Magic: The Gathering: Embracing my inner nerd at the Grand Prix London

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ars.AD.queue.push(["xrailTop", {sz:"300x251", kws:["bottom"], collapse: true}]);In case you ever wondered, I am a massive nerd. I build computers, program competently in a dozen different languages, and play video games for many more hours per week than is (probably) healthy. When I'm not sitting in front of a computer, I play a half-elf sorcerer in Dungeons & Dragons. Sometimes I even dress up. And, yes, I also play Magic: The Gathering, a collectable card game.

I wouldn't call myself a very good Magic player, mind you; the best Magic players have superb, detail-oriented minds and memories, and my brain just isn't wired like that. Still, I enjoy opening packs, buying and trading singles, and playing with friends—and so when I heard that there was a Grand Prix coming to London this weekend, of course I went along.

Grands Prix are Magic's largest open events. They last for three days (usually Friday through Sunday), and, unlike the Pro Tour, anyone can come along and enter the main event. The main event is a slog: one guy I talked to said he "lost count" after playing 21 best-of-three games on Friday, and he had already done another 10 games by lunchtime on Saturday. Magic is a very deep and complex game, and he looked pretty exhausted. The winner of the main event will take home about £2,500: a lot less than the Pro Tour events, which pay out £25,000 to the winner, but it ain't too shabby.