BENNINGTON — The Gamer's Grotto hosted a Magic the Gathering, Commander tournament on Saturday September 27.
The twelve-hour-event yielded a single winner, "last man standing" Marc Moretto, who magnanimously chose to split the grand prize with the table.
"He took the table," said Keith Carey, owner of the Gamer's Grotto. "The original prize was a $600 cash prize, plus second, third, and fourth. They opted to split all the prize cash amongst the table, so that everybody got a little bit of something."
Commander is the most popular format of Magic the Gathering, but it is also known as Elder Dragon Highlander EDH.
Playing competitively speeds up the game considerably, but also increases the level of strategic play.
cEDH/Commander uses a 100-card deck, owned and brought to the event by the players.
The cards can be from any of the game's many themes, but – with the exception of lands cards – must be unique within the deck. Additionally, the 100-card deck must be strategically built around a single legendary "commander."
In order to win, players aim to be "the last man standing" at their table. This is achieved by reducing opponents' life scores from 40 to 0, but it can also be achieved by using a commander to deal a combat damage of 21.
Player Mike Garramone likened the strategy of the game to a mix between poker and chess.
According to tournament organizer and founding member of 802 cEDH, Dominic Barone, the event at the Grotto sold out quickly.
"We filled it up with as many warm bodies as we could," he laughed.
But Garramone was serious, "I've known these guys for a while, and they're a great group. They're always super welcoming and inviting, and I just like playing games with them. Every time they have an event, I always come out. It's a great environment, and it's great to be able to play the game at the level we all want to play at."
"802 cEDH started with Nick Montgomery, Kelly Ireland, and myself," said Barone. "And, we were just three people looking for other people to play with. We're all dads. We're all working professionals, and we just started an online community. It kind of grew from the three of us – and now, we have over 230 members."
Now, the group organizes tournaments throughout the state, bringing competitive Magic the Gathering events to stores and other venues.
Many of the players present at the Grotto were members of that group, but many were not. As Barone explained, players did not need to be a member of 802 cEDH in order to participate in the tournament.
The back tables of the event space at the Grotto were filled with nearly 70 players, intent on their rounds. This put the venue at near maximum capacity.
As Carey and Barone pointed out, Magic the Gathering began in the early 1990s – and "has never stopped, but has become more mainstream now than ever."
It was created as a filler game, and eventually it took on a life of its own.
"The Grotto opened almost 20 years ago because my kids and I played Magic," explained Carey. "The [Magic the Gathering] game was created by Dungeons and Dragons players that wanted something to do in between their gameplay roles, within the game. When one person was acting in DnD, other people could play a quick game of Magic."
Carey hopes to host another Magic the Gathering tournament – at least one, if not two – in 2026.
He is waiting on the schedule from 802 cEDH, and will announce the next date for his Grotto event once it becomes available.
"When 802 cEDh approached me to do this, I was totally on board with having them come in because I'm not good at organizing something like this," said Carey, looking out at the crowd gathered to play in his event space. "But, to have an organizer that can make this happen like these guys have – it's phenomenal."
"We do Magic the Gathering Commander format every Tuesday, as a casual environment with a small table," continued Carey, suggesting an alternative to those who don't wish to wait for the next big event.
"Our tables are usually open to a casual environment," he added, "like, if people want to just come in and sit down and play a game of Magic, or Pokémon, or Yu-Gi-Oh!, or a board game."
For more information on the Gamer's Grotto in Bennington, visit thegamersgrotto.com.