This past weekend, I was among the nearly eight thousand players who took part in the historic and record-setting Grand Prix Las Vegas. When you add in all of the players, vendors, and artists who were there but not actually playing in the main event, there were certainly upwards of ten thousand people under one roof, all because of Magic. That’s downright incredible.
When I got to the site on Saturday morning, I tried to find some kind of vantage point to capture the entire event in one picture, but it simply could not be done. No matter where I stood, even above the floor in the Platinum Planeswalker lounge, even using the panoramic setting on my phone, I simply couldn’t fit the whole of the event into a single shot. It was just too huge.
There were side events at Grand Prix Vegas that rank among the largest tournaments ever held. I’m told the minimaster event had over two thousand players. The bounty tournament on Friday evening had over eight hundred competitors, making it larger than most Grand Prix. Every flight of each of the two tournaments into which the main event was split was bigger than the majority of Grand Prix ever held. Grand Prix Vegas was that big.
How did Grand Prix Vegas become such a massive event? There were certainly quite a few factors, including the unique Modern Masters sealed format and the location in Vegas itself. There was also the full extra day of side events on Thursday, the huge array of artists and vendors, and special attractions like the Pro Player meet-and-greet.
But more than anything else, Grand Prix Vegas grew to epic proportions simply because the community as a whole willed it so. Once it became solidified in the Magic zeitgeist that Vegas was going to be the biggest event in history, people flocked from all over just to be a part of it. The crowd in Vegas was not like that of the average Grand Prix. Sure, it had the usual suspects of current and aspiring pros who make the rounds to every premiere event, but they were largely drowned out by the casual fans who were just there to be a part of something special.
And ChannelFireball did a great job of making the event feel special. While many events have adopted the idea of VIP lounges, in Vegas they went one step further and had a huge stadium-like viewing area set up broadcasting each of the tournament streams from all around the world at the same time. And in the smaller lounges at each end of the hall, they had not only seats, water coolers, and much-needed charging stations for mobile phones, but free fresh-baked cookies throughout the day. Thankfully, I’m told what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, which means the infinite loop I demonstrated with the cookies shouldn’t come back to haunt me.
Grand Prix Vegas was already an awesome experience for me before the tournament even started. I spent Friday night at the Pro Player meet-and-greet hanging out and chatting with fans until the place pretty much shut down and we shifted to the casino floor to play blackjack. After losing everything in front of me, as is customary whenever I sit down next to Tom Martell, I called it a night at around two in the morning.
While I was fortunate enough to have three byes and the sleep-in-special, my fiancé Natalie was not, and her alarm went off three times before she actually made it out of bed. Natalie is among the huge number of Magic players who don’t usually compete in Grand Prix but who decided to make the trip to Vegas to be a part of Magic history. Prior to Vegas, she’d played in Grand Prix San Diego because we could drive there, but other than that the whole of her tournament experience is pretty much made up of prerelease events. Nevertheless, she spent our entire drive from San Diego to Las Vegas looking at pools on a sealed deck generator on her phone and getting excited every time one of them included a Tarmogoyf or a foil Cryptic Command.
I tried to get back to bed after Natalie went down to the event hall, but I couldn’t manage to fall back asleep. Instead, I made my way down to the site myself to take in the spectacle that was the largest event in Magic history. It certainly more than lived up to expectations. Despite the expanse of the room, it was easy to find my way around thanks to the massive banners hung from the ceiling that indicated the different areas to which players were assigned for the Grand Prix itself.
Appropriately enough, I was in the Nissa section, while Natalie was placed under Vendilion Clique, which just happened to be almost on the opposite side of the room. Between searching for food, bringing Natalie sleeves, and generally exploring the hall, I got a notification from my fitness tracker that I’d reached my step goal for the day before noon. Who says Magic can’t be a workout?
Amidst this wandering, I was stopped repeatedly for pictures, autographs, and interviews. The enormity of the event had attracted not just Magic fans also but the interest of more mainstream media outlets as well. I was on camera three separate times to talk about Magic and how far it has come since I won my first Grand Prix, a 150-player event in Toronto back in 1997, before I even built my sealed deck. I spoke to around a half dozen reporters before the event was over. It was clear even to the public that this event was something special.
You’ve probably noticed that one thing I haven’t talked about yet is actually competing in the tournament itself. I did play, but for me, the actual Grand Prix portion of Grand Prix Vegas was more of an afterthought. Much like so many others, I was excited to come to the event for the experience and spectacle of it all. I was excited to come together with so many other Magic fans and be a part of something big. More than anything else, I was excited to have a fun weekend with the many people who have become a part of my life thanks to this game.
I didn’t actually practice the format at all leading up to the event. Modern Masters didn’t come out on Magic Online until just before I left, and I didn’t have any opportunities to draft it in person. I looked at some articles other pros had written about it, but didn’t even know that some cards were in the set until they were played against me in the tournament. I figured that if there was any tournament for which I wouldn’t feel bad shirking a bit on my preparation, it was an eight thousand player sealed deck tournament in Las Vegas in a format that I was never going to play again.
Having no expectations to perform well was something of a freeing experience. Usually, when I go to a Grand Prix, I’ve put in many hours of practice and invested in building a deck and my travel expenses and whatever else, and putting up poor results can be frustrating. But going to Grand Prix Vegas simply in a recreational manner rather than truly professional capacity let me look at things very differently. I actually even ended up dropping before I was technically eliminated. When I picked up my second loss on day one, I decided that I’d rather spend the rest of my evening and weekend with Natalie and my friends who were in town rather than attempt to battle back to put up a decent finish – especially in a format I hadn’t even drafted once.
