Breakfast of champions. Rakdos champions.

For the first time in almost a year, it was time for some toddler-free, purely indulgent, out-of-town, adult fun. And by “adult,” I mean Magic, of course.

Under the pretense of working a card-alterist gig (okay, I did actually do some work), I convinced my mom to agree to an overnight babysitting stint. My son wasn’t sorry to see me go. Various disruptions to the usual babysitting schedule meant he and I’d been together 24/7 for the past two weeks, and even the resilient bromance of the Megaman series had suffered, and X and Zero needed to spend some time apart (I’m Zero). I dropped my son off at my mom’s at 4:45 A.M. on Saturday, and he ran into grandma’s arms without as much as a backward glance. See you Sunday, X. You break my heart. Love, Zero.

Dude, where’s my Sigma virus? Scene from Megaman X6.

Freedom, freedom, freedommmmmm! I zipped back to our house in the dark, eager to take a nip from my flask and load up the rest of our gear and @Hackworth. I hadn’t run an alter booth for a long time, so the prospect of working a Journey into Nyx Pro Tour Qualifier was really exciting. When Dan Tharp of Card Kingdom contacted me about the gig in late January, I’d just come off a really writing-heavy year working on producing Bennie Smith’s The Complete Commander eBook. The excuse to pick up a brush for a bit was timely.

Sleeving up an altered Brainstorm

With the awesome @JhoiraArtificer and @nex3 having offered us Seattle accommodations, and the fabulous @cutandspear taking a night off from the bar to assist me at the booth, I felt buoyed by team power (SABER-TOOTH TIGER!) and ready to rock.

Hope you enjoy my photo diary of the weekend’s prep and shenanigans. So you wanna play with Magic? . . . 

3:00 A.M. – Time to look decent for the first time in a month. Shirt by Inkwell Looter. Styling by Fblthp.

Getting the booth gear packed up. Engraved flask art by rk post.

7:30 A.M. – Erin opens her Magic swag bag, a thank-you for coming out with me for the weekend.

Le contents of Erin’s gift: B/R vampires. Bourbon not included because I already consumed it.

9:30 A.M. – Seattle, we are in you.

Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center

Oh look, it’s an empty women’s bathroom. Saw two women playing in the PTQ or in side events—including Thea Steele—and perhaps ten overall over the course of the day . . . counting us.

Anson Maddocks was a last-minute cancelation, and rk post was out of the country, so I got all the artist area to myself.

10 A.M. – Getting shib ready to rock.

Erin adjusts the stock alter display.

All the pretty things. Both Brainstorm sets sold to really enthusiastic buyers—I hope to see some Legacy play. Re-homing alters to awesome people is the best feeling.

Werk.

Fisher Pavilion turned out to be a really welcoming, nicely-lit space.

Dan Tharp of Card Kingdom stops by to say “hi.” He was a great host, and I really enjoyed working with Card Kingdom for the event.

Erin and I decide to take a break and bash some vamps and snake people together.

This shows me realizing there are too many damn creatures in this matchup and that I have no idea how things work in some of the interactions. Erin is just getting into Magic, so I want to explain things correctly. Gah! Serious business.

Screw this.

A stalled, bloody, and scaly board state drives Erin and me to drink . . . 

 . . . and eat. Super-fresh Kumamotos ftw.

So, next, our wonderful hosts and friends Liz and Nathan took us to their favorite neighborhood restaurant The Burgundian. Unfortunately I have no photos of this—I was too busy stuffing my face with 14 ounces of rib-eye and swilling $8 Rowan’s Creek bourbon (at the last place where I worked, we sold this stellar whiskey for $14/pour). Erin had the lamb burger, and Elliot had the pork belly Cuban. Two words: curry ketchup. Delightful. We also partook of several beers and some Blanton’s single barrel before heading back to Liz and Nathan’s place to, you know, discuss whether Jhoira should really have ended up with Jodah (Liz: Yes. MJ: No.) and copiously taste through some scotch that included Ardbeg Uigeadail and Laphroaig Cairdeas. I also ogled some art, one piece of which is of particular interest to my old boss . . . 

Hi, Trick Jarrett! Look, I found Kiki!

The morning after. Left: my nemesis Gavony Township (ha, take this Ensnaring Bridge to your face!). Right: Rubinia Soulsinger cosplay materials (meet up with us at Grand Prix Portland to see more!).

This was an amazing weekend. We really don’t get out much anymore, as you might have gathered, since becoming parents. So, times like this that involve Magic, good food and drink, and great friends are that much more special to the hubbs and me.

Thank you, fellow Planeswalkers; thank you Seattle.

Till next time, may Magic be your Mastodon, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Saber-Tooth Tiger, and Tyrannosaurus.

-MJ

@moxymtg

moxymtg.com