Friday, December 29, 2017

Magi-Nation Duel: Tavel's Travels

This was the story published on the Magi-Nation Duel website, about Phil Tavel's travels across America to visit game stores and play against players young and old!  He challenged players in all the game stores he came across, and those who managed to beat him would earn a 'Powers of the Creators' card. 





Tavel’s Travels, 2001
Amazing Discoveries- Tucson, AZ

By Marcello Bolivar
12/19/01

Storm clouds were brewing as Phil entered Amazing Discoveries in Tucson, Arizona. The store held many excited duelers eager to lock horns with the Creator. From within the crowd stepped forward two of Magi-Nation's most potent duelers. Within minutes Phil was sitting down to face off against Stephan Classen, while Taylor Harter patiently bided his time.

As Phil and Stephan prepared to duel, the excited group crowded around to witness the encounter. As the players pulled out their decks, their region preferences quickly became apparent: Phil was going to play his vaunted Naroom deck while Stephan had chosen to fly the Arderial banner.

As play began, Stephan revealed Delia as his leadoff Magi and swiftly brought out a torrent of Vellups. The formidable wall of creatures at the conclusion of his turn demonstrated why Delia is often affectionately dubbed "Lady Vellup."

Not to be outdone, Phil followed Stephan's solid opening round with his own flurry of creatures. The lovable Naroom Magi Evu arrayed a Furok, a Plith, a Balamant, and a Bwill before him. As the first round of play ended, both players seemed poised for a long struggle.

Stephan forcefully dispelled that notion by using Warrior Boots to pull in an Ayebaw. Under a Vellup and Ayebaw assault, Evu soon found himself without creatures to protect him from defeat.

Phil began his next round with his second Magi, Orwin, seeking to balance the scales. Delia soon found herself caving under a Naroom onslaught led by a cuddly Furok. The momentum shift was short-lived, however, as Stephan called in Sorreah to establish Arderial dominance over the arena of play. The next two rounds were an efficient display of Arderial power as Stephan pulled out the whole Xyx arsenal to defeat Orwin and Yaki in quick order. A gracious and deserving victor, Stephan found himself one of the elite owners of a Power of the Creators card.

Taylor Harter now stepped forward from the wings seeking to avenge a prior loss to Phil at Gen Con this past summer. It was fitting that Taylor chose the Core as his region, considering the Core's recent capture of the Great Library of Naroom.

Opening with Warrada, Taylor started out slowly by simply putting out a Chaos Jile. Phil however, wasted no time with Evu. After Evu's obligatory Vortex of Knowledge, he used Warrior Boots to bring in a Furok to defeat the Chaos Jile, then followed that up by bringing out an Eebit, a Plith, a Bwill, and a Balamant.

Seeing the opposing forces before him, Taylor sprung his trap. He wasted no time in turning Phil's Balamant and using essence of Naroom to take over his Plith, which then attacked Phil's Eebit. The dark powers of Core were not finished however, as Taylor then used Agram's Plaything to overcome the Bwill and dispatch Evu.

The game was fierce, as Taylor used Core's manipulative powers to repeatedly take control of Phil's gauntlet of creatures. Phil counterbalanced the Core's evil ways by transforming his remaining creatures into relentless energy-draining machines.

The game saw Magi after Magi fall to defeat. First Naroom's Evu fell, followed shortly by Warrada, the true power behind the current throne of Core. That left Agram to face Orwin once and future ruler of the Core versus the great Elder of Naroom. Weary from battle, Orwin fell at last to Agram's dark attack. Yaki came forward to carry the banner and vanquish Agram, but that reprieve was short-lived as Zet emerged to push the forces of evil to eventual victory.

Having avenged his earlier defeat, Taylor happily accepted his Power of the Creators card. With two of Magi-Nation's top-ranked players and two PotCs as newfound plunder, Arizona's duelers served notice that they are a force to be reckoned with in the World of Magi-Nation.


Phil Tavel's Creature Beat-Down Deck
Magi
1st Evu
2nd Orwin
3rd Yaki

Creatures
2 Balamant
2 Bwill
2 Eebits
1 Forest Hyren
2 Furok
1 Giant Carillion
1 Leaf Hyren
1 Plith
2 Pylofuf
2 Stagadan
2 Twee
2 Wasperine
2 Weebo

Relics
2 Energy Band
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Relic Stalkers
2 Robe of Vines
1 Tomorrow's Jewel
3 Warrior Boots
2 Water of Life

Spells
2 Bottomless Pit
1 Grow
2 Resonate
2 Shockwave
2 Tap Roots
2 Umm...No
1 Vortex of Knowledge

Stephan Classen's Arderial Deck
Magi
1st Delia
2nd Sorreah
3rd Ora

Creatures
2 Ayebaw
3 Elder Vellup
2 Lovian
3 Vellup
2 Xyx
2 Xyx Elder
3 Xyx Minor

Relics
1 Alaban Gloves
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Storm Rising
3 Warrior Boots
2 Water of Life

Spells
2 Beam of Light
2 Cataclysm
2 Lightning
3 Shockwave
1 Shooting Star
2 Sorreah's Dream
2 Thunderquake

Taylor Harter's Core Deck
Magi
1st Warrada
2nd Agram
3rd Zet

Creatures
1 Chaos Jile
2 Chaos Plith
3 Core Grag
1 Darkbreed Hyren
2 Koil
3 Shadow Vinoc
3 Wudge

Relics
2 Agram's Plaything
1 Essence of Naroom
2 Rayje's Band
2 Rayje's Belt
2 Rayje's Boots
3 Shadow Bones
2 Shadow Cloak
2 Tomorrow's Jewel
3 Warriors Boots

Spells
2 Blight
3 Corrupt
1 Dream Rift
3 Turn
1 Vaporize

Here was his full tour schedule and list of winners! 

