EDITORIAL - JUNE - by Nick Taylor (Views: 395)12th June 2012-
WRITER PROFILE: NICK TAYLOR 
Lifetime Pro Tour Points: 17Magic Achievements: Top 8 GP London 2011, 2 Scottish National Top 8, competitor at 4 Pro Tours, 1 World Championships & 1 European Championships.Favourite Format: Cube DraftFavourite Colour: GreenFavourite Card: Time Stretch or Blazing Specter
Welcome to my new monthly column where I will be updating you with all of the ins and outs of what is going on at Xtremetrades. I'll be reviewing and previewing a number of changes on the site along with content, tournament and website updates.
NEWS
Our biggest announcement over the last month was that of the Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ). With some fantastic attendances at prereleases, FNM and release events we have been given a PTQ for Pro Tour “Line” (the first Pro Tour of 2013). We will be making a weekend of it by offering the PTQ, GP Trial (if available), Legacy and much more. Our most exciting development for the weekend will be our Under 18s tournament. We really want to support the young players in the community by offering an event focused solely on them. A trophy and much more will be up for grabs. Along with all of the Magic events we'll also be offering board gaming and World of Warcraft TCG events. We'll be working hard to put together a full schedule by the end of the Summer. If you are looking for dates tfor your diary it will be 1st & 2nd December.
It has been a little quiet on the article front recently as we've been working on a more regular schedule, more content, more writers and additional features in our articles. As you'll notice at the top of this article we have added a new feature, letting you know a little bit more about the writer. Articles will restart this week with the return of our Eternal column – Breaking Through by Flounce. Over the coming weeks you'll see our new columns and writers introduce themselves to you. We'll have a full round up of columns and writers in next month's editorial.
Website stock levels and prices are going through an update at the moment. We hope to have all of our singles checked and updated over the next few months. We expect sealed product sections to go back up this week (it may possibly go into next week), hopefully along with the board games and accessories sections. We've been working on making these easier to search and offering more information. Magic card sets, stock levels and prices are currently getting added to the website. We now have Innistrad block & Magic 2012 stock level up to date online. We expect a block to go up every week as a minimum, so expect Scars block to be up this week with Zendikar next week and so on. We hold cards going back to Alpha, so in the meantime you can always contact us for enquiries on cards.
The event section went through a bit of an overhaul a few months ago and is working well. We've made a few tweaks here and there based on any problems that have arisen. We have upgraded the display of the list of events into a tabular form. It makes it easier to check through for the event you are looking for and is a little nicer on the eye. If you have experienced any problems let us know and we'll get them fixed.
Other updates include the return of the contact form, Twitter feed, Facebook like box and the addition of our new logo. The Twitter feed will display our most recent update, upcoming tournament or new product. It is displayed on all of the pages and is great for a quick check on what the last update was. Our Facebook page offers more information on tournaments, website upgrades and new stock. If you are looking for a little more information in your updates, then why not follow us on Facebook and receive all of our updates in your news feed. The contact form is up and running again making it a lot easier to contact us. Finally we have had a new logo designed by Rocket 106 Illustrations & Design. It is a fantastic bit of work and we'll be rebranding with it both in store and online.
UPCOMING EVENTS
We have a few very exciting events coming up over the next few weeks. First up is the Grand Prix Trial for Ghent. The format for the GPT will be Legacy and held on the 23rd June in the store. Details can be found here:
We have a very exciting day of World of Warcraft scheduled for 30th June. If you are new to the game or have reasonable experience with it there is something for you. We'll be kicking the day off with a Zapped Giants Open (Lazy Peon), following that up with a Midsummer Fire Festival (Core Constructed) and ending the day with a belated Tomb of the Forgotten release draft. Additionally we will be discounting all World of Warcraft stock for the day (excluding booster displays). Further details can be found here:
Finally we would like to announce the details for our Magic 2013 prereleases. We'll be holding them in both in Colchester (in store - 7th July) and Chelmsford (Miami Hotel - 8th July). As always there will be bounty hunting, gunslinging and the main event available. We'll also be offering Two-Headed Giant both days, Open Dueling (whilst stocks last) and an Under 18 prize pool for the main event. We'll be buying, selling and trading cards at each event as well as offering a wide range of sealed product and accessories. Details for the events are currently getting finalised and will be available by the end of the week.
Finally I'll leave you with a preview of what's coming in Magic 2013....
….hope you like it. Thanks for reading this month's article and I look forward to updating you next month with a lot more features, articles, events and products.
Nick Taylor - Editor
- Chris Walsh - June 16, 2012, 16:26 I wonder if anyone shall get Nicol Bolas at the Prerelease...
