I have opened a case full of Tenth Edition and have restocked and in many cases re-priced the singles. I’m going to be updating the stocks of uncommons during the week.

I have continued through the Invasion block. Single cards from Planeshift have been added today.

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the lateness of this message. I’ve unfortunately spent part of last week in hospital because my daughter has been a bit poorly. She is all better now which is great news. So if you have e-mailed me about the GP Trial and not had a reply, I’m sure you can understand why.

On now to the next event. This event will be a GP Trial event for GP Birmingham. This is an excellent chance to try to earn 3 byes for a major Magic event that will be happening right on your doorstep! GP Birmingham takes place at the NEC on the 31st of May and 1st of June 2008. Make sure you prepare to compete on the GP stage by earning your byes at the GP Trial.

BIRMINGHAM GRAND PRIX TRIAL - BIRMINGHAM - SATURDAY THE 15th OF MARCH 2008

As promised, here are the full event details for my PTQ event in Birmingham.

Event notes:

[1] This event is to take place at my usual Birmingham venue but using the 5th floor rooms rather than the usual ground floor rooms [called the Hagley and Worcester suites]. Please use the lifts in the reception area.

[2] Pre-registration places for this event are limited to 72 players so please make sure that you pre-register to guarantee your place. Pre-registration for the event ends on FRIDAY THE 14th OF MARCH.

[3] Standard side events are not advertised below but can be put on if enough players wish to participate. Please bring standard decks with you if you want to take part and ask about a sign-up sheet on the day of the event.

[4] Deck registration sheets will be in use as usual. Please bring pens with you as you must complete the deck registration sheet before you will be enrolled in the event.

I look forward to seeing you at the event.

BIRMINGHAM GRAND PRIX TRIAL - BIRMINGHAM - SATURDAY THE 15th OF MARCH 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. Round one will start at about 11.00am.

FORMAT: The format for the tournament is DCITM-sanctioned Lorwyn block constructed.

Rules Enforcement Level: Competitive

ENTRY FEE: £5.00 for main event

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

SIDE EVENTS: Lorwyn TM and Morningtide TM Booster Draft side events available all day long.

ENTRY FEE: £8.00 for Booster Drafts (3 round Swiss event, 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 event, 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.

March – Sunday 30th – STAFFORD – 2HG Limited Champs for 2008

NOTE: This is a change from the previously advertised date. This event will be taking place at Oddfellows Hall in Stafford high street. More details to come in a future message.

The event format is the popular two-headed giant format sealed using Lorwyn and Morningtide.

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.

I have started on the Invasion block. Single cards from Apocalypse have been added today and I’m currently working on Planeshift.

I have added Odyssey to my inventory which completes the Odyssey block. Next up, the Invasion block……

I have also added some Ravnica theme decks and a very limited number of Torment boosters to the sealed product inventory.

Earlier in the week I added Judgment to the single cards inventory. I have now added Torment to my inventory and work is progressing on Odyssey next.

All,

I have had an overwhelming amount of pre-registrations for the Birmingham PTQ. Initially I offered only 72 places in the event and when this filled up I have contacted my venue and made arrangements for additional chairs and tables to be allocated, bringing the total number of places available up to 96. Unfortunately player demand has been even greater than this and once we reached 96 places filled no further pre-registrations have been taken for the event. If you have applied to pre-register for the event and have NOT received a reply confirming your pre-registration you are NOT pre-registered for the event and are NOT guaranteed a place.

If you have applied to pre-register for the event and HAVE received a reply confirming your pre-registration, you are pre-registered for the event and ARE guaranteed a place.

What does this mean?

Well, I’m going to get to the venue early and try to arrange the tables and chairs as best I can to try to accommodate as many people in the rooms as I can beyond the 96 places already pre-registered. I will be working as hard as I can to get everyone into the event but I cannot promise to be able to do this.

Unfortunately all other conference rooms at the hotel are already booked and therefore I haven’t got a lot of scope to expand the venue any further.

This is a very unusual situation and I appreciate that it isn’t the best news to read if you were planning to attend and have not received confirmation of your place in the event. I hope that you can all appreciate that I’m going to do all that I can to ensure that you can participate in the event.

In the morning please bear with us [the event staff] as we will be making every effort to get this unusually large event running smoothly.

Please Note: Players that are pre-registered have until 10:20 to report to the front desk to confirm that they are at the event. You then have until 10:30 to complete your registration and hand in your deck registration sheet. After 10:30 any pre-registered places that have not yet been taken will be released for use by any players already waiting to get into the event. This will hopefully stop me from keeping a pre-registered place for a player who hasn’t turned up for the event.

