The daily visit on my Facebook Memories reminded me of the major Magic: the Gathering tournaments I have participated in in the last years. In the range of a decade, I think I have already joined about 10 to 15 major MTG events. Those are the Grand Prix, Nationals, World Magic Cup, and the like. My last Grand Prix was in Hong Kong in 2018, in the modern format. I enjoyed that short trip though that tournament was prepared just on average because there were only two players from Iloilo and we couldn’t get enough time to playtest.

In contrast, the biggest number of participants from our City of Love was probably from Grand Prix Manila in 2017. I think about 30 of us went to Battle Standard in that event. We savored that opportunity as the Grand Prix schedule seldom includes Manila in their list. It was usually every two years that we got one. That one was memorable because our teammate Rei Coo was able to Top 8 in the event and got a Pro Tour invite.

The World Magic Cup Qualifiers was another relevant and important event to participate in as you get the chance to be part of Team Philippines in the World Magic Cup tournament. My distinctive finishes in these events were in 2013 when I got into the Top 4 of WMCQ 1 and 3. It was short but no cigar, still I enjoyed every moment of playing in the tournament with my deck brew and my favorite colors Jund.

The Philippine Nationals, while it returned for only a year or two, was the grand tournament and sort of a reunion for the best Magic players in the country. The last time I joined in 2011, it required Regional qualifiers of the participants thus it was really a survival of the fittest in order to be part of the National event. In the recent version though, players would only be required a Planeswalker Points threshold to qualify.  

The format was Standard and Booster Draft which will really test not only the deck archetype that you have thoroughly practiced with but also your deck-building skills and reading the signal on the open colors.

It was nice for Facebook to have this feature on the Memories as it brings flashbacks of good and bad happenings, probably blunders and misplays I did in the games and matches. Those memories also remind me of the post-tournament happenings with the food trips and visit the tourist spots. These are what I will cherish on my part of the MTG Iloilo Community and the Filipino Magic players overall.

That is a wrap. Until the next blog post.