However, I
can't leave you with nothing in the
meantime. We all know by now that
regionals is right around the corner.
If you don't know what regionals is I
can only imagine two things:
1. You've
been living a very sheltered life for
the past eight years or so.
2. You are
too new to know any better.
If you
don't fall into either one of those
categories, I apologize for not having
more creative insight to solve your
predicament for you. Anyway, let's take
a quick look at what regionals is.
First of all, when is it?
The event
used to happen in April, but not it's
been pushed back. Wizards of the coast
has been slowly shifting the dates of
events on the Pro Tour to line the
tournament year up with the calendar
year. By doing so, Regionals now falls
in the month of June. This year it will
be on June 25. This is just a few days
after Saviors will be legal, so this
year's regionals will have an entirely
different look and feel.
That reminds me; what cards can we
play in this event?
Regionals
is always Standard format (or what some
would call Type 2). You will only be
able to use cards from Mirrodin,
Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Champions of
Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, and
Saviros of Kamigawa (as it becomes
legeal on the 20th). This tends to be
the largest standard event all year.
But I'm not that good. Do I have to
get a invite to play?
No. That's
part of what makes regionals so fun.
It's open to everyone. Your rating
doesn't matter. The number of
tournaments that you've played in
doesn't matter. The store you play at
doesn't matter. If you are anyone that
have entry fee, a deck, and wants to
play, you will most definitely get to
play.
I hear lots of people are going to
show up. What are they playing play?
Honestly,
they are playing for the love of the
game (or maybe because they are
masochists. Regional sis a long day).
As far as prizes, generally the top
16-32 are awarded prizes. Check with
your local tournament organizer to find
out exactly what the prize structure
is. Many times there are trophies for
the top finishers as well.
More
important than the product and trophies
(well, more important than the product)
are the invites for Nationals. The top
4 players of each event will advance to
Nationals. However, if an even gets
over 411 players, the tournament
organizers have been instructed to add
one more round and simple not do a top
8. However, in doing so, the top 8
finishers all qualify.
This sounds cool. Where is it going
to be at?
I wish I
had a quick answer for that.
Unfortunately, I don't. But that whole,
teach a man to fish thing...ah nevermind...here's
the link with the regionals information
and locations list on it.
Just click
on your respective flag and you are good
to go.
This is going to be my first major
tournament? What should I do?
There are a
few simple things you can do to make
your life easier. First of all, bring a
pen. You'll need it to fill out your
DCI card. This will be the number that
is used to track your progress and let
you see how you stand up from match to
match.
Arrive
early. There is going to be a large
line at the beginning of any Regional.
This will make sure that you are
standing and tiring yourself out
needlessly.
Be Aware
that you are going to have to fill out
decklists. In many small local events,
players aren't forced to fill out deck
registration sheet. You will need one
at regionals though. Feel free to find
one online and print it off or simply
type one up in a generic font (don't get
cute, it's hard to read and likely won't
be accepted) and just print it out.
That can save you a ton of time the
morning of.
Wait, you mentioned Saviors will be
legal. What new decks will there be?
Well, I'm
glad my opinions are appreciated and
respected. However, Nostrodamus I am
not. But I have been doing a little bit
of research and putting in a lot of
effort to trying to figure out that
current standard environment and
possibly even break the codes on a
couple of cards or decks. I'm not going
to find everything, but hopefully I can
at least send you off to battle a little
better prepared. Look for some deck
ideas and environment overview right
here next week.
Well,
there's your basic overview of regionals.
Expect a lot of information next week as
we will be inside of two weeks by then.
There will be some new ideas and
strategies that you need to keep your
eyes open for. Hopefully, we can take
some of your guesswork out of the
equation.
DeQuan
Watson
a.k.a. PowrDragn
at Pojo dot com
I
have a lot going on and I am working on
trying to give you a good set of
regionals primers over the next two
weeks. So you get shortened now for
more quality in the coming two weeks. I
haven't forgotten about you guys. I
just know that there is going to be a
huge influx of articles regarding
regionals in the next couple of weeks.
Everyone is gearing up. I just want to
make sure that you have some good
information that is useful before typing
it up for you.