After a fun-filled holiday—including a long, much-needed holiday for yours truly—the StarCityGames.com Open Series returns!
With 2011 in the books for good, 2012 brings new challenges, new contenders, and new trophies to center stage, featuring a robust schedule that promises to feature over forty weekends of Open Series events—including notonenottwonotthree but four Invitational weekends! Invitational byes have never been so valuable, and I’m certain that Level 6 competitors will be a major factor in 2012’s biggest events. We’re making it rain for grinders this year with the most robust schedule in the history of any independent tournament circuit, pumping thousands into our Invitationals, known as some of the highest EV tournaments in the country.
For the complete skinny on the 2012 StarCityGames.com Open Series and Player’s Club, check out the breakdown here. The important stuff is qualifying for an Invitational, which you can do in a variety of ways for 2012: Top 8 a Standard/Legacy Open, win a Draft Open, hit Level 3 in the Player’s Club, win an Invitational Qualifier, Top 2 a Super Invitational Qualifier, Top 4 an Elite Invitational Qualifier, or become a regular contributor to StarCityGames.com!
The 2012 season technically began in Charlotte, where champions Devon Hogan and Tony Chu hoisted Open trophies and recorded the first two wins of the season. It continues in Atlanta this weekend, another Open Series double-header for Standard and Legacy with Modern, Draft, and Two-Headed Giant side events all filling seats—the most detailed schedule can be found here. Delver of Secrets has been the biggest name in both Standard and Legacy, but his reign—like all things—must come to an end. Will Atlanta see new competitors take the pole position in the Standard and Legacy metagames?
StarCityGames.com Atlanta Open Series will be at “the usual” location, and your best bet for hotel lodging will once again be the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center, at 6310 Sugarloaf Parkway. It’s $69/night, but only if you give the group code “SCG”. Check out their website, or call 1-877-834-3613 to make your reservation.
We’re also welcoming a pair of alterists to the event, two of last year’s favorites. Ron Faris of Black Wing Studio has made a serious name for himself over the past year in alterations, and I’m always impressed with the sheer number of alters he has on display at our events. Ron’s good, he’s versatile, and he loves to alter—you can’t really go wrong here. Check out a gallery of his work on his website, and email [email protected] if you’re interested in commissioning an alter in advance of the event. Ron’s happy to offer event pickup if you let him know far enough in advance of an Open Series event he’s attending!
Megan Mishelle will join Ron in alterists’ alley, creating a variety of cards in distinct styles. Experimenting with a variety of styles, Megan does full art, art replacement, extensions—the works. You can see her work in this gallery, and email [email protected] to discuss a custom order of your very own. Megan’s alters tend to be unique visions of old favorites, and more than a few of them have caught my eye.
Of course, the Atlanta Open Series also heralds the return of everyone’s favorite Magic broadcast: SCGLive! We’re welcoming an additional Director to the crew in Jesse Snyder, as well as new commentators Patrick Sullivan, Sam Stoddard, and Matthias Hunt! You met Dane Young during the coverage of the Charlotte Invitational and Open Series, and I’m happy to announce that Dane will be joining me on the Open Series grind as an additional coverage writer this year. We’re bringing back virtually every familiar face of 2011, and always looking for opportunities to add more cast members to the rotation. This weekend, it’s Zack Hall and Adrian Sullivan commentating on the carnage in Atlanta—you know where to go for all the Magic you can handle.
Now, we’ve been working on a little something over here for SCGLive—a surprise of sorts, if you will. I don’t want to say what it is, since I can’t guarantee that it’s going to be ready for Atlanta, but it’s going to be sweet when we do get to implement it. Hopefully, that’s this weekend—if not, I’ll keep you guys updated. Of course, the only way for you to find out whether or not we debut it is to tune in!
That wraps up my preview of the Atlanta Open Series weekend. As weird as it sounds, my typin’ hands are getting a little itchy—I’m eager to get back to work and start grinding tournaments with writer-fu. I hope to see you on-site, but if you can’t make it to Atlanta then keep an eye on the feed and another on Twitter, following @SCGLive and #SCGATL. If you’ve got requests or interests, voice them, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.
Coverage Content Manager