Gp Richmond

While “Southern Hospitality” is a stereotypical expression, we found it to be quite true on our venture to Virginia. Basically, the quality of the service at a restaurant was directly proportional to how far South we were. The service at the Olive Garden in Richmond (which we went to Friday night since we were too late for the GPT) was the best service I have ever had in a restaurant. It was just, very, very, impressive. Have others who’ve traveled found the same to be true, or were we just lucky and happened to find a great server?

So, I think I’ve learned that I’m much more likely to succeed as a professional judge than as a professional Magic player. Jessi and I went to Grand Prix Richmond, and lost a lot, but had a good amount of fun. We headed down Friday, but it took a bit longer to get there than I (or AAA) had expected, and so we missed the Grand Prix Trial that evening. On Saturday, we played in the main event, and lost horribly. On Sunday, we played in the side-event Pro Tour Qualifier, where Jessi lost quite a bit. I had a very nice deck and was very much thinking I could do well, but in some very close matches I ended up losing 2 and drawing 1 in the first 4 rounds. So, we dropped, and went back to our hotel room where we played some more casually before going to bed and driving home on Monday.

Tomorrow, we leave for Grand Prix Richmond. The plan is to have a lot of fun. I tend to doubt we’ll win anything, but you never know. You should be able to see our ranking in the main event at the MagicTheGathering.com tournament center if you’re so inclined. However, if we don’t do well in the main event, we’ll likely drop and play in some of the numerous side events.

Last Saturday, we went to the Guidpact magic prerelease. I judged there, and it was enjoyable, but there wasn’t anything particularly exciting from a judging perspective. (Which is okay.)

This coming Friday & Saturday is the 2006 Network Stress Test at our house. I haven’t heard from many people, so please let me know if you’re coming (by emailing me per the directions on that page).

The following weekend, the first weekend in February, we’re going to Grand Prix Richmond, as players, which hopefully will be a lot of fun.

I’ve confirmed the time off of work and booked the hotel room for Grand Prix Richmond the first weekend of February.

So now the grand question is, should I get there by plane, train, or automobile? I’m very much leaning toward driving down right now, since it looks cheapest, but I’m not looking forward to a 10+ hour drive. Is there a good cheap alternative somewhere that I’m missing? Money’s the main factor that I’m looking at, as I am willing to drive down. But it seems like there ought to be a better way. I think that if it were just me, it might be just as cheap to fly, bus, or take a train down, but with two of us, it costs the same to use the car, and costs twice as much via mass transit. I may be carpooling with others in the area that are going down, but that’s very up in the air right now.

My good record at that GPT I went to a couple weeks ago pushed my rating in limited just shy of 1700, ranking me within the top 250 limited players in Massachusetts. That’s kind of exciting. I’m not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m above average.

We’ll see if my success continues at another GPT this Saturday in Hartford, and we’re currently planning on heading down to Richmond for the actual Grand Prix. Anyone want to come with us?

Yesterday, Jessi and I went to a Magic Grand Prix Trial with a Ravnica sealed deck format. Out of 40 players, Jessi came in 25th, but I went 4–2, coming in 10th, just missing the Top 8 booster draft. But I won more than I lost, and I did good enough to be in the prizes. It’s boosted my confidence in playing Magic enough that I think we’re going to take a short vacation to play in Grand Prix Richmond the first weekend of February. It should be fun at least, as there are a lot of events there, even if we don’t win anything.