Connections Games & Comics | Standard
Time: Saturday November 30 2019
Head Judge: Tobias Vyseri
Main Event Players: 20
Winner: Drew Christensen

Wizards Event Problem-Generator
Before the event another local judge had warned me that WER was not printing match slips, and that downloading Rtools might be a good idea. I had used Rtools at MFs before, but had never considered using it for a small local event. The first thing I did when I went in after setting up table numbers, was explore Rtools as an alternative option for printing slips. I couldn't test it until after R1 had started however, and at that point realized it was printing the slips horizontally. Luckily it was easy enough to change the printer settings and get those slips ready in time for the first round.

The Incredible Disappearing FJ!
Getting staffed on a local event in Canada is kinda weird. There are basically no events for L1s. The stores would rather not hire an L1 for a WPNQ and our events are seldom large enough to require a HJ and a FJ. For this event in particular, I was supposed to have a FJ, but the night before the event, the TO realized that preregistration numbers were really small, and decided to “lay off” the floor judge. I wasn't thrilled about this, not because I wouldn't be able to handle the event. The event was going to be tiny and there's a limited amount of trouble 20 players can get up to, but I was looking forward to mentoring the L1 and perhaps writing a review. In addition to this, it probably felt pretty lame for the L1 to find out he wouldn't be working an event less than 12 hours before it started. I know as an unconfident L1 that would've made me feel really disappointed.

You Get a Qualification! And You Get a Qualification!
This event was a little weird, in that anyone who made top 8 was qualified for the WPNQ, and even weirder, players that were already qualified for the WPNQ were not barred from competing. However if any of them made top 8 their qualification slot would be given to the next applicable player. This was... incredibly strange, especially with a group of experienced grinders. In the end the player in 12th place ended up being qualified for the WPNQ!

I Anticipate Drawing Zero Cards!
I had a call where a player cast Anticipate, and then proceeded to draw no cards. His opponent thought that the game would simply proceed, I let the player know that the Anticipate player hadn't really followed the instructions on Anticipate, would be getting a warning and would be selecting a card from the set of 3 he looked at and put on the bottom.

It's Only a Sorcery in My Heart... And on the Stack
I was watching a game where a player used Fae of Wishes “Granted” half to grab Realm-Cloaked Giant from his sideboard. I stopped him and let him know that the card wasn't a legal choice. He apologized and let me know the previous game he'd also grabbed Realm-Cloaked Giant. I issued the warning and instead he decided to select Ashiok, Dream Render, which, according to NAP was even more problematic than the giant! I vaguely thought NAP might have been aware that Granted couldn't get Realm-Cloaked Giant, and was allowing the illegal action because AP was making a bad selection, but decided that this seemed a little far-fetched of a conclusion, and that it was far more likely both players were either unaware of Granted's restriction or that the giant did not qualify as a noncreature spell.

And This Is The Meme Round
The rest of the event was just players being silly and making silly remarks. A few of my favorites are collected below.

AP: I've got these katana sleeves.
AP makes wooshing motions with his sleeves
AP: Katana! Katana! I can throw them like ninja stars.
Me: Please don't throw sleeves.
AP: If I do you can tell me to sleave it alone. Or even to just sleave.

Store employee: We've got some time, maybe we should ponder some philosophical questions.
Me: Wut.
Store Employee: Like, what is the sound of one hand tapping?
Store Owner: Or, if you lose in the Shahrazad game do you lose in real life?
Store Employee: Or, is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth a swamp in the library?
Me: Wait, wait that last one isn't a philosophical question. Like we have an answer to that in the rules!

...In Conclusion
I haven't done a local event in a long time, and haven't really been active in my community, so I was interested to see if all the familiar old grinders were still around. Turns out they were! I saw a lot of familiar faces at this event. It was a cozier more friendly atmosphere than at a MagicFest since most of the players knew and were familiar with each other. It felt more like a small get together in someone's basement than a Comp REL tournament.