Magic: the Gathering in the UK
Nats and Nats Qualifiers - explanation, dates... and organisation? (!)
I sort-of explained (not very well i might add!) what the deal is with Nationals and Nationals qualifiers to a couple of people (Louis, Alex), and said i would do a better job of it here on DT. Well, here's to trying...
What is "Nats"?
Nats = Great British National Championship, an annual event in which 200-odd of the country's best players are invited to battle it out over 12-14 rounds of standard constructed and draft Magic, in order to determine a champion for that year, and the 4-player team which will go on to represent our fine country at Worlds. It also is a breeding ground for many shenanigans and fun times, such as sleeping on a beach and losing all your belongings in the sea...
This year Nationals will be held here in London, at the Royal National Hotel, August 19 to 22. I believe the format this year will be 4 rounds standard, 3 rounds draft on day 1, same again day 2, then cut to a top 8 single-elim on day 3.
An important thing to note is that Nats is not just for players who have qualified! There are a billion (possible overestimate...) side-events, which i am sure Jason will announce shortly, which likely include GPTs, PTQs, old set draft/sealed, discount drafts, etc...
So how to i get to play at Nats?
To earn an invite/qualify for Nats, you need to either be in one of the country's top 75 based on your rating (very unlikely to most reading this, you need to be around 1900 to autoqualify), or, win a place via one of many National Qualifiers...
And what exactly are those?
Each Nats Qualifier is a standard constructed tournament, at which there is 1 place at Nationals for every 8 players who participate.So if 72 players turn up, the top 9 qualify, etc. These are held all over the country on weekends between March and April. Plus, there are likely to be last chance qualifiers (LCQs) on the night before Nationals, which may include limited formats as well as standard.
So when are these?
The following list is taken from the Wizards UK group, and may be likely to change - contact individual TO's for details. In bold are the ones within an hour and a half travel time, and thus most likely to be attended by London players.
13/03/2010 Southampton
14/03/2010 Newcastle
21/03/2010 Glasgow
21/03/2010 Reading
28/03/2010 Plymouth
03/04/2010 Manchester
04/04/2010 Bury St Edmunds
04/04/2010 Dundee
10/04/2010 Nottingham
11/04/2010 Oxford
02/05/2010 Gravesend
08/05/2010 London
09/05/2010 Downend
15/05/2010 Birmingham
16/05/2010 Portsmouth
16/05/2010 Altrincham
15/05/2010 Cambridge
23/05/2010 Milton Keynes
23/05/2010 Cardiff
29/05/2010 Sheffield
29/05/2010 Coventry
30/05/2010 Brighton
Will post some more on testing, and organisation, in a bit...
What is "Nats"?
Nats = Great British National Championship, an annual event in which 200-odd of the country's best players are invited to battle it out over 12-14 rounds of standard constructed and draft Magic, in order to determine a champion for that year, and the 4-player team which will go on to represent our fine country at Worlds. It also is a breeding ground for many shenanigans and fun times, such as sleeping on a beach and losing all your belongings in the sea...
This year Nationals will be held here in London, at the Royal National Hotel, August 19 to 22. I believe the format this year will be 4 rounds standard, 3 rounds draft on day 1, same again day 2, then cut to a top 8 single-elim on day 3.
An important thing to note is that Nats is not just for players who have qualified! There are a billion (possible overestimate...) side-events, which i am sure Jason will announce shortly, which likely include GPTs, PTQs, old set draft/sealed, discount drafts, etc...
So how to i get to play at Nats?
To earn an invite/qualify for Nats, you need to either be in one of the country's top 75 based on your rating (very unlikely to most reading this, you need to be around 1900 to autoqualify), or, win a place via one of many National Qualifiers...
And what exactly are those?
Each Nats Qualifier is a standard constructed tournament, at which there is 1 place at Nationals for every 8 players who participate.So if 72 players turn up, the top 9 qualify, etc. These are held all over the country on weekends between March and April. Plus, there are likely to be last chance qualifiers (LCQs) on the night before Nationals, which may include limited formats as well as standard.
