Tournament Update #11 - Jason Felix

It is honestly hard coming up with things to say at the beginning of each update that I have for you guys and gals. I don't want to be the same in every post, especially since I constantly want to use the word "so" at the beginning of each and every post. I'm glad this one doesn't start out that way.

So today I received ANOTHER piece of donation for this event from the talented Jason Felix, who is really known for the cards All Is Dust, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen and Creeping Tar Pit. But I'm sure that many of you, unless you're a super genius and know every artist of every card, there is a little gem from the Scars of Mirrodin set that has seen play in standard as of late. Ready?

 

Yes! That's Perilous Myr! It's so cute sitting there with the green steam coming out of the pipes in his back. I really like Jason's use of green in the mat. Really gives it some amazing detail. Thanks again to Jason for helping out! That brings the total amount of playmats to 9. Top 8 still will be getting a playmat each and one will be up for raffle. When it gets closer, I'll have a definite list of what will be available for the top 8 and the raffle. 

There will be more news to come. I'm still waiting to hear from two to three more artists and my corporate donation that was shipped out this week. I promise that it will be pretty awesome for those that do come! Look for it!

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!

Tournament Update #9 - CardKitty and Adam Paquette

Today was sort of unexpected with donations arriving to my house. And by unexpected, I mean that I knew they were coming but I just didn't know when. And it is always a nice surprise when you get home and there's a nice package from the post office waiting for you.

So this is another two donation update, since it's much nicer to have all of you see everything that will be available as I get them. It'll also make it so I don't have to make dozens of posts.

Up first is CardKitty. For those in the know, CardKitty is huge in the Magic community. For those who don't know, CardKitty is an alterist. He takes regular Magic cards and paints them to all sorts of awesomeness. Full art, no borders, whatever it is that you want. I wrote him and asked for a possible donation and what I got was amazing. This is for all the modern and legacy players out there - a play set of M11 Lightning Bolts. So without further ado, here they are!





In person, they look amazing. Much better than with my iPhone camera. If you ever have wanted cards altered by CardKitty, I highly highly recommend him. Just go to their website and check them out. Don't forget that these will be up for raffle at the tournament! 
The other donation that I received was from Australian native Adam Paquette. He is very new to the Magic: the Gathering world but his art is very familiar, especially with his cards Thunderous Wrath, four lands from Avacyn Restored (Plains, Island, Mountain and Swamp) and more recently from M13 Trading Post. Adam was part of the first batch of artists that I wrote when I started looking for donations from artists, mainly because I love his art on Thunderous Wrath. The colors were amazing and I really wanted something by him to be available at the tournament. What I got was well beyond my realm of expectations. I got four (!!!) playmats. These playmats will be part of the Top 8 winnings. So on top of the one done by Bud Cook that I recently showed, here are another 4. What will the last 3 be? That's something that will be decided later but here is your first look at these amazing playmats.

Just wait til you see them in person. They will blow your mind away. The small details that he put in each one is just absurdly amazing.

Until next time!

Tournament Update #8 - Steve Prescott

It seems that as each day passes, I continue to get a donation from one of the many artists that I sent emails to. Today was one of those days. Steve Prescott is a huge artist when it comes to Magic. His style is completely different than most of the other artists that are currently being used and I really think that works for him. His kithkin designs are very well known as well as his more famous Daybreak Ranger, Rampaging Baltohs and the more recent Zealous Conscripts. His donations are quite amazing, honestly. First, I received this amazing play mat based on his art for Fauna Shaman:

Fauna Shaman Playmat

I think it came out great. Like the rest of the play mats, I haven't decided what ones will go towards top 8 and what ones will be part of the prize giveaways. But this play mat will be there regardless. Steve Prescott also sent me two playsets of artist proofs. Don't forget to click the pictures to see them bigger! Here is the first one, Canyon Minotaur:

As you can see, all four of the proofs are signed by Steve and when the four are put together on the other side, they have an original drawing of the Canyon Minotaur. The other one will probably be of interest to anyone who loves elves or legendary creatures. The other playset of artist proofs is of Rhys the Exiled:

Both the artist proofs will be available for the prize giveaways so definitely look for that! I hope you enjoyed this update!

