Alright team, there are many steps on this Maze through the city-world of Atlanta and many who are looking to complete it first. Our adventure will be filled with dazzling spells, powerful creatures, and talented mages from all over the Multiverse…or at least the United States! We must defeat them! And if we do, we will reach Maze’s End first and be crowned champion of the Invitational!
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The StarCityGames.com Open Series in Atlanta featuring the Invitational is going to be massive. It all starts with the main event, where the winner of the grueling three-day, sixteen-round (plus Top 8), dual format event will receive the Invitational trophy, a giant check, a slightly smaller actual check for $10,000, and immortal fame. Wait, what’s that last one again? Yes, the winner of this Invitational will be eternalized on their very own SCG token! How cool is that? The action starts Friday at noon for those invited, so be sure to come on down for one of the biggest Magic events of the year!
In addition to the Invitational itself, the weekend will feature a Standard Open, a Legacy Open, a Gatecrash Sealed Classic, and the very first StarCityGames.com Ascension Immortal Tournament! We are also proud to welcome Steve Argyle, artist of several of Magic’s most iconic pieces, and a plethora of talented Magic alterists will also make the trip down to the Peach of the South. In addition, side events like the Standard Challenge will be firing all weekend long! This event is going to be huge!
Let’s break it down a bit: as always, we will have side event 8-player Drafts, 8-player Win-a-Boxes, and 4-player Commander Chaos events firing all weekend long, but we will also have some much bigger and more prestigious tournaments available. On Friday, we have Two-Headed Giant Sealed and the Standard Challenge alongside Day 1 of the Invitational. On Saturday, we have another Two-Headed Giant Sealed event and Legacy Challenge to go alongside Day 2 of the Invitational and the Standard Open. Then, on Sunday, all hell breaks loose: the Invitational Top 8, Legacy Open, Gatecrash Sealed Classic, Draft Challenge, and Two-Headed Giant Sealed! And that’s not even to mention the inaugural Ascension Immortal Tournament!
The Ascension Immortal Tournament, played with the newly released Rise of the Vigil Block, will start at noon on Sunday and be the first Ascension tournament ever held in conjunction with a StarCityGames.com event, but it won’t be the last! That’s because at every Invitational from here on out there will be another Immortal event on the Sunday of the Invitational! Why is it called “Immortal?” Well, that’s because the winner will be immortalized on a future card! That’s right, the winner of the tournament, in addition to a $250 Amazon gift card and an exclusive playmat, will receive their likeness on an Ascension card in the near future! How cool is that? The Top 16 receive prize for this event, and all entrants will receive an exclusive Constricting Horror card just for entering! What a deal!
All of this is going to take place at the Gwinnett Center in beautiful Duluth, Georgia:
The Gwinnett Center is located nowhere near downtown Atlanta, so (hopefully) we will not have to deal with traffic from the Final Four, which is also in Atlanta this weekend. But that’s a double-edged sword, as we also won’t be anywhere near any of Atlanta’s famed eateries…or airport. Once you arrive at the site, however, there is a good selection of chow nearby. We’ve been here before, so if you’re a veteran of the Open Series, you know this site well. If this is your first time, ask around and you’ll soon find it’s not too difficult to find eats.
As I mentioned earlier, Steve Argyle, artist of Bloodbraid Elf (Planechase 2012), Child of Alara, Deathrite Shaman, Everflowing Chalice, Hive Mind, Liliana of the Veil, Nevinyrral’s Disk (FTV: Relics), Somberwald Sage, and many more will be in attendance this weekend! Be sure to come down and get your cards signed at this unique event! Check out Steve on the web here.
A ton of great Magic alterists will also be in attendance this weekend!
Chris King will be in Atlanta! You can see examples of Chris King’s alters and place custom orders on his website.
Eric Claar brings his unique style of alters to the StarCityGames.com Open Series. Known for his minimalist “blueprint” style as well as full art pieces, you can check out his work on Facebook and deviantART. For commissions, you can contact him through Facebook or e-mail [email protected].
Based out of Atlanta, Georgia, Leif Paulson, also known as Evil Nerd INC, works as a professional freelance artist. Please visit his Facebook page to view samples of his Magic card alterations. Leif is currently accepting commissions specializing in card extensions (borderless cards).
Lindsay Burley will be selling and creating her unique brand of 3-D cards and tokens as well as custom playmats! Check out her work here, then stop by and check out these awesome cards! For special commissions before the event, you can contact Lindsay at [email protected]. Don’t forget to stop by her YouTube page for a peek into the creative process.
Ron Faris will be painting custom card alterations at the event! Check out his unique alters by following him on Facebook or his blog, and as always, you can e-mail him at [email protected] for commission information!
Miranda Roberts will be bringing her alters to the StarCityGames.com Open Series. She specializes in full alters and extended art “borderless” cards. Don’t miss out on these one of a kind cards! You can check out her work and contact her for commissions through Facebook or email [email protected].
Blake Meade will be creating altered cards at this event! Check out some of his work here, and contact him for custom orders at [email protected].
Our coverage team features two Pro Tour wins, two Grand Prix wins, six Pro Tour Top 8s, and many more Grand Prix Top 8s in the form of Cedric Phillips, Osyp Lebedowicz, and Tom Martell! And in the Sideboard, we have three SCG Open Top 8s in the form of Glenn Jones and Reuben Bresler! Okay, maybe the second one is slightly less impressive. In any case, our coverage team is topnotch, and we’re raring to go out and deliver the best reporting in the business! If you can’t make it out to the big show this weekend, be sure to catch us on @SCGLive and use the hashtag #SCGINVI to join in on the discussion.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! See you in Atlanta!
Good luck, have fun, and have an a-Maze-ing time!
Event Coverage Coordinator