MtG Tournament Report: Return to Ravnica Pre-Release 9/30/12

Last Saturday, I attended both the Midnight and 11am Return to Ravnica Pre-Release Tournaments at my Local Shop, Anime Imports, in Pacifica, CA.  I chose Izzet for the Midnight release and built a pretty sweet Wall & Dragon deck, but due to poor play on my part, I only ended up 3-3.  But it was all good; I loved the pre-release structure and I had a great time.  I got home at 7am, woke up at 10am, showered and was back in the shop for the 11am event.

It was fantastic and ended up being an unforgettable Magic moment :)

The next day, I wrote an e-mail to my friend, Marcel White (of the Brainstorm Brewery Podcast), detailing my experience at the Return to Ravnica Pre-Release.  Here's a transcript of the letter below:
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"Hey Marcel!  Hope your Return to Ravnica pre-releases went well, bro... I wanted to share a story with you that I thought you might appreciate.

I played the 11am tourney at Anime Imports in Pacifica on Saturday.  I chose Selesnya but ended up building, of all things, a Rakdos deck because I pulled a Desecration Demon, a Dreadbore, 2 Annihilating Fire, and 3 Auger Spree (it was pretty fucking awesome :) ).  Anyway, I go 4-0, make Top 8, beat two Izzet decks and make it to the finals.  I was really nervous, but even more excited to try and win the whole thing.

I end up playing this guy named Brian who's running Selesnya; he's really quiet and unassuming, generally nice, and I come to find out that this is the first Magic tournament he's played in 12 years.  I remember thinking to myself, 

"Man, he hasn't played a tourney in a decade, so he probably just got a bunch of great mythics and rares, and his deck is basically just really-really strong ("lucky," like me :p).  I hope I get some good draws because if he drops a Trostani or Armada Wurm, I'm done." 

As we're shuffling, we get to talking and I find out he's a really cool dude, we're both the same age, and strangely, he keeps saying,

"I don't really care if I win or not... I just hope we have some really great games.  Best of luck."

I say "strangely," because there wasn't a hint of sarcasm... Dude was just nice.  As we're playing, it becomes apparent that he doesn't know ANY of my cards, which makes sense since it's his first tournament in 12 years, but I never had to explain anything to him: I'd play something, he'd silently and QUICKLY read it upside down, nod his head, store the info, and go on playing.  I distinctly remember thinking to myself after the first game, 

"Man, this guy is the fastest, most decisive, and solid player I've ever played against... It's like he's always 3 steps ahead of me, knows what I'm going to do before I do it, goes through all the steps with robotic precision, and never seemingly has to 'think' about any attacks or blocks; he makes instant decisions (hence, the "always 3 steps ahead of me.")." 

He beat me while controlling board position the whole game and he didn't do it with Trostanis or Mythic Angels or Wurms.  He did it with extremely efficient creatures, perfect land drops and curve, and excellent use of "toolbox"/tech cards (like Rootbound Defenses, Arrest, and Fog effects).

As we get to talking more, he asks me what I think about the new Ravnica set and the pre-release in general.  I tell him I love the new set and that I really appreciate the attention to detail in the guild boxes and the first time innovations (like being able to play with the promo, the awesome stickers, and the guild-packs).  

He says, "I know the guy that worked on (developing) these."  

I said, "Really?  At Wizards?  Well, when you see him, please tell him he did a great job."

We play Game 2 and I win handily because 1) I'm on the play and 2) I had a pretty sick opening hand (a turn 2 Ash Zealot, a turn 3 Mind Rot, into a second 2 drop with 2 mana up for Dreadbore and another kill spell in my hand).

On to Game 3 and there were at least two different instances where I was confused about the timing of some of my attempted plays.  Each time I asked our store judge (who was standing next to us watching) for a rules clarification, Brian would kindly AND QUICKLY answer the question even before our judge could do his "judge thing" (and if you know Frank, he's usually pretty quick to figure stuff out).  Game 3 ends a lot like game 1 where Brian commands the board with efficient creatures and protects all the relevant pieces with excellently timed tech cards, all in rhythm, everything consistent and correct, a perfect curve... No Mythics or unbeatable bombs like I expected, just super-solid unbeatable play, something you absolutely DON'T expect from a guy who's playing his first tournament in a dozen years.

After the match in the 5-or-so minutes we're waiting for the shop owner to get the prizes ready, we continue talking casually.  I ask him about his friend that works at Wizards and how he knows him.  Brian smiles at me and says, 

"Well, Phil, he used to work for me.  I was the LEAD DEVELOPER on the original Ravnica set."

Holy. Shit. This dude DESIGNED Dark Confidant, the Shocklands... All of it!  I find out that he's Brian Schneider, former Pro-Tour professional and former Wizards R&D lead Developer, responsible for both design and development of Ravnica, Kamigawa Block, and Time Spiral, just to name a few!  He was an original team member of Team CMU with MtG Legends and Hall of Famers Randy Beuhler, Erik Lauer, and half-a-dozen others, all guys that shaped and continue to shape competitive Magic as we know it.

When I asked him if the (Anime Imports) owners or anyone else in the shop knew who he was, he humbly responded, 

"Nah, I'm not anyone special; no one needs to make a fuss or anything... I'm just a Magic fan and I really wanted to see how this new Ravnica set turned out.  I haven't worked for Wizards in years (he now works as a game developer for Zynga) and, as you know, haven't played in a tournament in 12.  This is really nostalgic for me, actually.  I had a good time today.  Please don't tell anyone while I'm still here; I don't want to make a fuss.  I only told you because you're a really nice guy and you asked."  Haha :p

We talked some more about deck building and play and about the potential "power cards" of RtR (he knew NOTHING about the cards in this set before he cracked his first packs today... He really was literally learning every single card today as it was being played).  We also talked about his brother (Justin Schneider, an old school MtG phenom), the early days of competitive Magic (he participated in Pro Tour 1; that's hella fresh), and what it was like to work at Wizards.  I shook his hand, took a picture with him and our stacks of packs, and before he left, told him 

"Thank you for making this game; it's one of the few things in my life that allows me to think about something else other than the b.s. of the daily grind."

After he left, I shared my story with Mike (the shop owner) and the shop regulars.  It was a pretty awesome feeling and a great experience getting to play some Magic with not only a Pro Tour vet (and probably the best overall player I'll ever get to play with), but a Magic maven and a guy who shaped this awesome game :)

Anyway, Marcel, if you got this far, thanks for reading and letting me share.  I just realized that maybe you got to meet Brian Schneider, too (he told me he was going to play at Eudemonia on Sunday... I hope the crowd recognized him and gave him his due props).  If you want to play some Standard and need a playtest partner or something, give me a head's up.  I fucking love this game :p

Alright, Bro, I should try to get some real work done before my wife disowns me, haha.  Talk to you soon,

-Phil"
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Cool story, Bro... Right?!?! :p

It got EVEN COOLER :)

Marcel sent this e-mail to me this afternoon:
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"Hi Phil,

So I forwarded your letter to Mark Rosewater and Aaron Foresythe.  I received this response. 

Enjoy,

Marcel

Marcel,

Thank you very much for forwarding this. I very much enjoyed it. Brian is a great guy.

I passed it along to the rest of R&D and everyone was very happy to read it.

Sincerely,

Mark Rosewater

(and in a second response, Marcel added:)

Keep in mind that MaRo know the importance of using "very" correctly.

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Haha... What a great Magic experience!  Can you believe my story and sentiments got all the way to Wizards R&D?  A very cool experience, indeed, and I'm honored and proud to have been a part of it :)

Fat Ninja vs. MtG Legend, Brian Schneider