Yes, you read that correctly! The WCA will be providing prizes to support Buffy CCG tournaments in 2004. And if supplies hold up, we hope to do so well beyond this year! Through our friends at Score, we have been provided with pallets of merchandise to support these tournaments. That’s correct. Not boxes, not cases, but pallets of boosters, starters and promo cards to distribute.

That may sound like a lot, and it is, but it’s not limitless. When the supply does run out, that’s it. So if you’re still looking to add some more promos, non-foil ultra rares or other cards to your collection, make sure you check out the tournaments in your area. As usual, every tournament will contain prizes for participation, as well as, to the top finishers. Other prizes may also be awarded at the discretion of the event organizer.

What else do you need to know? Unfortunately, the WCA is a non-profit organization, and as such tournament organizers may need to provide shipping fees or a SASE to receive the prizes. Prize packs will be ordered through the Watcher and Judge forum on the BuffyCCG.com website and more information can be found there.

Other than that, you just need to show up, have fun and collect prizes. Can it get any better?

It’s no secret that many of our friends have left the Buffy CCG community to pursue other games and diversions. That includes many of the former Watchers and Judges who supported the game for over two years. While we hope to get many of them back, here’s a chance for everyone who’s stayed with us to stand up and be noticed. Here’s a chance for everyone to pitch in and help the Buffy CCG community thrive and prosper. And with that comes the satisfaction of knowing you made a difference.

I know. You’re hyped and you want more details. If you want to be a Judge or Watcher, what do you have to do? First, you must know what the differences are so you know what you‘d be best at.

Judges are considered experts in the game and are dedicated to keeping players in the game through organized play. To be a Judge you need to pass a test. As you read this, the WCA Ruling Committee is busy creating a revised test you need to pass to be certified a Buffy CCG Judge. Once certified, you may render rulings during tournament play. You are expected to stay knowledgeable in the latest version of the CRD and to follow up with the WCA Ruling Committee when questions arise where you aren’t quite certain of the right answer.

Watchers are those individuals willing to commit their time and energy to organizing Buffy events and actively seeking new players. This can be just tournaments, but also community awareness events of any kind. Watchers can also be Judges, but they don’t have to be. In the past, the Host was primarily responsible for tournament paperwork. The new Watcher responsibilities include finding locations willing to host a tournament, communicating the tournament information to players in their area, sending in for tournament kits in advance of the tournament, keeping the tournament organized, timing rounds, completing score sheets, handing out prizes and reporting tournament results. In effect, Watchers will have assumed the role of Host. This allows much more freedom of venue, as a retail shop is no longer required for tournament hosting. This should open up many more forms of public awareness of the game,

We all know that people are needed in both a Judge and Watcher capacity to ensure a successful tournament. It can involve some work, but if you’re willing to do it, there is a good deal of satisfaction that can result. If you enjoy playing the Buffy CCG, but really don’t have the time to devote in a Judge or Watcher capacity, that’s fine, but I know any appreciation you can show for those that do is certainly welcomed.

So what else is in it for you? Well, you get access to a private forum that’s exclusively for Watchers and Judges. Not really too secretive, but it helps us facilitate tournament organization. And, since most of us love to play the game, the rule that sometimes limited Watchers and Judges from playing in tournaments has been lifted, with some caveats.

If a Judge wants to play in a tournament, there have to be other judges available to make rulings in games that involve the Judge. Preferably a total of three Judges, in case the first two Judges play each other. The arrangement needs to be agreed to by the tournament participants. Obviously, at all times fair play needs to be maintained. Additionally, playing in the tournament cannot detract from the Judge fulfilling their normal tournament duties.

If a Watcher wants to play in a tournament they organized, again, it cannot detract from their normal duties as a Watcher in making the event successful. Additionally, unless a Watcher paid fees to participate in the tournament (as can happen at conventions), they should not award tournament prizes to themselves.

If you’d like to be a new Judge, we’ll pass your name along to the Ruling Committee and they’ll get a test out to you. If you’d like to be a new Watcher, we’ll give you access to the secure web-site and consider you initially as a Watcher in training. It’s not that we don’t trust everyone, but if you haven’t served in a Watcher capacity in the past, we’d like to see you start with some smaller tournaments, and demonstrate your ability to fulfill the responsibilities. After a few successful tournament you can drop the “in training” designation. We just want to make sure the tournaments are run well and the prizes get into the hands of the players.

I have seen a lot of people posting their Deck strategies or Combo ideas on the board. This is great and the WCA definitely wants to encourage this. So what can we do? Since I have a bit left from the European Final Commissary, I am rewarding the best deck idea with a prize. Every participant will win a prize.

Oh, I see… You want to know what prizes there are… Well let me have a look into my box…J

1^st Prize: 2 Non-Foil Ultra Rares

2^nd Prize: 1 Non-Foil Ultra Rare

3^rd Prize: 1 Buffy Buck Card

Participation Prize: 1 random Promo card

The Non-Foil Ultra-Rares available are: The Dead Have Risen, St. Du Lac Mausoleum, and Primal Connection.

The Promo Cards are: all possible, except Rupert’s Pad.

The top 3 will also gain a participation Promo card. So take your chance and post your best Deck. Score-released Virtual Cards are allowed, such as the Broken Links and VotW and HotW. There will be a bonus for the best deck using the Old Man and his 2 hunters, the Gruenshtahlers (though “Grünthalers” would be closer to a correct German spelling), but that will be a surprise.

Decks should be posted in the Decks & Strategy Forum on BuffyCCG.com with the heading of “Hunt for Strategy Deck - <insert your deck’s name here>“ no later than 12:01AM the morning of March 28, 2004. If 2 decks are exactly the same, the time of the post will be important. The WCA-Members will choose the winners from the pool of participants. (So maybe if you send me a chocolate bar, [I think I like “Hurricane“…] your chances might be a bit better. J )

Have fun! And let’s see those deck ideas!!!

The new CRD (Current Rulings Document) is complete, and will soon be posted (if it isn't already by the time you read this)! The new CRD will be effective March 1, 2004, for all WCA tournaments, and it includes a lot of new information, including rulings on some of the virtual cards, like the "Broken Links." When putting together the new CRD, we made sure to deeply discuss the points that many of you have expressed on the BuffyCCG boards, and we feel the rulings in the new update should be the fairest and most balanced for everyone. When you get a chance, please take a moment and look it over and let us know how you feel we did.

If you have any comments, questions, complaints, or just plain ruling issues you feel need to be addressed, feel free to post them on the BuffyCCG Forums or simply write to me, Tarafan65, at dontresca@yahoo.com, and the Rulings Committee will be sure to address your concerns as quickly as possible, and include any needed rulings or changes in the next CRD update. The CRD will now be updated four times yearly, barring special circumstances: the beginning of March, June, September, and December of each year.

Unknown Outcome [Co99 #116] is actually an often overlooked card for a fight deck. More often than not, when someone is facing your fighting deck, they start stacking their hand with talent changers, like Book Learning or Hair Flip, and if you don't have enough Testosterones to switch it back, you're toast. This gem is perfect when you've run out of your own changers, and you have a pretty good idea that they have more than enough to mess with your fighting plans. When you play it, both players get rid of their hand and draw 5 new cards, completely destroying their ability to save their changers. Not only that, but you can play all the cards in your hand before the fight with abandon, because as long as you have that one Unknown Outcome, you'll be back fighting with a full compliment of 5 cards, plus the Fight/Draw for even more! Top it off with a 2 Weirdness boost that fits really well with Evil alignment decks and you've got one pretty solid card!