My Intinerary

I set off for Grand Prix Portland in search of the five pro points necessary for me to attend Worlds. After some poor play, luck, and solid drafting, I ended up in 14th place, good for three pro points. I wasn't sure how close I would be to ratings Q-ing, but I figured I would just play it by ear. Turns out I ended up in 42nd for North America, when I only needed top 50.

Either way, I think we may have gotten there. Gerard expressed some concern about other people passing us, and maybe I'll try to shark a draft at some point, but I think I'm safe. Plus, if things go poorly, I still have the backup plan for GP Nashville to get the last two points.

In order to sit on my rating (something I've literally never done before, and something I always tell people that they are stupid for doing), I have to skip:

SCG Baltimore
States
SCG Nashville
GP Toronto

After that, I will probably try to hit up SCG Boston and SCG Charlotte. I will definitely hit up GP Nashville and SCG Richmond, and then obviously Worlds.

I'm sad to be skipping events, but it'll be nice to save some dough.  I had some nice decks for Baltimore, so it sucks that I'm not going, but what can you do?

For Standard, I was going to play a Dredge deck with a  LOT of colors. Not entirely sure if it's good or not, but who knows?

In Legacy, I was going to play Ken Adam's deck from SCG Minneapolis. It doesn't seem to be getting nearly enough press, looked incredibly cool, and gives the player a lot of options.

Probably would have won both tournaments, therefore embarrassing Alex Bertoncini in what has otherwise been a lopsided Player of the Year race. However, skipping two SCG Opens is like conceding the POY race.

So Alex, I guess this is my concession speech.