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ORCTOBERFEST 2006 / clik-for-pix
October 28, 2006
Once again it was time for Blackthorn's annual Orctoberfest. Besides the big events, we hosted games that were slightly "off". The type of games Orcs would enjoy.
Some of the games featured:
  • Orc Bowling: You wear big green hands and bowl over Orc pins for prizes.
  • Roll-the-Bones: The house rolls dice, you roll numbered bones in a miniature graveyard. If you beat the house, you win.
  • Wheel of Misfortune: Pull a nasty looking numbered eyeball from the cauldron. Guess if the "wheel" will spin higher or lower than that number.
  • Pirate Chip-Chuck Challenge: You toss Clout chips into special buckets to try to win Clout booster packs.
If you lose any of these games you get to take a bag of candy (which might have a special slip of paper that looks like a pumpkin). If you get a pumpkin you get to take a main prize. Anyone who wins any of these games automatically gets to take a main prize which contains assorted games and game accessories. The boxes containing the prizes are wrapped in a gloomy black and splattered with a lovely green shade of Orc-snot!

The costume contest winners won:
  • A gift certificate to Blackthorn Game Center. (1st place)
  • A copy of the Sword and Skull board game. (2nd place)
The coloring contest flag design winner won:
  • A copy of the Monsters Menace America board game.
Click here to see the pictures!




CLOUT Rules the Room
September 30, 2006
This past Saturday, it looked like a Clout convention in the game room. Tables were stacked with open boxes of Clout, chips were everywhere. The players were trading heavily for the chips they needed to make their faction invincible. Stack strategies were being discussed and everyone was anxious to hit the tables and start throwing down!
This was the largest turnout Blackthorn has had so far for a Clout tournament. Twenty-two players competed and we ran two consecutive tourneys.
A big thanks to all the old timers, intermediates, and new players for making it such a great day.

Table space was at a premium! Some players had to wait until other players finished their game before they could play their match. The mats take a lot of room and it's next to impossible to get everyone playing at the same time. (But no one was complaining...they were too busy enjoying the event.)
Clout in action
Foreground table: Ryan "The Godfather" Taliaferro, Devin Etheridge (back left), Damien Davis (back right), and Alex "BoB" Kopischke
"Scenes from the pit"
"Matt, Nick, Devin, Matthew, Jordan, Michael, and Dean "the Arm"

BTW...Pirates won the first event...Goblins won the second.


Chip gets his pics on the CLOUT blog.
September 26, 2006

Chip, our CLOUT mascot, had his 15 minutes of fame when he got featured on the CLOUT blog site. Actually, he got his 15 minutes way back in July...we just forgot to tell you about it.
(And Chip ain't too happy about that!)

Check out Chip


Blackthorn gets some "digital ink" on Atlas Games' Report from the Fleet

September 26, 2006

Check out the newsfeed mentioning Blackthorn, posted by the nice folks at Atlas Games. And hey...you really should buy a copy (or two) of their awesome game Pieces of Eight!

Atlas Games' Report from the Fleet


Star Wars Bounty Hunter Release Tournament
Seeptember 26, 2006

The day (and night) preceding the BHRT was filled with wicked weather nailing Tennessee and Kentucky. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to host the event on Saturday. Fortunately, we weren't hit by any damaging storms, although heavy rains tapped on the roof throughout the day.
Congratulations, to the brave players who fought the elements and competed in the event.

Final Standings
  1. Thomas Caldwell
  2. Allen Watwood
  3. Daniel Lewis
Daniel Lewis, Allen Watwood, and Thomas Caldwell. (Hey, who's the stinkin' photographer? Ya' took all the pictures from behind everyone!)


The Spoils Open Beta Sealed Tournament
September 16, 2006

Wow, our third spontaneous tournament, already? We're getting a pretty good group going for the Spoils and they really appreciate Tenacious Games' generosity.
(How many other companies give you a free tournament kit each week?)
Congratulations to the winners of the event.
  1. First Place: Steven "The Man in Black" Biese
  2. Second Place: Marc "Rabid" Romine
  3. Third Place: Matt Romine
  4. Fourth Place: Devin Etheridge


New Monopoly board game features Toyota Prius
September 13, 2006
A modern update of the classic board game Monopoly now offers a Toyota Prius as one of the player tokens. Other new tokens include McDonald's fries and a computer.

