Subject: Grand Prix Texas Thoughts
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 01:25:36 EDT
From: ZZanman@aol.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Los Tournaments Texano
Or
Zanman's Look at the Grand Prix Texas

Here in the great state of Texas, it can be a little hard for Magic players to
get the respect that they deserve.  James Stroud, for whom Rome will be six
straight pro tour events, got dissed recently by the winner of Pro Tour
Chicago '98 (he wasn't from around here).  In his PT report, Dirk Baberowski
was able to note the name of all the players at his second table EXCEPT for
the very talented Texas Guildmage James Stroud.  Not a big deal, of course,
but illustrative of the larger problem of getting the players from the Lone
Star State their due notice.  All this said, it was a little disheartening
when myself, the wife Princess Willa, the Demonic Attorney at Law (and now a
professor too!) Robert Lawing, and the afore-mentioned James Stroud arrived at
the Austin Chariot Resort for the big Grand Prix Texas.  None of us had ever
heard of the place before, and therefore didn't know what to expect.  The
moment that we first saw the place, late Friday evening, our hearts sank.  The
place looked a little old and a little run down.  Built in the Fifties, the
resort had once actually been outside of Austin's city limits.  On this day,
the sprawling complex of two story motor lodge-style buildings looked dated
and more than a little out of place along the urban sprawl of 1998 Austin,
Texas.  We were immediately worried that Texas was going to have another black
eye in the view of the pro players from out of state, and even from Wizards
and the Greater Magic World.  After Pro Tour Dallas failed to live up to some
people's expectations (hey, we hadn't had an ice storm in December in TEN
YEARS before that weekend!), I've been very sensitive to the idea that the
Greater Magic World had a bad taste of Texas and wouldn't be coming back soon.
And, they didn't, until this weekend.  Now, with the long-awaited Grand Prix
Texas, Big Time Magic was back in Texas, and, to make it foolproof, it was
being held in Austin, the jewel of the state.  At least, the PRETTY side of
town is the jewel of the state.  My initial impression of the site, if you
haven't figured it out yet, disappointed me a great deal.  BUT I WAS WRONG!
The next morning, with warm (but not too warm) temperatures outside and
adequate ventilation inside, the Magic carnival known as Grand Prix Texas
began in earnest.  David Doust, with the help of the very capable Houston
tournament coordinator Tim Weissman, and the very talented head judge, Mike
Gupta, put on a great event.  The main room seemed a little cramped at times,
but for the crowd of just over two hundred, it turned out to be a good fit.
The Austin Chariot Resort was very accommodating to the Magic community, and
turned out to be an excellent site.  The various buildings housing the hotel
rooms were located such that most players had a very short walk to the main
hall.  The food service was less than desirable, but Denny's was within
walking distance, with many good restaurants not too much further away.  The
fact is, luxury hotels are wasted on Magic tournaments.  Between the Magic
players who don't wash (less and less of a problem lately, I think), and the
players who insist on leaving their garbage wherever they wish, and the guys
throwing cards (those bastards!), there are many reasons that a B-list hotel
might make a better venue for a Magic tournament than an A-list location.  The
rooms, by the way, were also inexpensive and the canned beverages were only
half a buck out of the vending machines.  The main event was smoothly run,
thanks to the high-level expertise of David Doust and Mike Gupta.  Side events
were plentiful and well-attended.  The side tournament gaff of the weekend
surrounded the special "Beta Booster Draft", an eight man event, to be held
late on Sunday, in which your chances of attended were based on the number of
tickets that you had in the barrel.  You got one ticket whenever you signed up
for a side event.  More entries to the special Beta draft were put in the
barrel for players finishing first or second in each side event.  Well…it
turned out that the Beta Booster Draft was ACTUALLY going to be a draft
including one pack of Beta for each of eight players, along with one pack of
Tempest and a pack of Urza's Saga.  Still better than finding a rattlesnake in
your boots, but a little weaker than expected.  The BIGGER problem was not the
event's fault.  They had ordered eight packs of Beta, at what you can assume
was a fairly heavy price tag from wherever you get that kind of rare stuff.
Upon opening the first Beta booster (the Beta boosters were processed
Rochester-style), it was immediately evident that the Beta packs were actually
Alpha packs.  Hey, I love Alpha as much as the next guy, but it was a
disappointment.  The event was single elimination and winner-take-all.  The
good people running the event threw in some additional prizes to make up for
the unfortunate situation with the Alpha cards.  And there was much rejoicing.
In the main event, there were some big names that were surprised to find out
that they would not be playing on Sunday.  The sixty-four players on Sunday
contained a lot of local talent.  By the time the final eight was decided, the
event's participants were distilled to a group of well-known area players like
Sid Rao from Houston, Jeremy Baca and Jonathon Pechon from the Dallas area, as
well as Tony Tsai, the all-world talent of Darwin Kastle, and some other guys.
When they were on their way to Austin, this weekend, I know the East Coast
talent had to be talking about all the "Random Mexicans" that they would be
thrashing in Texas.  All I can say to that is that just down the road from
Austin, in nearby San Antonio, another group of "Random Mexicans" had no
problem handling the East Coast Talent 150 years ago.  Remember the Alamo.

Before I sign off, let's give it up for the great Texas talent that kicked
varying levels of butt in the main event.  Texas Guildmages James Stroud
(finished 11th) and Tim Stoltzfus (the Wakko Djinn finished just out of the
top 16).  Second-day players Bil Payne, Jonathon Pechon, Chris Herdeman, Doug
Cowsert and the rest.

Peace to all, and ya'll do hurry back to Texas!
The Zanman, Jeff Zandi
Texas Guildmages
Level II Judge