Magic Appreciation Weekend

Drank two cups of coffee this morning, so I’m feeling the caffeine buzz big time. I’m hoping that I only have to go to the bathroom a few times today, not every 5 minutes like what normally happens when I double up on my cups. I don’t know if it’s the sugar or the cream, but I’ve been fiending for coffee lately...

Too Much Coffee Man

ALSO: I’m looking for pictures from these events, so if you have any that you’d like to send me to add to this blog please do! :)

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I was lucky enough to get to participate in 3 of the 4x Magic Appreciation events that happened in London, Ontario this past weekend (Sept 10-11 / 2011), and what a great time it was!

What was / is Magic Appreciation day?

It’s an event that Wizards ran this year that involves giving away free packs to play a format called minimaster against other participants with a full box as the prize!

The minimaster tournament is played by opening a pack and shuffling all of the contents into a pile of 15 basic lands (3x of each basic land type). This will give you a 30 card deck. You then face your 30 vs. another players deck, and the winner adds another pack to their deck and turns it into a 40 card “constructed” deck. You then play your 40 against another player and the winner gets a 3^rd pack to add to their deck. Repeat this for the 3^rd time and the winner gets a 4^th pack and advances to the top 8 playoffs where the finalists battle for a full booster box!

Yes, it’s as random as it sounds! Strategy involves playing the bigger creature and hoping your opponent has no removal / tricks! Bears and Ogres and Giants rule the format!

Grizzly Bears: They Rule Minimaster!

I played at 3 stores:

1)      Imperial Hobbies

2)      Worlds Away

3)      LA Mood

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Imperial Hobbies: 1000 Saturday Sept 10 / 2011

I feel bad about this one, but it was a great precursor to the rest of the weekend and set my expectations for the rest of the tournaments.

My GF and I had to go and pick up her books for some night courses at Fanshawe College as she was starting school on Monday. She wanted to be there really early to avoid a huge line, so we were originally planning on being there for 10am.

“Say baby, there’s this free magic tournament at 10am. It’s minimaster, so should be really quick. Can we go for like, 30 minutes or so? You’ll get a free pack!”

Since I have the BEST GF in the entire world she agreed… but we could ONLY stay until 1030, then we had to go get those books! I figured 30 minutes would be PLENTY of time to get a few rounds in and have some fun! I was so wrong…

We got there for around 0950 and the place was packed. There were > 30 people milling around so I decided to trade while waiting for the event to start. Time was ticking by… and 1030 rolled around before we’d even begun. I let the TO (James Wegg) know that I had to leave and asked what I should do with the booster pack. “You still showed up on time, you still get it!”. Yay! Thanks James!

Also worth noting is that Amanda (my GF) got her very own DCI number at this event! OK OK, so she really didn’t know what was happening, just that I presented her with a card, told her to fill in her information and sign it. Phase 1 of her conversion to geek is complete!!! Lol.

Worlds Away – 1200 Saturday Sept 10 / 2011

The lineup at Fanshawe College bookstore was insane. It actually looped around the hallways and ended in the food court. After 45min we managed to make it inside, and after scouring the “accounting” section for a book on “accounting” we were advise that “No, that text is actually NOT in the accounting section, it’s over on this wall over there…” Gee, ‘cause that makes sense, right?

Book in hand and $145 poorer, we finally escape the labyrinthine walls of Fanshawe. Amanda has a date with her mom and grandma (girls night!) so plans on abandoning me as soon as we get home. I won’t complain though, as I had hoped to attend (and actually get to play in) another of the Magic Appreciation events at noon... this time at World Away!

I call up Paul Dobbs on my way home:

“Dobbs! Wanna play in that free tournament today?”

“I’m still sleeping…”

“You have 10 minutes to get to my house!”

“… OK.”