The revised game called "Monopoly: Here and Now Edition" was unveiled Tuesday and features new properties in addition to new game pieces. The "money" will also be significantly higher to reflect the purchase of such landmarks as Florida's South Beach. Airports have also replaced the railroads, and the Chance and Community Chest card will be more relevant to today's lifestyles. No mention if jail has been changed.



CLOUT Fantasy 1-o-1 tournament
September 16, 2006
Another great weekend of Clout! We had a large turnout for the Pirate faction with this tournament. Three players decided to join Redbeard's crew! Congratulations to "Riptide" Roger who won the event with his Pirates stack. (And was graciously given back his pillaged point by the good Cap'n Matt "Black Sails" Romine.)


The Spoils Open Beta Sealed Tournament
September 02, 2006

In case you haven't heard, one of the most talked about and anticipated card games is set to hit the store shelves. The game is called The Spoils.
In one of the most generous and ingenious plans devised, Tenacious Games has offered to supply free cards for gamers to use for sealed tournaments. The unique thing about Tenacious is the fact that they are giving players enough cards for a full eight player game. Players may then submit the tourney results and game feedback and receive another full kit for eight players.
This has never been done by any other game publisher. Rather than getting one demo deck and "trying" a game, Tenacious gives you cards to actually run a full-blown tournament. As long as tournament results and feedback are submitted in a timely manner, a new kit is sent to the beta retailer for another event.
We should applaud Tenacious Games for this brilliant idea and hope that other publishers will follow their lead.

The kits arrives with two boxes of sealed packs, three bags of resource cards, and an envelope with rules, reporting forms, and prize cards. The beta group eagerly cracked open the kit.
The first beta group consisted of (clockwise from left) Damien Davis, Mark Romine (hidden), Steven Beise (also hidden), Alex Kopischke, Matthew Romine, and Troy "I don't read comic books" Brown.


August Yu-Gi-Oh League Winners
September 02, 2006

Congratulations to our August Yu-Gi-Oh league winners. These players had the highest point accumulations for games played in August.

Ben D., William F., and William Tummins.


CLOUT Fantasy Tournament
September 02, 2006

Congratulations to our Clout Fantasy winners. Steven Biese took first place with his ruthless undead stack. (The other guys are now gunning for you Steven.)
Each highest placing faction winner won a special chip and medallion representing their faction.

Matthew Bond, Roger of the Elves, Steven "loud-mouthed undead guy", Matthew Romine, Marc "Don't pay the Ferryman!" Romine, and Alex Kopischke.


Pirates CSG Tournament
Cap'n Fog & Groggy's Barnacle Bash 1

August 26, 2006

Blackthorn Game Center was the port o' call for Cap'n Fog & Groggy's Barnacle Bash 1. Many a familiar seafarin' folk and liars were a present. We had a few new faces pay visit to the port and a good battle ensued.

The despicably nasty Cap'n Marc "Rabid" Romine and our ol' shipmate Cap'n Alex "Bucket O' Blood" Kopischke. "Rabid Romine" won first place and his ration of pirates victuals, "BoB" took second.


CLOUT Fantasy Multiplayer Tournament
August 26, 2006
Our Chip-Chuckin' group decided to have an impromptu multiplayer tournament. The factions were represented by Merfolk, Pirate, Goblin, Elves, and two Undead players.
Much trash-talking incurred as well as light-hearted verbal abuse as to the limited abilty of each players' throwing skills.
The depth of the table made for a hard target when you wanted to eliminate chips from that loud-mouth across from you. Especially one of those undead guys.
Everyone had a great time, and unfortunately, the loud-mouthed undead guy won.

