Earlier this year in New Jersey, one of Magic’s all-time great team drafters (with four Pro Tour Top 8s on his resume, including one win) teamed up with two of his closest friends, both of whom are accomplished players in their own right and have high level success but only one Pro Tour Top 8 between them. That team ended up winning the Dragon’s Maze Team Sealed Open.
Then later in the year in Richmond, one of Magic’s all-time great team drafters (with four Pro Tour top 8s on his resume, including one win) teamed up with two of his closest friends, both of whom are accomplished players in their own right and have high level success but only one Pro Tour top 8 between them. That team ended up winning the M14 Team Sealed Open.
Once is a coincidence. Twice is a trend. Three times is evidence. That’s a Triad of Fates, if you ask me!
Freshly minted Hall of Famer William "Huey" Jensen created the roadmap with Reid Duke and Owen Turtenwald. Then Pro Tour London ’99 champion Kyle Rose, alongside the Cowley brothers Steven and Bruce, followed the same roadmap en route to their victory. Will the third time be the same verse, same as the first, or will a new trail be blazed by a less decorated team? You’ll have to tune in (or enter yourself) to find out!
Our home this weekend is the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts:
There’s a ton of good grub nearby. I wouldn’t be concerned, except to say that some of the restaurants in the area, particularly the Mom and Pop-style diners, have seasonal hours and therefore may not be open until later in the year.
Worcester is about an hour outside of Boston, so if you feel inclined to drive into the big city you’ll definitely want to check out ArtWeek Boston. It’s similar to Restaurant Weeks in major metropolitan areas . . . but for art! The week-long festival starts Friday night and goes through October 6 and features a ton of area artists, musicians, and entertainers. And it’s free! So there ya go, Magic players on a budget!
Most of you are used to our Standard Opens by now since they’re . . . you know . . . fairly Standard. But seeing as this Saturday is Team Sealed, I think it’s a good idea to go over some of the details for that event.
Firstly, you need to be registered for the team event by 9 AM! Don’t be tardy to the party! It’s tough to win after showing up too late to win round 1, so do yourselves a favor and please don’t be late. Assuming you’re on time and ready for action, each team will register three people. There will be a player A, B, and C for each team, with player B always sitting in between players A and C. In the Swiss, each team will face another team and play three one-on-one matches (which are themselves best of three games). The team with the most individual match wins will win the entire team match.
As this event will be in Theros Sealed, each team will receive twelve booster packs of, you guessed it, Theros! This will add up to 168 cards total, not including lands. With these cards, they will assemble three minimum 40-card decks, one for each teammate. Each player will use the same deck the whole day.
The "Swiss rounds" will have one more round than the number typically recommended in the Magic Tournament Rules to help deal with tiebreakers and whatnot. After the Swiss, there will be a cut to the Top 4 teams. The semifinals will be the same format as the Swiss with the same Sealed decks. The finals will be Theros Booster Draft, which will take place Sunday morning before the Standard Open. Then the two finalist teams will compete in a round robin, where all players will play against each of the opposing team members until one team wins five matches.
The first team to five match wins is the Team Sealed Open Champion!
For more information about Team Sealed, prize payouts, and any other information about SCG Open Series: Worcester, visit the event fact sheet.
Each StarCityGames.com Open Series stop now features a number of World of Warcraft TCG event, which includes side events all weekend long and the exclusive World of Warcraft TCG Core Circuit tournament on Sunday! The World of Warcraft TCG Core Circuit tournament is unique to the StarCityGames.com Open Series, offers $400 in cash prizes, exclusive playmats, and World of Warcraft TCG Loot Cards redeemable for special items in the World of Warcraft MMORPG! We’re expecting big turnouts for all of our WoW TCG events, so be sure to join us in Massachusetts!
The trios playing in the Team Sealed Open will not be the only trios in attendance; the Open Series is glad to be joined by three Magic alterists in Worcester!
Up and coming artist Jaclyn Foglia will be painting and selling her custom card alterations at this event! You can find her collection of work on her website and visit her Facebook page for more information.
Open Series veteran alterist Lindsay Burley will be selling and creating her unique brand of 3-D cards and tokens, painted alters, and custom playmats. Check out her work on her website and then stop by to see these awesome cards!
Xela Shultis, aka Xela the Geek, joins the StarCityGames.com Open Series, bringing her full art and 3D alterations with her! Check out her work on her Facebook page.
This weekend’s commentary will be delivered by yet another talented triad: Cedric Phillips and Matthias Hunt, with yours truly Reuben Bresler in the Sideboard! I’m glad to be back in the saddle working another Open Series, delivering the top-notch Magic live stream coverage you’ve come to expect from SCGLive. Follow all the action on our Twitch channel. Get round-to-round updates by following @SCGLive and using the weekend’s official hashtag #SCGWOR. Folks on site can keep tabs on the rounds with up-to-date pairings by following the @SCGPairings account.
Good luck, have fun, and baby makes three!
Video and Coverage Content Associate and Social Media Triton for StarCityGames.com