Six Chances at Glory in Nagoya
The Nagoya GP is now only TWO MONTHS away! Time has really flown, and I am nowhere NEAR ready for the event. Luckily, there are quite a few chances for me to improve my gameplay in Nagoya starting as early as this Sunday. If you are planning on going to Grand Prix Nagoya, I recommend playing in as much standard as you can before the big day. Friday Night Magic and casual events during the week just isn’t going to cut it. If you really want to compete against the top players in Nagoya, I can recommend two places you should find yourself every Saturday and Sunday:
Hobby Station Osu/Mei Eki and Big Magic.
Big Magic has the best players in Nagoya every Sunday from 11am – 4pm for five to six rounds of swiss. The cost is only 500 yen. Let me warn you now though, it’s dangerous there. One mistake will totally screw up your game and your opponent will make you pay dearly for it. The best I’ve ever done there is 3-2 (losing to both the #1 and #2 people that day).
The big Hobby Station stores, on the other hand, draw some of the same players from Big Magic to them on Saturdays. The stores usually alternate dates of tournaments, so be sure to call ahead if you plan on attending a tournament on that day (Hobby Station Osu is 052-242-5252 and Hobby Station Mei Eki is 052-452-8577).
These aren’t your only chances to improve your play though, there are also GP Trials.
GP Trials and other fall Magic events in Nagoya
Grand Prix Trials are currently underway for GP Taipei, and if you have the time and 1500-2000 yen to spare, come out to Nagoya for a day and get your feet wet. The next event is October 14th at Mishimaya near Ozone station on the Meijo line. It will be a sealed tournament for 3000 yen, and it will start at 10:15. You have to register to play for this event, so call ahead to see if any space is available (get their number from Wizard’s locator tool).
If you can’t make to that event, your next two chances are on October 20th and 21st. On Saturday the 20th, there will be a GP Taipei Trial at Nagoyako wan kaikan (it’s easier to post the Locator link for this one: http://locator.wizards.com/#brand=magic&a=location&p=Nagoya,+Aichi+Prefecture,+Japan&et=MG12x,MG2x,MG3x,GPT2,MG8x,GT,MWC,PEGP,PSENO,OPDU,MG5x,PEPTQ,PENQ,PSES,PEPT,GPT3,SP,QT,MLP2,LPCAS,MPRE,RC,PC,QPEPT,WPNCH,WPNQ,NS,PT,CPE,DF,MWCQ&loc=233916&orgid=11027&addrid=233916 ). On Sunday the 21st, Amenity Dream will be hosting the other GP Taipei trial. This one should be 2000 yen like the one that was held there before, and the format will be standard.
I know you probably don’t care about doing the Taipei Trials, but if you are in the area and have the time and money, it’s worth it for the experience. The level of play is VERY high, and it will probably be the best test for your skills outside of a PTQ or GP. You’ll be going up against some of the best players in the region, not only Nagoya. If you can’t do well here, then you probably need to work on your deck and your skills a little more. I went a laughable 1-5 at my last event.
After Game Day Return to Ravnica at the end of October, the real challenges begin. There are going to be GP Nagoya Trials every week leading up to Grand Prix Nagoya. If you can win a few, you will be in really good position during the GP with a few byes. Here’s a list of where you can get those byes in Nagoya come November:
- November 4th, Higashi Betsuin Kaikan – 9:30am to 7pm, 1500 yen, standard (http://locator.wizards.com/#brand=magic&a=location&p=Nagoya,+Aichi+Prefecture,+Japan&et=MG12x,MG2x,MG3x,GPT2,MG8x,GT,MWC,PEGP,PSENO,OPDU,MG5x,PEPTQ,PENQ,PSES,PEPT,GPT3,SP,QT,MLP2,LPCAS,MPRE,RC,PC,QPEPT,WPNCH,WPNQ,NS,PT,CPE,DF,MWCQ&loc=204171&orgid=13324&addrid=204171)
- November 10th, Hobby Station Osu – 10am to 7pm, 1500 yen, standard
- November 11th, Nagoyako wan kaikan (see link above for directions) – 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, 1500 yen, register at Mishimaya, 140 people max.
- November 18th, Higashi Betsuin Kaikan – 9:30 am to 7pm, 1500 yen, standard
- November 23rd, Amenity Dream – 9:30 am to 7pm, 2000 yen, standard, MAX 40 people (you can already reserve a spot. as of October 11th, 7/40 spots were filled).
Those are 5 chances of Glory (or at least a bye round), so what’s the 6th? There is also a Pro Tour Qualifier on November 3rd at Higashi Betsuin Kaikan. It’s a sealed event (you’ll get 6 packs and have to make a deck from them) and I’m guessing it will start at the usual time of 9:30 am and go until about 6pm or so. The cost of the event is 4000 yen. This is one of the easier ways to get into a pro tour if you don’t have endless finances to buy the best cards in the format. Sealed is part luck, part deck building skill. If you have one, I’m sure the other will work its way out.
I’d like to note that I’m not 100% sure of the start times and registration prices of these events, so I will be confirming everything with one of the local judges and the sponsors of the events and then coming back to update this post. I wanted to let everybody know about the dates now however so they can plan accordingly to take days off or plan a trip.
How to Prepare
As I said before, going to standard tournaments will help you to gauge the metagame a little bit, but hitting up the Trials and Big Magic in Nagoya will be your greatest tests. If you can top 8 in those, you’ll be in good shape. If you’re play testing, you can always use software like Cockatrice or MTG Online, and you can also check out decklists from SCG Opens, Channel Fireball tournaments, and TCGPlayer tournaments.
I’ll be doing my best to collect information about the metagame in Nagoya and posting the results from various tournaments every Friday. I won’t have all of the decks that were used, but I’ll be talking about which decks won the events and how you can prepare against them. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you around at the events!