Grands Prix are amazing tournaments. One might even say that they’re… Magical. GPs are the largest tournaments around, and like the Pro Tour, a Grand Prix isn’t just a tournament: it’s an experience. You get to play in potentially a two thousand person tournament, rubbing shoulders with the best the game has to offer. For others, there are dozens of public events, and the upcoming Grand Prix: Portland has almost a dozen artists! And after the tournament ends, there are dozens of team drafts and dinners and late nights of all kinds. You know it’s a good weekend when you have to turn down another draft because you need sleep… at two in the morning. A Grand Prix isn’t like a normal tournament, it’s much more. And as someone who has made just about every dumb mistake you can make at a GP, I’m trying to present a survival guide. For the most part, everything in here is also true of other major events like Nationals and the Pro Tour. Grands Prix are unique because the main event is open to everybody and they are the most common. If you’re trying out Magic at a high level for the first time, chances are it’s at a Grand Prix.
Proper Grand Prix preparation starts long before the event. Let’s face it: you’re not going to get much sleep at the event. If you read Grand Prix reports, a common factor emerges: people party a lot, and they don’t get much sleep. Especially when they sleep three and four to a room to save cash. Get a lot of sleep the week before. A few extra hours of testing will not make the difference, but if you catch up on your sleep ahead of time, you might just save yourself from a stupid mistake when it counts.
Do you want to play in a Grand Prix for free? It’s not that far-fetched. Every year Wizards creates a special GP foil for the players. This year, it’s Umezawa’s Jitte. It looks like this:
I’ve heard that dealers on-site are buying the Jittes for close to your entry fee. GP organizers often also give out special playmats for just that event. Want to jump to the front of the line? Pre-register. I’ve heard of tournaments running out of these freebies before all the players get theirs. First-come, first-served.
Grands Prix are large. Really large. In the past year or so, more than 1000 players has become closer to the norm in the Americas and Europe, rather than an exception. Tournaments are going to 15 and 16 rounds, with eight, nine, and even ten(!) rounds on Day 1. After Day 1 ends, the tournament cuts down to everyone X-2 or greater (or the Top 64/128 players depending on attendance). It may not seem like much thinking about it, but there’s a big difference between having to play nine and ten rounds, much less seven and ten. Any byes you can get, you should savor. That’s a free lunch break (or for Limited GPs, a chance to try out your deck with friends before the tournament starts)! Once you get byes, keep track of them. At the beginning of the tournament, when the seatings are posted, the judges will post a list of players and their byes. Check this list, and make sure everything is right. Especially if you win them at the last minute, they may not show up in the list, and it’s important to make sure you get what you earned.
So how do you get byes? The first way is rating. If your Total rating is 1850, 1950 or 2050, you can earn one, two, or three byes. Byes are calculated and “locked in” the Wednesday before the GP. In the weeks leading up to a GP, you should know where your rating is, and whether you can realistically hit the next plateau. If you check your Ratings History, you can get an idea of how many points you stand to win or lose playing in the events you normally play. If you need to play in extra events for that rating push, search out tournaments. And when you get close to your goal, protect it. Some people might tell you to stop playing when you hit your ratings target. I’m just advising you to not take silly risks. Two weeks before the GP when your rating is 2051 is probably the wrong time to try out an experimental new deck based around Hive Mind, Warp World, and Quest for Ula’s Temple!
A Grand Prix tournament isn’t just a two-day event: it’s three. The Friday before the Grand Prix is a non-stop flurry of single-elimination Grand Prix Trials, affectionately named “grinders,” the winners of which receive three byes in the main event. If you have zero, one, or two byes, you can win a Trial and upgrade to three total byes (you can’t get more than three byes). The best part is that byes are locked long before that Friday, so your existing byes aren’t in danger from losing. Even if you have three byes, you can still compete for prize and to test out your deck and the metagame. And the faster you get started, the better. If you keep winning, the grinders will last five rounds and at least five hours. You don’t want to get started at 11pm and play until 1 or 2am, only to turn around and fill out your decklist at 7am. Especially if you lose out in the last round.
