Start spreading the news! PC: New York is approaching like an inept ninja; wherever I look, it’s there. According to my rather limited understanding of geography, Indianapolis was kind of “in the middle” of the USA and PC: LA was very much on the west coast. There was a bit of an overshot for the next Pro Circuit—clearly, somebody hadn’t been informed that New New Amsterdam and Amsterdam aren’t the same place. All has been sorted out now, though, and the Big Apple is getting its very own PC.
For someone who lives in a country small enough that I can pretty much make it to any and all PCQs held within it with relative ease, the sheer size of the USA is mind boggling. It’s something that I generally choose to ignore, along with the national debt and the long term effects of all the processed cheese I have imbibed. But it was thrown back into stark reality when I saw a map of the world the size of a football pitch the other day. While I could have a quiet (and necessarily cozy) soiree with a small group of friends on England, there was enough room for one monster kegger over on the other side of the Atlantic. What is the point of all this? Basically put, America is so mind-numbingly colossal that I sometimes forget that just because you’re American doesn’t mean that you can easily make it to any Pro Circuit over there. But there’s something so good about New York that they had to name it twice, so I have a sneaking suspicion that it will drag various really good players out to play.
After Amsterdam was won by New Jersey native Adam Horvath in an all–New Jersey final, one could almost consider there to be a bit of territory protecting to do at this Pro Circuit. I have heard, though, that the time differences over there are significant enough that the city that never sleeps and everything can change in a New York minute. Frankly, I was worried enough just about jetlag.
So, are there any predictions that I can make for such a volatile and exciting event? Well, my friends, as I’ll be reporting there, I thought it might be rather fun for me to run a little bit of a scavenger hunt for entertaining stories from the Pro
Circuit. If all of the following things happen (and I think that all of them have a fair chance of coming off for somebody at some point), then it will be a great event. Feel free to print out this big list, and if you witness anything on it, come find me at the event and let me know. I’ll be the English guy with a laptop. You can hear it in my accent when I talk.
Tim’s Big Predictions Scavenger Hunt!
- The now infamous Pro Circuit speech will be joined in with by at least twenty people at its climax.
- We will see at least one player in an “I Heart New York” t-shirt. He or she will not be from New York.
- There will be a turn 4 win.
- I will beat Jason Grabher-Meyer at a feature match mirror coverage game. (You don’t need to tell me if this one happens, but if you want to, you can point it out to Jason.)
- Someone will be beaten by an opponent who is less than half his or her age.
- Someone will be beaten by an opponent who ticks the “F” box on forms (as opposed to the “M” or “Yes Please” boxes).
- There will be somebody dressed up as a fictional character. Jason looking like he just stepped out of The Matrix does not count.
- Someone will win with the Arkham Inmates.
- After playing Lacuna, there will be a chorus of Hakuna Matata by some cheery fellow.
- The endurance total difference at the end of a game will be over 100,000.
- More caffeinated drinks will be consumed over the course of the weekend by the Metagame.com staff than there are players at the PC.
- A new record will be set for the PC Big Mouth Challenge.
- Jeff Donais will resurrect the PC Rock Paper Scissors challenge (no, not Golden Age).
- Rock will win more than it deserves to.
- Someone will draw his or her entire deck over the course of a game.
- Someone will mulligan a hand of four copies of the same card.
- Someone will have to alter his or her travel arrangements after doing better than expected.
- Someone will draft fewer characters than non-characters in the Booster Draft section of the PC.
- I will give any and all Twinkies handed to me to Gary Wise. He will eat over 50 percent of them himself.
- Jason Grabher-Meyer will make fun of my hair. I will reciprocate.
- Two people who traveled to the PC with each other will play in the main event.
- John “Bam Bam” Rich will have to defend himself against people with magic markers looking to put “tattoos” on his head if he does well. I guess now he might need to even if he doesn’t.
- There will be two non-Americans in the Top 8.
- Not So Fast will cost someone a game when he or she pumps an opposing character’s ATK and then tries to Overload it.
- A Titans player will end up taking more endurance loss in a game from Garth ◊ Tempest than from his or her opponent’s effects.
- Two members of the Top 32 will have the same birthday.
- By the end of the Pro Circuit, over a hundred people will have mentioned to me that they think something should be done about the interaction between Savage Beatdown and Overload.
- An 8-cost character will be hit by Overload. The owner of said character will be one of the hundred people in number 27.
- I will fit more than ten references to songs about New York into a single feature match coverage report. I love New York City.
- Someone won’t win a coin toss or die roll all day but will still make Day 2.
- A judge will upgrade a penalty from a warning to “a warning with a silly face pulled at the player concerned.” This won’t actually change the severity of the penalty, but it will be mildly entertaining.
- A player will have a total willpower of 50 or greater on the table at one time.
- Somebody will make a reference to Dave Humpherys in the same breath as talking about the Sith.
- A pro will have a feature match three rounds running.
- A game will go to turn 12.
- There will be an angry dance-off between two Vs. players before the end of the weekend. Anger is very much optional.
- Despite not actually playing in the event,
Brian Kibler will make it into at least 10 pictures of the PC coverage. - Somebody will determine who gets to choose the initiative by the medium of asking the feature match reporter to write down the name of a starlet. Blonde or brunette will then be the call. Redheads will be deemed statistical anomalies.
- Someone will show up with an all-foil deck. He or she will officially gain the nickname “The Blingingist.”
- Someone will show up with an all-foreign deck. He or she will officially gain the nickname “Schadenfreude” as opponents stare confusedly at the more obscure cards.
If anything close to my Top 40 events occurs, then I will be one very happy bunny. The good thing with the Pro Circuit, though, is that half of the fun comes from the events that you just cannot predict (even when you really try). I know that I am really excited about the whole affair, and whether you join me in person or through the online coverage, I truly hope that you feel the same.
Have fun and be lucky,
Tim “Whoa-o, I’m an Alien” Willoughby
timwilloughby (at) hotmail (dot) com