Come With Me to GP Pittsburgh! WRITTEN BY Marissa Kenkel

Grand Prix. These gigantic tournaments used to really intimidate me. When I started playing Magic, I never thought I would be someone who travels for Magic or played in big competitive events, but now these opportunities have actually become the pinnacle of everything that Magic is to me: Fun, rewarding, engaging, and great times with friends. Last year I played in a lot of local Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers (PPTQs) and nearby Star City Games (SCG) events, but this year I decided I wanted to make it a priority to go to more competitive events. Grand Prix (GP) Pittsburgh was a great place to start; it was one of the first things I put on my 2017 Weekend Spreadsheet (color coded, of course). I've written about my weekend below, so I hope you enjoy tagging along!

Choosing My Deck

The weeks leading up to this GP were a lot of fun because it was the first time I was part an organized play group! It was as simple as finding a few friends from the local game store who were also interested in practising and deck-tuning for events, and having people to practise and talk with regularly was a great experience. It also made the event a lot of fun, because I was so invested in the results of my teammates as well as my own!

A big part of the preparation was deck selection. When it comes to deck selection, especially for a big event like this, it’s important to pick a deck that you feel comfortable piloting. After all, you’re going to be playing it for a lot of rounds. I remember a few Standard seasons ago, I went to a PPTQ with an Esper Control deck which was totally outside of my comfort zone. I went 0–3 drop, and was completely disheartened—I didn’t really have fun at the event either. To avoid that feeling, it’s important to take note of the playstyle you’re comfortable with and use that to your advantage. Keep practicing and growing as a player, but especially for large events like these, start with a deck you like and will be comfortable with!

All of these considerations led me to choose Mardu Vehicles. At the last SCG Open, I played a RW Humans deck—which didn’t seem quite powerful enough—but the Vehicle deck was the perfect mix of powerful and aggressive that I was looking for. Playing cards like Heart of Kiran and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I practised online and with my playgroup in the weeks leading up to the GP, going through a few different iterations of the deck (some splashed blue in the sideboard, for example). In the end, I ended up going with a list very similar to the Pro Tour–winning deck. In fact, the only adjustments I made were taking my Shocks out of the maindeck and replacing them with two Fatal Pushes. I put the Shocks in the sideboard, removing a Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Inventor's Apprentice. These changes were made because I was not expecting many Saheeli Rai combo decks or control decks, and I was expecting a lot of Black–Green and Mardu Vehicle mirrors (This assessment turned out to be spot on!). So my deck was chosen, I practised a bunch, and I was ready for the GP!

Mardu Vehicles — Standard | Marissa Kenkel , GP Pittsburgh

Creatures

4 Thraben Inspector

4 Scrapheap Scrounger

4 Toolcraft Exemplar

4 Veteran Motorist

3 Inventor's Apprentice

2 Pia Nalaar

1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar



Instants

4 Unlicensed Disintegration

2 Fatal Push



Artifacts

4 Heart of Kiran

2 Aethersphere Harvester



Planeswalkers

3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar



Lands

4 Concealed Courtyard

4 Inspiring Vantage

4 Spire of Industry

3 Mountain

3 Plains

2 Aether Hub

1 Foreboding Ruins

1 Needle Spires

1 Smoldering Marsh



Sideboard

2 Release the Gremlins

2 Selfless Spirit

2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

2 Shock

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

1 Cultivator's Caravan

1 Depala, Pilot Exemplar

1 Fragmentize

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

1 Needle Spires

1 Skywhaler's Shot

Deck Registration and Zombieland

This was the first time I’d ever travelled overnight for a Magic event. By Friday afternoon, I was about falling out of my chair at work with excitement. After finally arriving in Pittsburgh and checking into our hotel, my husband and I decided to walk to the event hall since we had about an hour until it closed. I was very glad we made time for this, because we felt way more prepared on Saturday morning. We learned the way to the venue and found the event, checked our names on the registered participants list, and also made sure to locate where bathrooms and water were located (this may seem obvious, but it comes in handy when you are rushing between rounds!). I also grabbed some deck registration sheets to complete back at the hotel. After that, we went back to the hotel, sleeved up our decks, filled out our deck registrations, and watched Zombieland (which was a crazy coincidence, because in the car I talked about how much I wanted to watch that movie again and it turned out to be on TV). Having a relaxing evening at the hotel really made this trip feel like a vacation, and I felt great about the decision to come.

