Friday October 8th marks our first event under our new initiative for all of our Magic: the Gathering that we are affectionately referring to as “Kitchen Tabletop Magic.”

As Brainstorm Comics and Gaming reviewed not only our own events but those of other stores in the area, we realized there were many events that competitive people could play the way they liked, but little to none for those who played the game for fun.  This unfortunately normally drives the more casual people from stores.

Most of you are more than likely familiar with the term “Kitchen Table Magic.”  For those of you who are not, it generally refers to casual games played at a friend’s house instead of a store and where every card is playable.

We want to bring that type of fun and excitement back to stores.  How are we going to do that?

Number one–cost.  We are lowering the cost of our drafts to $12, but reducing the prize pool to 1 pack added per entrant.  It has been our experience that casual players tend to prefer a fun experience over prizes and we want to emphasize that.

One of the aspects that causes FNM to bring out competitive decks or strategies is the prize structure.  In order to discourage simply trying to kill your opponent, Brainstorm Comics and Gaming is changing ours to encourage trying to build differently and in a more fun manner.  So while we will be giving limited prizes to first and second (2 booster packs for 1st, 1 booster pack for 2nd), the rest of the prize pool, including promo packs, will be distributed for the following things:

1. Best sportsmanship
2. Most encouraging
3. Most engaging player
4. Coolest Combo

There will be other categories added as well.  When we started playing Magic: the Gathering, one of the most awesome pieces of the game was the social interaction.  As games have gotten more competitive, it seems like that has been lost.  We want to bring that back.

This is a big change and we know several people will not be fans of it.  We feel very strongly and committed to bringing the casual people back into the game, though, so we will be sticking with this initiative through at least the end of year.  We are hopeful to change the environment for the game in a way that allows it to get back to its roots.

We are hoping you join us in this push.