Both myself and my mate have been avid tournament players of the Magic: the Gathering card game for over a decade each (Super Nerdy, I know). Despite ten years experience, I hadn't really put much effort into playing at the higher competitive levels. Yesterday we both took a mini-road trip from Tulsa to Springfield, MO for a Pro Tour Qualifier, only the fourth one I had ever been to.

In the end, out of 84 people, we both made the Top 8, I ended up in 3rd, my mate got 5th. We even had to play against each other in the quarterfinals >_<. It was my first Top 8, and I must say I felt very confident playing under that sort of a pressure situation. I lost to another friend from Tulsa in the semifinals, so I got to cheer him on in the finals (to no avail unfortunately ). Of the 6 Tulsa players who made the trip, 5 made the Top 16. Even though none of us won the tournament, we certainly crashed the party.

I'm so proud of my mate for doing so well, and he's proud of me too. We now have 60 booster packs to open and had a great time all day. I did knock him out of the tournament though, so now I have to think of some way to make it up to him