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Hello Young Wizards!
Our European Tournament is about to begin! You have until Sunday the 22nd of January midnight (forum time) to subscribe for it. The Tournament will officially start Monday the 23rd of January!

What do you need to do in order to take part:
- Join the European Tournament Subscriptions thread.
- Give us the name, school and level of your Wizard (make sure the forum account you use correspond to the wizard of your choice).
- Read the Rules.
- Join and win as many PvP Ranked 1v1 matches you can till Sunday the 29th of January.
- Respect the Rules and enjoy to the fullest!

• 
  Only 1 Player versus 1 Player RANKED matches will be taken into account (PvP 1v1). 
• All Participants have to sign in until the 22nd of January (Forum time).
• All Participants must fight in the PvP RANKED ARENA of the Unicorn Way.
• Practice matches will not count. 
• Any match other than 1vs1Ranked will not count as tournament match under any circumstances
• All card spells are allowed. 
• Participation with only 1 forum account is allowed.
• Pets are allowed.
• Mastery Amulets are allowed.
• If a Player gets disconnected or flees, he/she loses this match.
• Any kind of manipulation made to gain advantage in the Tournament will lead to disqualification. 
• Team-members of this or any other community can participate since they do not have access to any results. 

It doesn’t matter if the person you are fighting with in the Arena also takes part of the Tournament, in this case the fight will count for you. If you both participate it will count for both. 

Now remember that HUGE sale Wizard101 was having on Crowns?  Well it ended on January 16th and I finally stocked up on Crowns :D Thanks to the sale, I got an additional 2,000+ Crowns with my purchase of 13,750 Crowns ($25). Let's just say I spent a lot of crowns re-gifting people *cough cough* Talon Thunderblade. Talon gifted me 13 Raven's Hoard packs which I was obviously very grateful for but sadly I never got any of the pets like Ethan :( Although non of us got the mount (except for Nick who got the Raven), Ethan got 5 Ice Beetles, 3 Ice Birds, 2 Storm Birds, 5 Earthwalkers, a few treants, and soooooo much more. You should see his house. It's insane how much he got from Raven's Hoards he got. I want to tell you how much Crowns he spent on it but I will let him tell you that in his next post ;) 

I also can finally finish all the Worlds!!! I now can go back and finish Wysteria, Wintertusk, and at long last Zafaria. This could take a while :P

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SOPA/PIPA Update

Remember my last post about SOPA and PIPA? Well Congress has "indefinitely postponed voting on SOPA and PIPA." This is a huge accomplishment for the Online Society because the millions of people world wide have spoken out and the government has ceased the SOPA and PIPA bill for now. Thanks for your help :D For more info visit https://rt.com/usa/news/pipa-indefinitely-sopa-internet-309/ 

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If you are a Wizard who is involved in the bloggosphere or pays attention to blogs, you most likely know of Swordroll. Swordroll is an amazing blog run by Jason Goldriver. I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with Jason  in-game. Now Jason is a housing kind of guy. Basically he took over Malorn Ghostirder's position in the community. Jason now runs Housing101 which was handed down by Malorn plus Jason has tons of things about housing on his blog. 

Jason and I chatted for a few then went on a photo shoot :P

That's me and Vaden rocking the background with Jason's Dark Crow :P

Me and Jason at my Imperial Palace

Me and Jason at PvP

Me and Jason at PvP again :P

Me and Jason at PvP again!

If you couldn't tell, Jason and I love PvP :P Sadly I had to rush away to a PvP match with Ethan, Nick, and mine and Ethans IRL friend Steven. Needless to say we rocked the PvP arena :)

So yea, overall my meeting with Jason was pretty cool :) We had fun chatting and we will be setting up an interview sometime soon :) I highly suggest you go check out Jason's blog over at Swordroll.com and make sure to follow him. Well before I move on, remember those photo's because they are important for the rest of the post ;)

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Remember my post on Project Rank Up? Well I didn't do much work with it in 2011 but I finally started it back up! Now before I talk about it look at how my Wizards used to look like and their level....

(Left to right) Myth, Storm, Balance, Fire, Ice

Now here is the rundown of my current Wizards:

• Ice - 61
• Balance - 51
• Storm - 48
• Myth - 33
• Fire - 3
• Life - 5

Now first off ewwww on the outfits :P The only outfit I haven't changed is the Myth outfit. The Storm outfit is still being worn till level 45 and then I have an epic Dragonspyre outfit planned out which has the same robe as Paige Daisypetal and the same hat as Nick but all this is in Purple and Yellow. Go Lakers! :P 

Nick's Hat

Paige's Robe

 Now you may have noticed that I said I have a Life Wizard. In all honesty I think he looks pretty cool :P Ed Lifegem is gonna have some competition now ;P Oh I forgot to mention he has a Life Troll pet which matches his outfit perfectly :P 

• 1st place is 1,000 Crowns sponsored by The Friendly Necromancer and his wife Bailey Skystaff along with a Tier 7 Dueling Diego code sponsored by the Spiral Live Crew.

