On October 10th, 2026, Montreal becomes the center of the realm. Erik's Curiosa has partnered with the Assorted Animals to bring a Grand Contest north of the border for the first time, and players from across North America are invited to make the trip to Canada.
It all started with six people in a basement with electrical tape on the floor marking out the borders of a realm they'd never actually played on before. That's where the Assorted Animals, the name this ragtag group of Montrealers gave themselves, started out. And now, after years of building one of North America's most celebrated Sorcery communities, they're hosting the first official Canadian Grand Contest in Sorcery history.
Event Details
- Date: October 10, 2026
- Location: Hotel ITHQ
- Hosted by: The Assorted Animals
- Registration: Register for the Montreal Grand Contest
How a Card Named a Community
Like a lot of players who found their way to Sorcery, the Assorted Animals came with previous TCG experience. They were chasing a feeling, the one old school TCGs used to give you, that sense of discovery and possibility every time you sat down to play. When they heard about Sorcery, something clicked.
The name for their group came from scrolling through the collection of cards on Sorcery's official deckbuilder, Curiosa.io, when they saw the perfect card: Assorted Animals, illustrated by Vasiliy Ermolaev. From that moment on, they had their identity.
And they've been building on it ever since. What started as a handful of friends improvising a realm in someone's basement has grown into one of the most celebrated Sorcery communities in North America, known as much for the warmth of their welcome as for the quality of their play.
What's Happening
The Grand Contest is a constructed tournament with prizes worthy of Sorcery's biggest regional stage. But for the Assorted Animals, this event is about something much larger than the standings.
"Hosting a Grand Contest is the highest honor we could have been granted," says Anthony, one of the heads of the Assorted Animals. "Words will never suffice to describe the feeling."
That feeling is something they've been building toward since the electrical tape days. The community they've created has always been rooted in inclusion, the idea that the table is big enough for everyone, regardless of where you're coming from or how long you've been playing.
"When all newcomers leave, they won't just feel like they've been incorporated into our community. They will also know that we have become a part of theirs. Growing our community isn't just about adding numbers to our group, it's about growing the community feeling at large."
Part of that community has always lived in the cards themselves. The Assorted Animals are bringing four of Sorcery's artists to Montreal: Alan Pollack, Drew Tucker, and locals Heidi Taillefer and Sam McKinnon. These are the people whose hand-painted work you've been holding, flipping over to admire on full-art foil backs, and occasionally staring at for longer than you'd care to admit. Having them in the room, two of them from Montreal itself, is a reminder that the world of Sorcery isn't just something that exists on a card. It's made by people, and some of those people are your neighbors.
Ask the Assorted Animals what they're most looking forward to once the event is actually underway, and the answer has nothing to do with top cuts or prize tables.
"It's hard to properly describe the feeling we are trying to create without being a poet or having already experienced it yourself. We want the sort of environment where you can put all your worries aside and just disappear into the good times of the event."
That's what's waiting in Montreal this October.
Register now and support the first ever Canadian Grand Contest here.
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