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European ChampionshipsThe Top 8 players from UAE Nationals will receive invitations to attend the European Continental Championships, which will be held in Milano, Italy, on June 29 - July 1, 2001. The top 64 players there will split a purse of over US $70,000! European Championships are the highest level of competition of Europe, and some of the world's top players and judges will be there. This is a great chance to prepare for Worlds. NEW! Wizards has released new information on Europeans, including details of the location. You can find the information on this Wizards page. World ChampionshipsThe Top 4 players from UAE Nationals will also receive invitations to participate in the Magic World Championships as part of the UAE National Team! The prize purse will be a whopping US $300,000!! They will be held in Toronto, Canada, from August 8 - 12, 2001. Worlds is the highest level of competition in the Magic universe. The top players from each country duke it out ruthlessly for the title of World Champion. There is no mercy, no "You can take that back." The prizes are huge, and the players play tough to win them. More information on Worlds, including player hotels and specific locations can be found at this Wizards page. NEW! It's been announced that a Nationals team consists of three players and an alternate. According to Andrew Heckt, Player Coordinator for Worlds, the alternate "sits and fetches water, unless another player in unable to play (as determined by WotC)." In that case, the alternate takes over. NEW! Wizards has confirmed that for each National team (including the UAE team), the three players who take part in the last match on Day 4 (the Team event) will receive an additional prize of $1000! This counts as part of the Nationals prizes. PreparationPreparing for something like Europeans or Worlds is kind of like preparing for one of our regular tourneys, but you have to keep in mind the level of competition. Going to one of these events with a fun, casual deck will get you eliminated in no time. You need a solid, realistic deck that can win reliably and regularly. Playtest your deck thoroughly. Play it against as many people as you can, and after each game, ask for advice on how to make the deck better. Think of some decks that you've seen other people play, and make sure your deck can deal with them. This is called metagaming -- figuring out what others are going to play, and designing a deck to beat them. LinksIf you need ideas for decks, or would like to find out about what a premier event is really like, try visiting some of the top Magic group sites on the 'Net. Here are a few links to get you started. For some more ideas on preparation, read this article posted on The Dojo. It's slightly outdated, but still quite useful. |
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