Ahh!!! Finally home. I just got back from San Juan, Puerto Rico and I must say that I'm beat. For those of you magic players who didn't know, there was a Pro Tour going on last weekend! FYI I wasn't going to San Juan with an invite to the Pro Tour, I was going to try and win the LCQ but more-so support my boy Travis and Araz as they were going to organize an assault on the world's best. My buddies Leo and Pat who round out the Tallahassee Quartet were also going to join me on the support team in San Juan.

My trip to San Juan started on Wednesday. On the airplane, everyone seems to want to speak over everyone else on the plane. Louder and louder! Ordinarily, I would find this to be a bit amusing as I would be able to easedrop on people's conversation and turn things into a reality show inside my head. However, the people sitting right next to each other yelling in spanish made things a bit hard to imagine. When we did finally land in Puerto Rico, EVERYONE but me begins to applaud and in one great outcry, scream "PUERTO RICO!!!" While very amusing, this would soon become the most annoying thing later in the trip.

When I finally get to the house, we go out to grab a bite to eat and come back to build Standard decks for the LCQ the next day. After testing all night (I go to bed at 2:30 am) I decide to run an Esper deck with Planeswalkers. Here's the list:

[cardlist]4 Wall of Omens

4 Spreading Seas

4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

3 Gideon Jura

2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

2 Deprive

4 Path to Exile

3 Oblivion Ring

1 Mindspring

1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

3 Day of Judgment

1 Martial Coup

3 Sea Gate Oracle

4 Celestial Colonnade

2 Tectonic Edge

4 Marsh Flats

5 Island

1 Swamp

4 Plains

3 Creeping Tar Pit

3 Sejiri Refuge[/cardlist]

Round One of the LCQ, I'm playing a virtual mirror match. My opponent and I have no cards in hand. We both have Spreading Seas on each other's Colonnades. I'm currently at 4 life, I have Jace in play and a Gideon who just attacked last turn, my opponent is at 7 life. On his turn, he draws and plays a Tectonic Edge. On my turn, I draw a Mind Spring! With 9 available mana, I can Mind Spring for 7 and refill my hand, but because I'm so good I decide to leave 1 Island and 1 Creeping Tar Pit open in the chance that I draw a Deprive.

Well, as luck would have it, I draw my five cards and one is in fact a Deprive. In my head, I have the game sealed. There's nothing he can draw that can prevent me from winning this round. On his turn, he draws and activates his Tectonic Edge targeting my Tar Pit and my heart drops into my stomach. I lose control of all thought and begin to think of what he could draw to beat me while I send my land into my graveyard. He plays an Oblivion Ring on my Spreading Seas and attacked me with his newly freed Colonnade :(

At this point, I realize that had I tapped my Tar Pit for a Blue Mana, I would've been able to counter his ring.

#1 Always have a plan and ALWAYS have a back up plan.

I lost control of myself, due to hunger, fatigue or just plain stupidity. I planned correctly by only drawing 5 instead of 7, but I didn't anticipate the things that could happen based on board position and what could change that. When an opponent makes a play, take a breath, take the time to review the options.

On a side note, throughout the entire weekend, random magic sheep were yelling "PUERTO RICO!!!" for amusement. While I'm not too familiar as to why this was a popular action amongst the geeks, I found it to be annoying and really seemed to show magic in it's true form. Cliquish behavior and immaturity rule. For example, during Paul Vitor Damo Da Rosa's championship interview a group of gamers walked by the area and yelled the call of the GEEK in an attempt to overshadow PVD's accomplishment. Amongst the sheep who wreak of body odor, ridiculous hair and bad complexion roams people who can add 'ignorant' to their list of shortcomings.

Moving on after my loss, the guys come by to tell me that the Magic Online Draft Challenge doesn't have the maximum number of participants and there's guaranteed invitation to the tournament. So, I figured I'd take my 0-1 out of the 9 rounds of swiss tourney and try my luck at the MTGO Draft Challenge, which I win my first pod getting me into the Semis.

