Tournament Report

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             I guess the best way to start off bringing the Berserkers’ Boise Blast 2025 to an end is to begin by shouting, “YESSS---We did it!”

This is really something I’ve never thought I’d be doing. Sure, since I was young, I always had the house the neighborhood kids gathered at for Dungeons and Dragons. Hosting D&D sessions was a trend that carried on through college with a new addition of tossing in a mix of keggers. Even now my brother, Eugene, and I host Magic nights with up to 16 people at our house in Boise. It has always been a real joy to bring people together for some grub while relaxing playing games. Hosting a Magic the Gathering event with a professional artist, invitations sent across the country, renting a venue was an endeavor that I didn’t know what to really expect, however, I was optimistic for the adventure. No matter how the outcome would end it would be successful so long as we brought people together to enjoy each other’s company, slinging some spells is a bonus. A new aspect to our gathering people together that made this experience even more exciting was that we were also raising money for a charitable cause, The Children’s Home Society. They help provide counseling and mental health care for children. This organization has helped personally with one of our member’s family.

I only got into Old School two and a half years ago. Work flew me to Los Angelos for a training seminar. Coincidently, it aligned the same time as CommandFest Anaheim so I stayed an extra day to grab some artists’ signatures. Standing in line for Mark Tedin I hear two guys, Nick and Brian, talking about altering an oversized 6x9 Chaos Orb for an event called Yeticon. After a brief conversation I was introduced to Old School. The fortuitous meeting was only a week before the Emerald City Troll’s Old School Ragnarök tournament. I flew home from LA immediately told Eugene about Old School and that we were going to Seattle the next weekend! The Troll’s Ragnarök event was spectacular! A fun group of people gathering to play Magic and enjoy the company of others. Having been into Magic since the late 90’s we quickly found a home in the Old School community.

Over the next year or so we attended a number of OS events in Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Vegas. Thanks to everyone that hosted! Eugene, a few friends and myself began talking about how it would be nice to host an event in the Boise area. This was the beginning of our journey to the Boise Blast.

Fast forward…. a very accurate depiction….as the next steps rushed by so fast. Find a venue…contact artists…decide on format…how many days…what about prizes...and swag…how much will this cost…we need to grow the local community. So much began crossing our minds. While it may seem like a lot it actually came together quite smoothly. We were able to secure a great venue. Boise and the Treasure Valley are quite convenient to get around. We found a venue, The Idaho Outdoor Association Hall, in close proximity to the airport and hotels. A small hall typically used for weddings and dances. It had a lot space to work with providing us options to layout the tournament gaming area, food buffet, and artist’s space. Everything else really started to fall into place and we were well on our way to hosting the Boise Blast!

The big day of the Boise Blast was finally here, first priority, seeing to our special guests Anson and Brenda Maddocks. Eugene and I met Brenda and Anson at the hotel to chauffer them to the hall. It was still early in the day with a few hours before the gathering was scheduled, Eugene took the Maddocks to a late lunch at The Tarbrush Kitchen for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Eugene had a unique opportunity to hang out with Brenda and Anson being their personal chauffer and concierge throughout the weekend!

A compilation of remarkable rock and heavy metal greeted the guests as they arrived to the Boise Blast. Registration with swag laid out for attendees, a packed prize vault showcasing a mix of revealed and hidden rewards, and our most honored guest, Anson, waiting right inside the entry. Just beyond an arrangement of spacious tables awaited anxious gamers. In the distant corner a premier table set up for streaming. Raffle donations on display, coolers full of drinks, a smorgasbord of snacks, and a bountiful buffet filled the rest of the space.

One of my biggest worries during planning the Boise Blast was that perhaps I went too big with a two-day event and bringing Anson into town. I was overwhelmed with joy and relief with the attendance we had. Again, “Thank You” to everyone who attending! We had 22 people register with 19 making the final count for both Friday and Saturday. Giacomo traveled from California; Chris and his son, Owen, drove from Bend, OR; and a tremendous representation from Portland with Joe, Ben, Teebs, Artemis, and Carson!

We opened the evening with an assortment of pies from Idaho Pizza. Eight of our guests were from out of town so this gave us a great opportunity to showcase our small-town hospitality. With bellies full we split up to sling some spells in a double-header of Premodern and X-Point 93/94.

Eugene, Joe, Teebs, Artemis, Monchai, and Jonathan battled it out in Premodern. Unfortunately, I filled in to even the players in X-Point so I didn’t get a lot of pictures or details for the Premodern event. Congratulations to Teebs! They finished victorious to be crowned with the Berserkers’ Chef’s Hat and a Wastelands.

