Places to Play: Oz at Gangnam

Update: This store is now closed.

This seems to have become the main magic centre for foreigners and there was a decent turnout for the Magic League organised through the Seoul Magic facebook group (16 plus players).

It's a pretty convenient location if your based in Seoul and the shop was nice enough and went tot he effort of stocking English cards for this event.

All the Seoul shops are a bit of a hike for me so I only went the one time and wasn't really interested in the league format* they were running  which are the only reasons I wouldn't go more often.

* I think leagues are best run as a casual thing because they are just too loose rules wise and open for abuse but the prize structure was very top heavy which would only encourage shadiness. It seems that wasn't an issue though which is a credit to the community.

Edit (26th September 2013): OZ Gangnam is due to relocate soon and apparently won't be stocking Magic the Gathering at the new location. This news came out a while ago but apparently they are stocking Theros ..... confusing.

A new store called Dalmuti in Suwon

Magic players in Seoul have a lot of options for places to play but for those of us living South of the city we were always in for a long commute.

There is apparently a playgroup at the American Army base and somewhere in Suwon a board game café….. but I never encountered any advertising for their events, if they existed at all.

That has all changed with the Christmas day opening of Dalmuti 달무티. They seem to have a full on magic schedule and have a great location (close to Suwon Subway Station).

Decoration wise it's pretty sparse but they have been open for just a few days.

I haven’t been there yet but it’s more than likely the next entry in this blog will be my impressions of that store.

Update:
More directions: http://theangryhermit.blogspot.kr/2013/01/how-to-get-to-dalmonte-suwon.html
It also is fully furnished now and looks good.

Places to Play - The Rak (Naksungdae)

It's been a long time between drinks as the last tournament I played in was the Innistrad pre release 12 months ago.

The shop is located on the basement level and is very much like the dungeons that pass for card shops in Australia. It does have better lighting though but more photos of Anime girls. Which I guess might be a positive for some.
The customer service was excellent.
I did a major trade with the store owner (over $100 worth on each side) and he pointed out when I undervalued my Sensei's diving tops. I couldn't imagine that happening back in Brisbane!
Coincidently I have spent this week catching up on card prices. EDH was becoming a thing when I last paid attention but it has really taken off now which has revitalised a lot of the cards in my binder.
Looking forward to visiting Oz in Gangnam next for the Return to Ravnica league starting on October the 14th.This pretty poor map probably isn't enough to help you find it but it's the best I have for now.


The TO posted information about the tournament on the Seoul Magic Facebook page and went to the effort to make and print off English Spoilers for us to use.

How to get there:

Contact Details

Phone number: 010-2361-9739

Email address: donfight502@naver.com

Korean Street address: 서울특별시 관악구 인헌동 1632 - 4 번지 지하 1층

Magic the Gathering Toolbox

Earlier this month Wizards of the coast released "MTG Toolbox" for IOS and have promised an Android version soon.

I like it a lot more than the other free applications for deck building and it also has some other features like news, store locater and life counter.
It's not quite compelling enough yet for me to really use it much but there are promised features like deck registration support coming in the future which sound cool.

The other Magic application that lasted on my Iphone more than a couple of weeks is the SCGMobile app but with a long ago lapsed subscription to their premium service I don't find it very exciting.


Update December 2012: Despite all the promise MTG Toolbox seems pretty much dead and it's been a loooong time since an update.
I have also deleted the SCG Mobile App from my phone as well after the latest update ramped up the advertising while decreasing the utility.

Places to Play #3 Michaels

Unfortunately I didn't get to play here as I arrived late to the tournament due to being stuck at a wedding (drinking free beer).

Place was packed with players for a different tournament so I didn't hang around. I plan to go back for another proper look later on.

It's quite small but it felt welcoming.

It's close to Gangbyeon subway stop (green line) and Techno mart. The closest franchise store is Paris Bagguette.
Like quite a few magic shops it is located in the basement level which is populated by quite a few different shops including a bar....how convenient.

Their cafe web site is http://yumazzang.cafe24.com/

Contact Details
Phone number: 010-2722-5050
Email address: michaelssh@hanmail.net
Korean Street address: 서울특별시 광진구 구의동 631-1 프라임상가 지하 1층 11.112호

And here is the map they provide which I am sure will make everything clear :)

Places to Play #2 Tic Toc

Update: This store is now closed.


The following directions probably aren't good enough to find it but I went to this store a while ago and so my memory is a bit fuzzy.


You get off the Subway at Childrens Grand park station and walk out exit 3 (Konkuk).

The shop front is very small and it's in a side street so a little bit tricky to spot. It's just a door which leads to the basement level which is where the store is.
The store interior is cafe style and they seem much more of a cafe than Dive Dice.
They had a decent range of items and have an online store called Blue Mtg which I have ordered from and was really happy with.

The store owner speaks English but the shop layout is less open and more private than Dive Dice so it's better to go as a group rather than solo.

I had no problems there but to be honest for reasons that are hard to describe in print I felt more comfortable at Dive Dice.