A Nerd's Word

GP Providence 2018


Hi again everyone! Today, I'll be talking about Grand Prix Providence, another major magic event I participated in over the weekend.

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GP Providence is similar to SCG Worcester, which I talked about a while back, but this time around, the main event was standard. I don't play standard, so I decided to go do side events instead. Several of my friends were going to do the main event, and one of them was giving me a ride to and from the event, so I figured I'd use the opportunity to go and visit some people I hadn't seen in a while.

On a side note, I accepted a job offer a couple of weeks ago, and I will be starting work as a software engineer on September 4th! I'm really excited to start my career, and I figured I should take the time to visit with friends who live further away before I get swamped with work.

Anyway, the event was a great experience. I did two draft events Friday night, and then played in a commander event on Saturday. Each event comes with a promo land and tix you can spend on things in the prize wall, depending on how you do in the event (for reference, 10 tix equals one $4 standard pack). I was planning on doing another event after that one, but the last round of commander went to time (it was a three way tie, so we all split an extra 60 tix!).

After the commander event, I grabbed a delicious lunch at Angelo's Civita Farnese (shoutout to one of the owners, Jamie, who chatted with me while I waited for my custom-order pizza). I'd definitely recommend the place for a good, quick bite to eat nearby the convention center.

One of my friends who I hadn't seen in a long time ended up attending the event unexpectedly (she moved away a few years ago, so it was great to see her there), so after lunch we ended up playing a bunch of magic together since we were both done with events. We played a bit of modern, and then played pack wars with the prize packs I got from my tix. For reference, pack wars is essentially a quick, rather silly format, where your deck consists of only the cards in a single pack and you have access to unlimited mana.

Another good note about the event: I ended up trading a bunch of bulk in my binder for the last roughly $70 of my legacy deck, so it's official: I now own 100% of R/B Reanimator!

Anyway, I had a blast at the event, and while none of my friends made day two of the main event, it was awesome hanging out with them and playing some good old-fashioned magic.

See you next time!

-- Bradley