This weekend’s StarCitygames.com Open Series in Providence, Rhode Island is more than the beginning of Avacyn’s reign over the Standard format—it’s also the debut of our updated Open Series! We’ll be doling $10,000 in cash out to the top finishers of both the Standard and Legacy Opens, extending the payouts from first all the way down to 64th. That makes this weekend the first of many to be giving away $20,000 in prizes!
Of course, the primary excitement has centered upon Avacyn Restored, and why shouldn’t it? The set looks awesome, with a variety of powerful cards. Many players have written at length on the effects Cavern of Souls might have on Standard, but there are other picks like Griselbrand and Entreat the Angels to keep an eye out for. I’m personally wondering if miracle will have a big impact in Legacy, especially thanks to the power level of a few cards in conjunction with Brainstorm, but there’s even more room to explore.
Speaking of Avacyn Restored, we’re very aware that players on-site might not have access to all the singles from the new set that their Standard and Legacy strategies will require. We’ll be packing copies of every single card from Avacyn Restored into our show stock to have available on-site, from commons to mythic rares—but supplies are limited. To ensure you get your cards for the event, pre-order before Thursday at noon and select the Event Pickup option! We’ll bring your order with us to Providence and hand-deliver the cards to you at our sales booth.
This set has already sold out of some top-notch cards, like Temporal Mastery and Vexing Devil—make sure your selections are stocked or you could be out to dry!
Join us in Providence for a weekend of Magic as we give Avacyn Restored its first competitive test-drive before Pro Tour Avacyn Restored in Barcelona gives everyone a taste of the Block Constructed format’s final form. After that, it’s Legacy and Standard straight on ’til the Indianapolis Invitational! This weekend’s festivities, however, will occupy the Rhode Island Convention Center on One Sabin Street, in ballrooms A, D, and E.
We’ll have two alterists on-site at Open Series: Providence, and they’re both Open Series regulars. Mike Fairservice has traveled alongside the circuit time and again offering his take on 3-D cards, tokens, and especially double-faced cards. You can peruse his gallery here and contact him through his Facebook page for custom orders.
Lindsay Burley will be our other alterist on-site, also providing 3-D alters. She’s still operating her YouTube page and using [email protected] to offer commissions and custom work, but you can also view a gallery of her work on her brand new website! She’ll be blogging up a storm and displaying more of her alteration work on the Open Series, so be sure to check it frequently. Lindsay will also be teaming up with Ron to offer 3-D/painted alter arrangements that I’m sure will produce some very interesting additions to a number of collections!
If you can’t make it out to the event, then we hope you take the time to enjoy your local Avacyn Restored release—and also to view @SCGLive‘s coverage of our main event! Commentators Gerard Fabiano and Jake Van Lunen have both been known to put on quite the show; these two will be happily breaking down both Constructed formats over the airwaves. As they’re both brewers at heart, I expect we’ll hear a lot of ideas for new archetypes and updates to the ones we see on the screen from JVL and Gerard, making #SCGRI an excellent place to get a jump on the competition.
I’ll be home for a restful weekend of cubing and Avacyn Restored drafting, but Dane Young will supply you with plenty of deck techs and feature matches over the course of the weekend. Enjoy!
Event Coverage Coordinator