Let the Games Begin! Eagerly Awaited DUEL MASTERS Trading Card Game Tournament Schedule Announced

Business Wire, Nov 18, 2004

RENTON, Wash. -- Game creator Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is calling on young duelists to bring their most powerful creatures to the DUEL MASTERS'(TM) Tournament of the Five Civilizations. Official DUEL MASTERS tournaments will be held in towns and cities across the country to give players the chance to compete for top billing and fun prizes. Tournaments begin December 12th. A full list of locations is available on www.duelmasters.com.

The number one game in Japan for most of the past year and a half, DUEL MASTERS is now making waves on US shores. Earlier this month, the DUEL MASTERS animated TV series expanded to six days a week on the Cartoon Network.

"Wizards of the Coast has led the way in organized play for trading card games with some of the most established competitions in the industry," said Scott Rouse, brand manager for Duel Masters at Wizards of the Coast. "We're thrilled to be able to offer the fast-growing community of DUEL MASTERS players official tournament play. Tournaments are exciting, rewarding social experiences for players of all ages," Rouse continued, "With the cartoon series, comic book series, action figures, video games and an online D-MAX(TM) club, kids now have one more way of enjoying DUEL MASTERS through tournament play."

The Tournament of the Five Civilizations will feature play for two age groups: 14 and under and 15 and older. Participating players should come with their 40-card (minimum) deck. Players will be randomly paired for the first round, and then paired against players with similar records. The top 8 players will compete in a play-off round for the championship. The first fifty participants at each event will receive a DUEL MASTERS cap, deck box and an exclusive foil promo card. Winners will be awarded with a complete box of DUEL MASTERS booster card packs along with a tournament plaque.

Information on tournament locations, dates and registration requirements can be found at www.duelmasters.com.

Wizards of the Coast, Inc., is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, Magic: The Gathering(R), among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons(R), and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website at wizards.com (http://www.wizards.com).

DUEL MASTERS and D-MAX are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS are Trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries.