Playing Seed sealed deck

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your Seed belts, please!

In this fifth part in his series on playing sealed deck Spoils-veteran Hans Joachim Hoeh takes you on a trip to Seed land.

Enjoy the ride!

Production update

We are hard at work in getting the new set ready for production. There are still some things that must be done before it is ready for print - follow the link for a production update.

And as a little treat, you will also find a new preview card at the bottom of the article. We hope you like what you see :-)

The fifth and final piece in the the series of articles written by players familiar with The Spoils™ and the mechanics of each of the five trades has now hit our website. Once again the new player will find help in building a good deck without a multitude of rares is his/her collection.

The fifth article unfolds the rage of the warlords!

Organized Play USA

Today Arcane Tinmen is proud to announce Zach Bunn as our new OP Manager for USA. Zach will start work immediately and his tasks involves setting up Organized Play both at the national level as well as on the local scene.

Now we look forward to having you all help us make the tournament scene living and vibrant once more!!

The time has come for the fourth piece in the series of articles written by players familiar with The Spoils™ and the mechanics of each of the five trades. Here is help for the new player to build a good deck without chasing around for rare cards.

The fourth article covers Rogues and Deception..
Have fun :-)

We hope everybody has ventures safely into the new year which we will kick off with the third part in the series of articles written by players familiar with The Spoils™ and the mechanics of each of the five trades. The focus remains on making a deck without having to hunt for rare cards.

This third article will be all about Gearsmiths and Elitism.
Enjoy :-)

Here is the second installment in the series of articles written by players familiar with The Spoils™ and the mechanics of each of the five trades - and with the focus on making a deck without having to fill your deck with rare cards.

This second article one will cover the Bankers.
Enjoy :-)

This will be a series of articles written by a player familiar with The Spoils™ and the mechanics of each of the five trades. Besides the articles you will also find decklists and how to play those decks.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be posting articles on each individual trade. The first one will be on the Arcanists.

We hope you will enjoy them - welcome to The Spoils™

We'll be kicking off the year with another round of tournaments and events with the help of David Weesner and our friends at TempleCon.

David will be running 4 tournaments and non stop drafts throughout the weekend, so sign up and get ready for some great events and lots of prizes.

We'll also be unavailing another small sneak peak of what is to come in the new set so don't miss out!!

Bernie "La Sin Grail" Mako returns with another fantastic edition of his "Drafting Better" series.

Drafting Better 102 is the second part of a series designed to provide some help drafting to players of The Spoils. As you’d expect, 102 is still introductory level, but follows up some of the concepts from Drafting Better 101. This class, it’s time to talk about some basic signaling, reading, and actual picking!

Ever wanted to own a cool Spoils t-shirt? Or a coffee mug with your favorite card art on it? Now you can!

Roll 2 Dice, in association with Arcane Tinmen, are proud to be able to offer you officially licensed The Spoils™ merchandise!

The Spoils™ is an awesome card game, with some fantastic and bizarre artwork. Through Print-On-Demand (POD) websites, like Zazzle.com, we will be bringing you tons and tons of cool Spoils gear, from t-shirts to fridge magnets to posters and even skateboards!

Hi, I’m Johan, former Swedish National Champion in Yu-Gi-Oh, and now passionate dabbler in The Spoils TCG!

This article will cover one of the first steps you take as a player in The Spoils – determining what trade or trades to include in the first deck you build.

The first staggering steps

Even before I started playing The Spoils, I knew what trade NOT to play – Banker. This had nothing to do with the current state of the global economy, it’s just that the local store owner that talked me into trying the game had a mono Banker Control deck (mono meaning it contained only a single trade), and that deck was undefeated. I immediately wanted to build something that could beat it, but I didn’t want to use the same strategy.

Josh Lytle

You may want to check out the Open R&D forums.

Kimberly Maita

GenCon 2009 was a major victory for the resurrection of The Spoils. Not only did we see a renewed interest in the game but our 2-player Starter Kit was flying off the shelves! Let’s recap a few of the high points of the convention:

Ed. Note: The broken "full story" link should now be fixed... sorry for the inconvenience!

Will Clark

At 5:30am on Friday I awoke and drove with my friend, Red, to Kinkos to print off the deck registration sheets for the Sealed event that evening. We got to the convention hall at 7 and prepared ourselves for the massive amounts of demos we would do that day. The hall opened and the rush hit us like a brick. Red, myself, a guy named Brendan, and his girlfriend Amy were selling 2-Player Starters left and right. Every now and then we would mention the Sealed event that was going on that night.

The Spoils will be making an appearance at Dragon Con 2009. We have teamed up with our good friend Jeff Millegan from Heroes Cards, Comics and Games.

Jeff will be running several tournaments as well as non-stop demos and casual games, so stop by for yet another good time!

