It's been about a year since StarCityGames.com fired off the resounding salvo in private tournaments with its 2010 Open Series, recently launched again for 2011. Multiple other stores have also increased their offerings for events as well. On the whole 2010 was one of the greatest years to be playing Magic and it was in no small part due to the retailers providing many more of these types of higher level events.

Being a displaced Pennsylvanian living in the greater DC metropolitan area, I look for any excuse to slide away from the dense population and traffic (despite always missing the amazing food). The culminating event of the 2010 Open Series was the Invitational – the right to have played for $10,000 through success at the preceding events through the year – which took place in Richmond, VA and just happens to be a stone's throw down I-95 from me.

Naturally I was game to going down there no matter what because big events are always a blast.

Today's article isn't going to be an epic tournament report because, if it isn't obvious at a glance, I just don't really do those things. What this is, however, is a series of events that characterize many of the big events I've attended. I want you, and everyone else for that matter, to know that these big shows have just as much for the little guy as the top stars.

Sometimes I being the think perhaps they offer even more (and then I reality check myself into the fact that I can't walk away up a few grand just by showing it. It doesn't work that way.)

At 4:30 in the morning on Saturday my alarm goes off. It's set that early because I ran out of time to get things ready the night before: the car needed gassed up, final packing needed to be done, and breakfast going into a long day was another good idea that dawned on me. Fortunately, after the requisite shave and shower I was able to actually complete everything right in time (Breakfast included!) for competitive local store fellow Nick to show up.

We were on the road at 6 AM and I must admit my pleasure in moving so smoothly. I knew I had everything. Total, savage awesomeness.

At approximately 7 AM I realize I left my camera at home and immediately feel intense disappointment at my impressive ability to continuously Forget that amazing tool. Being that this is a usual occurrence for me you'd think I would have developed countermeasures already.

Yep. Nope.

Around 8 AM there are probably hundreds of preteen cheerleaders rolling to the convention center for a competition. There was also a parade getting ready to roll through the main throughway of town (Broad Street) that the center was immediately adjacent to. We luck into nearly completely open parking on the second floor of the garage after discovering that it's nothing but turtles all the way up.

9:30 rolled around and the floor is a scramble of "Do you have obscure-card-that-is-obviously-the-nuts?" players trading like the world was ending. I had some very suggestive ideas why Cedric Phillips needed Demon of Death's Gate, as Eric Navarro had asked me for copies of Pawn of Ulamog and seemed to discuss a deck with Cedric (among others). I flag Cedric while he's asking for it and jog his memory about my coverage of one of his matches at US Nationals (Mighty Leap!). I happen to have one to trade, but Cedric assumes I'm just lending it.

Needless to say I knew when he asked me "What's your name again?" I knew I wasn't going to get the card back (and not that I was going to particularly need it either).

Ben Friedman, the winner that I documented in last week's coverage of a Thanksgiving Legacy event, stopped over and said hello – and asked for Luminarch Ascension. He said he was playing Kurt Spiess's Blue-White Proliferate deck, something that I had heard a few good things about.

I had heard a lot of good things about a lot of decks. It's so cheery when everyone is confident they have the right deck.

And as I was typing this up an announcement sounded over: "Star City Games needs Demon of Death's Gate."

That's one way to induce a few chuckles and a fair bit of scrambling through binders.

I glance around a little after 10 and jumped into the (at that moment) two-person queue for RK Post, artist and all-around friendly guy. As I have just seven cards to be signed I was thrilled at how quick this was going to be.

Fourty-five minutes later I passed off my seven cards to a really nice guy who had met me a few other events before, and reminded me just how truly terribad I am with remembering names. The person in front of me had laid out a playmat as well as at least three hundred cards (probably more) as she had five other people's worth of cards.

While I can't fault judges, those who can't travel, and those playing in events for asking friends to get cards signed I feel very strongly that there should be a reasonable limit to the amount one person can have done at once.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I wasn't the one bringing the goods for everyone else.