Steven (loud-mouthed undead guy) Biese. Some of the rabble we had to endure from Steven..."Undead rule", "bring it on!", "yeah, feel the pain"...blah,blah, blah. Unfortunately, he lived up to his word and won.
Steven, Matt Romine, Chris Hooper (looking perturbed), Keifer, Roger (hidden), and Ben (in Yu-Gi-Oh shirt). At this point in the game , Chris and Steven were having a hearty discussion about world economics and the socio-psychological ramifications of the overproduction of orange juice in guava juice drinking nations.
Steven turns his attention to Roger of the Elves. "Feed my Zombies, you pointy-eared tree-hugger!" Roger questions "Why, oh why, must I endure the taunts from loud-mouthed undead guy?"
"I've had it with loud-mouthed undead guy! He's goin' down!"
"BWA-HA-HA-HA, It look like you losers are losing" says Steven (the loud-mouthed undead guy.)

...yeah, Mr. LMUG won...with 21 points.


CLOUT Fantasy -
Redbeard's Revenge Release Tournament

August 19, 2006

WHO NEEDS GOLD...WHEN YOU'VE GOT CLOUT?

Ahoy, ya barnacle encrusted bilge-rats! 'Twas a fine day indeed! Many a chip tossing sea-mongrel was privy to the good Cap'n Redbeard's company.

The heavily anticipated Pirate faction for CLOUT had finally arrived. Many a
"chip-chucker" used the wickedly piratical abilites of Flair, and Pillage.

I myself be losin' to a "Red" stack that be using the accursed Flair.
(I was robbed fer that one stinkin' point. But I'll be hunting ye' down
Matt lad... I wants me rightful point back!)


We knew it was a promisin' day. A fine port it be, and a friendly place. The sign at right be
sayin' "scallywags welcome".
The treasure was contained within the chest. Treasure always be dear to a pirates' heart!
The CLOUT boosters be merely for building the anticipation of the battle. Any 'lubber
caught touchin' would be wearin' a hook fer a hand.
The lads in battle. Thar be Ryan, eatin' Squid Chips, Matt, (he be wearing the fine hat), and
lastly, 'tis Jordan. I'm thinkin' Jordan been eatin' some bad fish...he be lookin' squeamish.
Chris were not happy that I be takin' his
picture."Ya' be botherin me again, and I'll
be cuttin' ya fer shark chum" said Chris.
Steven always be knowin' the appropriate
attire for any event. Black, with a skull! ARRRRR!
Here be Alex playin' his Centaur stack. Personally, I never be hearing about no horses on board ship. However, since Alex
be winnin' the event , I might be rethinkin'
the appropriateness of our equine friends
on deck.
Second place winner Mathew Romine (with
the fine hat). First place winner Alex
Kopischke. Alex didn't have a fine hat, but
says he be wantin' one.
The whole scurvy lot! Matthew Bond, Chris Hooper, Marc Romine, Steven Biese, Matthew
Romine, Roger, Jordan Lowe, Nathan Bryson, and Alex Kopischke. Ryan Taliaferro went
missin'. I believe the dogs ran 'im through and took his loot!




Edgy Chip
CLOUT Chip has players on Edge!

August 05, 2006
It was unbelievable, so truly amazing, that we had to report on it! ...or, you may think it's pretty sad that we get excited by something like this.
During warm-ups for the CLOUT team player tournament, Marc Romine tossed out his chip. The chip bounced a few times and landed ON ITS EDGE. We had everyone in the Game Center stay away from the table until we could take some pictures.
Do you think we should we submit this to the Book of World Records?
.
These are actual unretouched photos of the chip. No wires, tape, rubber bands,
acrobats, glue, putty, nails, telekenetic powers, sea monkeys, gum, squirrels,
chipmunks, photoshop, or any special effects were used to create this amazing feat.


