Specials of

the month!

15% off all board

games in stock!

25% off of the board game of the day!

20% off of a special

order of a game we

don’t regularly stock!

RIW is pleased to announce that Ju-ly is "Board Game M o n t h . " A l l t h r o u g h t h e month of July RIW will be a unique board game every day. Grab some friends and come on up to pass the time with fun and laughter. If you cannot find some-one to accompany you don't worry about it, we will introduce you to a fellow gamer who is looking for an-other person to join their group. Don't know the rules to the game? It does not matter if you are familiar with the game or not because we will have instruc-tors on-hand to help guide you th rough your

game. If the game is at a bal-ancing point our instructors will

either jump in or sit out to ensure a fun gaming ex-p e r i e n c e . So c'mon down and join in on the f u n . Weekdays start after 5PM. Week-

ends are all day!

JULY IS BOARD GAME MONTH

Can't Beat The Heat? ... Come To RIW To Chill With Your

Friends And Play A Board Game Or Two.

CALANDAR

NEW RELEASES

FORUMS

EBAY STORE

FACEBOOK US

BUY LISTS

CONTACT US

JULY IS BOARD GAME MONTH 1

BOARD GAME SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

2

JULY EVENTS 3

RIW INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND 4

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT 5

DEVON’S CORNER 6-8

NEW RELEASES 9

Inside this issue:

Volume 1, Issue 1—June 2014

RIW HOBBIES

Tome of Knowledge

SUMMONER

ABOUT US / NEWSLETTER 10

Bazinga!!

ANNUAL BOARD GAME MONTH

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

◄ Jun 2014 ~ July 2014 ~ Aug 2014 ►

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

ARE YOU A WEREWOLF?

2

TERRA MYSTI-CA

3

ALIEN FRON-TIERS

4

RACE FOR THE GALAXY

5

CARCAS-SONNE

6

WARHAMMER DISKWARS

7

DOMINION

8

ROBINSON CRUSOE AD-VENTURE ON THE CURSED ISLAND

9

GAME OF THRONES: THE CARD GAME

10

CASTLES OF BURGUNDY

11

TZOLKIN: THE MYAN CALAN-DAR

12

TICKET TO RIDE

13

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

14

ANDROID: NETRUNNER

15

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE CARD GAME

16

AGRICOLA

17

MUNCHKIN

18

DESCENT: JOURNEYS IN HE DARK

19

SETTLERS OF CATAN

20

KING OF TO-KYO

21

MAGE WARS

22

BETRAYL AT HOUSE ON THE HILL

23

THE RE-SISTANCE

24

STAR WARS X-WING: THE MINIATURES GAME

25

WARHAMMER INVASION

26

7 WONDERS

27

PUERTO RICO

28

LEGENDARY: A MARVEL DECK BUILD-ING GAME

29

DC COMICS DECK BUILD-ING GAME

30

LORDS OF WATERDEEP

31

STAR WARS: THE CARD GAME

Notes: Week night events will start between 5and 6pm. Weekend events will be announced

We are pleased to announce that July is our annual board game month. In the month of July we are

featuring a new board game every day. Everyone is invited to come up and enjoy the fun.

Have you ever wanted to play Netrunner but did not have anyone to play against; play Star Wars

Miniatures game but didn’t have the models; or, play Battlestar Galactica but thought it was too

complex? Have no worries, there will be someone on-site to instruct / run the game, so no experi-

ence is necessary. Come alone or with your friends, either way you are guaranteed a good time.

Below is the July schedule, look it over and plan your month of awesome games.

Hope to see you there.

Page 6

WHAT… ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO? Here Are Upcoming Events Happening At RIW This Month.

Page 3

July 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5

6

Pathfinder

MERCS

7 8 9 10 11 12

Vanguard

Prerelease

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Ponies

20

Flames of

War

21 22 23 24 25 26

Yughio

27

MERCS

28 29 30 31

Independence Weekend - July 2014

Have you made your 4th of July week-

end plans yet? Spend it with us!

FRIDAY, JULY 4th.

FNM Standard (Red, White and Blue Decks!)

SATURDAY, July 5th.

1K TCG Player Event. Yugioh at 1pm Card Fight Vanguard at 5pm BBQ from 12:00—6:00 Bonfire after dusk

BOARDGAMES FOR THE WEEKEND

Race for the Galaxy, July 4th Carcassonne, July 5th

Diskwars, July 6th

Come celebrate Independence Weekend with us July 5th

RIW is happy to celebrate our independence from those Brits by having a good ol' time grilling

up hot eats by our su grill master Chuck Paul. Look for Chuck in the rear parking lot between

the hours of 12:00 and 6:00.

RIW will be providing the following items for a nominal fee:

hotdogs: $ .50

bag of chips: $ .50

cans of pop: $ .50

limited time special item: $ ?

After the sun sets, we will break out a bonfire for all to attend. The bonfire will also be held

in the rear of the Store. Bring a chair, wood, and/or drink. Ending the night with a warming

fire sounds like the perfect cap for a day full of fun.