10:50 I slide into a chair across from gunslinger Mike Turian. He's a pretty awesome guy, often pointed to as one of the greatest players to ever grace the game. He's been working for Wizards for a while now and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

But since he's supremely awesome (despite the Steelers sweatshirt he would be wearing later that night (Spoiler: He drafted in the lobby of the hotel like everyone else.)) we ended up talking a little bit about GEICO and GEICO's marketing efforts since that's where I work and what I do.

Elspeth vs. Tezeret is the choice of Duel Decks by Mike and he snap called going with Elspeth because he "really likes that one." I hadn't had the chance to play the decks, though I vaguely Recall reading the deck lists once and promptly forgetting almost all the cards.

The game moved pretty smooth, my aggressive curve of Arcbound Worker into Steel Overseer into Master of Etherium met a much slower board development from Mike. If I had to guess, since I was either being polite or dumb enough not to ask, it looked as though he was a bit mana shy as it seemed like he was at three lands forever but quickly dropped a Seasoned Marshall when he found the fourth late into the game.

Through a combination of Steel Overseer, Serrated Biskelion, Contagion Clasp (to proliferate!), and even the namesake Tezeeret, the Seeker himself, I manage to whittle down and Remove all of his blockers before slamming home the kill.

While he gave me style points for the proliferate-based kill ("Using proliferate to Remove my blocker worked well.") he pointed out that all those gymnastics were unnecessary since I had him at two life, not the three I thought, and could have sacrificed my Moonglove Extract for the kill a turn sooner.

And this was after I had earlier tried to pitch only an Island to may for the alternate cost of Foil. "I don't remember it being that good." was how he put it when he gracefully pointed out my inability to actually play the spell. There's nothing like gross misplays yet still getting there against one of the best minds in Magic to leave an impression.

I would later pick up a tome to read to help address that issue.

At least I could give away my free Scars of Mirrodin booster pack (which finished a draft set for some other guys (Spoiler: Foreshadowing)) to help fight the wave of gut-wrenching self-disappointment. (Note: This may be a slight exaggeration. Mike is a super nice guy and later tweeted that he "met the writer for Serious Fun!" I'm still pretty sure that it's more awesome that I met him but an argument about the semantics of it is pretty silly.)

At 11:30 I sat down with a trio of newfound fun friends – whose names I promptly forgot (as usual, Sorry!) – and did a bit of trading and a lot of playing. Thanks to the miraculous invention of "the Stack" we played an awesome multiplayer game. Myr Battlesphere and Transcendent Master were bounced to and fro, graveyard and back, and shared greedily as we all took turns playing kingmaker and king.

Of course, by the time 1 PM rolled around we were filled to the brim with mana and shenanigans happened en masse: Wurmcalling, Rare-B-Gone, and Dominate all played in concert to let me narrowly take down the game. While there was only one winner everyone had smiles – and wanted to play even more.

1:30 PM brought me to catching up with the Yo! MTG Taps! guys, Joe and Joey. In my infinite wisdom, and with just a touch a guilt from Joe, I traded a bunch of Standard stuff I didn't need for his Survival of the Fittest. While a banning may be just around the corner I know that even if it gets the axe in Legacy (Which is not a guarantee, mind you!) I know it will be extremely useful in one of my way-too-numerous green-based Commander decks.

Pat Chapin strolled through, to which Joey didn't waste a minute in setting up some time to podcast, and we all shared our disappointment that he just missed winning an Invitational Grinder to get in. After briefly recapping his experience the trio (Yo! MTG Taps! and Mr. Chapin) went off to get the goods recorded. Those guys just never stop. (Except for scurrying home to watch the Raven fall to the Steelers. Being a Browns fan I kinda dislike both teams.)

After check in, charging electronics, and grabbing some food, it was 7:30 at night when I sat down with Bennie Smith and heard a very abridged version of his personal writing story. While I already knew most of it his version had a name-drop density that rivaled only Mike Flores's stories (which are, usually, good stories and great ideas anyway (and his arm wave Blessing to ‘Make fun of Mike.' did egg me on here)).

