After a two-week hiatus for Grand Prix Dallas and the United States National Qualifiers, the StarCityGames.com Open Series is back! We’ll be
trucking to Boston for another Open Weekend in the Northeast. The Grand Prix and those National Qualifiers have created quite the fallout for the
Standard format, with players arguing over the power of Standard’s premier planeswalker: Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Between #banjace and a number
of fine articles on various websites, I think the matter has been addressed enough—it’s a Mind Sculptor’s world, and we’re all
just playing in it.
Caw-Blade should continue its dominance this weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing Gerry Thompson ascend to Level 8. He’s only two
points shy, a lock unless he gets hit by a car while walking over for Legacy after busting on Saturday. Alex Bertoncini can also accomplish this feat
with a win in either format, and after his Top 8 exit at Grand Prix Dallas, I’m expecting to see him fiery for a win.
The story of Legacy continues to be combo decks, with High Tide rocketing to the top of many players’ lists—including our own Drew Levin in
a recent article.
The scarcity of Candelabra of Tawnos and the shifty nature of the metagame mean we probably won’t remain scared of Time Spiral for much longer,
but anyone heading into Boston without a plan for the matchup will need to dodge some Hatfields in order to claim victory. Given their twin undefeated
streaks in Atlanta, I’d say you’ve got your work cut out for you!
I’m expecting players to help us outdo the Edison Open this weekend, helping us throw an even bigger and better event than we did just two months
ago. We want to make sure that the Boston Open is special for you guys, too. To that end, we’re offering a lot more than just the main event.
After seeing what a big hit alters and artists were at the Atlanta Open, we’ve opened our events to anyone interested in setting up a table at
the event. This weekend, Lindsay Burley and Hannah Murray will both be on-site altering cards at their own tables. Lindsay’s 3-D cards were
heavily featured in the Atlanta coverage, and if you already know what you’d like her to create for you, drop her a line at[email protected]. To see her creative process in action, check out her YouTube channel. For a preview of Hannah’s talents with art modification,
I’d encourage you to visit her new blog at www.hannahalters.com or email her at [email protected]. Both of these ladies will be filling requests all weekend long at their booths,
whether you want to pimp out your cube, Commander deck, or just get some sweet, matching Squadron Hawks.
If you’re a card alter hobbyist interested in setting up shop at one of our events, we’d love to have you as well. Contact [email protected] with any questions. Hopefully you’ll have some gnarly
pieces for my Glissa, the Traitor deck!
In addition to our alteration stations, we’ll have two of Magic’s own artists on-site. Mark Hyzer and Eric Deschamps will both be at the
Boston Open, signing cards and selling prints and originals. Mark has illustrated M11’s Juggernaut and the FNM promo Murderous Redcap, among
others; check out all of his art at http://www.spiteless.com/mark.html. Eric’s pieces include
some of the most popular cards from recent blocks: Plated Geopede, Celestial Colonnade, and Stirring Wildwood are all seeing plenty of play in
Standard, and he also painted Scars of Mirrodin’s Venser, the Sojourner, in addition to the Crusader twins from Mirrodin Besieged. If
you’re interested in Magic artwork or learning more about what goes into being a Magic illustrator, I’d encourage you to ask them—of
course, they’ll be happy to sign your cards, too.
If you’re a Magic: The Gathering artist interested in setting up at one of our shows, we’d love to have you. Contact [email protected] to discuss which events you’re open to attending.
We’re also offering additional vendor slots at Open Series events. Boston will feature four different booths for buying and selling cards,
guaranteeing that whatever you need will be in stock somewhere. Our own StarCityGames.com booth will be flanked by Face-to-Face Games, Cool Stuff Inc.,
and the good people of Troll and Toad. If you’d like to make sure your cards are on-site, then have no fear—orders placed on
StarCityGames.com in advance will be filled with free shipping by our sales staff. Place an order on the website and check the Event Pickup option in
shipping before noon EST on Thursday, April 21st, and we’ll be happy to pack your order alongside our own luggage and bring it to the event for
you. Drop by the booth on Saturday morning, and your cards will be ready to go.
StarCityGames.com is happy to offer a new option to players fortunate enough to cash one of our main events. All prizes may now be taken in store
credit with an additional 25% in value added on. That means your $100 prize for Top 16 is $125 in our store. You can use it at the booth or have the
credit added onto your online account for shopping at home. Any Standard players looking to make a foray into Legacy would be wise to take advantage of
this option if they can post a couple strong finishes in the Standard portion.
If Legacy isn’t your thing, then our Sunday Draft Opens should be right up your alley. At every Open Series event, Sunday features two Draft
Opens for players on a first-come, first-serve basis at 9 am and 2 pm. Sixty-four players battle it out over the course of two booster drafts in the
MSS format, with the winner taking home a $500 prize. Second is awarded $200, with $100 to Top 4, and $50 to the remaining members of the Top 8.
That’s right—a simple 3-0 locks up $50, and doing it twice multiplies your winnings tenfold. If you compare that to the pair of MTGO 8-4s
you’re about to fire up as you read this, it should be obvious why these Draft Opens are a great value.
Draft Opens tend to primarily feature regional competition, as most of the StarCityGames.com grinders are playing Legacy. That means the competition is
usually softer by comparison, but guess what? Draft Opens award points in our Player’s Club as well. Top 8 locks a single point, but the winner
earns ten. If you need to scratch out just a few more for your next level, then taking your shot at a Draft Open could very easily be a better value.
Gerry Thompson actually chose to draft in Atlanta on Sunday rather than play in the Legacy Open, and the guy had a blast.
Plus, he played the one in the afternoon and slept in a bit.
These events will start getting a lot more popular once New Phyrexia releases, so now’s the time to get your feet wet and crack some packs. No
one’s won a Standard Open and a Draft Open in the same weekend, but I know I’d like to see them try!
The Boston Open Series promises to be one of our best events yet, so I hope to see you there. If you can’t make it to the event, then have no
fear—SCGLive will be covering the entire weekend over our broadcast and Twitter feed, in addition to featuring my own written content. All the
basic information is available on our event’s Facebook page, and you can
follow the fun on Twitter by following @SCGLive and tuning into #SCGBOS.
The StarCityGames.com Open Series has already grown significantly over the course of the year, and 2011 isn’t even halfway finished. Enjoy the
ride—I know I will!
–Glenn Jones
Coverage Content Manager
@SecludedGlenn