See you in Birmingham,

Steve

Hello everyone,

Just a quick Morningtide Release event report. We had a comfortable 18 players in the main event, which was won by Robert Atkinson. The side event draft was won by Matt Akers. Congratulations to both players. Morningtide itself appears to be well liked by the players that I spoke to and certain cards from the set were in high demand.

On now to the PTQ event. Lots of players have already been in contact to pre-register so here are the usual full event details:

BIRMINGHAM PRO TOUR QUALIFIER - HOLLYWOOD - SATURDAY THE 9th OF FEBRUARY 2008

As promised, here are the full event details for my PTQ event in Birmingham.

Event notes:

[1] This event is to take place at my usual Birmingham venue but using the 5th floor rooms rather than the usual ground floor rooms [called the Hagley and Worcester suites]. Please use the lifts in the reception area.

[2] Pre-registration places for this event are limited to 72 players so please make sure that you pre-register to guarantee your place. Pre-registration for the event ends on FRIDAY THE 8th OF FEBRUARY. I already have over 30 places pre-booked so make sure you reserve your place in the event. I hope to be able to offer additional places in the event as tables are arranged. These will be allocate don a ‘first come first served’ basis from a list of waiting players. Be sure to sign up on this list when you get to the event if you didn’t pre-register or pre-registration was full.

[3] Standard side events are not advertised below but can be put on if enough players wish to participate. Please bring standard decks with you if you want to take part and ask about a sign-up sheet on the day of the event.

[4] Deck registration sheets will be in use as usual. Please bring pens with you as you must complete the deck registration sheet before you will be enrolled in the event.

I look forward to seeing you at the event.

Steve

BIRMINGHAM PRO TOUR QUALIFIER - HOLLYWOOD - SATURDAY THE 9th OF FEBRUARY 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. Round one will start at about 10:45am.

FORMAT: The format for the tournament is DCITM-sanctioned extended constructed.

Rules Enforcement Level: Competitive

ENTRY FEE: £5.00 for main event

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

SIDE EVENTS: Lorwyn TM and Morningtide TM Booster Draft side events available all day long.

ENTRY FEE: £8.00 for Booster Drafts (3 round Swiss event, 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 event, 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.

March – Saturday 15th – BIRMINGHAM – GP Trial for GP Birmingham 2008

This event will be a GP Trial event for GP Birmingham. This is an excellent chance to try to earn 3 byes for a major Magic event that will be happening right on your doorstep! GP Birmingham takes place at the NEC on the 31st of May and 1st of June 2008. Make sure you prepare to compete on the GP stage by earning your byes at the GP Trial.

March – Saturday 29th – STAFFORD – 2HG Limited Champs for 2008

The Stafford date for March has moved in order that it can be the first Champs event of the year. The event format is the popular two-headed giant format sealed using Lorwyn and Morningtide.

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.

All,

STAFFORD MORNINGTIDE PRE-RELEASE SATURDAY 19th OF JANUARY 2008
BIRMINGHAM MORNINGTIDE PRE-RELEASE SUNDAY 20th OF JANUARY 2008

Here is the customary reminder about the Morningtide events which take place this coming weekend in Stafford and Birmingham. As more information has been made available about the new set player interest has been building. Pre-registrations have been coming in steadily and I would strongly suggest reserving your space in the event if you intend to come along and play.

NOTE: The Birmingham event is taking place in the fifth floor rooms, not the ground floor rooms.

By the way, there have been some updates to the event calendar for 2008. See below.

Hope to see you at 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 – CANCELLED

This event has been cancelled and re-booked for later in the month as a 2HG County Champs. See below. This item will be removed from the calendar next month.

March – Saturday 15th – BIRMINGHAM – GP Trial for GP Birmingham 2008

This event will be a GP Trial event for GP Birmingham. This is an excellent chance to try to earn 3 byes for a major Magic event that will be happening right on your doorstep! GP Birmingham takes place at the NEC on the 31st of May and 1st of June 2008. Make sure you prepare to compete on the GP stage by earning your byes at the GP Trial.

March – Saturday 29th – STAFFORD – 2HG Limited Champs for 2008

The Stafford date for March has moved in order that it can be the first Champs event of the year. The event format is the popular two-headed giant format sealed using Lorwyn and Morningtide.

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.

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.