Event Schedule:

Friday:

• Demos will be running from the time the doors open until they close... if they close.
• 4-person mini-tournaments with running starts for all new players using free preconstructed decks.
• 6pm: The Spoils Sealed Deck (1 comp.pack + 3 boosters drawn from all sets)

Saturday:

• Demos and deck building all day from open to close
• 4-person mini-tournaments with running starts for all new players using free preconstructed decks.
• 6pm: The Spoils Constructed format

Sunday:

• Demos and deck building all day from open to close
• 4-person mini-tournaments with running starts for all new players using free preconstructed decks.
• “Beat the Pro” ongoing tournament. New players get a chance to play and beat “old pros”; small prizes, but the better the Pro, the better the prize.
• 6pm: The Spoils Constructed format

Monday:

• Demos and deck building all day from open to close
• 4-person mini-tournaments with running starts for all new players using free preconstructed decks.
• “Beat the Pro” ongoing tournament. New players get a chance to play and beat “old pros”; small prizes, but the better the Pro, the better the prize.
• 12pm: The Spoils Draft format (1st+Part2+Seed)

Pros needed!

If you want to be the pro to beat at the above “Beat the pro” events, then send a private message to Jeff. His username on the boards is ‘tgrtrax’.

Gencon '09 came and went, and The Spoils saw a lot of love. To celebrate the game's return to Gencon, The Spoils team would like to have an article contest. Please tell us about Gencon for those who did not or could not attend this year! Submit an article about The Spoils booth, events, or tournaments by 8/31/09.

What good would any contest about The Spoils be without some fabulous prizes? Michael has opened the prize chest for this winner-takes-all contest.

• 5 Metal Micromajig Tokens
• 1 Uncut sheet
• Choice of 25 random foil cards, or 15 random foils & one booster box display, or two booster box displays.

Winner chooses the set for the booster prize if booster option is chosen.

Photos can be included with your article and, while helpful, will not impact the winner we choose. The article can be of any length within reason. The chosen winner will be announced in the forums prior to posting to the home page. We will contact the winnner for choice of prize option 3. Articles are to be received no later than Midnight Eastern Time on 8/31/09 at earley207 at roadrunner dot com.

Best of luck to everyone!

The Spoils staff

Thank you to all the hard-working people that helped make The Spoils look really, really good at Gen Con. We couldn’t have done this without you! Being all the way over in Europe, I didn’t get the pleasure of meeting any of you – but Kim (who ran the booth) tells me she was really, really happy with the help she got.

The return of The Spoils was very well received at Gen Con. Many retailers came by the booth and were really happy to see the game back on its feet. Plus many new players tried the game, bought product to take home, and some even tried the game out in the 64 player sealed event. Although there is still a long way to go before the rescue mission is a full-fledged success, we have with your help taken a crucial step forward.

Kim is still on her way home to California – but we will be back with a more in-depth report as soon as we can.

Take care all - and thank you again!

Michael

Work has begun on a new expansion. And Josh Lytle has talked us into making an Open R&D forum where he will be bouncing ideas for cards, concepts and abilities off of the forum community.

Making a new set is of course a long process with R&D, playtesting, art creation, layouting, production and finally shipping to all locations. By doing this we are treading the first important steps - all the while giving you the chance to participate. We hope that you will all want to participate and perhaps set your own thumbprint on the new cards.

Michael - Arcane Tinmen

As you can see from the banner to the right The Spoils will be part of Gen Con 2009. There we will be hosting both tournaments and demo games as well a participating in the Weasel Con Games and working with the Gen Con VIG-program.

By doing all of these things at Gen Con we intend to rekindle the flame and spark renewed awareness and interest in our beloved game – and to bring many more players into the game.

The tournament schedule for Gen Con looks like this:

• The Spoils Sealed Deck: Friday, August 14th from 6pm-12am
• The Spoils Constructed Format: Saturday, August 15th from 6pm-12am

Prizes for each of the two tournaments:

1st place: Nintendo Wii + 12 booster displays (4*1st ed./4*Part2/4*Seed) + Uncut Sheet + Top-8 foils

2nd place: 9 booster displays (3*1st ed./3*Part2/3*Seed) + Uncut Sheet + Top-8 foils

3rd-4th place: 6 booster displays (2*1st ed./2*Part2/2*Seed) + Top-8 foils

5th-8th place: 3 booster displays (1*1st ed./1*Part2/1*Seed) + Top-8 foils

9th-16th place: 9 boosters (3*1st ed./3*Part2/3*Seed) + Random foils

Drafts

Drafts can be played at any time outside of the tournament schedule mentioned above. So grab hold of your fellow players and sit down for a good time!

Demos

Demos will be done at our booth each day from 10-6 (10-4 on Sunday), so drop by if you are new to the game. Or if you would like to help with the demoing!

Not going to Gen Con?

For those of you not going to Gen Con rest assured that we are also working on making other larger tournaments.

