Chase the Can to Iraq

by Tyler Fultz, Officer-In-Charge of Forward Deployed Trek Operations

8th December 2009

Trek in Iraq is a different experience than Trek in comfortable Western Europe. For one, there's no one to play with. I am currently 2,497 km from the nearest Trek player (in Cejkov, Slovakia). That is at least since Bryan Sykes left Afghanistan- a place he described as "hot, dry, dusty, and occasionally explosive." Unfortunately, we were not able to meet and play Asian Continentals, which would have been fun. His departure back to America left me with little to do but deck build by myself. With the help of Deckpadd proxies and a little time and space to playtest, I was able to carry on despite the circumstances. I'm fairly certain I'm now the only person to play Trek through a mortar attack.

Anyways, let's talk tournaments. I have enough internet access here to host an online tournament, so, thanks to the Continuing Committee' behold Chairman's Challenge VII: Chase the Can! The goal of this challenge is to help those in need and to use cards from the new Legacy set. To qualify for the challenge, you have to use at least 5 cards from Legacy in your deck and post your deck online by the end of the challenge. The tournament will run 4 rounds from December 14th until January 10th. The winning player who accepts the challenge will get a special 'Iraq themed' prize.

Pre-register for this world-wide tournament now!

As stated, the second goal of this challenge is to help others. As we approach Christmas, the season of giving, the TrekCC wants to do its part to assist those in need. Therefore, we simply ask everyone participating in a tournament in December of early January to collect cans of food or cash donations for a charity (some suggestions are below) and report the totals to your continental coordinator. If you can't physically get to a tournament, play in the online one and send me your donation total. If all else fails, stay home and give to someone who needs your help this Holiday season. The region that generates the most donations per capita will get to pick one of the upcoming virtual promos!

So, accept Chairman's Challenge VII and leave a Legacy of goodwill this New Year!

If you're feeling charitable, then take a look at two of our member's favorite charities:

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God's starving children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and we ship the meals to more than 60 countries around the world.

Heifer International envisions a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Heifer's strategy is to 'pass on the gift." As people share their animals' offspring with others - along with their knowledge, resources, and skills - an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.