“It was raw Sorcery. It was perfect Sorcery.”

The Sorcery Explorer Series is a player-run annual circuit for Sorcery TCG. We created the Series to promote a diverse range of local events, reward players who travel to play the game, and build relationships across our communities.

Join our Discord server to see the latest news and meet other Explorers.

And make a donation to keep the Explorer Series going!

The 2025 Explorer Series ran from March 22 through October 31. We’re happy to present the winners of this first year of spell slinging, road tripping, and friendship:

• The Grand Explorer — Brandon Posey showed us an unmatched commitment to not only attending in and competing in Explorer Series events, but building new relationships and providing endless hours of support to help make the series more fun. It takes a grand explorer to balance competitive skills as a player, a commitment to being present at every event, and a spirit of generosity, and Brandon did just that.

• Battlemage — Bruce Hawthorne brought his top tier competitive skills to many of this year’s events, whether he was taking down opponents for the #1 spot or lending players one of his handcrafted decks to step into the ring. Consistently making top ranks in a best-of-1 game with wild swings and an ever-changing meta is no easy task, but Bruce set the standard.

• Pathfinder — Kevin Fulton embodied the heart and soul of this series, driving all over the country to attend every single event… always ready to tell a story, lend a helping hand, or play just one more game. There couldn’t be a better player to take home the first ever Pathfinder award.

• Helpful Hob — Adam Farinsky has dedicated a lot of his time to helping TWO local communities thrive in Kentucky. He has sat with brand new players to teach them one on one at his LGS. On multiple occasions he's brought his sealed cube so we could all have a fresh format to play. He's helped source boxes to supply the LGS when distribution was dry, and he is always recruiting new players and offering deals on playsets for newbies. Adam has the longest drive out of all the Kentucky players who meet at Through the Decades, but he still shows up with a friendly attitude and is always ready to help!

We’re especially proud to celebrate our Helpful Hob nominees, who were elevated by their own local Sorcery communities with gratitude for outstanding service to local players:

• Squire Lep (Chesterton, Indiana) — Sean has been the glue keeping our playgroup together in 2025. He keeps up on the discord activity, making sure we are all aware of what is going on in the larger Sorcery scene. Specific to the Explorer series, Sean was our local Judge and provided additional prize support for the event. He is quick to give away cards and teach new players while asking nothing in return.

• Gaige (Central Ohio) — Gaige has built up his local crew from the ground up, creating a consistent hub of regular events and active play. Many people talk about wanting to grow their local scene, but Gaige actually delivers. His dedication, organization, and ability to bring people together are exactly what every thriving community needs.

• Mister_Mike (Chicago, Illinois) — Mike has been our bedrock for welcoming new players to the game. He personally sorted 90 pounds of bulk to create playsets to give away to newcomers, led our learn-to-play event during the Free City Conventicle, and has helped run every Sorcery event at Good Games Chicago. With Mike at the tables, everyone feels welcome to contest the realm!

• Loky (Detroit, Michigan) — James has missed just one weekly Thursday event in 2 years across three locations. He always has singles on hand for people, has 6 to 10 decks built and on hand, is always willing to help a new player learn, and is super welcoming. And he was recently extremely helpful in continuing Detroit’s weekly meetups, as Kiel had to deal with real life issues.

• Frogimago (Green Bay, Wisconsin) — Mitch has been doing a ton to try and grow the game locally and online. From his Sorcerers at the Core weekly draft, to his YouTube channel, and making all his friends and family learn how to play. He's very active and knowledgeable in the community.

• Wyatt (Joplin, Missouri) — Our youngest Helpful Hob carrying the torch for the next generation of Explorers! Wyatt is typically cheerful and very helpful, loaning cards, building decks, and even running events if the store is busy.

• Crash (New Kensington, Pennsylvania) — Corey has helped run our events by being the local judge everyone asks questions to. He has helped new players when they had questions. Just overall a friendly and helpful guy!

2025 Series Events

2025 Prices & Prizes

• Every time you attend a Series Event, you’ll pay the cost of admission for that Event, just like with any other Sorcery TCG event. $5 of your ticket will go to the Explorer Series, to help pay for Door Prizes and Grand Prizes.

• Each Series Event will have its own prizes, provided by local organizers.

• Every time you complete a Series Event, you’ll receive a limited edition dual element token, based on original art hand-painted by Lynne and Jim of ManipulatedMTG. There are 6 tokens available to collect across events:

2025 Grand Prizes

In November, our Council will award prizes to:

• PATHFINDER — The player who traveled most to Events will receive a hand-painted alter of the Pathfinder Avatar, and 1 of 6 limited edition playmats.

• BATTLEMAGE — The player who ranked highest across all Events will receive a hand-painted alter of the Battlemage Avatar, and 1 of 6 limited edition playmats.

• HELPFUL HOB — The most impactful volunteer will receive a hand-painted alter of the Helpful Hob minion, and 1 of 6 limited edition playmats.