Tournament Update #7 - Star City Games and other stuff

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Fourth of July. Happy Birthday, America!

When I began asking for donations from the artists, I felt like I should ask companies that are pretty big in the Magic: the Gathering community. I got a reply from a few of them but this was the first one I actually got something from and I have no idea what the other ones are sending until I write them back later this month. I'll have more information on that probably next month but this post is about what I received from Star City Games. I was very shocked that the president of SCG was willing to send me something and very excited as well. So this is what will be entered into either the prize giveaways of our tournament or part of the prizes given away at the tournament.

Yup, a sealed Elspeth vs Tezzeret duel deck from 2010. The Elspeth foil is very sought after and this will be a very exciting part of the event. I was super excited to get this so I hope that you guys are excited as well. When it comes to the small stuff like this, I haven't really decided if they will be part of the prize giveaways or part of the tournament. When it gets closer to September, I'm probably going to be posting what will be given away as Top Whatever of the tournament as well as what will be at the prize giveaways.

In other news for the event, I finally went and got a good idea of what the setup will look like at the event. The VFW hall is very large and I think that it will be a very good place to have this tournament. If it is going to be nice outside, we will also probably play games and have stuff outside as well. Remember, for anyone over 21 and interested, the VFW will be serving alcohol up in the bar area upstairs. I am sure this will be of interest to many people.

Lastly, I previously said that the tournament would not be accepting credit cards. I have instead decided to use Square for anyone who wants to use a credit card for registration. I would PREFER cash but if credit card is your only way, there will be an option for you. They take 2.75% for every credit card swiped but I will put in my own money for any differences. So, for example, if 20 people paid with a credit card, I would put in $11 to make up for the loss of money to Square. For the prize giveaways, I don't think I will be accepting credit cards but that might change when it gets closer to the event.

I hope you all enjoyed this update. I have tons of more artists sending me stuff so look for all that information soon!

Tournament Update #6 - Bud Cook

Well it was totally unexpected that I would be writing two posts today about donations. I didn't think I would be getting another one anytime soon but after I got home, there was a package waiting for me from local Magic: the Gathering artist Bud Cook. His cards are more recent but include favorites Invisible Stalker and Lingering Souls. His donation was a play mat which will be going towards the top 8 players. So there's another bit of news: the top 8 players of my event will all be taking with them an original designed play mat by Magic artists. I'll have more info on that when I get some more but this is your first look at the first one.

The play mat is of his art for Zealous Strike but he did graciously draw an original drawing on the left as well as signed it. I think it looks fantastic and I hope that you all agree as well.

Like I said earlier, look for more information on the top 8 prizes as well as other raffles soon. I have a lot more stuff that will be going on here when the time gets closer or when I receive the stuff in the mail!

Tournament Update #5 - Volkan Baga & Michael Komarck

So this week saw me receive two donations from artists. I'm going to be posting the pictures of what got donated in one post, making it easier for everyone to read instead of doing two separate posts. I apologize in advance for the photo quality. They look much nicer in person, trust me.

So first up is the donation from Volkan Baga. He has an amazing talent and has done such cards as Ranger of Eos, Snapcaster Mage and Elspeth, Knight-Errant. He decided to send me a few art books of his Lord of the Rings and Magic: the Gathering art from 2008-2012. He has some awesome stuff in them. I thought I was going to get two or three. Instead I got eight. Each one is signed and has a unique sketch on the inside front cover, as you can see below. All of these will be up for raffle so definitely check them out.



The other donation I received was from Michael Komarck. He has a long list of amazing cards, which include Elspeth Tirel, both Sorin Makrov and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Knight of the Reliquary, and many others. His donation was quite amazing. I recieved six signed prints. Three of these (Sorin Markov, Elspeth Tirel and Rafiq of the Many) are 13"x19" and the other three (Oriss, Samite Guardian, Knight of the Reliquary, and Finest Hour) are 8.5"x11". Five of them will be up for raffle. The Knight of the Reliquary 8.5"x11" print will go to the first place winner of the tournament.

 

There will be a bunch of other prizes and raffles announced in the coming weeks so look for that. I hope that this will keep you interested until then.