Magic & GACC 2009

Ever since D got me hooked on Magic, I've started reading up on it and finding out what truly goes on in this world of Trading Card Gaming / Collectible Card Gaming (TCG / CCG). They're not exactly the world, but they come close - they've been around for more than a dozen years, and their same product line is still going strong. Their base product has just entered its 15th edition or something ridiculous, and in the world of gaming that's really saying something. It's comparable to Microsoft in the world of Operating Systems and/or Office Productivity Software.

Something they do that makes the name and line keep going strong is they have a company dedicated to running Magic events all over the world - basically, they have a system to enable other people to run their competitions and whatnot. Empowering people with the ability to run competitions on their own, without sending their own people down to babysit them; and encouraging participation by giving out lots of freebies. They even have their own system of making complaints or reviewing judgements (something the Malaysian government could learn a bit of).

So what happens is that an annual event at Malacca's Multimedia University (MMU), GACC (Games, Anime, Comic Circle) had a Magic Tournament and I decided to go. They have 2 types of Tournaments: what they call Sealed Deck and Standard Constructed. Standard Constructed means bring your own deck of cards, and any card that came out in the past 6 expansions are legit (except for what's in a banned list); Sealed Deck means you're given 6 packs of boosters (that's 15 cards each) and you make a deck from that. Yes, they have clever terminology and tournament structures too.

I joined the Sealed Deck for several reasons: 1) I could play without spending tons of money building up my collection just to have THAT RIGHT card or whatever; 2) for RM70, I get to keep those 6 packs I'm given, I'm guaranteed to win 2 more packs, and I get to play with some seriously experienced people; 3) it's a road-trip down to Malacca; 4) I get to see what such a convention is all about (albeit in a smaller scale than perhaps elsewhere around the world).

How much did it all come to? Well, to run some numbers:

Toll = RM20 one-way x 2 = RM40

Petrol = ~RM35

Tournament = RM70

Chicken Rice Balls = RM8 per person

Car wear-and-tear = ... well, whatever lah. Let's say RM20 or something.

2 of us made the trip down, and say we split everything evenly (except the tournament, which only I participated) = 20 + 18 + 70 + 8 + 10 = RM126.

What did I get out of all that? Yummy food, a nice (short) walk around Jonker Street, 8 Magic booster packs, good times to remember and some mad experiences.

So firstly, the tournament. 1st round, I faced off against some really experienced dude, who even has his own Magic Tournament shirt. Amazingly (to me), I won the 1st game. After that, he switched some cards in his deck, and proceeded to own me. 3rd game I was quite unlucky with the cards I drew, but I didn't care so much - I was so damn nervous my hands were shaking that whole round.

2nd round, I got completely owned 2 games straight. When I reflect on the game, he might've done some dodgy stuff - but I was too busy trying to put up a decent fight to notice. 3rd round started badly - 1st game gave me a serious headache as his best card came out early and really put me off. Kicked my ass, and I had already assured myself that that would be the norm that tournament. I changed some cards, played the 2nd round and totally whooped him. Yay! 3rd round was another whacking, and I rejoiced my 1st complete win that day.

4th round was my most interesting round. A lot of harrowing decisions had to be made, and a lot of thinking was needed (and made harder by the fact that it was several games into the day). 1st game I got jedi-mind-tricked and lost. 2nd game I returned the favour and won the same way. 3rd game was especially tough but in the end, I lost it.

End of day, 14th place. Out of 16. Ah well, it was a great experience and I came out in the middle of all the people I played - the 1st guy came in 3rd overall, the 2nd guy somewhere in the middle of the board and the last 2 guys came in last, below me. Something about the way they calculate game wins and losses. Best of all, I got a bonus free card in the middle of the tournament. Guess it's the Magic player's equivalent of a mid-game Kool-Aid.

Event-wise, was quite something. Firstly, the detail: it was in the MMU exam hall, which is essentially a big space but not as high as a badminton court - just a standard one-storey-height floor. There were lots of stalls: Magic, boardgames (Monopoly, Risk and Cluedo; yes, horrifying), comics, anime, toys, PS3 games, food & drinks. What was a sight to see were the cosplays (costume plays, get with it) - people dressed up like their favourite anime characters. I'd estimate about 15% of the attendees were dressed up that way, and whoa what a job - funky costumes, funky hairdos, funky props.

What blew me away was that they didn't just dress up to strut around - quite a number actually performed! Sketches, songs, whatever (I wasn't really paying attention to the stage). There's a band that has released their own album, and they play in full gear. Amazing.

Of course, not everyone's cosplay is nice. And of course, it was an opportunity for all the inner divas to come out and 'be themselves'. But whatever, it's wonderful to not know the drama queens of an event; definitely an aspect of theatre I don't miss.

It also helped that I had NO idea who they were trying to dress up as.