The Big Day

Neither my husband nor I had enough Planeswalker Points to earn us a bye, so we needed to be at the hall by 8:45 for the event, which started at 9:00. Me being me, we arrived right after the doors opened at 8:00—I’m a morning person anyway! I was definitely feeling intimidated not having any byes, since having one or two makes the chances of making day two so much higher, but in the end I figured the more I played, the more likely those first and second round byes and day twos will be there down the road. So while our friends with byes were waking up and having breakfast, I sat down for my first round. Sitting down and playing was actually kind of a surreal feeling; after all the practice, travelling, and thinking about the event, it was finally here! I managed to win my first two matches against BG Energy and a Jeskai Dynavolt Tower deck. Starting off 2–0 was a really great feeling!

It wasn’t until after round two that it really felt like the day was in full swing, but by 10:00 the room was at its fullest and the energy was great. After round two I checked in with all my friends who had just arrived and walked a bunch of laps around the room to avoid getting stiff!

Unfortunately, I ended up losing both rounds three and four, first to a BR aggro deck, and then to BG Delirium. My spirits were still high though! I felt like I played good matches and I didn’t have any games that felt like total blowouts. Overall, I was feeling confident in my play and not too nervous, which sometimes happens to me at competitive events. I was momentarily disappointed after losing round four, but I was quickly cheered up by my group of friends, and also ecstatic to find out the people I practised with were all doing really well.

Often I hear from friends that they don’t play in large events because they’re too intimidated by Judge calls, so I wanted to mention that at this point in the tournament, I’d had several Judge calls during my matches (which I do admit used to give me terrible anxiety) and everything turned out absolutely fine. I really just view Judges as part of the game and appreciate how quickly they can smooth everything out. The Judges in Pittsburgh did a great job; I really hate to hear that someone wouldn’t play because they’re worried about Judge calls. If you play honestly, do your best, and know your deck, everything will be A-Okay!

After round four I fueled up with water and a Cliff Bar and jumped back into round five, really hoping to win. I told myself I’d drop after my third loss, but I was hoping that that wouldn’t be this round, and to my pleasure I managed to win against another BG Energy deck to bring my record to 3–2. Just like that, more than half of the matches for the day were done. At large events, stamina for the long days can definitely be a struggle, but the first four rounds of GP Pittsburgh really flew by. Getting through the long days was something I really started to improve on during all the SCG Opens, mostly from practice and making sure to take care of myself throughout the day.

Despite not feeling too tired or burnt out, I ended up losing both rounds six and seven, so I was totally out of contention for day two and dropped from the event. But the weekend wasn’t over yet! My husband and I jumped online to register for the Sunday Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ). I was so happy that this event was offered; having a second chance at a competitive event after not making day two was exciting. After registering for the PTQ, we decided to then sign up for a Chaos Draft—I was impressed with just how many side events were going on and how rapidly they were firing! The Chaos Draft was such a great way to relax after the main event; I sat down with my draft pod and had some good, plain old Magic fun. I didn’t get to draft any insane value from my packs, but I did draft a fun Blue–White Fliers deck, complete with a Bruna at the top of my curve and all sorts of great removal spells.

After some Chaos Drafting, the best part of the day came: Dinner! Our playtesting group went to a delicious Korean BBQ restaurant and ate ourselves silly. In the end, almost all of our group didn’t make day two and planned to play in the PTQ, but my friend Eric Shoopman made it with a spectacular 8–1 record. Dinner with friends was a great way to end the day, so we ate, ate some more, then relaxed and had a great evening. It’s tough to describe in words what a whirlwind and long day Saturday was, but it was an unbelievable experience, and like I said before, fun, rewarding, and engaging.

I won’t go into as much detail on Sunday, as overall it was a much more relaxed-pace day. We did the 9 AM PTQ—where I ended up 3–2—and we were back on the road by early afternoon. On the drive home, I was already planning and thinking about the next GP; perhaps I will be playing in my first Modern GP soon (and I hope to see you there)!

Debriefing with friends after the event.

Final Thoughts

My final thought to leave you with is about something I hear from local players quite often: The intimidation factor of playing in the same event with a lot of Magic’s “big names." Just like you shouldn’t let a fear of competitive Rules Enforcement Levels (RELs) stop you from playing, you shouldn’t let the intimidation of playing with the pros intimidate you either. I can say that for the whole weekend, every time I sat down across from an opponent, they were friendly and a Magic player just like me. I met people at GP Pittsburgh who had never played before and were just learning and I met people who had played professionally. My opponents had a range of skill, but regardless of who I was playing, I just tried to do my best. If you are nervous you’ll feel out of place, so I’d encourage you to just give it a try. I certainly found that there is place for everyone.

And finally, a huge congratulations to my friend and testing partner Eric Shoopman for his first day two and 53rd place finish!