Just to be clear, the rules for the event are currently in flux. I welcome input on what you would like.

The Champaign Winter War Convention <https://www.winterwar.org/attend> is February 3-5, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. Single Day Tickets are $10 per day or $15 at door. All 3 days is $15 in advance or $25 at door. That is just for the Convention, there is no additional fee for our game. The winner gets a voucher for a free Winter War registration, and I hope to buy trophies again too.
I submitted for up to 12 players. It would be great if we can get 12 players (could actually handle up to 16). I'll have at least 1 game set up to teach anyone new as before. Hope to see you there.

The rules that I submitted, but they are up to debate:
- The most recent rulebook I have is from 2017. I think it is the 3rd Edition and Codex Supplement 4.2. Codex and Clarifications from the unprinted as of yet Lost Grimoire 2 are also used. We will wait to see how the vote works out for whether or not the new mages will be used.
- Any currently available card that is also included in the Mage Wars Arena Final Release, will use the Final Release version.
Other rules I didn't see in the above documents
- Steep hill will block Line of Sight if you cast a spell and it goes through two diagonal sections of the zone.
- Symbiotic Orb triggers during the Avoid Attack Step
- The Embalmed - When summoning the Embalmed, remove target non-Epic Living creature in any discard pile from the game. This creature becomes a copy of the removed creature, gaining the Embalmed traits and subtypes. X = the removed creature's mana cost.
- Fizzle Clarification - Once Fizzle has been cast, the enchantment cannot be revealed. If it is a mandatory reveal, then it is not destroyed if it would be forced to be revealed this round.
- Arcane Zap costs 2 mana

Warlord just won winter war over druid, beastmaster, paladin, and warlock. Results, which I'll post in the forums were Zot 1st with a Warlord, Stanyer 2nd with a Paladin, Puddinghead 3rd with a Warlock, Farkas 4th with a Druid, and JBuzz Beastmaster in 5th. We had 4 who didn't make it, but we also had 2 newbies I played with for a few hours from the Rockford area and 2 others from the Champaign area stopped by to watch.
We're getting more players in the MidWest, which is nice since I prefer face-to-face games, and a great group of competitive players too.

Great. We're looking forward to everyone who can make it. Unfortunately, I live in a small apartment and Farkas is not in town on Friday, so we can't offer any lodging. I'm hoping we can find a place to get together before. We have an 8 hour slot now, and if no one is after us, we can basically play until they close the doors at night. We just have to stop this year during the auction. They got mad at me last year for us playing during the auction.

We begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday the 25th at the Holiday Inn Champaign Suits at 101 Trade Center Drive in Champaign. That is the time that I want to begin games if possible. It would be very helpful if you have your spellbook written out before hand. I'll have sheets on hand with spell name / spellbook pts / # cards / total cost.

Reminder, we are using the rules posted before, which were basically ADMW variants but without the channeling changes from last season and with a change to Pillar of Righteous Flame whereby only a move into the zone by the owner of the card will trigger. If you teleport your own creature into the zone then it triggers. If you move into the zone due to a spell such as siren's call, then it triggers. If you push your own creature into the zone then it triggers. If your opponent pushes you or teleports you into the zone, it does NOT trigger. It's a conscious choice by the owner change. Summoning into the zone still does not count as moving into the zone, so that also does NOT trigger the Pillar.

Opponents will be chosen at random in the first round, but the plan is to adjust so that you don't play anyone from your geographic area in the first two rounds at least. Second and subsequent round opponents will be organized by wins/losses. We'll make adjustments once we know how many people we have. I will do my best to make it fair. I know of at least one beginner who says he's going to play.

I have a 1st and 2nd place trophy (with the correct year on them this time).
I have a few smaller prizes too. I've been getting rid of games, and rather than auction it off, the winner will also get my copy of Thunderstone Advance with Ruins of Corruption add-on.

Looking forward to seeing everyone that can make it to central Illinois, USA.

Registration is now open

https://www.winterwar.org/events#conID=12&eventType=&startDay=&startHour=&searchString=winter%20mage%20war&page=1&specialEvents=false&hideSoldOutEvents=false

Best
VictorE

> only movement as part of a move action by the owner of the card.

Don't you mean only movement as part of a move action by the enemy of the owner of the card (or something like that)?

Basically, the creature has to move into the zone as part of that creatures move action. If it is pushed, teleported, etc., into the zone as part of the opponents actions, then it does not trigger. It has to be caused by the owner of the card moving. Hope that makes sense. Still trying to figure out the wording.

Winter Mage War 2020

It's official. The list of events is not yet on the website at https://www.winterwar.org/, but our event has officially been approved. We have 4 tables with enough room for 8 boards. Really looking forward to some fun games.

The Mage Wars Arena tournament will be held Saturday, January 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (although if it is like in the past, we usually have 2 tables that we can use until late evening). We have room for up to 16 players in the tournament.

If I've made any mistakes below, I apologize and I'll try to make a quick correction.

