Continuing my tradition of writing the best tournament reports that no one ever reads, here is my report for Grand Prix Orlando 2012!
I don’t go to a lot of GPs but Orlando is my home turf so I got lucky this time. I literally live 5-10 minutes away from the venue which was the greatest thing in the world. I had home field advantage, right?
I hadn’t played Magic in a long time—probably around 4 months—because I seemed to have lost my passion after Planeswalker Points were introduced. The grind and the pressure of never missing an event was just too much for a person with a wife and a normal full-time job.
However, it felt great to be back playing the game I love.
I decided to play UW Humans; it was a deck I really liked, was capable of winning and I just happen to have most of the cards to build it properly. I made some choices like running Swords of War and Peace over [card]Angelic Destiny[/card], [card]Midnight Haunting[/card] main deck, and fewer 1-drops then normal. I can’t tell you if these choices were right but I thought they were good calls.
FRIDAY
I know the tournament organizers so I got to sneak in early and check things out Friday. It was pretty low-key compared to GP Portland (my only other GP) when it finally opened. I’m guessing it was because of the low incentive to pre-register…a dog tag and a worthless foil seem like awesome incentives to me…no deck boxes, no packs, no playmats.
I entered the TCGPlayer Qualifier and went 4-2. I JUST missed top 8 by some ridiculously small number, finishing in 9th. It was disappointing to just miss top 8 but I still won a playmat which I used as a souvenir to get signed by the pros just like I did at GP Portland, retiring the old mat.
The coolest thing on Friday by far thought was meeting KYT of the Eh Team which I barely recognized from his Twitter picture (the glasses threw me off). I knew I was going to meet him at some time but the sooner the better and it was awesome to meet him before we were both too busy playing Magic to actually chill and talk.
Jay Boosh signed my Magic bag way back at GP Portland, which I later dubbed the Boosh Bag (which sounded way better then its original name: Boosh Sack) and I felt that I had to get KYT to sign it also. Don’t get jealous, Jay, but KYT signed his name in Chinese too; you need to step up your signing game bro.
KYT came with Alex Hayne and Joey Smith of Team Mana Deprived and they were super awesome. I really can’t describe how great it was to hang out with them because they were all just so awesome. Alex is the best Canadian Magic player around (I highly suggest rooting for him at the next GP) and Joey is working his way up.
Also, they are pretty awesome people.
KYT turned off data on his cell phone (international data sucks) and the hotel’s wifi wasn’t working correctly so I turned on the wifi hotspot in my phone to help him out. It was like the Bat Signal but with KYT instead…every time I was around he would find me because his phone would sign on automatically and he’d start getting a bunch of tweets.
After a couple last-minute deck tweeks after the TCGPlayer Qualifier, I was ready for Saturday.
Aside: Going home and sleeping in my own bed with the wife was pretty cool while most people were crammed into cheap hotel rooms and eating bad Popeye’s food. #humblebrags
SATURDAY
In the GP I started out well: 4-2 with no byes but ended at 4-5 at the end of day 1 with a very disappointing final 3 games. If I were to summarize my professional Magic career with one phrase it would be “…and then I lost the last 3.”
I once started out an 8-round PTQ 5-0. And then I lost the last 3.
I think my call of Swords over [card]Angelic Destiny[/card] was the right one: it won multiple games for me almost by itself. [card]Grand Abolisher[/card] was a house all day as was [card]Moorland Haunt[/card]. And I ran a single [card]Phantasmal Image[/card] main deck which I used mostly as a defensive card.
I was hoping to make day 2 but I like to take it one game at a time and try to win each and every match without thinking of what round it is, and I just couldn’t keep it up for whatever reason. I had some bad breaks, like getting mana screwed in two game threes, but it happens and I’m extremely happy with my play overall. I felt myself get better and better as the tournament went on and that’s what I want.
I got to meet a lot more pros again and have them sign my TCGPlayer top 16 playmat from yesterday in between rounds, including my hero Gerry T and the most underrated ChannelFireball member, Caleb Durward, who was also super nice. Caleb is super passionate about Magic and was excited to show me his unique deck when I complimented his deck building skills.
My wife, who is from Brazil, got to meet PVDDR which was nice for her…since he’s the only Magic player she knows exists.
SUNDAY
On Sunday I entered the TCGPlayer Sealed Qualifier and sucked balls. I had such a grindy UW deck that I had 2 draws before I dropped. Yes, draws in sealed…
The funniest moment of the tournament was when the judge was announcing the TCGPlayer Sealed Qualifier and started it out by saying “Welcome gamers to the StarCityGames Open…uhhh…”
There was an eruption of applause and laughter from the crowd and the judge turned so red…I felt so bad for him but hey, it was classic.
While the finals were going on I smashed a Win-a-Box to end the weekend on a positive note and reaffirming that I am actually a decent Magic player still in my head. Next time I don’t make day 2, I should probably just play Win-a-Boxes all day since I’m undefeated in them to this date.
I finished in time to watch the second game of the finals which was super fly. Congratulations to you, Conley Woods, you earned it and are just playing unreal right now.
MONDAY aka THE BEST DAY EVER MADE
And then came Monday…
So I get to the hotel to pick up Joey, KYT and Alex for us to go to Universal Studios together (which is awesome already) and who just happens to walk past but Gerry-freaking-T. Obviously we tell him to come to Universal with us (which he was already planning on going). He said sure.
H O L Y B A L L S.
Gerry T is going to Universal Studios with me.
H O L Y B A L L S.
Gerry already had his ticket but I got the other guys my employee discount on theirs and we were off! We met fellow Magic players Melissa DeTora and James Searles inside the park: two more super nice people.
I’m a firm believer that you should surround yourself with good people and it was just awesome spending the day with this whole group. I felt a little dumb at first since everyone else’s Magic IQ is a lot higher than mine but I caught up eventually in conversation.
When we passed the face painter I told Gerry T he should get his face painted…like Alex Bertoncini. He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
I also made sure everyone on the Hulk knew that Gerry T was riding with them but they were unimpressed. I don’t think they spoke English.
HOWEVER…
So what could have made Monday any more epic? Well when I got home from work, still on a high from hanging out with Gerry and KYT, my wife shows me the surprise of a lifetime…
She is pregnant with our first child.
What.
A.
Day.
On Wednesday morning I gave the Mana Deprived crew a ride to the airport and we said our goodbyes. I told them the big news over breakfast and thanked them for being a part of the best day ever. And they asked me to make sure my story about Kibler in the bathroom from GP Portland was true—which I assured them it was.
I want to give a special thanks to Gerry T (aka the coolest person ever), KYT, Alex, Joey, Melissa DeTora, and James for being a part of one of the biggest days of my life, which I will never forget. You guys truly hold a special place in my heart and it’s crazy that a little card game brought us all together.
I mean, how many people in the world can say that they rode the Hulk with Gerry T? Only a handful—and I’m one of them.
Extra thanks to all the awesome people I met at the GP which I can’t name here by name (I remember @manabase from Twitter)—you know who you are!
And hey, is Gerry a bad name for a girl? (I’m joking, Honey, I swear!)
Thanks for reading,
Sean Roden aka en3myzero
Twitter – @en3myzero
A longtime gamer and Magic player from the US but now making his home in Vancouver. Sean likes to look at things a little differently which hopefully comes through in his articles and his play!