The first annual Old School Player’s Ball has finished, and was an incredible day for the community. With road warriors hailing from California to Texas to Wisconsin to Tennessee to Maine, and everywhere in between, 58 ballers showed up to battle. This will probably go down as the third largest Old School 93-94 event in 2017, and we were filled to our capped registration limit immediately, even after expanding from 48 to 58 seats.



The Player’s Ball was held at Revolution Brewery Taproom, in Chicago (Illinois, USA), and was organized by Bob Agra and Chicago’s native crew, the Lords of the Pit. Eternal Central helped promote and support these efforts, and the tournament was able to raise nearly $1000 for charity (going to the Chicago Public Library Foundation, in this case). This was the first Player’s Ball held, and the plan is for the Player’s Ball to become an annual event each August in the summer, part way between NoobCon and Eternal Weekend’s Old School events.

The tournament was run with timed 50 minute Swiss rounds, plus a Top 8 playoff, using Eternal Central’s recommended Old School 93-94 rules, with no draws allowed (and Sudden Death Chaos Orb flipping if any matches went to time). The point of Old School is to play Old School, meet new friends, and catch up with old ones. Here are some of the prizes given out to all players:

While there were a few copies of UR Control and other UWx Control variants present, there were notably zero copies of The Deck, as people took the time to design things that were far more interesting or fun, as you’ll no doubt discover in the deck pictures section below. There is everything from Eureka to Diamond Valley to Titania’s Song to Living Plane Control to very aggressive Zoo decks. The field was fairly creature-heavy and aggressive overall, with lots of interactivity in games.

Final Standings After Swiss

Final standings after Swiss rounds at #OldSchoolPlayersBall today. Top 8 playoff about to start! pic.twitter.com/HKNLLvKjVK — Eternal Central (@EternalCentral) August 27, 2017

Top 8 Playoff

Quarterfinals

1 Matt S (RUG Tempo) vs. 8 Jimmy McCarthy (Green White Workshop Aggro) – Matt wins

2 Chris Bergeson (3C Goblins) vs. 7 Steve McGrew (Bant) – Steve wins

3 Jaco (Naya Bazaar Zoo) vs. 6 Jason Happel (UR Control) – Jaco wins

4 Nathan Mullen (Naya Bazaar Zoo) vs. 5 Robert Westergaard (White Weenie) – Nathan wins

Semifinals

1 Matt S (RUG Tempo) vs. 4 Nathan Mullen (Naya Bazaar Zoo) – Matt wins

3 Jaco (Naya Bazaar Zoo) vs. 7 Steve McGrew (Bant) – Steve wins

Finals

1 Matt S (RUG Tempo) vs. 7 Steve McGrew (Bant) – Steve wins

All Decks, Alphabetically, by Last Name

Bob Agra – Mono Brown UrzaTron



Joe Alane – Naya ChannelBall



Chris Bergeson – 3C Goblins



Brendon Bowersox – Mono Black



Zach Bowersox – White Weenie



Andrew Bowman – 5C Titania’s Song



Mike Butzen – Esper Workshop Aggro



Grant Castleton – Green White Geddon



Curt Christian – Crimson Disco



James Cooney – Mono Blue Merfolk



Matthew Deering – Esper Skies



Dominic Dotterrer – Arabian Esper Aggro



Lorian Elleman – UR Control



Tyler Etters – Red White



Paul Fiero – Blue Green Living Plane Control



Danny Friedman – Nether Void Control



Charlie Hahn – 4C Gasoline



Matt Hahn – Mono Blue Tempo



Jason Happel – UR Control



Amanda Hilton – Mono Black Discard



Michael Hilton – White Weenie



Trevon Hilton – Mono Black



Daniel Humphreys – White Weenie



Jaco – Naya Bazaar Zoo



Ryan Jean – Black Red White



Jay Krusac – Bant



Andrea Longhi – Red Green Aggro



Ron Longhi – Mono Black



Mike Lupo – Cyclopean Lich



Peter Lupo – Mono Black



Stephen Maldonado – Bant



Robert Matthews – White Weenie



Ray Mattson – Eureka Reanimator



Jimmy McCarthy – Green White Workshop Aggro



Steve McGrew – Bant



Andrew McLennan – Esper Skies



Mith – Junk Song



Matt Moss – Mono Black



Nathan Mullen – Naya Bazaar Zoo



Evan Nyquist – Tusk Eureka



Sean O’Brien – Kuato Lives (Black Red White)



Frank Pedota – Esper Skies



Carter Petray – Turbo Stasis



Dan Piquard – Naya Zoo



Dan Rech – Red White Skies



Nick Rohr – ShahraZoo



Matt S – RUG Tempo



Brandon Sanders – Black White



Shane Semmens – The Gothenburg Special



Shaman Ben – Eureka



Jeff Simpson – Bant



Joe Stacko – Power Monolith Combo; NO DECK PHOTO

Chad Teuscher – Pink Weenie



James Tork – Thallids



Michael Walker – 4C Aggro Control



Robert Westergaard – White Weenie



Chris Wynes – Bant



Matt Young – Blue Black Beast Control



Tournament Action, Social Media Roundup, and Closing

The hashtag for social media for the event was #OldSchoolPlayersBall, which you can use to find more on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Thank you to everybody who came out to play, and we hope to see you again soon. As we move forward experimenting with more changes we hope to make each event more unique and fun. For any corrections, comments, or follow up, please email jaco@eternalcentral.com. Below are just some of the sweet action and community pics from the day.

Player’s Ball 2017 Full Crew



Young (UB Guardian Beast Control) vs. Bergeson (3C Goblins)



When Rocket Launcher Meets Orcish Artillery



O’Brien (BWR) vs. Bowman (5C Song)



Westregaard (White Weenie) vs. Sanders (Black White)



Tork (Thallids) vs. Hahn (4C Gasoline)



Young (UB Guardian Beast Control) vs. Longhi (Mono Black)



Elleman (UR Control) vs. Dotterrer (Esper Arabian Aggro)



Hilton (White Weenie) vs. Bowman (5C Song)



Tork and Moss



Piquard (UGW) vs. Nyquist (Tusk Eureka)



Mith (Junk Song) vs. McGrew (Bant)



Bowersox (Mono Black) vs. Hahn (4C Gasoline)



Jean (BRW) vs. Petray (Turbo Stasis)



Happel (UR Control) vs. Shaman Ben (Eureka)



Elleman (UR Control) vs. Walker (4C Aggro Control)



Butzen (Esper Workshop Aggro) vs. Jimmy Cooney (Mono Blue Merfolk)



Fiero (Living Plane Control) vs. Hilton (Mono Black)



Alane (Naya ChannelBall) vs. Friedman (Nether Void Control)



Top 8 Playoff



The Finals – McGrew (Bant) vs. Matt S (RUG Tempo)



The Lords of the Pit