Aside from byes, the big thing that makes modern Grands Prix different from a regular tournament is the split. In order to make them manageable, at the beginning of the tournament, the judges cut the tournament roughly in half into two smaller tournaments: blue and green. Then at the end of Saturday, all the X-2 players are joined together into one smaller tournament for Sunday. The two halves of the event are created randomly except for the number of players with byes; each half will have an equal number of players with one, two, and three byes. The good thing is that you’ll stay in the same half the whole time. Two tournaments means two sets of pairings, two sets of standings, and two sets of everything else (but one set of judges for the whole tournament). Once you get into Round 2 or 3, it won’t matter, but it’s important to pay attention to which tournament you’re in. At every Grand Prix, there are several players that can’t find themselves on the pairings board, and there’s a reason: they didn’t check both colors.
The main event of a Grand Prix lasts two days: Saturday and Sunday. If you’re X-2 or better, you’re in Day 2. If you make Day 2, ensure that you know what time to show up on Sunday before leaving. And be careful; I don’t think I’ve seen somebody oversleep Day 2 of a Grand Prix, but my second GP, Day 2 started on a Daylight Savings Day time change.
The most interesting thing to me about Grands Prix is that the Rules Enforcement Level jumps from Competitive to Professional between Day 1 and Day 2. For those of you lucky or good enough (the debate rages on!), Day 2 is serious business. You’re still playing the same game of Magic, but the standards for expected level of technical proficiency and clear communication rise. Battling for potentially thousands of dollars of cash and invitations to the next Pro Tour is not an appropriate time to try out the Jedi Mind Trick.
But maybe you don’t make Sunday; the vast majority of players get to sleep in. There are public events of all flavors and varieties available. The highlight for most players will be a Pro Tour Qualifier for the current PTQ season. The competition at the PTQ can be a bit intense. Most every player in the PTQ will be someone who missed Day 2 in the GP from the previous day. Not every “name player” makes Day 2 in the Grand Prix; you might get a chance to shuffle up for the PTQ in round 1 against somebody you watched in a Feature Match the day before.
At all these events, it’s important to be sure of yourself. Any time, but especially when you’re outside of your normal playgroup, it’s important to have confidence in yourself, your deck, and your grasp of the rules. I wish I could tell you that judges at a Grand Prix never mistakes, and we always get it right. But sometimes that isn’t true. And your opponents might not know the rules either. Not everyone with Pro Points can rattle off complex layers interactions. At my events, I like to tell this joke: “When you have problems at an event, please call a judge. Believe it or not, the person sitting across from you does not have your best interests at heart. As judges, we’re unbiased.” The point is that just because your opponent is a “name player” doesn’t mean they know how a complex interaction works. If you have an issue: call a judge. If you’re unsure of that judge’s ruling, appeal to the Head Judge. If you lose because you don’t call the judge and get the right answer, you’re going to be very angry with yourself for a long time, and you’ll probably tilt your way right out of the tournament. It’s more important to be sure of yourself at a GP than anywhere else. It’s a very competitive event, so can you have people trying all kinds of rules lawyer tricks and mind games. At the same time, it’s open to everyone. The person arguing very convincingly with you may not have played a sanctioned tournament before. At my first tournament back (a Last Chance Qualifier), I appealed to Head Judge Sheldon Menery, who had to come over and explain how trample worked. I’ve learned a thing or two since then.
That’s not all. If you’re interested in Legacy, Vintage, Booster Drafts, or even EDH, there is likely a public event that suits your fancy. Grand Prix organizers love putting on amazing tournaments with ridiculous side events, artist galleries, special guests, and more. There is a page on the Wizards of the Coast website for each upcoming Grand Prix, with a list of artists, public events and travel information.
Grands Prix are largest and most common Premiere Tournament run by Wizards of the Coast. You have the opportunity to play against the best, and meet personalities you’ve only read about online. I’ve been a judge for several years, and I still love going to Grands Prix and meeting folks I’ve only talked to online. I’ve written before that the thing I love most about this game is the community; I wouldn’t be flying to Portland for the Grand Prix to see my friends if it wasn’t. So if you see me at an event, please say hi! This weekend marks two big events in the United States: U.S. Nationals and a StarCityGames.com Open Weekend in Denver, Colorado. Unfortunately, I can’t make it to either of these weekends, but good luck to everyone who is going, and have fun. If you have any cool experiences or tips, please post them in the forums!