Dancing Vs. Magic

November 15, 2004

Dancing Vs. Magic

I was totally planning to go to the Swing Jam thing on Saturday; really, I was. I decided to make a day of it by going down to the Qualifier Tournament for Pro Tour Nagoya in Costa Mesa, after which I would head to Claremont for the dance. I took my friend Bryce with me because he wanted to play in the tournament and was willing to either give dancing a try or hang out for a few hours while I got my groove on.

But then, don’tcha know, I just kept winning my matches. Starting with my first round opponent, who I beat handily due to a combination of elite Magic skillz and the fact that he misregistered his deck, receiving a first round match loss, I began a winning streak that lasted until the second round, when my opponent pounded me into the dust. Seriously, this guy’s deck was ridiculous. I almost pulled out a draw by winning the second game of the match, but then I didn’t :(. I later found out that I had done remarkably well against him, though. We had two close games, and he didn’t lose a single game until the 8th round (Quarterfinals) of the tournament.

But then I started actually winning. I won my way right into the top 8. And then I won the quarterfinals. And then I won the semifinals. And then I stared down my final round opponent, Sam Stein, battling for the coveted invitation to a professional tournament (and $500 1st place prize). But then I came to my senses and realized that I probably wasn’t going to make it to Japan this year and Sam really wanted to go. So we split the prizes. He gets to go to a Pro Tour, and I get to be $275 richer. Sadly, by this point it was 11:40, making my trip to Claremont a non-starter.

In retrospect, I wish I had gone for it. Not for the invite, exactly, but more for the fact that I think I would have won. But there will certainly be a next time. I’m already talking to a guy at work about getting a team ready to try to qualify for the Team Pro Tour in Atlanta (a trip which is much more within my budget than Japan).

So I didn’t get to dance this weekend, but I did get the satisfaction of having my entertainment budget be in the black for probably the first time in history.

Permalink