Date Location City Winner
Tues 11/6/2001 Wizards of the Coast Tukwila, WA
Thurs 11/8/2001 Beckmon's Cards Twin Falls, ID
Thurs 11/8/2001 Mystic Comics Logan UT
Fri 11/9/2001 Attactix Aurora, CO
Fri 11/9/2001 CollectorMania Parker, CO
Sat 11/10/2001 Wizards of the Coast Broomfield, CO
Mon 11/12/2001 Reader's World Springfield, IL Dave Autzen
Tues 11/13/2001 The Game Preserve Indianapolis, IN Travis McKinney



Michael Welling



Andrew Steckley
Wed 11/14/2001 Be A Gamer West Dundee, IL Tim Kouba



Noel Meyer
Tues 11/20/2001 Collectible Investments Berkley, MI Shane Reeves



Chris Staunton



Khris McKee
Tues 11/20/2001 The Guardtower Columbus, OH
Sat 11/24/2001 New World Manga Livingston, NJ Taylor Nummi



Joe Montalbano
Mon 11/26/2001 Wizards of the Coast Garden City, NY
Tues 11/27/2001 The Game Castle Londonderry, NH
Wed 11/28/2001 Jumpgate Portsmouth, NH
Wed 11/28/2001 The Knight's Quest Gardner, MA Vince Sosa



John White III



Jeremy Coulomb
Wed 11/28/2001 Griffon Games Greenfield, MA Tim Adan



Colton MacLeay
Thurs 11/29/2001 Sarge's Comics London, CT
Thurs 11/29/2001 The Gamer's Realm Windsor, NJ
Fri 11/30/2001 Dream Wizards Rockville, MD Graham Bannon
Fri 11/30/2001 Wizards of the Coast Hanover, MD Nathaniel Wise
Tues 12/4/2001 Dr. Bob's Game Shop Huntsville, AL
Wed 12/5/2001 Ground Zero Mobile, AL
Thurs 12/6/2001 The Strategy Center Clermont, FL Bob Hutchison



Jeff North



Jason Edgley
Thurs 12/13/2001 Lone Star Comics Hurst, TX Jeffrey A. Sass



Justin McDonough
Sat 12/15/2001 Amazing Discoveries Tucson, AZ Stephan Classen



Taylor Harter



Robert Davidson
Sat 12/15/2001 Wizards of the Coast Mesa, AZ Tom Scott
Mon 12/17/2001 DNA Cards and Comics Pacifica, CA CJ Vossen



Tim Gin



Simon Lai



John Peralta



March Johnson
Tues 12/18/2001 Bizarro World Davis, CA Lazarus Agbowo Jr.



Jared Tholer



Shivam Bhatt
Wed 12/19/2001 A-1 Comics Roseville, CA Denver Martin



Patrick Sander



Carey Cox



Matthew Momsen


 Finally, here are some of the surviving images from his journey!

Mesa, AZ

Twin Falls, ID

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Bablovia and other Silly Things

Welcome to the wacky world of UN!



Bablovia is Magic's newest world, based on silly behavior, jokes, and basic mayhem.  It is the setting of the third Un- (silver bordered) set, for jokes, hilarity, and fun, Unstable!

The world class intro to Bablovia!

Un-sets and silver bordered cards are all about what's possible in a card game but not generally possible in Magic: the Gathering black border competitive formats.  Un-sets also have a lot of comedy, jokes, and fun creature types, without the constraints of world connections, story line, or specific settings.  Here for your enjoyment are the listings of history and flavor elements of various Un-sets. 

Jokes!



there are ton of jokes in Un-sets, so these articles give a few of them away!


Unglued had a large number of jokes.  Unfortunately, most of them weren't online yet, as the Duelist covered most articles on Magic.  But here are some of them, at least!

Unglued! Jokes, "get it??"


Unhinged was the sequel to Unglued, as Unglued 2 never made it to print.  It would be 9 years later until we saw another Unset, Unstable!

Promos of Unhinged!

Get it?  Unhinged Part 1.


Get it?  Unhinged Part 2.



Unstable is finally released in 2017, and there are many new fun mechanics: here are the explanations behind the cards! 

Scraps part 1.   Part 2.

A good description of many of the art designs for Unstable.

There are text and flavor variants!




A fun thing, Wizards of the Coast sends out a silver-bordered Holiday card each year: You can see them all and their wallpaper here.

Unseen!  Unglued 2 never made it to print, but Maro has shown off a variety of ideas and cards, including poisonous vegetable creatures!

Unseen 1Unseen 2!