Grand Prix Pittsburgh Preview

Randy Buehler

Pittsburgh has figured prominently in recent Magic history. Team CMU only won one Pro Tour, but a lot of good decks (and good stories) came out of that conglomeration of Magic talent and a lot of PT regulars came through Pittsburgh for playtesting sessions. At first it seemed ironic that Pittsburgh finally got a major Magic tournament - this weekend's Grand Prix - after Team CMU broke up. However, "New CMU" had an amazing showing at U.S. Nationals and Pittsburgh appears to be much more than a footnote in Magic history. Mike Turian, Elliot Fung, and Aaron Forsythe all made Top 8; Forsythe won the Standard portion of the tournament; and he did it with a rogue deck of his own design that also carried Turian to the Top 8. Fung played a Rebel deck that Turian built in the car on the way to Regionals.

If you are going to the Grand Prix this weekend and you want to truly experience Pittsburgh Magic, you've got to go to The O. The original "The Original" is in Oakland - the section of Pittsburgh adjacent to Pitt -- but Carnegie Mellon University has a branch of this restaurant in its student center. That's where Team CMU practiced constantly and it's where New CMU does its playing too. The food is greasy and terrible for you, but oh the fries. O-fries are a food group unto themselves. I can't possibly do them justice in print, but I'll be heading to the O. as soon as I get into town Thursday evening. Order the large fries - they come out shaped like the basket. If you're really adventurous, order a sandwich that comes slathered in Cheez Whiz. If you're lucky, Aaron Forsythe's Big Deck Draft Box will make an appearance, or a Chapin Draft might break out. Go the distance...

It isn't entirely clear who is defending the home turf this weekend. Turian is the last Team CMU original still playing, but he's playing with a Canadian (Gary Wise) and a Californian (Scott Johns) this weekend. "Pudge" (as they call themselves) made a strong first showing with an 8th place finish at Grand Prix St. Louis, but it would have been a much stronger showing if they had won either of their last two rounds and advanced to the Top 4. The "Car Acrobatic Team" - Aaron Forsythe, Andrew Cuneo, and Andy Johnson - is who I consider the home team. Forsythe you probably know by now - he'll be representing the U.S. at Worlds in August. (If you want to know more about him I highly recommend his Nationals report currently up on Mindripper - it's long, but I thought it was worth it.) Andrew Cuneo you should know. Back before there was CMU Blue (or Buehler Blue) or anyone had heard of Draw-Go, there was Cuneo Blue. Cuneo coined the phrase "draw, go" when trying to explain to Donnie Gallitz how to properly play his deck. Cuneo also broke Doomsday in Type 1, resulting in the most difficult to play deck I have ever seen. He's never done great on Tour, but that's mostly because he's never really set his mind to it. He's only qualified a couple of times, but lots of PT regulars have played lots of his decks at various events. I think every healthy Magic scene has guys like him - smart players who understand and enjoy the game, but don't devote their lives to it -- and they are always a joy to play Magic against. Team CMU had four of these guys - Andrew, Elliot Fung, Dan Silberman, and (sometimes) Brian Schneider. Andy Johnson is a freshman at CMU this year so I don't know him very well - he's the new blood and he was handy when Aaron and Andrew needed a teammate for a recent Team PTQ. The Car Acrobatic Team won that PTQ and will be representing Pittsburgh not only this weekend at the Grand Prix, but also at the team Pro Tour in New York in September.

There are a number of other interesting stories to watch this weekend:

Your Move Games will be trying to get a few last-minute PT Points for current Player of the Year Race leader Darwin Kastle. Pittsburgh is the last Grand Prix of the season and thus the last chance to get PT Points before Worlds. After Worlds a Player of the Year will be crowned and Kastle currently leads Alex Shvartsman by only 6 points. Kastle had a ten-point lead after the last Pro Tour, but the Shvartsman - the King of the Grand Prixs (sorry, Kai) - flew to Nagoya and put together a winning team there that was worth 4 points. Kastle and Team YMG finished 3rd at Grand Prix St. Louis (2 points), but Shvartsman answered with a 14th place at GP Copenhagen last weekend (2 points). The race currently stands at:

Kastle 61
Shvartsman 55
Blackwell 48
Maher 48
Rose 44
Rubin 41
Eskeland 41
...
Finkel 29 (Note that with 5 PT Points attached to first place in the Worlds Team competition, Finkel isn't actually out of the race.)

I'm not sure who Shvartsman will be playing with this weekend in Pittsburgh, but I'm sure he'll be there. Rumor had it that he was unhappy with at least one of his teammates in St. Louis (Mike Pustilnik and Zvi Mowshowitz). That was originally supposed to be his team for the Pro Tour as well, but stay tuned.

I'll also be keeping a close eye on Team Antarctica to see just how hot Jon Finkel is right now. Antarctica won GP St. Louis and almost won the ESPN2 Team Challenge. Then Finkel rededicated himself to Magic. Since Finkel and the O's started drafting on a regular basis again, Dan put up a 2nd place at GP Copenhagen and Finkel ran the table at Nationals.

I'll also be watching Brian Hacker to see how cold he's gotten. The once-blue haired wonder has slipped off the gravy train and didn't get invited to Worlds. However, he too sounds reinvigorated by the new money and the Masters series and I expect him to show up this weekend and team up with Igor Frayman and Gab Tsang. (Interestingly, Frayman won a team PTQ with teammates Gabe Higa and Jason Zila - he's got a decision to make at some point. With Zila very likely to get a ratings invite to the Extended-format Masters event at the team Pro Tour, the Pro Tour could welcome back one of its prodigal sons.)

It should be a fun weekend. I'll be covering all the festivities for the Sideboard.