Grand Prix New York. In New Jersey. I have to say I was initially very upset that WotC was having this Grand Prix outside of the Big Apple. First impression, though, quite adequate. Close to the city by bus, plenty of great places to eat near by, and while there weren’t a ton of places to use the bathroom, there were plenty of port-a-potties so there was never much of a line.
The event itself could have gone a bit better for me. But honestly, Standard really is a young man’s game. I wish I had enough time to practice this format. As a result, I was not prepared to pilot Esper Dragons to the second day. Two byes got me as far as 5-4. My losses were to B/W control twice, Grixis Control and W/G Tokens.
My wins were pretty lucky. There were only three of them. I got Grixis Control in a third game with an Infinite Obliteration on Goblin Dark Dwellers. My opponent had two in hand. I was able to see a Rending Volley. Later on I sat with my Ojutai saving him from the Rending Volley and beating in with Shambling Vents until my opponent finally had to Volley the Vent much to his disdain. Ojutai finished him off.
Another match was won in the same fashion vs Ramp naming Ulamog after a second turn Transgress the Mind showed me 2.
The third win was against Mono White Humans. Another game three piece of luck as I was able to top deck a turn three Flaying Tendrils. Had I not drawn it Kytheon flipping on the next turn would have been game over by the fifth turn.
Needless to say, I’m not fully loving the meta right now. Sure it’s healthy, but if I’m just losing my bad matchups and winning thanks to lucky top decks and mindless matches, maybe I chose the wrong deck.
Anyhow there’s a PPTQ this weekend so I’m hoping that the hate is waning for Esper. It would be great to win. I turn 36 on Monday. Taking down a qualifier would be a sweet birthday present.
Zac Clark is the Founder of Hipsters of the Coast. An avid gamer since his early teens, Zac can often be found in Brooklyn either playing games or taking photos. When he’s not drawing extra cards, wrathing boards and countering spells, he’s taking pictures of other peoples good times and listening to 90’s Music