CLOUT Fantasy Tournament
July 29, 2006
Congratulations to Jordan "rodent-wrangler" Lowe, the winner of our July 29, CLOUT Fantasy tournament. Jordan won the tournament with his "wickedly nasty, most fearful, extreme pain inducing, mighty green discs of righteousness" stack.
Jordan won a tournament exclusive relic chip as well as an exclusive chip supporting the faction he played in the tournament.
Each player below won an exclusive chip for their faction.
  • Matthew Romine: Undead
  • Matthew Bond: Gobblers
  • Riptide Roger: Sea Bass
  • Jordan "Green Chips" Lowe: Elves
  • Ryan Taliaferro: Centaur


CLOUT Fantasy Smack-Down
July 29, 2006
After the glorious win by the "rodent-wrangler", our very own resident "Chip Monk" stepped in to show the players how a true master of the chip tossing arts plays the game.
Chipmunk took on five other players in a huge multiplayer game and swept the field leaving them with nothing but their bruised and broken egos.
"It's knowing what to throw, and when to throw it" said Chip. "I always play the Green because they're my peeps. I save my Destroy chip for the end and wipe out the other guys"
.

Some of the players objected to Chip's style of actually playing on the mat.
Chip just told them to "live with it, or I'll bite your patella off".
This chip kicks it! Did you know this is a picture of my cousin on here?


Mario Kart DS Tournament
July 29, 2006
The winnah...Joseph W! Yes, Joseph has won yet again! This is his 4th win!
`nuff said.


Joseph has won once again. Much to the chagrin of the other racers.


Pirates CSG Tournament
Cap'n Fog & Groggy's Barnacle Bash #1/2

July 22, 2006
The cutthroats arrived in a fine mood. A steady wind had guided their ships to port and all were ready for an "honest" game of Pirates.
The game, of course, was Pirates of the Spanish Main. Each captain constructed a 30 point fleet from three sealed packs. No Captain cards or named crew were permitted.
New to the game was the dread pirate captain, Captain Chris! The captain Alex "Bucket O' Blood" Kopischke was sportin' a new wine colored hat to celebrate the sea monster he had added to his fleet.
The final standings were:
  1. Riptide Roger
  2. Jordan "the Twitch" Lowe
  3. Alex "Bucket O' Blood" Kopischke
  4. Captain Chris "Criss-Cross" Hooper


The ships arrive early. A light breakfast of fresh fruits, yogurt, and croissants was served.
The Black Flag. Here there be Pirates! "Ya' dumb monkey! It's under the X! It's always
under the X!" says Touc.
The Twitch, Criss-Cross, Bucket O' Blood (sportin' the impressive new hat).


Magic: The Gathering Coldsnap Release Tournament
July 22, 2006

Blackthorn was proud to host one of the many release tournaments for the awesome new Magic expansion Coldsnap. This expansion has achieved legendary/mystical status due to the story surrounding it.
The story is that the original designs for this set were found taped-up in a box in a mossy, barnacle encrusted filing cabinet. The cabinet had been hidden away in some dank chamber in the Wizards of the Coast headquarters, never to be viewed by human eyes.
Well, as the story goes, some brave worker moved said filing cabinet. Suddenly, a golden glow burst forth. The cabinet cracked open to reveal its wonderous treasure and Coldsnap was released upon the world.

We attempted to present a photo of the winners. However, our digital camera chose to get funky and the file on the flash card keeps reading "FILE CORRUPTED". Not being a game store to give up easily, we got our very own sketch artist to capture the occasion.
No expense was spared to have the artist render this fine interpretation of the tournament winners.
The winners were Zack Forster, Christopher Deszell, and Kanon Hinson.
This is not the order that they appear in the image above. In fact, we're not
sure who is who in the above picture. We ARE sure that Blanton is
not in the above picture ...because he didn't want anyone to draw a
picture of him ...so he left.

