Players from across the country traveled to the fantastically beautiful Fisher Pavilion in Seattle, Washington take part in the next stop on the Darkmoon Faire. Attendees could participate in multiple TCG and non-TCG attractions throughout the weekend, and this was the first domestic event to have Servants of the Betrayer legal for Constructed play.
Players in the TCG events were competing for prizes like Spectral Tiger Loot Cards, iPods, Playstation 3, invites to the Continental Championship, and custom home theater systems. Events were run non-stop from Friday to Sunday, with the only real stoppage coming to sleep or open more packs. One player, Damien Dufresne, was able to go home from Seattle with three new Spectral Tiger loot cards! He cracked a kitty in a Magtheridon’s Lair treasure pack, placed in the Top 8 of the Darkmoon Faire Championship, and won the MMO leveling contest. It was a good weekend for Mr. Dufresne.
If players wanted a break from the TCG events at the Darkmoon Faire, they had plenty of other options for fun. They could relax in the spacious player lounge and play some Rock Band, try their luck at the carnival games, or get their Spectral Tiger signed by the artist himself, Raven Mimura. Upper Deck and Cascade Games provided free pizza to all attendees on Saturday, which everyone loved, and gave folks a nice break from the rigors of playing to just sit back for a few minutes and go enjoy some of nicest weather Seattle has ever had.
Perhaps the biggest hit of the weekend came in the form of Gabe and Tycho from the popular web comic, Penny Arcade. They were there all three days of the show gunslinging, signing cards and playmats, and generally drawing a huge crowd. After someone showed them one of the infinite combos that are present in the TCG, they were inspired to draw this strip. Tycho was able to run a Molten Core Raid, and judging by his reaction he absolutely loved it. This picture shows how all-out he went for this event.
The next Darkmoon Faire, being held in Indianapolis, IN at the Gen Con Game Fair, August 14-17 should be a huge event. This will be run alongside the Continental Championship and will have some of the best players in the country participating.
On a side note, poor Hondo. He was kidnapped for a better part of Saturday. This was one of the ransom pictures that was sent to my email. Luckily he was able to overpower his captors and escape. (Picture to come July 4th)
Thanks goes to Ian Estrin for helping get this information together.
Coming Up –
Block format is the next big topic. If you are going to Gencon, you will be getting an email later this week about the tournaments happening there. This Monday the Appendix will be updated to include the sets that are legal for the Burning Crusade Block format. I will make sure to make a blog post detailing some of the finer points of block and next week there are a couple articles going up about some good deck choices for this block.
- Mike