Rules:

• - Any promotional cards that have been officially released in a set (arena or academy) will be considered to read as the official released version. Only cards (or their promotional counterparts) that have been officially released are allowed.
• - Players will build a spellbook with the standard amount of spellbook points and restrictions for their chosen mage. Only Arena mages may be chosen. Spellbooks will be reviewed prior to the start of the tournament. Only one spellbook may be used per player for the tournament.
• - Spell book lists will be submitted at the beginning. It is requested that participants have their spell books printed out, but this is not required.
• - Each game will last 85 minutes. If both players have had an even number of initiatives, the game will and at the end of the current turn after 85 minutes. Any turn started after 85 minutes which provides that both players have had an equal number of initiatives will be considered the last turn.
• - Each win will count as 2 points. A loss will count as 0 points. In the event of a tie, the judges will determine a winner based on board control and position, remaining life, and remaining spells. In such cases, the winner, if determined, will receive 2 points, otherwise, both players will receive 1 point.

• - The tournament will be played in two stages.
• -- The first stage will be a round robin with two groups. The numbers in each group will be determined by the number of participants.
• -- The top two players from each group will advance to round two. In the case of a tie (see points above), head-to-head results will be used. If we are unable to get enough games in for the two to have played head-to-head, the total wins and losses of opponents will be used to break the tie. The highest rated player from group 1 will play the second rated player from group 2 and vice versa in the semi-final round. The winners of the semi-final will play in the finals. If there is a tie in the semi-final or final match, the judges will determine the winner based on board control and position, remaining life, and remaining spells. If time permits, the final match may be allowed to continue for additional rounds beyond the time limit.

• - The rules will be the 3rd Edition Rulebook and the official rules and codex supplement 4.2 with the following changes (some from arcane duels).
• -- Burns - Object is on fire. This is a flame condition. Each Upkeep Phase, roll 1 attack die of direct flame damage for each burn marker on each object. On a roll of “0,” remove that burn marker. Burn markers have a removal cost of 2. (basically clarifies burns as flame conditions and damage)-- Dig in and Press the Attack only apply to the zone they are in. For example, if you start in a zone with Dig In, but leave the zone during your activation, you also lose the Armor +1. (basically, you have to stay in the zone to get the benefit and the benefit only applies to that zone)-- Disciple of Radiance - Once per round, whenever your Mage casts or reveals a healing spell, Disciple of Radiance may deal 1 direct light damage to a target creature in her zone. (basically the ability may only be triggered once per round not once per healing spell)
• -- The Embalmed - When summoning The Embalmed, remove target non-Epic Living creature in any discard pile from the game. This creature becomes a copy of the removed creature, gaining The Embalmed’s traits and subtypes. X= the removed creature’s mana cost. (basically changing it to requiring a targeting)
• -- Flying - If a flying creature attacks a non-flying creature, it loses flying until the end of the attack and any counterattacks.
• -- Force Pull - Once per round, the Forcemaster may cast this quick Force spell. Target creature is Pushed 1 zone towards the source of this spell. Will not Push a creature through a wall with the Passage Attack trait. (basically directing the pull towards the source)
• -- Pillar of Righteous Flame - When Pillar of Righteous Flame is cast, or a Dissipate token is removed, it attacks an enemy creature in its zone. Pillar of Righteous Flame attacks each enemy creature immediately after they enter the zone as part of their move action. Being pushed, pulled, teleported by a spell and not as part of a move action, etc. into the zone does not trigger the Pillar, only movement as part of a move action by the owner of the card. Required movement from spells such as Siren's Call still count as a move action and will trigger the Pillar. (basically only triggers when cast, during upkeep, or when an opponent makes a conscious choice to move into the zone as part of their normal move action.)
  
• -- Ritual of Kallek - Only a Mage can cast this spell. Choose a friendly creature to receive Life -2, then gain 3 mana.  (we've gone through a lot of changes trying to make this card more correctly costed and are currently going with this change. Before you ask, yes any friendly creature, including the mage.).
• -- Steep Hill - Steep Hill will block the Line of Sight going through two diagonal sections of the hill for spells and ranged attacks. (basically LoS is blocked diagonally through the hill)
• -- Swarm - Creatures with the Swarm trait cannot be targeted by non-attack actions or spells that do not specifically target Swarm creatures.  When attacking, Creatures with the Swarm trait may make additional strikes equal to their remaining health.  Additionally, they are immune to conditions, healing, and life gain of any type that does not target swarms. Non-zone attacks do a maximum of 1 damage to them. Swarms cannot guard. (basically making it so that there is no way for them to gain life.)
• -- Symbiotic Orb - Sybiotic Orb triggers during the Avoid Attack step.
• -- Trample - Trample counts as a Melee attack for defenses. It is neither a melee nor a ranged attack for any other trait such as melee +x. (clarifies that you can use a defense against it.)

Been talking about it on Discord. Here is the MW_Deckbuilder I found at boardgame geek a long time ago. The original file was posted by JackalopeJay according to my notes and the author was Per Landberger and appeared to be under MIT free use licensing. If that proves to be incorrect, and it is under copyright, then this is a derivative work, and I'll have to remove it. I updated it a lot, a lot. All cards are there up to and including the Monk set (but not the academy mages themselves as far as being a deckbuilder, but all other cards are there). I am 100% sure there will be some typos. Let me know if you find ways to tweak it. The file was too big to attach so here is the link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zpSwkRUC-VkAoCaEXTLAqbugNGi-Br4W   Enjoy!