As usual, I enjoyed it. It spoke to me.
I started playing in January with me and a core set. My friends at our shop took an interest and we soon had 4 people playing regularly. I signed up for Ambassador program a few months later and established Wednesday nights as "Mage Wars Wednesday". Now we have 18 people who play with 6-8 regulars on Wednesday nights (Although October has brought some impact with people moving, school, work changes etc). People in the area have heard about us and they're starting to make their way to our venue. We have a steady, growing group and it's fantastic.
It's taken a fair bit of work and fortunately our venue owner is very supportive. He loves the fact that we've diversified his product mix and he knows Mage Wars sells consistently now.
Next steps - tournaments and continued growth!
The advice int he podcast is spot on - Low key, non-aggressive works. Don't insult other people's games (heck, we play those games too!). Once you explain the simplicity of the game it starts to take hold. I have a background in technical marketing, technical sales, technical education and presentations so I'm used to explaining things to people at different levels and that's certainly helped. But even without that just explaining why you love the game brings people in.
Love this game.