By Bernie Makino

Hello class, and welcome to Drafting Better 101. Let’s put on our thinking caps on and… stop before I trigger flashbacks to grade school. This guide is designed to take you, the beginning to average Spoils player, and help you in your quest to get better. After all, to the victor go The Spoils!

By Bernie Makino

This article isn’t the most electrifying, exciting, story-telling article that will keep you glued in your chair. Nor does it have top secret deck lists or anything of the sort. If you have an interest in becoming better at the game of The Spoils, however, this is a fine place to start.

I would also like to mention that this article operates under the premise that the game is not immediately about to end. Clearly, if you need to find something to survive another turn, that’s more important than following any theory. These principles work best when applied over relatively long games (mostly in limited, but also in some constructed games), and are not always going to determine the correct play. However, during early development and the mid-game, these subtle changes can often translate into wins later on.

By Hans Hans Joachim Höh

Once upon a time there was a TCG that was absolutely amazing. It was hilarious and highly strategical, but it wasn´t sold or played in Germany. So I decided to travel all over the United States to play this game. While doing so I met a lot of very cool guys and girls and had a good time. I won my way onto their tour bus and wrote articles for their web site and the world was a happy place. Then suddenly reality shifted. With Tenacious Games, the inventor of The Spoils, out of business there were no more tournaments, no new sets to explore, no way to meet with my Spoils buddies anymore. But Michael, of Arcane Tinmen wouldn´t have it that way and managed to resurrect the game. So this new reality shift brings me back to writing for you and I want to start with a constructed format strategy article for the old player base, before turning to the limited format to give some advice to the new player base.

Today I am going to present probably the most complicated deck I have built so far....

The Spoils is still alive and kicking. The release of the new 2-player Starter Kit is living proof of that.

We have asked stores across the USA to celebrate the relaunch of The Spoils with us and host a team-tournament using the new 2-player kit which releases on April 27th.

If your local store hasn’t already announced this, please tell them about the event. If you have the time for it, then perhaps suggest to the store that you would help them get the event organized. From our end we would certainly greatly appreciate any help you can give the stores to get The Spoils back on its feet!

Interested? Read the "Full Story" for the details....

In April Arcane Tinmen is proud to announce its first release for The Spoils. It is a 2-player Starter Kit featuring two 72 card pre-con decks: Banker/Rogue + Arcanist/Warlord based on 1st edition and Seed cards. The decks are designed to introduce new players to the game. Also included are: one special booster of 13 additional cards, a rules sheet, foil promo cards, a Spoils glossary and a full color map of Luridia.

Everything you need to start playing The Spoils comes packed in one handy, lusciously-illustrated box.

Each starter kit is “n00b tested, 1337 approved” (translation: easy and fun, yet still packed with rich game play)!!

The Starter Kit will retail at $19.95.

We are Joe and Josh (no, not Josh Lytle), and with the support of Michael from Arcane Tinmen, we will be acting as editors and publishers for new article content on The Spoils website.

We hope to bring excitement and exposure to our great game by offering fresh content on a weekly basis. Anyone is welcome to submit an article, and for now the topics are open. We hope in the future to offer regular card reviews, player profiles, tournament reports, and sneak peeks at what’s coming to a gaming store near all of us. So send us your articles, and let’s get this game really rolling again!

Articles can be submitted to: earley207 <at> roadrunner <dot> com. We will do our best to keep the website content fresh and, with everyone’s help, exciting.

May The Spoils live long and prosper. Rage on!

Click "full story" to read more about the new editors!

We have closed our deal with Tenacious Games and we are now the proud owners of all rights to The Spoils! It has been a long, long road to travel but now that we are successful, we are hitting the ground running to bring The Spoils back to life and give it a solid direction.

It is important for us to point out that we have acquired all of the rights pertaining the property of The Spoils – but we did not take with us any of the debts or other obligations that TG may have had. What we did take with us is the heart and soul of the old team. We are very happy to tell you that Josh Lytle will continue to be part of R&D team and that Patrick Meehan will be onboard as a creative consultant. We are currently working on staffing artists, and securing marketing and distribution channels but things are falling into place and we are excited about the progress to date.

We also want to announce now that we are putting the Spoils Cruise back on our calendar! Albeit with one important amendment: Prices will start at $350 for a five-day cruise out of New Orleans in October.

Former qualifiers receive a discount and there are ways to reduce the price even further. And, of course, if you win the on-board tournament, you’ll get your cruise fees back! For this event, we have teamed with Gamer Adventures and you can find more details at:

http://www.gameradventures.com/spoils.htm

Finally a word on our organization: We will be looking for alternative ways of doing a lot of things. And we may very well be turning to the loyal community that is the backbone of The Spoils – both for assistance and for inspiration.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Michael

Arcane Tinmen / The Spoils Rescue Mission^TM