Tournament Update #10 - Hamm, Stewart, Vohwinkel, and Avon

This is probably going to be the biggest post that I make regarding donations. And boy, let me tell you, this is a huge amount of awesomeness in one post. I don't honestly know where to really start with this. Might as well just go in the order I put in the title.

So this past weekend was ConnectiCon 2012 and they were able to get three amazing artists. Once I found out who was going to be there, I tried to write each one to see if they would be willing to donate stuff for this awesome tournament. Each one said yes and I am so happy that they were able to donate.

First up is Nils Hamm. His art is very unique to the world of Magic: the Gathering and really fits the art for each card, especially with his well-known cards Grave Titan, Phantasmal Image and the M13 Thragtusk. When I wrote Mr. Hamm for a donation, he was willing to do a play mat at the convention. When I met him, I told him to let his imagination go wild. His final product is amazing. Even though it is not Magic-related, I still feel that it will be a hot item. He told me that he did not want to do something dark and scary, which is what his art usually is. So without further ado:

Mr. Hamm also signed three playsets of Delver of Secrets for the event. The ninth, tenth and eleventh place players will each receive one signed playset as well as other prize support that will be determined later.

Up next is Matt Stewart. I knew that I wanted to receive something from Mr. Stewart when I began this because of his cards Dungrove Elder and Skinshifter. They are quite possibly my favorite cards from M12. The way that his colors are matched perfectly really show the smallest of details. In M13, Mr. Stewart had a really nice card titled Ajani's Sunstriker and he was gracious enough to do a playmat of Ajani's Sunstriker.

Like Mr. Hamm, Mr. Stewart also signed two playsets of Midnight Haunting, quite possibly my favorite card from Innistrad, that will be used as prizes for the twelfth and thirteenth place as well as other prize support. 

The last artist that I met at ConnectiCon was Franz Vohwinkel. His art has spanned across many different Magic sets and he has many cards that are quite playable in many different formats ranging from Glacial Fortress, M12 Oblivion Ring, and Temporal Mastery. His donation is quite unique for this event since I don't think I have ever expected to get. When I communicated with Mr. Vohwinkel, he decided to donate the original art to his Seventh Edition card Rowen. As an added prize, whoever wins this raffle will also receive a Seventh Edition foil of Rowen signed by Mr. Vohwinkel. Here is the art and the card followed by a close up of the foil signed:

Lastly, I finally received the donation from Mr. John Avon. Not only has he done over 150 different Magic cards, he is also an artist for many science fiction books. His most notable cards are Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Murmuring Bosk, Anger and Explosive Vegetation. Mr. Avon is really known for his landscapes and I am so glad that I was donated three signed prints: one of his Zendikar Swamp, one of his Alara Forest and one of Gaze of Justice. Each one is signed in the bottom corner of the print. 

I have about two or three more artists to receive stuff from as well as the other corporate sponsor that I have. Once those are up on here, we can start looking forward to the event. I know that I am getting super excited. I hope you are all too! Please spread the word and let people know that this will be a fantastic event!