So when are these?
The following list is taken from the Wizards UK group, and may be likely to change - contact individual TO's for details. In bold are the ones within an hour and a half travel time, and thus most likely to be attended by London players.
13/03/2010 Southampton
14/03/2010 Newcastle
21/03/2010 Glasgow
21/03/2010 Reading
28/03/2010 Plymouth
03/04/2010 Manchester
04/04/2010 Bury St Edmunds
04/04/2010 Dundee
10/04/2010 Nottingham
11/04/2010 Oxford
02/05/2010 Gravesend
08/05/2010 London
09/05/2010 Downend
15/05/2010 Birmingham
16/05/2010 Portsmouth
16/05/2010 Altrincham
15/05/2010 Cambridge
23/05/2010 Milton Keynes
23/05/2010 Cardiff
29/05/2010 Sheffield
29/05/2010 Coventry
30/05/2010 Brighton
Will post some more on testing, and organisation, in a bit...
Views: 95
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ray Fong on
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The 'official' announcement announcing the venue of the GB nationals is now up on the community website. *glares menacingly at Dan* :-)
Ray
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Tom: you were on PV's fantasy team though... and he won the thing, so that's got to be worth some claim to fame :)
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Permalink Reply by Thomas David Baker on
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@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Permalink Reply by Dan Barrett on
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Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P
Thomas David Baker said:@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Just for the record Southampton is just over 70 miles from Central London straight down the M3. I would say that is more than reachable in a hour and a half, so should be in BOLD print.
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When??
Dan Barrett said:Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P Thomas David Baker said:@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Royde on
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Graham Theobalds said:Just for the record Southampton is just over 70 miles from Central London straight down the M3. I would say that is more than reachable in a hour and a half, so should be in BOLD print.
Fair point- Southampton, Downend (bristol) and cov are all easily doable.
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I was basing this on train travel times, as i do not have a car, just so you know.
Graham Theobalds said:Just for the record Southampton is just over 70 miles from Central London straight down the M3. I would say that is more than reachable in a hour and a half, so should be in BOLD print.
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Mike Flores said that i was "awesome!" on twitter. FACT.
Gary Lynch said:When??
Dan Barrett said:Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P Thomas David Baker said:@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Screenshot or it didn't happen.
Dan Barrett said:Mike Flores said that i was "awesome!" on twitter. FACT. Gary Lynch said:When??
Dan Barrett said:Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P Thomas David Baker said:@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Plus, bonus Kyle Sanchez asking me for deck advice:
Twitter is awesome for talking to Magic pros, just today i have been retweeted by Flores, and had a quick discussion with Conley Woods on shuffling battle of wits Gary Lynch said:
Screenshot or it didn't happen.
Dan Barrett said:
Mike Flores said that i was "awesome!" on twitter. FACT.
Gary Lynch said:
When??
Dan Barrett said:
Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P
Thomas David Baker said:
@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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Perhaps you can as conley for advice onthe martyr deck. I don't see how it beats control. I may just play faries.
Dan Barrett said:
Plus, bonus Kyle Sanchez asking me for deck advice:
Twitter is awesome for talking to Magic pros, just today i have been retweeted by Flores, and had a quick discussion with Conley Woods on shuffling battle of wits Gary Lynch said:
Screenshot or it didn't happen.
Dan Barrett said:
Mike Flores said that i was "awesome!" on twitter. FACT.
Gary Lynch said:
When??
Dan Barrett said:
Much like Mike Flores' quote about me? :P
Thomas David Baker said:
@Ray - Sweet, DT is getting scoops now!
@Peter - True! I need to work up a sentence along the lines of, "I was instrumental in PV wining a Magic competition" that goes for maximum ambiguity and makes me look good :) Perhaps, "PV's victory at Nats could not have occurred without me" :) :) :)
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