The final standings for the tournament:
  1. Zack Forster
  2. Christopher Deszell
  3. Blanton Hamilton
  4. Kanon Hinson


CLOUT Fantasy Tournament
July 15, 2006
Congratulations to Matthew Romine, the winner of our July 15, CLOUT Fantasy tournament.
Matthew won a tournament exclusive relic chip as well as an exclusive chip supporting the faction he played in the tournament.
Each player below won an exclusive chip for their faction.
  • Matthew Romine: Centaur
  • Matthew Bond: Undead
  • Riptide Roger: Trout
  • Jordan "Green Chips" Lowe: Elves
  • Alex Kopischke: Gobble-ins


War of the Dragon Queen Prerelease
July 1, 2006

Anticipation was high for the War of the Dragon Prerelease. This has to be one of the best sets to be produced by Wizards of the Coast. The sculpts and paint jobs are really well done in this set and the figure selection is strong. This new expansion to the D&D Minatures line includes the coveted Aspect of Tiamat.
Turn out for this event was high. Twenty players registered, although some dropped early once they got their figures.
The event was four rounds of swiss, with the semi-finals cutting to the top four. The finals standings were:
  • Markus Brown - First
  • Damien Davis - Second
  • Donovan Grimwood (is that a cool gaming name, or what?) - Third
  • Troy Brown - Fourth
Thanks to all the players for making this a great event!


Gregory Frantz building his army. Greg's pants were subject to a vicious
Dragon attack earlier.
Getting set up for the tournament.
Daniel Bennett, and Kris Blais during the event.
Donovan Grimwood rolling the dice.
Greg (at left) is fighting with the Dragon
to save his pants.
Troy Brown, Donovan Grimwood, Markus Brown, and Damien Davis


Pirates CSG Sealed Tournament
June 24, 2006

'twas a fine day for settin' sail. Gold was abundant, and the sea dogs were bloodthirsty for the loot.
The game was Pirates of the Spanish Main, and it's various expansions. Each captain constructed a 30 point fleet from three sealed packs. No Captain cards or named crew were permitted.
The top three players were Matthew Bond, Alex Kopischke, and Matthew Romine. Since Captain Bond was much too vociferous about his victory, the other Captains begrudged him and tossed him overboard. (That's why he's not in the picture!)

The vile, heartless, cutthroat captains. Matthew "Black Sails" Romine and his
"Mad-Monkey" Mr. Squeekers (on shoulder). Alex "Bucket O' Blood" Kopischke, and
"Riptide" Roger.


Mario Kart DS Tournament
June 24, 2006
Three wins for Joseph W.! Joseph has taken home yet another trophy to add to his collection.
The other players said there was "no way" he would take it again. Well, to everyone's chagrin, he did.


Left picture: Players during the event. Right side picture: First place winner Joseph W. and Jeremiah H.


Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament
June 24, 2006

Congratulations to the winners of the Saturday Traditional Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. Justin Henry placed first, Brantley Nelson placed second, James Lund took third, and Steven Biese finished fourth.

Justin Henry, and Brantley Nelson


Spider Attack!
June 23, 2006
Arrrgh! Blackthorn has been overrun by big, nasty, hairy red spiders! These spiders are, of course, the repaint War of the Dragon Queen pre-release variants. (These are huge. That's the BIG base they're sitting on!)
Each player that enters the tournament will receive one of these nasties absolutely free. Be sure to register early to reserve a slot!

Nasty spider beasties


CLOUT Fantasy Tournament
June 17, 2006
Congratulations to the winners of our June 17, CLOUT Fantasy tournament.
First place went to Jordan Lowe, and second was awarded to Daniel Coons.
The winners, and players, were awarded special limited relic chips and random chips from the chip prize pouch.

Troy Brown, Hendo Phillips, Chris Hooper, Marc Romine, and Jordan Lowe.
Marc Romine, and Jordan Lowe, battle some shady characters at right. "Curse thee!" cries Jordan. "I shall pelt thee with my mighty green discs of righteousness!"


Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament
June 17, 2006

This is just a good old Saturday Yu-Gi-Oh event. It's not a special event or anything. The Yu-Gi-Oh guys were just getting tired of everyone else getting their pictures posted and said it was about time they got their faces on here.

Steven Biese (the guy with the cap) is the main reason this picture is here. Steven told us that he thinks the Yu-Gi-Oh players are much more photogenic than the people that play other games and that all the pictures should be only of Yu-Gi-Oh players. He feels Yu-Gi-Oh players haven't been getting their fair share of coverage and that all the news on the Blackthorn website should only be about Yu-Gi-Oh.