Much of our local group is new or recently returning to Old School MtG so X-Point was a great way to maximize everyone’s enjoyment. I’ve always felt It’s super satisfying to brew decks under different restrictions making X-Point a wonderful format. 14 players jammed four rounds of Swiss concluding with our second Chef’s crown victor, Max, on a merfolk deck. Our top four rounded out with Auston, Ben and Owen, our youngest attendee!

Our Saturday main event of the Boise Blast was 93/94 Old School with Eternal Central formatting. Having only 19 competitors we had to make a choice to have a bye, Jonathan or Eugene drop to help run things, or have me pull double duty running and playing. You guys were all so awesome in encouraging me to take the time we needed to have juggle running the event and keeping us on even players. Two rounds into the day we took a break for a bbq pork and chicken lunch. Refreshed, ready for the remaining rounds we rumbled with our rock anthems raging. Three more rounds of Old School brought our gathering to our closing ceremonies.

To conclude our fantastic feature, we presented a plethora of prizes to our participants. Much of our theme for prizing was a collection of old school artist signed cards. To honor our guest artist, Anson, at the beginning of each round of Swiss I raffled off a card featuring his art! Orcs, Blood Lust, Frank’s Monster, Fish Oil, and a Sengir all graced us with their beauty.  Anson was super gracious to sign these with an added Boise Blast tag. We gave reverence to those who traveled; our farthest was Giacomo from the Bay area! Angels, Bees, and Flying Men filled the skies. Don’t have a power, think you don’t have a chance to win; well, we want to let you know its not always about playing the most expensive cards. Our highest placed non-powered deck was Jeremy with a third-place overall finish! Frazier fashioned us with a fancy blood signed Berserk.

Several months ago, I received an email asking if we had a minimum age requirement. One guest has introduced his young son to Magic the Gathering. I thought this was wonderful to hear a family that enjoyed playing cards together. Since we had a private hall, this allowed entrance at our discretion. It’s marvelous to hear a new generation joining the ranks of spell slinging wizards. I set aside a prize for “Youngest” attendee to make sure he had a special moment to remember. Hope this young kid leads the future of Magic. We gave him a Snoddy signed Army of Allah to support him on his journey.

While we all love the thrill of winning its most important to always keep at the forefront the passion to play what we fancy. For Spiciness we provided each person a pepper to offer an opponent they felt had an astonishing alter, terrific theme or sensational skirmish. The Top 8 each got a Spice altered card from an expansion set. Our top 3 additionally picked from a full art Hymn with an Alien™, Candelabra covered Mana Flare and an Amy Weber Shatter.

With the prize pool to player ratio, I believe everyone walked with something. When we planned the Blast we swung big and prepared for a true gathering. We brought together a prize pool for the Top 16 with all cards matching our theme of being signed by the artists. Plus, each of the Top 8 got a bonus revised card altered for the Boise Blast. 

One of our Berserkers, Mike, a military veteran and owner of Iron Beak Forge, donated a bonus unlimited Sol Ring to our champion’s prize purse. Teebs also graced us with a donated jawbreaker styled Berserk that we thought would be a nice way to round out our last place prizing. Sometimes you just have a rough day and things don’t go your way.

A very big “CONGRATULATIONS” to our Grand Champion, Ben Hart! He went undefeated winning his way to victory. Topped with his own Boise Berserkers’ Chef’s Hat Crown! His 4C Hymn deck was masterfully piloted. Sedge Trolls; black staples of Order Ebon Hand, sinkholes, hymns and hippies; white swords and disenchants; twin disks with a beast; and a splash of power.

The final feature for the Boise Blast was our raffle fundraiser to raise funds for The Children’s Home Society! Our donations were a cool assortment of Magic memorabilia including: 5 Chronicles, 10 Fallen Empires, and various other packs; Magic the Gathering Comics; 10 novels and 2 anthology books; Atogs altered to Bozo, Ronald, Crusty, Pennywise and Disenchants with Big Bird, Cookie Monster, The Count, and Oscar; 6x9 Oversized Cards of iconic creatures Serra, Shivan, Juzam, and Hurloon; and collection of expansion booster pack sleeves and a copy of Magic Online. We raised $536 for our charity, The Children’s Home Society!

In closing, I want to really say it again from the bottom of my heart, “THANK YOU!”, to everyone that was a part of the Berserkers’ Boise Blast 2025! Anson and Brenda Maddocks were absolutely delightful to work with throughout the year. Their presence made our gathering an absolute marvelous time. A very special acknowledgement also needs to be made to Joe Fairbanks who was the inspiration for our name and logo! Joe’s encouragement helped get us to where we are. I look forward to seeing you all again!