I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.
Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.
This year I am travelling all across Canada for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can.
While I was in Yelloknife for two weeks, I and a buddy of mine visited the local game store Ogre's Lair Family Game Shop.
My mate Pat was new to Magic and has only been playing for a few months. When we found out we were to have a Friday night in Yellowknife off, I sugested we played the weekly FNM (Friday Night Magic). So we hit the shop early and took a look at some products after work before heading back to our separate hotels to rest before FNM.
The first thing that went wrong (for my wallet) was Pat finding pre-release packs. This are a special addiction for me. I don't like buying boosters outside of draft or sealed. Sealed is my favorite of the booster formats so pre-release kits are always awesome. I also love the extra stuff you get in the older packs. So Pat was looking around and found an odd one.
He found a Dimir and a Simic pre-release kit from Gatecrash. My history with Magic is simple. I started playing in September 1994. I left the game before Alliances in the summer of 1996 because I switch games. In 2007 I picked up Magic again for a year because of my ex and I owned a few Tenth Edition sets. It was 2013 when I jumped back in as Dragon's Maze was about to finish for the next core set Magic 2014. Since then I've been playing pretty hard and I "helped" many of my old friends come back into the game.
So I snatched the Dimir pack from his hands - no really I took it from him and bought it. I was a huge jerk but I didn't care. It was a moment of weakness and I failed. We played a round with our sealed decks in order to give Pat some practice in building 40 card decks. I milled him so hard but he took it well and demanded a rematch with a smile.
So after our match we piled back into the Ogre' Lair and start to chat and hang out with the other 13 players for the night.
I drafted Black and Blue. Mostly inspired by my recent Dimir purchase but also because I drew a a good black card on my first booster. My first game went very well for me. I won 2-0 leaving me undefeated after round one. My opponent played Dinos and just could not deal with my combo of Storm Sculptor, Seeker's Squire, Shaper Apprentice, and Deeproot Waters. With both games once I got to turn 4 four I was always bouncing something back in my hand and triggering Deeproot Waters or Seeker's Squire. The second game was won by bouncing my only Tempest Caller over and over again to the non hasted Dinosaurs.
The second round I was lucky to again earn 2-0 victory. Tri-Colour pirates did not stand and chance due to lack of mana. I really felt bad for my opponent who had a great deck and played really well but his deck failed to kick off in time. This is where my four Skittering Heartstopper's paid off. They were awesome deterrence in my last game but in this game they started things off in both games, slowly taking bites off my opponent for my Storm Sculptor to come swinging in for the end game kill. I was really happy with One With the Wind on my Skittering Heartstopper forcing the game to the end sooner in the second round.
My last round was brutal. 0-2 loss. I was mans shy through my first match, and drawing nothing but mana in the second protracted game. It was a great game even if it cost me getting to the top spot. I was tied with two other players for first prize and I got the draw of the next in line. Had I won 2-0 and my two tied opponents won 2-1 (which one of them did) I could have come out in first place. I came in sixth and was happy with my matches.
Pat and I enjoyed our time in the lair. The players were awesome and very friendly. Three of the 15 players were playing for their first time. Pat was one of them, and so was the father of another player. I chatted with a group of players and we talked about alternative formats like Commander, Highlander, Emperor, and Wizard's Tower. They seemed very keen on the various formats and most were new to them. Wizard's Tower was particularly received but younger and newer players who decided to play the format in the coming days.
Once all the prizes were handed and tables put back, folks slowly left the shop talking about their next set of games to be played. Pat and I split up to head back to our respective hotels. I was tired but happy with my experience.
Ogre's Lair is the only shop in the area with the closest being Bear Necessities Storefront in High Level, AB.
I saw a slew of games from Games Workshop, Privateer Press, and even some of the smaller games like Infinity, Malifaux. There was some old one like Battletech and Heavy Gear as well. The board games were stacked up the ceiling and the amount of support for RPGs new, and older out of print RPGs was fantastic. Plenty of other CCGs were present including a whole box of Terminator CCG starters - a truly rare find yet the Ogre's Lair in Yellowknife has it.
Plenty of sleeves from Ultra Pro including the Eclipse line, Ultimate Guards, and Dragon Shield. There were loads of Ultimate Guard boxes with the whole range of card storage represented.
In back was a stack of candy and snacks for players along side soda and energy drinks. The place is clean and the community was very friendly. Next time you find yourself in Yellowknife hit the Ogre's Lair. The folks are friendly, and Friday Night Magic is a blast when you're with good people.
- Cheers
Dozer
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