• 2nd Place will receive a Tier 7 Dueling Diego code.

• The next 3 runners up will be posted alongside the 2 winners on the Spiral Live blog.

Test Realm is.... LIVE!!! Sorry for this "copy&paste" post but as you know I am limited with time. Anyways There are tons of things to test on Test Realm and I must say, the out of this world pricing for the gear must go :P Do you want to pay 100,000 Gold for a robe that isn't even good??? The good part about this is that when you get them from drops, they sell for mucho gold :P anyways here is some info from Wizard101.

Dire News from Zafaria

Young Wizard, I need a favor. Please come to my office in the Commons as soon as you can! We have a small crisis which I hope you can help with. It involves travel to the world of Zafaria. I was there, long ago... 

Sir Reginald Baxby and Dalia Falmea created a student exchange program to Zafaria. Her assistant, Umlilo Sunchaser, led the first expedition. They were supposed to be studying, but the class and Professor Umlilo have both disappeared. Your help investigating this mystery would be appreciated. Go and ask Reginald Baxby in Golem Court for the Spiral key. 

But beware, while it is a lush and vibrant land, Zafaria was once the home of Morganthe and even still her agents sow the seeds of chaos. As war threatens to sweep over the grasslands and penetrate deep into the jungles of Zafaria, Morganthe plots to recover the heart of her lost power, and fulfill the words of the prophecy.

Wizards can now achieve Level 70!

With the addition of Zafaria, Wizards can now achieve the maximum level of 70!

This means all new gear and equipment for over level 60 Wizards, and it also means new challenges that will test even the most wizened player. 

Please remember, no experience is rewarded for duels and quests completed while you were the prior maximum level of 60. When a player reaches the maximum level, their experience bar disappears, indicating they are not gaining experience from their duels or quests. No experience is rewarded to those who are at the maximum level, which means that everyone who was level 60 before we raised the level cap, will be level 60 to start, now that we have raised the level cap, and you can once again start earning new experience points from your adventures. 

Experience was not earned when you were level 60 and therefore cannot be granted after the level cap is raised.

Level 68 Spells!

For those of you who are level 68 or higher, and have already completed your level 58 school spell quest, speak to your individual professors for a new and very special assignment! 

Alhazred in Krokotopia will instruct Balance Wizards to embark on the quest "The Purreau Project". 
Dworgyn in Nightside will ask Death Wizards will to set out on the quest "Katzenstein Never Kloses".
Dalia Falmea in Ravenwood will direct Fire Wizards to begin the quest "Fire Walk With Me".
Lydia Greyrose in Ravenwood will make sure Ice Wizards commence their journey with the quest "Woolly Bully".
Moolinda Wu in Ravenwood will encourage Life Wizards to take up the quest "Gnome Mercy".
Cyrus Drake in Ravenwood will begrudgingly send Myth Wizards off with the quest "A View to a Kill".
Halston Balestrom in Ravenwood will call upon Storm Wizards to begin the quest "Sirens Fiction".

New Astral Spells

With the new world of Zafaria, comes stronger magic! New Astral Spells have come to the Spiral! 

If you are level 64 or higher, and have completed the Celestia Quest "The Sun of All Fears" in the Chancel, talk to Inyanga Whitestripes in Baobab Crossroads to begin the quest "Astral Weeks". 

If you are level 66 or higher, and have completed the Celestia Quest "The Sun of All Fears" in the Chancel AND completed the Zafaria quest "Tragedy of the Apes", talk to Inyanga Whitestripes in Baobab Crossroads to begin the quest "Bungle in the Jungle".

Armor Piercing

Introducing a new system for Wizards that will allow players to negate the defenses of their opponents and deliver deadly spell attacks even through heavily fortified opponents. Creatures of the Spiral do not yet have this ability. 

Armor Piercing can be gained through gear, pet talents, and spells. Armor Piercing on spells can exist as enchantments from Sun school cards, beneficial effects from auras, or inherent Armor Piercing on a spell card. 

Existing spells will be upgraded to include Armor Piercing in their calculation. The existing spell adjustments will be primarily on higher level Sun School Accuracy enchantments and are outlined below.

Spell	Old Value	New Value
Sniper	+20 Accuracy	+20 Accuracy, +5% Armor Piercing
Unstoppable	+25 Accuracy	+25 Accuracy, 10% Armor Piercing
Extraordinary	+30 Accuracy	+30 Accuracy, 15% Armor Piercing

Armor Piercing is calculated by reducing the resistance of targeted enemies by the value of the Armor Piercing of the casted spell. For example, a spell cast with 7% Armor Piercing on a target with 90% resistance will have damage calculated by taking 83% of normal damage. 

This Armor Piercing value is inclusive of any wards that are present on a target. For example, if a spell has a 20% Armor Piercing value and is cast on a player with a Tower Shield ( 50% Damage Resistance ) then the effective damage is only reduced by 30%.

