My Grand Prix: Providence

My Grand Prix: Providence began a long time ago. When team events were reintroduced I contacted my friend Seth, quite the Magical talent and noted curmudgeon and implored him to team with me for all future events. The first such event took place on the West Coast, so I bid my time until an East Coast event appeared in the queue. A year later, Providence was put on the calendar and I reached out to the person I believed would anchor my team.

He could not confirm that he could play.

Understandable- we're both adults and have other responsibilities. I set out to find another team and thankfully was able to find two players from Twenty Sided Store to take their seats next to mine. 

Awesome.

Until one player had to drop out. The two remaining members scrambled for a third, but as the event approached, one could not be secured. 

Two weeks before the event, and after receiving a rather large set of bills for the month, I bowed out of attending Grand Prix: Providence. The stress of finding a team and practicing and traveling and paying for everything was just too much. 

Terrible.

Well, not really. Because Magic is the greatest game I decided I was going to play it anyway. It might not have been team sealed, but it would be with friends.

I arrived at the Twenty Sided store a little after Noon and promptly signed up for a Return to Ravnica block draft. I have not had the chance to draft this format at all, but I have played some sealed events with the set, so I settled in for my first crack while my friends were sitting down for their Modern Masters draft. I opened a mediocre pack and started by picking mono-color cards. After a steady flow of green cards and some poorly read signals on my part, I settled into Selesnya and had a decidedly mediocre deck at the end of my three packs.

Did I say mediocre? I meant bad. I promptly went 0-2 drop and did a one-on-one cube with my friend Li.

My cube list can be found here. It is a Pauper cube (shocker). While I like the various one-on-one draft formats (Winston, Winchester, Grid), my favorite thing to do (spurred on by Seth, of course) is drafting enough to build three decks each. The order of the decks is randomized on each side and three matches are played. I prefer best of five but since Li had a mid-afternoon Modern Masters draft to make we did best of three.

Today it was 252 card Grid Draft. Our decks were quite good (of course). In round one Li's Azorius Skies took down my Izzet tempo deck in three games. Round two my Orzhov deck (with a decent amount of lifegain) trumped Li's Red deck. There was a moment where I got to seven mana, cast Syndic of Tithes and Seraph of Dawn, while triggering Extrot. The look on Li's face was priceless and would make Vraska blush.

It all came down to the final match with my Golgari against Li's Golgari. Game one an early Putrid Leech did me in. Game two my sideboard Aramdillo Cloak won when I put the fancy pants on a shadow creature. In the final match, there was a ton of back and forth but I managed to stick a Siege Wurm and trample over for victory.

After that I packed up and went home and flipped on the Mets game. It was in some absurd inning. I eventually left for dinner and the Mets did what the Mets do this season and lost. In the twentieth inning. 

I got home and put together a sweet White Weenie list from this Pauper daily that I'm calling Cyborgs.

My night is ending with watching Providence coverage.

Magic is the greatest game, because even when I don't get to play it how I wanted, I still get to play it. And even when I lose, I win.