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WoW TCG World Championships wrapup
Upper Deck's first WoW TCG World Championships are over, and the $100,000 winner is Guillame Matignon, who crushed his opponents (including the US Champ Brad Watson) with-- what else-- a Blood Elf Paladin. Unfortunately, it looks like UD's Ben Drago was far too busy to blog, but UD's official site has lots of great information and recaps. This really was a World Champs-- players hailed from countries all over the globe. Here's a great walkthrough of the artists' table, including a few good insights from the artists about where the card art comes from. Unfortunately, Upper Deck didn't let us into that dinner with the developers that they held, but here's the two guys who got to go. And finally, the players: they put together not only profiles of the top 8 players, but after it was all said and done, an interview with the $100,000 winner. The French player ran undefeated for 12 rounds to win it all, and how'd he do it. "Aggressive Horde, always." For the Horde! All of Upper Deck's coverage is available on their website. Odds are that you didn't win the tournament, but worry not-- WoW Insider has your chance to win another WoW TCG prize later this week. Congrats to all the winners in San Diego, and cheers to Upper Deck for putting on what sounds like a terrific TCG event.
Upper Deck's WoW TCG World Championships coverage begins
Upper Deck has begun their live coverage of the biggest event the TCG has ever seen: the World Championships. They are live from San Diego, as a few hundred players are battling it out in the card game for a $100,000 prize. There are other tournaments going on there as well this weekend-- the Darkmoon Faire is in town and giving away tons of great loot. And Blizzard is there as well-- they're even giving away a Dinner with the Devs, where winners of a certain tournament can sit down and talk shop with the devs: Chris Metzen, Shawn Carnes, J. Allen Brack, Lee Sparks, Scott Mercer, Cory Stockton, Travis Day, and Tom Chilton. Artists are in the house, too: Samwise, Glenn Rane, Alex Horley-Orlandelli, Jonboy Meyers, and Dan Scott will be signing cards and doing sketches for attendees throughout the weekend. Pretty rad if you happen to be as big a fanboy/girl as we here at WoW Insider are.Ben Drago, the manager for Organized Play (who we interviewed a while back) is also blogging live from the event, and been posting updates, both small and big, from his hotel room and the tournament floor. Expect to see lots more coverage, including photos and results, from Upper Deck on the tournament over the weekend.And we'll have more here at WoW Insider, too-- our coverage started yesterday with an interview with one of the top TCG players, and we'll be keeping an eye on the results all weekend. And even if you're not in the tournament at all, you still have a chance to win something-- watch WoW Insider all next week for results of the tournament and our very own consolation prizes.
Enter to win a signed WoW TCG playmat from WoW Insider
The other weekend, I went out to Schaumberg, IL to meet up with the guys from Upper Deck at the WoW TCG Darkmoon Faire. And not only did I walk away with a couple of interviews and a lot of pictures, they also hooked me up with these two rare playmats, which we're giving away to two lucky readers!The one on top was given away to everyone who participated in the main tournament at the Darkmoon Faire events, and the one on the bottom features art by none other than Gabe of Penny Arcade. Oh, and you can't see it in the picture, but both mats are signed by none other than Mike Hummel, head of Upper Deck's R&D, and co-creator of the WoW TCG.To enter, just leave a comment (one comment and only one comment) on this post right here. As usual, the contest is only open to US residents age 13 and up (rest of the official rules here). Tomorrow morning at 11am EST, I'll close the comments and we'll choose two at random to each receive one playmat each. Good luck, comment away!Update: Contest over, comments closed. Thanks for entering everyone-- check your email to see if you won.
WoW TCG: Interview with Ben Drago, Manager of Organized Play
When I came upon Ben Drago at the Darkmoon Faire in Chicago, he was yelling like Ragnaros. He was facing off against three WoW TCG players-- one was playing a Paladin, the second a Mage, and the last a Hunter. It was a Molten Core raiding event, and Drago was more than giving the guys a run for their money. The Paladin dropped quick (the player complained that Drago's Shazzrah "wouldn't let me heal!"), and while the mage and hunter held their own for a while, Drago eventually crushed them all with Rag's firey might.He handed out a few booster packs as prizes anyway, and then sat down to talk with me about the WoW TCG that he promotes all over the country and the world, what player reaction has been like, and Upper Deck's event plans for Blizzcon and beyond.