When we were finished gaming on Thursday, we decided to go grab something to eat before we hit home. Unfortunately, Travis only eats non-ethnic foods from places he recognizes. So, we hit a KFC. On the way into the restaurant, there was a beggar (which there were an abundance of in Puerto Rico) who was asking for food. I didn't pay him any attention, as I get approached by them regularly in all countries. When I get my order, I notice Leo taking his order and going to give it to the guy outside!!! Now, I've given a dollar or two to random beggar or vagabond here and there. However, Leo is unique in that he was visiting Puerto Rico as a friend and as a guy who wanted to support his friends. He certainly isn't rolling in the dough by any means and is in fact (like many of us) struggling to make ends meet, he's not the most competitive player on the Magic scene either.

So, it shocked me that he'd give an entire KFC value meal to the guy. I asked him about the situation and he told me that he felt the guy was sincere in his need because he was asking for food and NOT money. Leo also rented a car for the entire stay in PR, and when he picked us up from the airport he dropped us off to the house individually so we could get acclimated to the house and our rooms instead of waiting the hour or two for another arrival. I'm not a big believer in Karma, but if I were I'd say that LEO deserves a TON of good karma.

#2 Learn from everyone! While you may think you're the best, kindest, nicest, smartest person in the world you can LEARN something from everyone.

When we got to the house, we started testing block intensely. Travis really thinks Vampires is the best deck in the format. While it was common knowledge that some form of U/W and G or G/W ramp would be popular I found it strange that neither Travis or Araz picked either archetype up. Though Araz dabbled a bit into the ramp deck with a little bit of success, Travis seemed to handle most decks with his bloodsuckers quite handily which seemed to convince Araz that Vampires should be the call. Before I went to bed, I stated that I feel some decks are good because of the pilot EVEN when they're clearly NOT the overall best deck in the format a good pilot can maneuver a victory. Araz decided to go with Green/White ramp and went 5-0 in Standard Day 1. For his first pro tour, Araz finished 74th which is fantastic. Congrats Araz!!!

#3 Magic has a lot to do with information or misinformation. Don't be too proud to take someones advice and don't be too gullible to believe the hype. Some articles/website promote cards to sell them to you. Some promote decks to weaken/misinform you. There are quite a few sources who feature players only because they're friends/associates NOT because they've really contributed/conquered that much.

My buddy Patrick/Pat (hehe) didn't win any of the events he was in this weekend. However, he scored cash and prizes in several events because he put himself into positions where he negotiated a split. He's a very solid player and always seemed to win enough to get $100 here, 3 dual lands here, 9 packs there. He was in a Legacy tourney beating people down easily, he met up with a friend whom he dropped the match to, hopefully getting them both into the top 4 (Pat was undefeated at the time). Unfortunately, he was dropped to 5th place. He still ended up with prize because he hedged himself. While I don't condone bribes or buyouts, I do believe in splits or even some forms of collusion. Back when we could play in PTQs when we were already qualified, I made top 8 of several ptqs giving up my match for negotiated returns. This was a great thing when you were in top 8 with friends or team members. This is what Pat played in Legacy:

[cardlist]1 Blazing Archon

2 Inkwell Leviathan

2 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

1 Terastodon

4 Brainstorm

4 Careful Study

1 Coffin Purge

4 Daze

1 Echoing Truth

4 Entomb

4 Exhume

4 Force of Will

4 Mystical Tutor

4 Reanimate

2 Thoughtseize

1 Island

3 Misty Rainforest

4 Polluted Delta

2 Swamp

4 Underground Sea

3 Verdant Catacombs[/cardlist]

Legacy decks can be pretty expensive to build. However, many of the recent decks have been won by simple and inexpensive Goblin decks or Zoo/Boros builds. In any case, any return on an investment is better than nothing at all.

#4 Pride might make you a winner, but pride can also prevent you from winnings.

I won an iPod touch from the 2HG event. Pat won several prizes through his extortion tactics in several events (J/K). Travis got his share of Subway. Araz met some great people and performed amazingly well in his first pro tour and Leo seemed to have a great time with the artists. While none of us claimed a trophy or a substantial victory, we did have a good time checking out the sites of San Juan. Playing at the various casinos was an experience! (I sure hope none of the casinos here provide gaming floor mariachi entertainment any time soon.) While I never have the desire to return to Puerto Rico, I did have fun with the Tallahassee guys.

#5 Have Fun!!!

Thanks for reading!