After an exciting 20 rounds of Magic: The Gathering, Frank Skarren emerges as the victor of Grand Prix Charlotte (#GPCharlotte). The Top 8 was full of amazing players including Richard Ngyuen, Pat Sullivan, Ben Isgur, Gerard Fabiano, Aaron Lewis, Antonio Baldasari, and Pro Tour Gatecrash Top 4 competitor Ben Stark. GP Charlotte will also go down as the largest Grand Prix ever (until the record is broken again), with 2,692 players—about 400 players more than the next largest!
Here at GP Charlotte, people opened Black Lotuses in their Gold Rush envelopes, met incredible Magic artists like Terese Nielsen, Eric Deschamps, Steve Belledin, Kristen Plescow, and Liz Nugent, played in tons of side events, greeted big name pros like Patrick Chapin, Mike Flores, Brian Kibler, Brad Nelson, and Gerry Thompson, and played some great Magic: The Gathering.
It has all come down to this. The 2,693 players of the largest Grand Prix in the known universe have been reduced to just two men—Gerard Fabiano and Frank Skarren.
Gatecrash’s two most aggressive guilds faced off this round—Aron’s Boros build against Frank’s bloodrush-fueled Gruul deck. Which one would make it to the finals?
Richard had been able to double-draw his way into Top 8, but Frank was one of the few forced to scrap and fight for every inch—he hadn’t had a break, but he’d also only sustained two losses over the course of the day. One of them was to Richard, which made this payback time.
The bottom two seeds, at 14-2-1, were randomly paired this round, which meant that Aaron randomly got the play! Would it pay off in this battle of first time GP top 8ers?
Patrick Chapin interviews pro players at Grand Prix Charlotte and asks them about the worst cards they've played in Gatecrash Limited and the worst decks they've seen their friends play.
Few Magic players can lay claim to the title "Best Limited Player in the World." But if you ask some of the best, you can get some pretty good nominees!
On three losses, each of these players was looking at an outside shot for Top 8 with a win in the final round. Chris, piloting “the worst deck I’ve ever drafted,” wasn’t optimistic about his chances, however.
Both players are sitting at 13-2, and in need of winning the next two rounds to make the top 8… but only one of them would emerge from this match with a shot at the playoff rounds. Would the notable Wild Nacatl enthusiast be able to take it down?
When last we saw Shuhei on written coverage, he was playing for his tournament life. Now safely in Day 2, the pair of 2-0s from Pod 14 will have to fight for the lone 3-0 record. Who will win this round in the battle of heavyweights?
Terese Nielsen has been our guest of honor here at GP Charlotte, and her line has been immense all weekend long! She has drawn many of Magic's iconic cards such as Force of Will and the GURU lands. Watch her interview now.
Glenn Jones sat down with Eric Deschamps to discuss his career as a Magic artist. He drew such cards as Garruk Relentless, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, and Koth of the Hammer.
GP Charlotte broke all kinds of records, but it's not the first time the 'Largest Magic Tournament Ever' watermark has been reached. What's the biggest tournament you've ever been to?
Many consider Ben Stark to be the best Limited player in the world, but sitting at 9-1 and with Phillip Fortner impeding his path the road wasn’t exactly clear for the four-time Pro Tour top 8 competitor.
After starting off 8-0, Gerard was looking to get back on track following a Round 9 loss. With the crucial draft pods on the horizon, Top 8 was still in reach for each of these players, but two losses would leave one of them fighting with their backs against the wall for it.
With both players at 6-2 and on the bubble, this match would send one of them home from the largest Magic tournament ever. Who would be able to make it to Sunday morning?
These two players were both on one loss and hoping to stay that way through the day—entering Day 2 on two losses was a much riskier proposition. That said, only one could emerge with their record intact.
Sam Black’s fresh from designing a Pro Tour-winning Standard list in Montreal, but his love of Limited sent him to Charlotte this weekend. Chi Hoi’s a known bruiser in Southern Magic, with an Invitational finals finish to his credit from 2012.
Kristen Plescow is the amazingly talented artist who created the five SCG writer tokens being given out at GP Charlotte. She also has drawn creature tokens for StarCityGames.com and works in-house as their graphic designer. Watch the interview she did with Reuben Bresler.
Brian Kibler builds his sealed pool on camera for viewers at home. Watch him figure out how to build his deck for the Sealed portion of the Grand Prix.
With a long weekend of Sealed and Booster Draft ahead of me, I decided to jump into Sealed Grinder Three to try my hand at the new format and try to get a feel for the new cards, synergies, and overall strategies therein. Last weekend, I spent a lot of time drafting the various archetypes and subarchetypes to try to see if I could squeeze out any knowledge. And what better way than actually jump into the trenches!
While Grand Prix Charlotte doesn’t actually start until Saturday, players flung open the doors on Friday to play in trials, practice drafting, and enjoy the camaraderie of their fellow magicians. Of course, Friday’s also a great time to visit our artists!
StarCityGames.com is proud to present Grand Prix Charlotte this weekend! Find out all the details about the main event, side events, guest artists, and more!
In this week's episode, the group discusses the exciting results of Pro Tour Gatecrash, GP Charlotte, and the newly announced fourth Pro Tour and From the Vault set.
Mike Flores, author of The Official Miser's Guide, has some Sealed Deck tips for you just in time for this weekend's Gatecrash Limited Grand Prix in Charlotte!
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