Armor Piercing does not work against Curses. ( Plague, Weakness, Efreet Curse )

Pet Feeding

You've been asking for more ways to improve your pets, and currently the only thing we offer is the ability to play minigames and feed them pet snacks. Well all those strenuous minigames and duels have given your pets much bigger appetites than those measly snacks can fulfill, so we're introducing the ability to feed your pets items that you have in your backpack! 

You will have the ability to feed your currently equipped pet any item* that's in your inventory and receive a variety of rewards ranging from gold, to treasure cards, to rare reagents, and sometimes even pet experience. Every item that is fed to a pet can either return gold, an item, or pet stats.
*excludes other pets, mounts and houses 

Feeding a pet equipment & housing items is done through a simple 'Feed' button that appears next to the ‘Trash’ button in your backpack. You can only feed a pet while it is equipped and you will get a confirmation window similar to the trash button. So start feeding your pets all those extra items that are taking up space in your backpack!

New Music Player!

In the Wizard City Furniture Shop you will find a few new items, most importantly Aubert can now sell you a Music Player and Music Scrolls. Scrolls are used in the Music Player to allow you to have different world music in your Castle or Dorm. Aubert only stocks Wizard City Main Theme and Krokotopia Main Theme, but look for other ways to obtain scrolls from other worlds throughout the Spiral. 

To change the music in your house, simply place the Music Box in the house and select it while in 'Furniture Placement Mode' - you will see a musical note icon appear that will indicate you can change the music. Clicking on the musical note will open the following window:

change the music. Clicking on the musical note will open the following window:

		This window shows your Music Box, and all the Scrolls in your Backpack
		To add a Scroll to your Music Box, simply click on it and then click the "Add a Musical Scroll to the Music Player" button at the bottom.
		To view all the Scrolls you have in that particular Music Box, click the Magical Note tab at the top of the screen, and you will see a list of the 'equipped' scroll, and other scrolls you have associated with that Music Box. When you place a single Music Box outside, it will control the music for the entire exterior zone of your house. When you place a single Music Box inside, it will control the music for that entire interior zone of your house. When you place more than one Music Box in a zone of your house (inside or outside) the Music Box that you are closest to will dictate the music that is played for you. Music Scrolls can be found in shops and as potential rewards for dueling the bosses of each of the worlds of the Spiral. Now let the music play! Improved Character Statistics With the addition of Armor Piercing and some updates that our players have requested, we have made some minor changes to the way your Character Stat sheet looks for different levels of characters. Current Stats Window Just as a reminder, this is how the stats page looks for any character (this is a level 1, so she doesn't have much!) New Stats Window for Under Level 10 Players who are under level 10 will see this panel. You'll notice that Power Pips, Critical and Block are missing from this panel, as players under level 10 cannot get these stats. New Stats Window for Over Level 10 Once a player reaches level 10, their stats window will gain a new 'Advanced Character Stats' button at the top of their Stat page. New Advanced Stats Window for Over Level 10 The Advanced Stats window will give you information on that character's Critical Rating, Block Rating, Power Pip Percentage, Healing In/Out Percentage, Stun Resistance Percentage and the new Armor Piercing Percentage. Hopefully this simplified character stats sheet will help players better understand how their equipment and other enhancements alter their performance in duels. Known Issues Crafting Quest The Grandmaster crafting quest "Drum a Little Drum" given to you by Koyate Ghostmane in the Baobab Market requesting that you craft a Spirit Caller Drum incorrectly indicates that you need to use a Basic Crafting Station but you really need to use the Housing Crafting Station. The recipe requires that you provide a Congo Drum as a recipe item. That item is also crafted and its recipe can be found on Gearwise in Celestia. We are still evaluating the cooldown timer on the Spirit Caller Drum crated item.  Equipment The Sidhe staff should have a level 65 restriction on it and it should be adding a power pip instead of a normal pip. This will be updated before the item is available in the Live Game.  Pet Feeding  Seems housing items cannot be fed to pets yet, but we'll make sure you can before we release this to the Live Game!

So what's your opinion on these new spells? I love them because they are just plain epic :P

These spells include:

Ice Level 68

Fire Level 68

Storm level 68 (way to powerful)

Myth level 68

Life level 68

Death level 68

Balance level 68

I personally am so glad that Ice finally has a high damage spell :D Here are some quick youtube videos of the spells. I gtg to school so sorry if its messy :P

Woolly Mammoth

Rain of Fire

Sirens

Gnomest

Katzenstein's Monster

Basilisk

Chimera

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Contest Winners Announced!!!

So if you remember my "epic" contest in my Mega Post, I had tons of entries to win my epic contest :P Well to start off, the answer was there were 21 "epic"'s in the post. So many answers were either a few higher or a few lower. So now, the moment you've all been waiting for...... *drum roll* The winners for the "epic" contest are:

• Thashni Fernando (said 21)
• Jack Shadowshade (said 21)
• Angel Angel (Jeff) (said 21)

Congrats to you all! You will be getting an email shortly with your contest code. 

Thanks for playing ;) 

See ya in the Spiral!

-Blaze (The Blizzard) Shadowhorn ;)

*Keep It Frosty!*