On April 6, 2019, New England Old School and Diamonds Mined co-hosted a multi-event Old School Magic “festival” in Greater Hartford, at Elks Lodge #1893 in Manchester, CT. Enthusiasts of antique cardboard traveled from eight states in the Northeastern U.S. to participate, along with mages hailing from Maryland, Ohio, Wyoming, and Serbia/parts unknown, who journeyed from even further afield.

48 players participated in the Old School 93/94 “main event,” which was abbreviated to four rounds of Swiss pairings to leave more room for activities. Decks were constructed using the Atlantic 93/94 B&R list. After these opening rounds, the action shifted to four different “breakout” side events, in which players could choose their own adventure: Old School Brawl, the Wizard’s Tournament format aka Alpha 40, Premodern, or an Old School draft featuring 4th Edition, Chronicles, and Fallen Empires.

INSPIRATION

This event was a Magic tournament named after a Magic tournament named after a music festival named after a small town in Sweden. “Hartfordfestivalen!” is a nod to the Arvika “Festival” Old School Magic tournament, held annually in Arvika, Sweden since 2015. That Old School gathering originally took its theme from Arvikafestivalen, a music festival that in its heyday brought the likes of Nine Inch Nails, New Order, The Cure, Motörhead, and Tool to a village of about 14,000 people in the Swedish countryside.

Our “mascot” card for the event was Deathgrip, with its shriveling heart in the clutches of a black mage, as a cheeky reference to an old nickname for Hartford, “the Heartbeat” of Connecticut. The artist behind Deathgrip, Anson Maddocks, was kind enough to produce a commissioned painting on the back of a Deathgrip artist proof; this re-imagining of Deathgrip was given out as a prize for the top combined finish through both the main and side events.

The “festival” format for the event was conceived as a celebration of various sub-formats that have been gaining traction among Old School playgroups in our neck of the woods. Even though Old School has a static pool of only 981 cards, the number of ways to play with these cards is practically limitless, and this past year especially has seen a proliferation of Old School Magic variants, not merely invented on paper but actually played and enjoyed in dining rooms and brew halls and game stores and Skype sessions alike. Our aim for this event was to have a platform to slightly “scale up” the experience of New England Old School’s smaller, more informal meet-ups in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, where players regularly bring their 93/94 decks but also bring Brawl or unsleeved ante or Ice Age 60 or Beasts Singleton or Premodern/Middle School or even just a small stack of their “Deckmaster cards” from August ’93. Our hope was that this tournament structure would also contribute to a more laid back feeling, with the shortened “main event” not even having a clear winner, discouraging spiking to some extent and providing seven-plus hours of “just playing some cards” with old friends, and hopefully some new friends, too.

CHARITY SUPPORT

This event was organized as a fundraiser for Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford. As the premier youth development organization in Hartford, BGC Hartford touches the lives of nearly one in every three children in Hartford Public Schools, serving more than 10,000 youth annually through programs focused on academic enrichment, character and leadership development, and healthy lifestyles.

All proceeds from Hartfordfestivalen! ticket sales after expenses were donated directly to BGC Hartford. We also conducted a raffle of unique Old School items which were donated by some of the players, including a Mox Jester playmat signed by Dan Frazier, 90s-era Duelist magazines, a Homelands comic book, a Collector’s Edition box, and a unique hand-painted border extension alter of Nicol Bolas, with 100% of the raffle ticket sales going directly to the charity as well.

All told, the players at Hartfordfestivalen! raised a total of more than $942 in support for Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford. The generosity and kindness shown by the Old School Magic community continues to impress and inspire, and we’re happy to continue in the tradition of charitable activity fostered by our fellow playgroups across the United States. On behalf of BGC Hartford and the youth and families they serve, and from all of us at New England Old School, thank you!

PODCASTS / WRITTEN COVERAGE

First! Underworld Dreaming to a Win in Hartford, blog by James Rosenblum

Tournament Report: Hartfordfestivalen 2019, blog by Andrew Oliva / Ready to Role

All Tings Considered, Episode 58, podcast interview

PHOTO GALLERY

Note the stamp job. The Draft side event, organized by Chris Mason. The Draft side event. The Brawl side event, organized by Jason Dorman. BGS 9 Unlimited Clone and Nether Shadow were both liberated and added to the prize pool. The Sisters of the Flame! Who’s afraid of Leeches? 90s-era sustenance. Cracking a box of Fallen Empires. Mox flush. The bitter end of the Draft event, Thallids gumming up the landscape. Hunter’s A40 doing degenerate things. James Rosenblum took home the Deathgrip AP with the best combined record on the day, X-0 in matches through two events and a slightly better GWP than Brian Selden, who also went X-0! Part of AMW’s Premodern list. Luke’s draft deck. Robin explained to me that this is a boring board state, but I don’t know what Premodern cards are. The draft kit.

