Be A Part of Something Larger: The World Magic Cup Qualifiers

Last weekend was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a sanctioned Magic:The Gathering event. The World Magic Cup Qualifiers was a two-day event of the Modern Format hosted by Neutral Grounds Philippines at Glorietta 3 Activity Center. This was the second WMCQ held in the Philippines with the first one held a little over a few months ago and the third WMCQ coming on the month of September. The most recent WMCQ held a record-breaking 459 players in attendance and is the current record-holder for that largest Modern Tournament in the Philippines! If you’ve wanted to try your hand at a large event like this but feel intimidated, don’t be. The community is welcoming enough to guide you through. Believe me when I say that there’s nothing quite like the exhilaration of playing and being around hundred of fans of the game and who knows, you might even make new friends here.

Pardon my embarrassingly low quality photos. I didn’t have a great camera on me.

Igniting your Planeswalker Spark

Like most players, I was introduced to Magic by friends and playing the game whenever someone brings their 60 card deck over. There’s no experience quite like dueling against a person right in front of you with real interaction and not playing against someone over the internet. There’s no better place than playing at your kitchen table or over at a local game store. Paper Magic is great experience and even if you’re not the most social, you will feel right at home interacting with like-minded people who share the same love for the game. Whether it be through the art, lore or gameplay; you can always find something to share and laugh about.

I started getting out of the casual side of Magic when I found buy/sell groups on Facebook and from there, discovered different shops that would hold tournaments on different days of the week. I visited a shop, registered for my DCI card and leaped straight in even if I didn’t particularly know anyone. The store owners are really friendly and will be happy to help you get into the swing of playing in sanctioned tournaments.
Special mention to Friday Quest (Mandaluyong), GotGame (Makati), Regran (Ortigas), MTG Vault Card Shop (Banawe), Ongkeco’s Hobby Shop (Taft) and Neutral Grounds Centris Walk. I’ve literally been playing from end to end and experiencing different places and meeting different people.
These places are where I accumulated the 300 Planeswalker Points that secured my eligibility to participate in the WMCQs. This is important. You need at least 300 Points to participate so if you want to get into the WMCQ experience, you gotta start playing first at your local game store.

The best advice I can give you is to just go out there and find a shop nearest to you and if you have a friend with you, bring him/her, ask questions if you aren’t sure of something and most importantly, have fun.