By Ewen McRae
A little bit of magic is about to hit Ravenhall, with a high-stakes tournament of the world’s first trading card game about to be staged.
A ‘Magic: the Gathering’ tournament will be held next month at Pro Gamers and Collectables, with the winner to receive automatic entry to a major tournament in Japan and the shot at a $40,000 prize.
Magic, one of the most popular games in the world, involves players battling their opponent with cards depicting spells or attacks.
Tournament organiser Emanuel Cachia said it had a broad appeal to its many players.
“It will be a high level tournament,” Mr Cachia said. “It’s the biggest card game that we do, and the biggest in the world. It’s the one that kicked off all the card games 25 years ago so there’s a big following.
“It’s quite a complex game, with a lot of problem solving, maths, communication, and there’s something like 100,000 different cards that can be used, so almost unlimited ways to play the game.”
The winner of the Ravenhall tournament will receive entry to the tournament in Japan, along with $1000 prizemoney to cover flights. The winner of the Japan tournament gets to attend a world championship, with prizemoney of up to $400,000.
“Our tournament will likely go for about nine hours, and competitors will face at least seven opponents,” Mr Cachia said. “We’re hoping to get 100 players, which would make it the biggest tournament this side of the city.”
The tournament kicks off at 11am on November 16 at Shop 2/977 Western Highway, Ravenhall.