MAIN EVENT STANDINGS and SIDE EVENT TOP FINISHERS

Alpha 40 Runner Up: Hart Prendergast — Many, Many Sinkholes

Alpha 40 Champion: Hunter Prendergast — The Vise

Premodern Runner Up: Jared Doucette — Goblins

Premodern Champion: John Grudzina — UW Landstill

Brawl Runner Up: James Rosenblum — Sol’Kanar

Brawl Champion: Michael Scheffenacker — Rubinia

Draft Runner Up: Brian Selden (3-0, pod winner, 6-2 in games)

Draft Winner: Ted Kwartler (3-0, pod winner, 6-1 in games)

Best Unpowered: Andrew Oliva — Erhnam Burn’Em

SPICE AWARDS

Keith Shaffer — “Howling Salve”

Adam Merkado — “Ice Ice Maybe”

Scott Bradley — “Nether Void Something”

Levi Baumgardner — Tax + Tower + Djinns

Matt Mucci — Diabolic Machine Tron

Andy Baquero — “Living Cyclone”

Shaun Augeri — Hell’s Caretaker Control (What is Dead May Never Die)

ALL DECK PHOTOS: 93/94

(alphabetical order by first name)

Al Iemma – BW Dreams

Andrew Oliva — Erhnam Burn’Em

Brett Attmore — Grixis Workshops

Brian Selden — BR Hymn Troll Disco

Chris Mason — Twiddlevault

Chris McCubbin — “Sped Funhouse” aka Temple of Sped

Chuck Lignelli — “Nobody Wins”

Dave Firth Bard — Zelyon Mono-Green Weenie

David Baker — “5C Control” aka The Deck

Hart Prendergast — Jund Void Ponza

Hunter Prendergast — UR Counterburn

James Lebak — URw Falcon Counterburn

James Rosenblum — Underworld Dreams Combo

Jared Doucette — “Fangel’s Omelette” aka Jund Reincarnation

Jason Dorman — “Esper Gasoline” aka Deadguy Ale

Jason Morawski — Artifact Aggro

Jason Schwartz — “Bruise Bots” aka Ub Workshops

Jason Seaman — Grixis Disco

Jeff Grasso — “TrolLDiscard” aka BR Hymn Troll Disco

Jeff Johnson — Black Rack

John Bocon — Underworld Dreams Combo

John Grudzina — UW Workshops

Josh Langdon — Temple of Sped

Justin Dale — White Weenie

Justin Iskra — “Temple of Doom” aka Esper Flyers

Luke Zinnen — Twiddlevault

Manny Moutinho — Black Rack

Marc Flore — “Wild Angels” (Honorary Retroactive Spice Award)

Matt Asente — Revised Mono-Black

Michael Scheffenacker — Temple of Sped

Mike Frantz — BRW Nether Void Ponza

Nathaniel Houle — Esper Control

Nils Erickson — “4C Troll Catalina Mixer”

Paul DeSilva — “5C Goodstuff”

Paul Kovalov — Power Monolith

Phil Pellerzi — RG Ponza

Robin Lundh — “Not Very Arabian Aggro”

Seth Roncoroni — Temple of Sped

Ted Kwartler — “Salt and Pepper” aka WB Midrange

Tim Moran — Temple of Sped

Travis Turner — Pink Weenie

DECK PHOTOS: ALPHA 40

Dave Firth Bard — RG Berserk

Jason Schwartz — “Copy My Juggernaut”

Jeff Grasso — BR

Nils Erickson — “Alpha 41”

Tim Moran — RG

DECK PHOTOS: BRAWL

Andrew Oliva — Rubinia

Brett Attmore — Sol’Kanar

Chuck Lignelli — UB Bolas

James Rosenblum — Sol’Kanar

Jason Dorman — Chromium

Justin Iskra — Blackblade

Michael Scheffenacker — Rubinia

Shaun Augeri — “Craster’s Keep” aka Uncle Istvan

DECK PHOTOS: PREMODERN

Adam Merkado — PandeStifleNaughtBurst

Jared Doucette — Goblins

Jason Morawski — Tinker

John Grudzina — UW Standstill

Justin Dale — CounterRebels

Matt Mucci — Kill

Robin Lundh — The Rock

DECK PHOTOS: DRAFT

(Feel free to send yours in if you took a photo of your finished draft deck!)

Chris Mason — RG

James Lebak — Bant

Luke Zinnen — “To Do: Cut Lands, Add Spells”

Mike Frantz: “Ahhhh! The smell of new Magic cards!” (Before)

Mike Frantz — Goblins (After)