The Long And Short Of It

WYSIWYG: The Key to Miniature Gaming

As a long time Warhammer 40K player, I take pride fielding well balanced and thematic forces that are

fun to play against and a challenge to overcome. What I field often reflects the mood I’m in for the day.

Am I here float like a butterfly or sting like a bee? Am I looking for a direct approach or will flanking

and misdirection be my allies for the session? My options can vary but I never play with items that I can-

not accurately represent on the table with my collection. I always play WYSIWYG (“What You See Is

What You Get”).

WYSIWYG is very important to miniature gaming. I contend that outside of sportsmanship and having

fun, playing with models that actually represent the units on the table is critical to the enjoyment of all

involved.

Think about it. You are playing a miniature game with your opponent for the afternoon. You are trying

to put a plan in motion that includes a solid army, sound deployment, efficient maneuvering, and smart

decision making all while dealing with an opponent intent on routing your forces from the table. You

remain wary of the rules and playing the game correctly. These are all things that contribute to the en-

joyment of the game. Now add in playing vs someone who has a collection of figures that do not mirror

the units he is playing with.

If you’re a fan of 40K, picture playing with someone that uses Orks to represent Marines or (even worse)

the guy that wants to tell you the piggy bank on the table is actually a Land Raider. How much does

keeping track of your opponent’s proxies drag on your game? With all of the consequential things you

have to keep in mind while playing, now you have to try and remember the models on the table are not

what you are actually battling against.

The imagery of miniature games is very engaging. Onlookers are drawn to how the game looks as players

push around their painstakingly assembled and beautifully painted models. Participants play the role of

battle commanders pushing the pieces on the chessboard to accomplish their goals. What takes away

from that imagery is when players go the easy route and proxy what they are playing on the board. In

my opinion it cheapens the experience and makes it difficult for the participants to focus on the game –

compared to remembering what is on the table actually isn’t.

-Ed Long

Probably the most important part of playing a magic tournament is the deck, so if you will let me we should start there! Standard, since Theros, has been dominated by decks playing pairs of very powerful cards making up the most

common decks:

Thoughtsieze and Pack Rat. Sphinx’s Revelation and Elspeth, Sun’s Champion. Thassa, God of the Sea and Master of Waves. Each of these pairs make up the three most successful decks in recent Standard: Mono Black Devotion, UW/x Control, and Mono Blue Devotion respectively, with each of these decks playing some of the most powerful cards in the format and being reasonably consistent. Reasonable however was not good enough for me. I wanted all the cards in my deck to feel like threats that must be answered, so the first deck I looked to was Jund Monsters, a deck filled to the brim with powerful cards: Stormbreath Dragon, Polukranos, Domri Rade, Xenagos(s), Reaper of the Wilds, and Rakdos’s Return. But on further inspection the mana wasn’t ideal and hands without Elvish Mystic or with the Mystic

but too many Temples, was unwieldy and prone to slow starts. This brings us to the deck I played:

LANDS:

4 x Temple Garden

6 x Forest

3 x Plains

2 x Selesnya Guildgate

2 x Mutavault

2 x Mana Confluence

4 x Temple of Plenty

CREATURES:

3 x Fleecemane Lion

4 x Boon Satyr

2 x Polukranos, World Eater

4 x Elvish Mystic

4 x Voice of Resurgence

4 x Loxodon Smiter

1 x Scavenging Ooze

NONCREATURE SPELLS:

4 x Selesnya Charm

4 x Advent of the Wurm

2 x Banishing Light

2 x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

3 x Ajani, Caller of the Pride

SIDEBOARD:

2 x Setessan Tactics

3 x Mistcutter Hydra

3 x Celestial Flare

3 x Unflinching Courage

2 x Scion of Vitu-Ghazi

2 x Reprisal

DEVON’S CORNER

WHAT TIPS LURK INSIDE THE CRANIUM OF A MAD GENIUS?

Continued from page 5.

The core of the deck is the high power of the creatures at every spot along the curve, Fleece mane Lion at 3 power, Boon Satyr and Loxodon Smiter at 4, and Polukranos and Advent of the Wurm at 5. Alongside the high lethality of those creatures is the versatility of Voice of Resurgence, Banishing Light, Ajani Mentor of Heroes, and Selesnya Charm. While Ajani, Caller of the Pride and Elvish Mystic provide explosive hands that can beat the best draws of any

deck.

The sideboard plays two types of cards; the first is those that are virtually unbeatable in the correct matchup. Cards like Unflinching Courage, which dominates aggressive matchups, especially burn, and Celestial Flare, which is very hard for the hexproof deck to beat. The second type of card is strong against the decks that have a more versatile arsenal of threats. Like Setessan Tactics and Reprisal which are good against the midrange decks, and Mistcutter Hy-

dra which is strong against any of the blue decks.

The Matchups:

Naya Midrange 3-0 in Swiss, lost to in top 8.

In this matchup being on the play means a lot, if they get ahead with an explosive draw like Caryatid into Polukranos or Archangel of Thune, you can get into a slugfest that they will usually win with an Elspeth. When we are on the play a Smiter on 2 or curving into Fleeceman Lion and Advent of the Wurm is usually enough to pressure to put them away,

if not an Ajani can finish the job.

