Some friends and I went down to Charlotte, NC to take part in Grand Prix Charlotte. As you may have heard, this was the biggest Magic event in the history of magic. It may have also broken the record for "biggest start time delay" by making the participants wait for four hours before we finally got playing.
The SCG apologists will tell me "there is no way they could have known about that level of turnout!!11".
Bullshit.
The night before while we were doing our grinders, they made mention that they were already up to 1900 or so pre-registered attendees. Apparently, no one at the event knew how to extrapolate. I will not belabor this point any longer, onto the games.
Friday:
I entered a sealed grinder and built a 50 cards R/W/B deck, combining elements of Boros and Orzhov. I did not get any bombs, per se, but had a good enough curve to go 2-1 in the event, winning 6 packs.
Saturday:
In the Sealed portion of the GP, I had a miserable open and went 0-2 drop. I pulled "The Brute" out of my golden ticket pack.
I then continued my streak of bad limited play and went 0-3 in $10 drafts. I consider GP Charlotte a learning experience, I am apparently very very bad at limited. I will endeavor to get better.
I entered the "losers" sealed draft and was similarly crushed. Getting blown out by Aurelia does not seem particularly fun or skillful, lol. 0-1 drop.
For the final match of my day I got into the absolute last Commander pod of the day. The players and their generals are listed below (in turn order).
Nick - Zur the Enchanter
Me - Scion of the Ur Dragon
Paul - Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Randall - Niv Mizzet, the Firemind
Prizes work as follows: we each get a pack for our entry fee, with 2 other packs to the "winner". Each time a player is eliminated, they give their pack to the person that they though had the biggest impact on the game.
Here is how it went down.
In the first turn Nick drops a land and plays a 1-drop that lets him fetch lands if he has the fewest. I played a untapped Breeding Pool and played Burgeoning. Paul and Randall each played lands (letting me play lands)
Nick then drops Azorius Chancery and bounces his first land (I play my 4th land). I drop my fifth land and play Scion of the Ur Dragon (on turn 2, dirty). Paul and Randall play lands, I have no more to play.
Nick plays a land (one away from Zur). During my turn, I morph Scion into Nicol Bolas and crush Nick (Zur) for 7 general damage and make him discard his hand. [Zur is the obvious threat at the table]
I then play Arcane Laboratory, making it difficult for everyone else to catch up. Paul and Randall BOTH play a Rhystic Study.
Nick tutors for a land and puts "Hall of the Bandit Lord" into play tapped. I morph Scion into "Vorosh, the Hunter", swing at Paul for 6, and put 6 counters on my General. I pass. Paul then plays "Cryptic Command", drawing a card and attempting to bounce Scion to my hand. I respond by morphing Scion into "Quicksilver Dragon", and change the target to his Rhystic Study (Which I later learned was illegal because Quicksilver changes the target to "Target creature". I should have bounced the 1/1 idiot.) This also triggers Randalls' Rhystic study, he topdecks a "Reforge the Soul" and now we all have a full grip. I being to play lands with Burgeoning. Paul then lays a Phyrexian Area. Randall plays a "Phantasmal Image" attempting to copy Scion. I respond by turning Scion into Utvara Hellkite (a non-legendary dragon).
Nick plays "Zur, the Enchanter" and passes. I turn Scion into "Flameblast Dragon", attack Randall and kill his Hellkite with Flameblast Dragons ability. I then cast Unburial Rites bringing back my Utvara Hellkite. Paul drops Fleshbag Marauder and a Bojuka Bog, exiling my graveyard and killing Utvara Hellkite. I cannot recall what Randall did during his turn (possibly a Solemn Simulacrum).
Nick replays "Zur, the Enchanter" and passes. I turn Scion into Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and kill Randall by poison. He gives his pack to Nick. Paul plays "Hex Parasite".
Nick swings at me with Zur, trying to enchant Scion. I turn Scion into "Mist Dragon" and Phase out. We then discuss the rules for phasing. Scion phases in. Paul uses Hex Parasites ability to remove 5 of my +1/+1 counters. I let this slide, turn Scion into "Dragon Tyrant" and kill Nick. (I assumed he had more "Arrest" type enchantments in his deck.) Nick gives his pack to Paul. (Haters gonna hate?) Paul plays Rune-Scarred Demon and gets a hard he is pleased with. Due to Arcane Laboratory, he cannot cast it.
I turn Scion into Two-Headed Dragon (who can only be blocked by 2 or more creatures) and swing for 21 commander damage, killing Paul. Paul gave his pack to me, since everyone else had left.
So, I won 4 packs.
We went to dinner at the Charlotte Ale House, discussed draft strategies in great depth and sampled some fine local beer.
Sunday: My priority was to get Eric Deschamps to sign my copies of Olivia Voldaren. I did not play in any side events until I got that accomplished. I also purchased artist prints of Olivia (from Eric) and Surgical Extraction.
I played in a draft with Jimmy (who would be my first round opponent) and I feel like I drafted well, based on our discussions the night before. I picked a guild and stuck to it, drafting a pretty good Simic deck. I got Jimmy down to one life in the first game before he stabilized, then I flooded out while he drew the beats. In game two, I kept a one-lander and missed a few too many land drops.
Then we began the 7 hour journey back to Maryland.
I had a lot of fun at the event, and if I go to one in the future, I will probably just do side events, as the chaos of a 2600 person tournament is a little off-putting.
Until next time...
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