This past weekend, James, Jeremy and I went down to Seattle for the most recent Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix event. As a result, we didn’t shoot a new video on Saturday, and have no new making-of. If you’re interested in the process behind filming Jonny 2, it’s all covered in our previous Loading Time episode, Here’s Jonny. Instead, this week’s Loading Time is the first episode to offer more of a look into our daily lives.
Now, having said that, traveling out-of-country to play Magic is not a common occurrence. In fact, for all three of us, this was the first major Magic event any of us had been to. As you are likely aware, all the LRR crew members are big fans of Magic, but the highest level we’d ever competed at is our local Friday Night Magic and the occasional pre-release. When we realized there would be a GP so close to our home turf, James decided to head down for it. Jeremy and I took a little longer to decide, but we realized that we also wanted to see what MtG was like at the next level.
It was a little daunting walking into the convention centre to see over 1100 other people there, but once we started playing, we had a blast. For those interested, the format of the event was Innistrad-block Sealed Deck. Everyone we played against were great and it was a great introduction to profession-level Magic. We would encourage any fan of the game to check out a Grand Prix near them.
As should be expected when facing a field of 1100, none of us placed terribly high on our first outing. To make it to day 2 of the competition required receiving no more than 2 losses in the first day’s 9 rounds of play. James ended with a record of 5-4, Jeremy finished 4-5 and I only finished 6 rounds (with a score of 3-3) and spent the rest of day 1 catching up with friends in Seattle. But what if you finish early, or don’t make day 2, like the other 1000 people who didn’t make day 2? Well, there are innumerable side events in all formats (Standard, Draft, Two-Headed Draft, Sealed, Commander) to keep you amused. For some attendees from smaller MtG communities it was the most Magic they’ve ever played.
Sadly, nearby GPs are few and far between for us, but we will definitely be attending GP Vancouver in June. Perhaps we’ll see you there!
Published: Mar 8, 2012 05:00 pm