I’d actually love to see more events like Vegas that aren’t necessarily tied to the Grand Prix circuit. I love the convention atmosphere of big events, but find that the tournament itself requires so much time and focus that it can leave little room for anything else. I’d like to see more things like the bounty events and meet-and-greets to give the public a chance to play and interact with the pros – all without the same time constraints and pressures of a Grand Prix.
I’ve somewhat soured on Grand Prix in general recently. Back in 2012, I played in something like 27 Grand Prix throughout the course of the year, and I really burned myself out on all of the preparation and travel and everything else. I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I’m going to be at one Grand Prix or another coming up, and for the most part, I’ve had to tell them no. With how big Grand Prix have gotten these days, it’s hard for me to justify the time and expense to travel to them as a professional player because the odds of simply breaking even are against you, let alone actually coming out ahead.
The expense of traveling to Grand Prix is exactly why Pascal Maynard felt compelled to rare draft the foil Tarmogoyf in the GP Vegas Top 8, which created so much controversy amongst some pro players online, because he felt it was more important for his pro career to be able to afford to travel to more events than to improve his chances of winning the one he was in. Fortunately, it seems that’s worked out well for him.
I’m fortunate enough to be in Magic Hall of Fame, so I don’t have to worry about picking up enough points from Grand Prix to remain qualified. I’m able to pick and choose which events I want to attend much more carefully than someone who is battling to make or stay on the train, and I can afford to relax and enjoy myself, like I did in Vegas, rather than take them all seriously. But for the sake of those who aren’t in my position, I hope to see some kind of shift, whether in the Grand Prix landscape itself or in the way the Pro Player Club works, because I don’t think the current model is sustainable for most players.
It’s weird to be talking about how I feel like Grand Prix need to change after having one of the most enjoyable Grand Prix weekends of my life, but it was precisely because of everything outside the tournament itself that I had such a good time. I loved the energy and excitement of everyone who just wanted to be there to be part of something. I really do wonder if it might be possible to harness that energy to make something like GP Vegas happen on a more regular basis. Magic has a big presence at lots of different gaming conventions throughout the year, but maybe it’s time that we see MagicCon all on its own. I know I’d go… would you?
But that’s still a far-off future, if it’s one that will ever happen at all. Much more imminent is the upcoming Grand Prix in Charlotte that’s just one week away. This is one of the events that I have chosen to attend, both because I’m excited to play the Modern format and because I always enjoy events put on by StarCityGames. I’ll actually be participating in a meet-and-greet on Friday before the Grand Prix itself, as I mentioned I really enjoyed in Vegas, so if you’re coming to Charlotte, be sure to come by then and introduce yourself!
As to what I’m playing in the tournament, I’m still not sure. I talked last week about a number of different builds of my usual honest creature decks, some with Collected Company and others without. I haven’t found anything yet that I’m totally satisfied with, but I’m still looking. Here’s a couple lists I’m trying:
Creatures (28)
- 2 Eternal Witness
- 4 Flickerwisp
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Leonin Arbiter
- 4 Blade Splicer
- 3 Scavenging Ooze
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Restoration Angel
Lands (22)
Spells (10)
This deck played by Charliethebananaking to a 3-1 finish in a Modern Daily is reminiscent of the deck that I used at the World Championship back in 2013, when I posted an absolutely disastrous 0-3 result to keep me out of the Top 4. I’m not eager to go back to Hate Bears after that finish, but the format is different than it was back then. Hate Bears is poorly positioned in a format with a lot of removal-heavy control decks, since its individual threats are somewhat lacking in power and it relies more on synergy and the effectiveness of its hate cards to win.
Right now, it seems like Thalia may be very well-positioned since she is powerful against the Grixis decks that have been cropping up lately. No deck with Delver of Secrets and Young Pyromancer ever wants to see the Guardian of Thraben across the table. Similarly, Leonin Arbiter and Ghost Quarter are excellent against Tron, which has been experiencing something of a resurgence itself. Unfortunately the rest of the deck is quite vulnerable to Pyroclasm, and the deck doesn’t typically kill very quickly, so it’s possible for things to turn around on you very quickly if your mana denial plan doesn’t work out. Thankfully, Collected Company helps offer some staying power and can even generate a ton of value and threat immediately if you manage to hit Flickerwisps and Blade Splicers together.
Creatures (27)
- 3 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Tarmogoyf
- 3 Doran, the Siege Tower
- 3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Loxodon Smiter
- 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- 3 Anafenza, the Foremost
Lands (23)
Spells (10)
Yet another in the line of heavy-hitting Collected Company decks I’m interested in trying, this version eschews Knight of the Reliquary – a hard pill for me to swallow, but one that I can accept might be correct given the other options available. This deck has both Anafenza and Doran, which may not seem heavily disruptive at first, but each of them are great against the various power-boosting tools coming out of Affinity, which is one of the more popular aggro decks around. Anafenza prevents Arcbound Ravager from moving counters with Modular, since she exiles any creatures that go to the graveyard, and Doran’s ability makes Cranial Plating do absolutely nothing.
I’d likely be tempted to work some kind of discard into the sideboard, at least, since midrange creature decks tend not to be the best against combo, though Anafenza certainly also helps give the deck a lot of game against anything relying heavily on its graveyard. Still, a few Thoughtseizes can go a really long way – and I’m really not convinced that Eidolon of Rhetoric is really necessary in the current metagame. I’d also probably like to fit in a couple copies of Abrupt Decay, both to help shore up the Twin matchup and to give the deck some more tools to kill an early Delver.
What do you think? What kind of deck should I be focusing on with my GP Charlotte testing over the next week? Is Collected Company the place to be for the honest creature deck, or am I off track entirely?