifier!

Magic: The Gathering: The Schedule of Events! (For March)

Exciting times afoot! March brings us Mirrodin Besieged Game Day (check our previous post for details) and plenty more drafts and FNMs! Also, for our casual players, Sunday Casual continues strong - and we're looking to bring in ArchEnemy and Planechase into the mad mix!

The schedule for March is as follows:

Friday, March 4th - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.

Sunday, March 6th - Mirrodin Besieged Game Day! Standard, no entry fee, start time 11:00 a.m.

Monday, March 7th - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m.

Friday, March 11th - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.
Sunday, March 13th - Sunday EDH and Pauper! EDH/Pauper/Casual decks, no entry fee, start time 12:30 p.m. or so.
Monday, March 14th - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m.

Friday, March 18th - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.

Sunday, March 20th - Sunday EDH and Pauper! EDH/Pauper/Casual decks, no entry fee, start time 12:30 p.m. or so.

Monday, March 21st - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m.

Friday, March 25th - FNM, Standard. No Entry fee, start time 6:15 p.m.
Sunday, March 27th - Sunday EDH and Pauper! EDH/Pauper/Casual decks, no entry fee, start time 12:30 p.m. or so.
Monday, March 28th - Monday Night Drafting! $12 entry fee, three boosters and land provided. Start time 6:15 p.m.

This Friday, March 4th, FNM will once again be adminstered by the talented and capable Mark Wells. I'll see you all for Game Day bright and early, however!

Wizards of the Coast has begun sales solicitations for the new Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons! Let me know if you'd like to pre-order one or more of these decks - with the Legacy-playable Knights of the Reliquary inside, you can't really go wrong!

The FNM prize foil for this month is the Standard-staple Wall of Omens! While it's not a part of the default 75 for UW control builds these days, it certainly made its splash when it was first released in Rise of the Eldrazi, and may just do so again before rotation in the Fall. Foil out your playset this month in anticipation!

Mirrodin Besieged Game Day - Sunday, March 6th, 2011!

Game Day is fast approaching! With the results of Paris behind us, I'm sure you're all anxious to come out to L.A. Mood to test your own take on the Standard decks of the day against all-comers to compete for the fabulous prizes available!

Like Friday Night Magic events, Game Day is a Standard tournament; however, there are a few extra tweaks to make the day just a little more exciting!

All participants will recieve a copy of the sure-to-be-outstanding full-art Treasure Mage. Top 8 finishers will recieve a copy of the amazing full-art Black Sun's Zenith.




In addition, the Top 2 finishers with "affiliated" decks will get a copy of either Suture Priest or Pristine Talisman, based on their deck's affiliation. This is in addition to any other prize you might earn, and you can earn these promos without placing in the Top 8:

How can you make an "affiliated" deck?

"Affiliated" decks contain NO cards watermarked with the opposing faction's symbol, and a MINIMUM of 10 cards watermarked with the affiliated factions's symbol. For example, a "Mirran" deck could not run copies of Into the Core (Phyrexian), and would have to have at least 10 cards watermarked like Ardent Recruit (Mirran). Cards without watermarks from previous sets, like the Zendikar Block or M11, do not count for or against your affiliation. Notice, as well, that Tezzeret has no watermark - he's neither Mirran nor Phyrexian! Before you declare your faction, double-check your card list and make sure you're all right!

Standard tournament rules apply - 60 card decks, 15 card sideboards, from Standard-legal sets only (Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi, Magic 2011, Scars of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Besieged). In addition,

1) There in NO entry fee. Prize support will be similar to an FNM, with a few extra goodies I've socked away for special occasions!

2) Sanctioned Side Drafts are available all day!

Start time is at 11:00 a.m.

See you all on Game Day!

As always, questions and comments can be directed to lamoodmagic@gmail.com

Announcing: The Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease!

Hello to all our Magic Players!


As you know, the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease is fast approaching - and there are some important details that make this a Prerelease unlike any you've attended before!

Our Prerelease will begin at 11:00 on Sunday, January the 30th - but try to arrive by 10:30 in order to help keep the event running smoothly. As always, the event is Sealed Deck, however, when you arrive for your packs you'll have to declare your faction - either Mirran or Phyrexian. Mirran players will receive 3 "Mirran-aligned" booster packs, containing only the Mirran-aligned cards from the set, as well as 3 Scars of Mirrodin boosters and 1 copy of the Promotional Hero of Bladehold. Phyrexian players will receive 3 "Phyrexian-aligned" boosters, containing only the Phyrexian-aligned cards from the set, as well as 3 Scars of Mirrodin boosters and 1 copy of the Promotional Glissa, the Traitor. The promotional cards are yours to keep, but you can't play with them during the event!

























The cost of the packs will be $28. If you feel strongly about which faction you'd like to declare for, be sure to let me know but January 28th, so I can set your faction pack aside! All over faction packs will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.


In order to avoid confusion, I have decided on the following tournament organization rules:


1) There will not be submitted deck lists. Players will operate on the "honor system" regarding sideboarding in between events.


2) There will be deck logging - another player will open your packs and list the cards inside. However, unlike previous prereleases, there will not be pack swapping - the packs you purchased are the packs you will be playing with - you just won't be the one to open them!


Looking forward to seeing everyone there!


As always, questions and comments can be directed towards lamoodmagic@gmail.com