We make it to Worlds Away with JUST enough time and Brad (the owner) hooks us up with our packs. Dobbs and I get to cracking them and I’m rewarded with Gideon Jura, a Timely Reinforcements and not much else. I guess I can’t complain though since they’re bombs.

I end up winning my first three games and make it to the Top 8! I want to just split, and so does everyone else except for 1 person: Richard! His deck is 22 bombs + 18 land so he wants to play it out. I try and convince him to reconsider.

“You could GUARANTEE yourself at least 6 packs right now… why risk it?”

“I came here to play, so I’m just going to win the whole thing!”

Admirable attitude, BUT he did end up “Pulling a Jeff Olsen”.

“Pulling a Jeff Olsen”: To refuse to split a prize or draw a match when it’s to your advantage only to go on and lose, resulting in getting nothing instead of something.

I ended up paired against Craig Hodgens in the T8 and offered “Pack Insurance”, something I always try and do.

Since there is only a prize for 1^st (or a T4 split if Richard got eliminated), offering pack insurance is basically making an agreement that if the winner of the match won any packs, that you would give X of them to the loser. That way no matter what the loser is still going to get something. I’m all about just getting SOMETHING, I don’t care what! It would just be a shame to make it to T8 and end up with nothing for all of your hard work. We decided on a 2x Pack Insurance before we started.

After all 4 packs were added together, I ended up with THIS deck:

1x Doom Blade

1x Rune-Scarred Demon

1x Llanowar Elves

1x Runeclaw Bear

1x Arachnus Web

1x Brindle Boar

1x Lurking Crocodile

2x Stampeding Rhino

1x Greater Basilisk

1x Carnage Wurm

1x Alabaster Mage

1x Mighty Leap

1x Spirit Mantle

1x Timely Reinforcements

1x Griffin Sentinel

1x Roc Egg

2x Peregrine Griffin

1x Gideon Jura

1x Swiftfoot Boots

1x Manalith

4x Swamp

7x Forest

7x Plains

Damn, this is looking better than most of my draft decks!

I end up winning in 2, and splitting in the T8 since Richard “pulled a Jeff Olsen” and the rest of us wanted to split. I hook Craig up with his 2x packs (thanking him for taking the insurance) and end up with 9x for myself. I trade a pack away for a Promo Hero of Bladehold (he opens a BoP) and hoard the rest of the packs for more Minimaster fun later.

Oh yea, I also won a sweet magic shirt that can actually be worn in public! Check this out:

Planeswalker Shirt!



To celebrate the victory Dobbs and I head to a friends (Eric Smith) to socialize, then back to Dobbs place. We end up playing 3 player mini-master until I’m summoned by the GF and an insatiable lust for food. The GF and I head to Ale House (great little bar on Dundas street near Wellington) where we pig out on Poutine, Chicken Wings and BBQ Flatbread.

LA Mood – 1100 Sunday Sept 11 / 2011

The GF has football day with her parents, so I don’t feel too bad when I wake up early and tell her I’m on my way to the last of the appreciation weekend tournaments. She was planning on ditching me anyways so that makes it OK, right?? :P

Dobbs and I meet up and head to LA Mood for 10am registration. Our names submitted, we decide to grab some breakfast at the “Kings Diner” on King Street. With my vegetarian omelet consumed, I’m feeling confident and ready to put up another T8 performance. My pack disagrees with me.

It had some OK cards, but I just didn’t draw the right lands and I lose quickly. Oh well, can’t have a Gideon in every booster I guess, eh?

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In all, I thought this was an EXCELLENT promotion by WotC, and it really did feel like they were giving something back to the community. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and it was fun to turn Runeclaw Bears sideways and have cards like Flight become MVPs for a day. The randomness of the format gave everyone the chance to compete and have a chance at winning, so the balance between luck and skill that minimaster created for this event was perfect.

Did YOU play in any of the Magic Appreciation Day events?

What did YOU think about them?

Must... have... more... coffee!

Cheers,

Carl Szalich