Steven later added "You are such liars, I never said that garbage! Why don't you just leave us alone and let us enjoy the game? And who's that loser with the camera?"


Star Wars Champions of the Force Release Event
June 10, 2006
Blackthorn Game Center was proud to be one of twenty-five locations to host a release tournament for the new Star Wars miniatures expansion, Champions of the Force.
Each player used a 100 point squad and competed in a Swiss paired "Kill-them-All" style tournament.
Thank you to all the players who participated and congratulations to the winners!


Daniel Coons, Matthew Romine, Thomas Caldwell, Justus Cox, Dan Lewis, and David Borowski



  1. First Place - Justus Cox
  2. Second Place - Thomas Caldwell
  3. Third Place - Daniel Coons
  4. Fourth Place - Matthew Romine

CLOUT Fantasy Tournament
May 27, 2006
Flip the Chips 2! Congratulations to the winners of our CLOUT Fantasy tournament.
First place went to Alex Kopischke, and second was awarded to Chris Hooper.
The winners, and players, were awarded special limited relic chips and random chips from the chip prize pouch.

Chris Hooper, Hendo Phillips, Matthew Bond (foreground), and Alex Kopischke


Mario Kart DS Tournament
May 27, 2006
Joseph W. has done it again! For the second time Joseph has won first place at the Blackthorn Mario Kart DS Tournament. Eight players ran 10 races on eight tracks.
Joseph won a specially made trophy for the event. Once again, thanks to Marc Romine for judging the race.

First place winner Joseph W. and his trophy


VS. League High Score Winner
May, 2006
Matthew Bond has won the trophy for highest number of points earned for the March / April play period.
This is Matt's second VS. league win. Matt was the winner of our very first VS. league trophy...the Batman. This time he has won a custom Joker trophy. Congratulations to Mr. Bond!

Matt (left) is presented his trophy by Roger


CLOUT Fantasy Tournament

May 13, 2006
Flip the Chips! A CLOUT Fantasy Tournament. The tournament consisted of 3 rounds of swiss with the top 2 going into the finals.
First place went to Matthew Bond, and second was awarded to Roger "The Shrubber".
Non tourney games of one-on-one and multi player were held after the event.


10 Years of Magic: The Gathering
May 11, 2006
10 years ago, in 1996, Blackthorn Game Center hosted our first sanctioned Magic tournament. To the best of our knowlege this was the first sanctioned tourney in middle Tennessee. Times were exciting then. Magic was relatively new. People built huge decks with all the colors and waited to attack with all their big monsters!

We were young and naive but learned quickly. Players learned to concentrate more on two color decks and scale their deck sizes down The game was new enough that there wasn't a huge player base yet. In fact, we had many of the topped ranked players of the time playing in our game room. Players like Jeremie "Moondog" Franklin, Mike, Jessie and Stevie Hornburger, David Ross and Joe Shelton.

Blackthorn managed to get the first "pro" level events into the area. We hosted PTQ's, States, Juniors, Prereleases, and Regionals. The events were tirelessly and expertly judged by Dewayne Barnes, the first Magic Level 2 judge in Tennessee.

It's been amazing all the changes that have happened over the past ten years. We are thankful for all the friends we have made and the memories we share. We are proud to be part of the gaming community and look forward to the years come.


Mario Kart DS Tournament
April 29, 2006
On Saturday, April 29, Blackthorn Game Center proudly hosted another "first" for Tennessee. The Blackthorn Mario Kart DS Tournament. Eight players ran 10 races on eight tracks.
First place won a specially made trophy for the event. Many thanks to Marc Romine for judging the race.


First place winner Joseph W. and Marc "Skid" Romine


VS. League High Score Winner
February, 2006
Jordan Lowe has won the trophy for highest number of points earned for the January / February play period.
This is Jordan's second VS. league win. His previous win was the Superman trophy. This time he has won a custom Flash trophy. Congratulations to Mr. Lowe!

The Mysterious "E", Roger, Jordan Lowe, and "The Fastest Man Alive"




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