RTS33 was somehow not the first event we’ve held celebrating Star Wars Day. This time, 24 players were here to jam - an awesome turnout after last event’s record-breaking turnout.

The day started out at a favorite spot, Batch Kolaches. Batch is an outdoor venue, though, and rain in the middle of Round 1 forced us to relocate a few doors down the street, to Oddwood Ales. This was a shining silver lining: everyone loved Oddwood, and it turned out that the bar manager is a Magic fan. He was happy to have us, and even donated a 4-pack of beer to the prizepool! The hospitality was much appreciated, and we’ll be back.

At our last event, RTS stream guru Rob experimented with a mobile rig that let him record all the matches. Rob brought his rig back this time, so expect video footage of the event soon.

The finals featured a dramatic showdown between Ian Files and Paul Garrett. Ian’s run was improbable and great: he got a Round 5 bye due to some weird pairings and drops, which squeaked him in at 7th place! Paul, meanwhile, leaned into superstition and ran back the Underworld Breach strategy he won last year’s Batch event with. The result was an incredible, grindy blue mirror, with Paul coming out on top. Welcome back to the Invitational, Paul!

We’re about halfway through the School’s Out league right now. After that wraps we’re expecting a pretty quiet June, but we have some fun plans cooking for later this summer…

  • Paul Garrett - Grixis Breach
  • Ian Files - 4C Lurrus Control
  • Andrew Webb - UW Kitten Combo
  • Rob Connolly - 8Cast
  • Stuart Ziarnik - 5C Engineer
  • Justin Bruce - Goblins
  • Patrick Ehrhardt - Jewel Shops
  • Ron Urkuski - Dredge
  • Tanner Hogan - White Initiative
  • Colin Logan - UB Lurrus
  • Brandon Sikes - Merfolk
  • Seth Nowlin - UW Dreadnaught
  • Jeffrey DeMario - Dredge
  • Robin Mannas - Goblins
  • Liz Garcia - Dredge
  • Brian Espinoza - Esper Tinker
  • John Thomas - decklist missing!
  • Chris Huckabee - Atraxa Oath
  • Logan Williams - Dredge
  • Curt Christian - decklist missing!
  • Paul Sward - UB Scam
  • Brian Tweedy - Esper Lurrus
  • Kai Schafroth - Esper Oswald
  • Doug Matus - BUG Control