Community Spotlight: Gongaii Games Brings the Realm Together

What makes a great Sorcery event? Is it the competition? The friendships made across the table? Maybe it's the nearly 100 hot dogs needed to feed a room full of hungry Sorcerers.

On October 4, Gongaii Games in Portland, Oregon, hosted Quest for the 'Stone 2026, bringing together players for one of the largest Sorcery: Contested Realm Cornerstone events to date.

The Gongaii Games team summed up the weekend with a bit of well-earned pride:

"We are honored to host a cornerstone of this size; our final attendance was ultimately 67 participants, leaving us in second place for largest cornerstone. We would, however, suggest our cornerstone had the biggest heart."

We think they've got a pretty good case.

A Community Comes Together

Tournament organizer Josh Francisco and the Portland Sorcery community spent months preparing for Quest for the 'Stone, putting together handmade prizes, special achievements, a charity raffle, and plenty of surprises for the players attending.

Sorcerers traveled from Seattle, Bend, San Jose, and even Arizona to take part. Artist Brian Smith made the journey to meet players, sign cards, and showcase original paintings of Bladedancer and Death Dealer.

Throughout the day, players shared stories, traded jokes, and lent cards to one another so their fellow Sorcerers could compete with the spellbooks they wanted to play. For some, it was their first experience playing Sorcery outside their local game store.

Josh recalled a group of relatively new players who were initially hesitant about attending such a large tournament. With some encouragement from their friends, they decided to give it a shot. By the end of the Swiss rounds, one of those players, Val, excitedly approached Josh to share his final record: 2–4. And Val couldn't have been happier.

He'd spent the day playing Sorcery, meeting people, and enjoying his first big tournament. He was already looking forward to bringing that enthusiasm back to his local community. And judging by the stories coming out of Gongaii, Val wasn't alone.

Playing for Something Bigger

Alongside the tournament, Josh and the Gongaii team organized a charity raffle featuring contributions from Sorcery artists, community groups, and players from around the world.

The beneficiary was CHAP PDX, a Portland nonprofit dedicated to bringing art and joy to children and families facing medical hardships.

With artwork playing such a central role in Sorcery, it was a cause that resonated with the community.

The raffle raised an incredible $3,832 for CHAP PDX!

Contributions came from artists including Liz Danforth, Sam McKinnon, Brian Smith, and Juan Machuca, alongside community groups such as Rose City Sorcery, Beasts of the Bay, Sorcery102, the Massachusetts Sorcery Guild, and many others.

The raffle brought together donations from across the Sorcery community, with players and artists pitching in to support the cause.

A Little Chaos Along the Way

There was no shortage of memorable moments at Quest for the 'Stone. During one particularly entertaining match, Sam C., better known as SammyGL, attempted to blow a Chaos Twister off the back of his hand. There was just one problem.The card stuck.

Thanks to a little sweat, Chaos Twister stubbornly refused to leave Sam's hand, causing the spell to fizzle.

Fortunately, that wasn't the end of Sam's tournament. After finishing Swiss in 13th place, he battled through the Top 16 to claim the title of Quest for the 'Stone Champion!

Josh also prepared a series of secret achievements that rewarded players with specially altered cards and booster packs. One challenge recognized the fastest game of a round, awarding the winner an altered Charge! and the defeated player an altered Grievous Insult.

Alexis M. was the unfortunate recipient of that Grievous Insult on this day, but her luck quickly turned around. Inside her consolation booster pack was Maiden, Mother, Crone, the Unique illustrated by Melissa Benson.

Everything didn’t go exactly to plan, but that didn’t stop the fun! When the event's taco truck suffered a blown tire on its way to Gongaii, the store team made an emergency Costco run, returning with 100 hot dogs to keep the Sorcerers fed. Not quite the lunch everyone had planned, but it got the job done, and it added to the legend of the event itself.

The People Who Make the Realm

For Josh, seeing so many people come together for Quest for the 'Stone made all the preparation worthwhile.

"This community exists because the level of commitment given by its members." It's a sentiment that comes through in the stories from the weekend.

And that sentiment shown through clearly. Sixty-seven players gathered at Gongaii Games, some traveling hundreds of miles to be there. Artists and community members donated prizes to help raise $3,832 for charity. New players took a chance on their first big tournament, and experienced competitors shared cards, stories, and plenty of laughs.

A tremendous thank you to Josh Francisco, the entire Gongaii Games team and the many volunteers, artists, donors, and community members who made Quest for the 'Stone possible.

And congratulations to Sam C. on becoming the Quest for the 'Stone Champion!

Erik’s Curiosa is incredibly grateful to Josh and everyone at Gongaii Games for the work they've put into building Sorcery in Portland and welcoming players from across the region.

We look forward to seeing what they come up with next. Although, perhaps they'll order the hot dogs ahead of time.