• THE GRAND EXPLORER — The player who earned the most points overall will receive ALL SIX hand-painted alters of the Beta dual-threshold sites, along with 1 of 6 limited edition playmats.

• We’ll announce more prizes as the Series continues. Join our Discord server to keep up with the latest details on prizing, standings, and events!

How to Win the Grand Prizes

Every time you attend an Explorer Series Event, you’ll also be awarded points, based on the chart below and verified by results on the Sorcery Play Network:

Here’s an example of how to earn Series Points:

• In March, Rob attends an official Series Event at their local LGS. Rob registers for the event on play.sorcerytcg.com, ensuring that their participation and results will be documented.

• This particular Series Event is a draft tournament. After completing every round of the tournament, Rob ranks 3rd of 8 on the event’s Sorcery Play Network results.

• For completing the event, Rob receives 1 limited edition token, at random.

• Rob also receives a total of 15 Series Points:

  • 10 Pathfinder points for completing the event

  • 5 Battlemage points for ranking 3rd

• In May, Rob takes a road trip to join a Series Event in another community. Rob registers for that event on play.sorcerytcg.com, ensuring that their participation and results will be documented.

• This particular Series Event is a constructed tournament. After completing every round of the tournament, Rob has won a single round and ranks 9th of 14 on the event’s Sorcery Play Network results.

• For completing the event, Rob receives 1 limited edition token, at random.

• Rob also receives a total of 14 Series Points:

  • 10 Pathfinder points for completing the event

  • 4 Pathfinder points for winning exactly 1 match

• After attending these two events, Rob has:

  • 2 tokens

  • 24 Pathfinder points

  • 5 Battlemage points

All Series Points are cumulative. Throughout the series, we’ll maintain a public board that shows your rank on the Battlemage track, your rank on the Pathfinder track, and your overall rank (which is determined by adding up all the points you’ve earned to date).

Ties will be broken using these methods, in this order:

1. Which player attended more Series Events?

2. Which player has the best performance record, on average, across Series Events?

3. Which player traveled the furthest distance, on average, to Series Events?

How to Be a Helpful Hob

Community support is critical to the success of Sorcery TCG and to the Explorer Series — so we aim to encourage, recognize, and reward anyone who volunteers to help grow their own local player base, as well as the Series.

Helpful Hob awards will be decided solely by our Series Council. In November each Council member will name a single Hob from their community, and the Council will collectively name one overall Helpful Hob for the Series. Here are the kinds of helpful community-building actions we’ll be looking for and talking about:

• Recruit new players into the local community

• Volunteer consistently for your local events throughout the year

• Volunteer to work a Series Event at another community

• Demonstrate great sportsmanship and create a friendly, welcoming environment for players of all skill levels and backgrounds

• Take action to promote Series events (e.g. publish content, create promotional posts, spread word of mouth via Discord servers and social media)

Members of the Series Council are not eligible to win Helpful Hob awards.

How to Help the Explorer Series Continue

This series is a labor of love. None of our council members or tournament organizers are paid for their work to host events and keep the circuit running.

To keep the Explorer Series sustainable, we depend on the generous donations of players and community members like you.

If you want to Explorer Series to Continue, please make a donation today!

2025 Sponsors

2Fluent, the Wolfmancer - Founding Sponsor

The 2025 Series was made possible by Sorcery community legend 2Fluent, whose generous founding donation made this dream a reality. You can follow 2Fluent’s latest tabletop project, Shard Bugs TCG, here.

Kitchen Table TCG - Prize Sponsor

Louie DeGeorge of Kitchen Table TCG (the WV-based game retailer and YouTube channel known throughout the realm) has been a steadfast champion for the Sorcery TCG community. He’s now a prize sponsor of the Explorer Series, contributing sealed product for prizing across all of our events!

Collector Arthouse - Prize Sponsor

We are very excited to be working with Mike Servati at the Collector Arthouse, where he shines a spotlight on the artists and the amazing work they produce. Mike is curating three hand-painted alters to be awarded as Grand Prizes to our Battlemage, Pathfinder and Helpful Hob in November, 2025.

Philosopher Cards - Prize Sponsor

Steve Kotfis has been a steadfast supporter and supplier of all things Sorcery TCG since the early days of the game. He is providing some special prizing, to be announced later this year. You can check out his content and inventory here!

Who’s Behind the Explorer Series?

Our founding Series Council is:

• Kiel Wilson (Founder, Michigan, Motor City Mortals)

• Brandon Posey (Ohio, Central Ohio Society of Sorcerers)

• Brandon Renners (Ohio / Kentucky, Thieves Guild Gaming)

• Casey Dillard (Kentucky)

• James Boo (Illinois, Chicago Ward Gems)

• Pete Hansen (Missouri, Commander Games)

• Tim Fandrei (Indiana, Reliquary Gaming)