Wizards of the Coast put together a great program this year for those who are wanting to make it big in the world of Magic. The City Champs Qualifier Series allowed players at the store level to compete, and score themselves a seat at their City Champs. Those that do well at City Champs get themselves into Nationals or byes at their Regional events.

The series started in November, and finished at the end of February. Each store that participated in th series will hold a Store Final event for the top 8 finishers in the series. these Top 8 events will take place after March 15th but before the 31st, and will pay out a box of Morningtide throughout the top finishers. The top two finishers of the store finals will win themselves seats at their local City Champs event.

Even if you don't have one of the 8 seats at your local store finals, going to watch and see how the top decks get played is a great way to become a better player.

Remember kids, Magic only gets more fun when you play against different people. If you play within the same circle of friends, you only get as good as your best competition. Playing against lots of people, with lots of different decks is the way to step up your game.

that's it for now children. So until next time: trade fair, have fun, and support your local store!

So Lorwyn hit store shelves on October 12th, and the big question was whether or not the players would like it. With the debut of new abilities ("evoke" and "clash"), tribal spells, and a completely new card type (Planeswalkers), no one was sure if they would really love it. Players at pre-release events got the first look at this hot new set that kicks off the two-set Lorwyn block.

For those of you who have questions, see the module below for some rules clarifications. Lorwyn brings new dynamics, great new artwork, and some flavor to make the game fun for those that have been playing faaaaaarrr too long. 301 cards, 80 rares, 80 uncommons, 121 commons, and 20 basic lands make up this set. Lots of Gobbos, Elves, Faeries, Giants and more hide within each booster.

Being the Harbinger of the death of the Ravnica block, Lorwyn brings in new Dual Lands to replace those that you found in Ravnica, Dissension, and Guildpact. For those of you not sure how the type 2/Standard cycling works, here's the breakdown: Lorwyn will come in and the entire Ravnica block will go out on October 20th. Morningtide (the second expansion in the Lorwyn block) will release on Feb. 1st of '08, and will NOT cycle anything out of Type 2. The NEXT block after the Lorwyn block will cycle out Coldsnap, finally ending the Ice Age block (which started oh-so-many years ago). so don't fear for your Rite of Flames yet, they will be around for a very long time (probably about another 9 months or so).

Stay tuned for more play tips, deck ideas, and general goofiness from the House of Flying Monkeys!!

Okay, so the single most asked question with Lorwyn has been: "What happens if we tie in a clash?" the answer to this is quite simple: If you tie, you don't win. Clash says: "If you win the Clash..." This means that if you don't win, you don't get the benefit of the Clash.

Now we tackle the Planeswalkers. Here's the simplest way that I can think to explain it: Planeswalkers are permanents. Planeswalkers are NOT creatures. they can be targeted by spells that target permanents. They cannot be the initial target of a spell that does direct damage. If you wish to do direct damage to a Planeswalker, you must: a)target the player, b)IF the spell resolves, you assign the damage to the player or the Planeswalker, then c) the Planeswalker takes the damage assigned to it. You cannot split damage between the player and the Planeswalker. You must assign all the damage to one or the other.

A Planeswalker's ability (or abilities) may be used only ONCE per turn, at sorcery speed. Once a Planeswalker's loyalty counters are all gone, he/she goes to the graveyard. There can only be one of each Planeswalker on the field at a time.

Shapeshifters count as EVERY creature type (yes, I realize that it says this on the card, but some still don't get it). This means that Goatnapper can steal a shapeshifter, every one of the new harbingers can search for a shapeshifter, anything that would affect a merfolk also affects a shapeshifter...you get the idea.

I know that some of this stuff is really repetitive, but I also know that some people don't know where to look for their rules clarifications, and we're here to help. Feel free to contact us with questions on play tactics, rules clarifications, or anything else that you think you should see here.