The two other guys he was playing Commander with were just as entertaining. Everyone was drawing from the top, though the blue deck had Compulsion of course, but it didn't take long for the combination of True Conviction and Sunforger from Bennie to rain down the pain.

If I could capture the essence of that Commander is all about I would bottle and distill those moments at the end of that game. Sometimes you just stumble right into awesomeness and sometimes it's a Sunforger equipped whatever swinging over with True Conviction.

Dreams happen.

10:30 I get invited to a Scars of Mirrodin draft. I'm promised a call in 10 minutes which should let me have enough time to get in my room.

10:35 I dropped off my bags.

11:00 As I waited in the lobby for a phone call to go draft, Mike Turian walked by and asked if I'm reading what he wrote about me on his Twitter account. I affirmed and immediately asked him what he drafted (since free advice from a Hall of Fame member employed in R&D should always be relevant and good). He smiled and said "Red White. I always draft Red White." and proceeded to fan a few cards.

"I love Memnite!" he exclaimed as he continued fanning through for his own sake, reviewing his picks. "Look, another one!" were his parting words as he flashed me the second.

So there you have it. The ultimate secret to SOM draft is Red-White with Memnite. (Pro Tip: If you are not a Hall of Fame and R&D member your millage may vary.)

11:15 You know what the worst thing about a draft is? When you don't get to draft. The guys I'm supposed to draft with roll back into the lobby, already having drafted. I'm promised a story the following day and knowing how cool these guys usually are I only nod appreciably.

Defeated, deflated, and brain dead I slip upstairs to Sleep.

And Then it Was Time For Richmond to Drown in The Sweet Sorrow

(That title has nothing to do with Richmond and everything to do how much I love Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.)

Since I'm already up to around two pictures worth of words I'll spare a rich accounting of Sunday. My point (big events have something for every player, even the most "casual of casuals") has been made. Here is a Cliff Notes level of highlights.

My rematch with Mike Turian was a devastating disaster. Turn four Order of Yawgmoth against my hand of "things my mana is awkward for" let me lead the Coalition to utter defeat. I'm pretty sure that the fact Mike equipped his epic level "Hall of Fame" ring had everything to do with this, and not the Lightning Greaves he played on turn two to equip the Order for which I had a removal spell I could have cast when he went for it after I played an unkicked dork.

And, for the record, he went 3-1 with his White-Red deck. He compared it to StarCraft and a Zergling rush: yes, your stuff is "better" but by the time it matters it's going to be too late for you anyway.

Have you ever had the sudden feeling that you had absolutely nothing useful to offer someone else? Perhaps you recognize an author whose works you adore. Perhaps it's a popular athlete just walking between places in the dim but buzzing night of the city. Whoever it is you want to share something but that want is far insufficient from it actually happening.

I must have been completely out of my mind when I tried to ask Pat Chapin a few questions. (And that isn't out of the question considering my spotty chain of sleeping over the previous two weeks.) It's not like they weren't questions, just that it took approximately ten seconds of exchange for me to put myself on tilt with the frank realization that the amount of Magic knowledge I have could be written on half a cocktail napkin (with room to spare in case you spill).

So, as usual, I punt any potential impression and end up garbling something about "where the game is going" that got him to articulate a full, reassuringly positive response. Tail firmly between the legs I, mercifully (but more so for who I'm still not exactly sure), thanked him for (probably completely wasting) his time.

Things are so much easier when I have what feels like infinite time behind the keyboard to think. Perhaps this tome I have now will help me see things differently because, really, that's all I'm trying to achieve: understanding more ways to look at Magic.

With Gerry Thompson taking the trophy I was on the road back home, still tilting but slowing coming back to level. It was an incredible weekend of gaming, discussions, and just about every type of trade interaction you could have imagined.

You don't have to come to game for events like these to be deeply meaningful and entirely unforgettable. It's up to you to search out the things you want.

I know I'll continue to find them where all the Magic happens.