Today, October 1, 2022, 2:00 PM onwards, Neutral Grounds Philippines will hold a thanksgiving tournament for Magic: The Gathering, simultaneously in all its branches nationwide, signaling that face to face gaming is back and is now stronger than ever.
Magic: the Gathering, a collectible card game from Wizards of the Coast, pits players or “planeswalkers” against each other in a battle of spells and wits, using constructed deck of playing cards. It is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with 30+ million planeswalkers worldwide. It seems like 30 is the magic number.
It is no secret that the tabletop gaming scene was one of the sectors that was hit the hardest during the pandemic. Players were not able to visit their local game stores anymore, affecting revenues and growth. Some tried to compensate and find satisfaction in online play through various methods such as Magic: The Gathering Arena, SpellTable, or even discord chats, but there’s a reason why this game has “The Gathering” tied to it – playing and interacting face to face with other human beings just has a different feel to it.
Hoping to finish the last quarter of the year strong, these tournaments are a way to bring back all the players together once again. Neutral Grounds promises exciting prizes and promos to all participants. Not only that, they also promise to keep and strictly enforce safety protocols to make the tournament and worry and stress-free experience.
The Thanksgiving tournament will also coincide with a major competitive event during the TaVern (Tabletop at Vertis North) event wherein top placers will get invited to be among the representatives of the Philippines to the second cycle of Southeast Asia Regional Championship happening next year. About half of the Philippine contingent going to Singapore in November to compete with the rest of Southeast Asia countries came from previous Neutral Grounds tournaments.
Yours truly will participate in one of these tournaments! What are you waiting for? I heard there are still some slots open. Go and contact your nearest Neutral Grounds Philippines store or better yet planeswalk there! See you around!