So, our question of how much interest there would be if we ran a tournament at WPI has been answered.
43 people showed up.
For the first time in about a couple years at least, I no longer possess any unopened Magic packs.
Wow.
I finally broke down and applied for a credit card last weekend. The prospect of better fraud protection and cash back was just too tempting. I’m now eagerly awaiting for it to arrive in the mail.
Today and next week I have off of work. I needed to use up some vacation time before May or I’d lose it. I figured I’d take off this time since it’s public school vacation week, and thus my Mom and wife have it off as well. My dad is also taking it off. So, we may go out to the Berkshires sometime in the middle of next week, if the weather’s good.
I just received confirmation that I’ve been accepted as a volunteer to judge at Pro Tour Charleston in mid-June. Likely I’ll just be working the side events, but I may work some on the main event, especially if I achieve level 2 as planned at Regionals in May.
And don’t forget my WPI SFS-subsidized Magic event two Saturdays from today.
I’ve been getting more involved lately in the Magic judging community. A couple weeks ago I judged at another Pro Tour Qualifier, this coming weekend I’ll be judging at the Connecticut Two-headed Giant Limited State Championship (which people really ought to go to the one in their state if they can, as it’s a really fun format), and the following weekend I’ll be working at a Team Standard Pro Tour Qualifier. Basically I’m working at premiere events once or twice a month, although March is particularly busy. I may be testing for level 2 in the summer, although I’m not sure about that yet.
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.
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.