Sideboarding: +2 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi, +2 Setessan Tactics.

-2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and -2 Selesnya Charm

Scion creates a ton of pressure and a very fast clock which we need to race Archangel of Thune and their Planeswalk-ers. And Setessan Tactics is a very safe spell against decks without much instant speed removal, while creating huge

blowout potential.

UW/x Control: 2-0

This is easily our best matchup; the majority of our cards are naturally strong against control. Loxodon Smiter cannot be countered and presents a 5 turn clock alone, Voice turns all of their instants into sorceries and leaves behind a token after being destroyed, Advent of the Wurm, Boon Satyr and Selesnya Charm create instant speed threats that prevent them from properly correctly whether they should + or – their Jace and forces them to counter spells on their

turn or get attacked, both Ajanis create pressure and generate advantage for us that survives Supreme Verdict.

Sideboard: +3 Mistcutter Hydra

-3 Selesnya Charm

Mistcutter is better than Charm, but not by much, its a small advantage and yet another serious threat as the game

goes on.

R/W Burn: 3-0

Games against Burn are very indicative of how I feel about much of the format: if you draw a specific card you will win. Specifically Satyr Firedancer, when Boros Charm does 4 damage to our face and kills a Smiter it feels (and is) very hard to win. However games where the burn player draws hands with all Skullcracks and Lightning Strike we feel

in command.

Sideboard: +3 Unflinching Courage, +2 Setessan Tactics

-2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, -3 Selesnya Charm

Mono Black: 1-1

Here is another match like Burn where we can be crushed by a specific card, in this case its Lifebane Zombie. Other than that most of their cards are one for ones and we have strong plays against removal like that with Voice of Resur-gence and Fleecemane Lion. It’s worth nothing that Pack Rats can only even trade with a Boon Satyr or Smiter after

they have invested four cards and eleven mana.

Sideboard: +2 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi, +2 Reprisal

-2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, -2 Polukranos

Reprisal fights Pack Rat and Desecration demon reasonably well and Scion is very hard for 1 for 1 removal decks to

deal with.

Going forward I am very happy with the maindeck, all of the core cards performed very well, however for the Starci-tygames.com Invitational I will be making changes to the sideboard. Reprisal underperformed, with no truly reliable targets beyond Desecration Demon. And against many of the midrange decks Setessan Tactics was much better. Two Glare of Heresy will take its place, with Elspeth, Banishing Light, Detention Sphere, both Ajanis, and Archangel of Thune being strong targets, most importantly it’s a removal spell for Elspeth that doesn’t get Banishing Lighted allow-

ing your opponent to cast a 3 mana Elspeth.

-Devon Payntor

OH LOOK... SHINY This Month’s New Releases.

Page 9

Splendor

Camel Up

Marvel Dice

Concept

Thebes

Blue Moon Legends

Istanbul

Android: Netrunner

Planes

Concordia

Rococo

Maharani

Star Wars: X-Wing

Star Realms

Potato Man

Myth

Eldritch Horror

Blood Bound

Caverna

Lewis & Clark

Terra Mystica

Samurai Spirit

Descent

Robinson Crusoe

Star Trek: Attack Wing

Sanssouci

Geister, Geister

Mage Knight Board Game

Battle Sheep

Through the Ages

LOTR: Card Game

Yardmaster

Flizz &Miez

Richard Ritterschlag

Unconditional Surrender

Love Letter

Praetor

Marvel: Legendary

Machio Koro

Eclipse

Twilight Struggle

Heroes of Normandie

Cosmic Encounter

Russian Railroads

7 Wonders

Dead of Winter

SOS Titanic

Sentinels of the Multiverse

BGG Hotness

Kaijudo: Elite Series: Horde On-slaught

D&D Starter Set

Primary Business Address

29116 Five Mile Road

Livonia Michigan, 48154

Phone:

734-261-7233

E-mail:

riwhobbies@gmail.com

We’re on the web

We’re here in part because we love games as much as our

customers do. To this end, we order from a variety of sup-

pliers, are open to alternate sources of supply, and strive to

stay informed of trends and new developments in any areas

our customers are interested in.

Our customers are the most important of the many Commu-

nities we belong to. We strive to go to extraordinary

lengths to make them feel welcome, valued, and satisfied.

We cultivate our gamer community by providing a clean safe

environment for our customers to play games. We want to

meet and exceed their expectations every time they set foot

in our store.

Michigan’s Leading Game and Hobby Store

R I W H O B B I E S

ABOUT US

Page 8

We started our Monthly Friday Night Magic League, in June, during which players accumulated points based on their weekly finishes and after the final FNM on that month won

the following prizes:

1st place; a Custom Magic: the gathering/RIW hoodie and

a free entry to fnm

2nd place; a custom RIW Playmat and a free entry to fnm

3rd/4th; a free entry to FNM.

We will be hosting My Little Pony Store Championship on July

19th, at 12pm

We will be hosting a Magic Tournament, called a; TCGplay-

er.com Platinum. with $1,000 in cash prizes guaranteed on

Saturday July 5th. Entry is 25$, Format is Standard, and it

will start at 11am.