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From Grinding to Birding Nats

Prepared clothes and living supplies for a weekend? Check.

Tuned the deck for the tournament? Check.

Tested all the main matchups tirelessly to know all the decks? Check.

Mised a ride to the event? Check.

Prepared all the trade binders and boxes? Check.

Rested properly? Check.

Still needs more things right?
And I'm sure I'm missing things still.

So far, sounds like the right preparation for a weekend to grind for Nats and then eventually win them (or just make the team if something goes wrong). Then how come I ended up not even playing any grinders or side events at all?

I have an inkling as to why that happened, but we’ll try to explore all the factors that might have caused it.

Let’s go back a few days ago…

Thursday afternoon, although we had checked the route we would take to Puebla, we obviously got lost twice before reaching the main road. After that, it was an uneventful ride. Along the way, we talked about the matchups, deck selection, expected meta at the grinders (i.e. Mono Red and Steel + some Caw and rogue brews), Magic Online, how the trade system works there and what we would do after arriving.

After arriving close to midnight, we got lost once again for around an hour while looking for a hotel. Seeing how tired we were after the travel, I ended the day falling asleep, glad I had prepared everything already and just needing to look for a [card]Sword of Feast and Famine[/card] to complete the deck.

That was the catalyst for everything that happened afterwards.

Convention center
For reference, the convention center where Nationals were held.

The next day,  we arrived early to the site and while my companion checked in with his girlfriend, I took out the binders and started looking for deals but obviously early equals nearly no people. Awhile later, with more people around to trade, I came to the conclusion that no one had Swords at all, so I decided to maybe tune that slot later and keep trading. Another few minutes and I had 4 [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card] staring at me with at $45 each.

Side note: Most, if not all the Mexican Magic scene is exclusively Standard, draft and Commander. This makes getting most of the Legacy hidden gems easy and prices are lower since they don’t have a wide market compared to the USA, Europe or Canada. And no, I don’t believe Modern will make a big impact here. People already compare it to the old-old Extended (which was hated) with some extra banned cards, not to forget everyone hates losing T2/T3 to combo decks, especially Twin.

By this point, both of us have looked at all the trade stuff the other has and he pulled out the following among other small stuff:

1 foil [card]Sword of Feast and Famine[/card]
1 foil [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card]
2 [card]Consecrated Sphinx[/card]

Those cards are relevant only because they were actually part of the Caw deck I was planning to use but since there was still time to get ’em, I went ahead and finished the deal.

Awhile later, more trades were done and I still needed cards for the Caw deck. The first grinder was starting in a few minutes but I spotted one of my usual trading partners, so got all the cards once again.

Next thing happening? Me trading said cards once again for big profit and missing the start of the first grinder. What the hell?!

Outside the convention center
At least it's a pretty place to trade cards?

This cycle repeated itself more times during the day (it repeated itself all weekend, actually) resulting in me missing all the grinders. Back then, I rationalized that it was okay – maybe I was not really ready for the grinders and my subconscious was saving me from the embarrassment of losing in the first round each try. I had a really good day trading and socializing so it was cool right? I certainly think so and would do it again without a doubt but I hate myself for it.

The whole idea of going to another state was to qualify for Nats and then win ’em, so why should part of me think it’s alright to decide not to play and just trade/tour all weekend?

These past weeks,  I’ve started to think the trading aspect of the game is consuming me ever so slowly, the number of times I was confused with a dealer/store owner was both appalling and encouraging at the same time: No one remembers me as a player, only as one of the heavy trade grinders. One could even condense my Nats experience as fighting the Medina side of the Force and losing badly against it (@mtgmedina for anyone unsure).

Now,  one would think…why do a late Nats report where you never played?

This year, I learned Nationals are much more than just playing the tournament. I got the chance to meet more people from across the country, make trade contacts (which always equals money) and got to tour one beautiful state of my country and meet a different social culture compared to Mexico City. It’s not Mazatlan or Acapulco but it’s a nice city for a GP, really =) Nice enough to go there next year to play at said GP.

Puebla was a nice place to visit and it’s really beautiful in a colonial sense (but seriously, why so many churches?!). Just walking through the city was a really relaxing and fun way to pass the time, not to forget the food which was varied and for all tastes. Love spicy mole? I do, and it makes me want to be there just to eat more again.

One of Puebla's churches at night
As I said, churches.

As a person and as a Magic player, I grew a lot and have changed the way I see and think about many aspects of my life. We rarely have time to socialize freely during PTQs and pre-releases (all in Mexico City too!) and to really deepen friendships or know each other better. Nationals gave me a chance to meet so many new people and get along better with some of the usual end bosses of the PTQ scene (this allowed me to mise staying in their hotel room the last night of Nats, saving my wallet too). This part of the Magic life is what also pushes me a bit towards judgedom, but that’s really another history for another time. And just so this article has some real juice for people (aka decklists), I’d like to post the deck a friend used to made 2nd at Nationals…

…unfortunately, Mexican Nationals coverage lacks any decklists AT ALL. I wonder why I was surprised we don’t get mention on the mothership.

But despite all that, I am disappointed. I got distracted by the shinies and missed a chance to play the game that made all the experience possible, something I’m not planning to let happen again. While this time the trader fire won, as a player I swear I’ll be playing Nationals next year… as long as I can manage being a college student, getting funds, soccer, gym, friends, video games and more. Easily done right?

As a bonus, an image barrage of one of the zones close to Puebla known as Cholula, a place you should check out if ever in the area.

Zoom out of Cholula
Nice view right?
Another angle of Cholula from a fair distance.
I like this view better though.
Atop one of the pyramids
I was actually there, shame I lacked a camera 🙁
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