GP Charleston

Date: November 17-18, 2012

Format: Standard

Tournament Location

Charleston Convention Center
5001 Coliseum Drive
North Charleston, SC 29418
Map

Registration: $40
Friday, November 16: 2 p.m.- 9 p.m.
Saturday, November 17: 8 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Get your promo card by playing in the Grand Prix (while supplies last).

Recently voted “Top City in the US” in the 2011 Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, Charleston, South Carolina offers excellent tourism options, and while the history, sights, sounds, and flavors are all great, we know a trip to Charleston in mid-November is really about getting together with friends to have fun, trade, and play Magic!

An awesome weekend experience begins with you staying right at the Convention Center in at Hilton Embassy Suites, a hotel attached to the site offering a discounted rate for Grand Prix attendees. The rate is just $159 per night and includes free breakfast and free parking at the hotel. Details are below on how to secure your room before they sell out.

The Grand Prix Charleston public events schedule features expanded prize pools for the Friday Standard and Friday Sealed Grinders. Events will also include a Sealed $1K and Standard $5K on Sunday along with much more over the weekend for you to enjoy. Details on these events, special guests, vendors and promotional items will be made available at www.PhoenixGamesInc.com as they are finalized.

• Are you going to Grand Prix Charleston? Tell your friends by joining the Facebook event!

The Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix tournament series is a great reason to get out into the Magic tournament community, catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and play some great Magic. Grand Prix tournaments are world-wide open events that allow all Magic players to participate and experience the thrill of a large-scale competition. In addition to cash prizes, a high Planeswalker Points multiplier, and exclusive foil promo cards for participants, Grand Prix feature a host of other activities, including public events and artist signings (prizes subject to change). Find out more about the Grand Prix tournament schedule here.

Tournament Format and Schedule

Format: Standard
Participation Fee: $40

Registration and Schedule

• Friday, November 16: Registration 2 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Saturday, November 17: Registration 8 am - 9:45 a.m.
• Saturday, November 17: Tournament begins at 10 a.m.
• Sunday, November 18: Day Two begins at 9 a.m.

The main tournament at Grand Prix Charleston is open to Magic players of all ages.

Players must have a signed publicity release form to be included in Wizards of the Coast's official online event coverage. Forms can be downloaded here (15k PDF) and will be available onsite. Minors must have a parent or guardian’s signature on this form. Publicity releases will be collected during registration.

Tournament Format

• Standard
• Deck lists are required (download blank deck list sheet here).
• Players must use the same deck on Day 2 that they used on Day 1.

Tournament Structure

• Modified Swiss-style (50-minute rounds).
• If 799 or fewer players register for the event, all players with an X-2-0 or better record OR the top 64 players—whichever number is greater—will advance to the second day of the event.
• If 800 or more players register for the event, all players with an X-2-0 or better record OR the top 128 players—whichever number is greater—will advance to the second day of the event.
• The Top 8 players after the final Swiss round on Day 2 will advance to the Top 8 single-elimination finals.
• Top 8 playoff matches will be best 2 of 3, and have no time limit. (Players are still expected to play at a normal pace and complete playoff matches in a reasonable amount of time.)
• Where necessary, the standings after the Swiss rounds will still be used to determine final order in the standings.
• For the first game of each match in the Top 8, the player that finished higher in the Swiss rounds chooses either to play first or to play second. For subsequent games in each Top 8 match, the usual Play/Draw rule applies (loser of the previous game decides whether to play first in the next game).

Staff
The Head Judge for this event is Jeff Morrow. The official staff application window has closed, if you still wish to volunteer for this event, want to discuss testing, or have other questions, please contact judge manager Bryan Prillaman at bprill.MTG@gmail.com.

Notes

• Planeswalker Points multiplier 8x, Rules Enforcement Level (REL) is Competitive (Day 1) and Professional (Day 2)
• The Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules and the Magic: The Gathering Infraction Procedure Guide are in effect for this event unless specifically overruled by information in this Format Document. Rules documents can be found in the Magic Document Center.
• Players must bring pen, paper, card sleeves and appropriate counters.
• In the event that a player who wins an invitation to a Pro Tour stop at a Grand Prix has already qualified for an invitation, the invitation does not pass down under any circumstances. Previous qualification may be through a Qualifier tournament, through performance at a professional tournament, or by being an invited DCI player (valid upon the date of the official rank announcement for the appropriate professional tournament).

Tournament Byes

Byes will be given to players in the Grand Prix based on the following criteria (Byes are not cumulative throughout the season or year. Byes do not pass down under any circumstances. Players that accumulate multiple byes to a particular Grand Prix tournament receive only the bye for the greatest number of rounds):

Third-Round Byes

• Winners of Grand Prix Charleston Trial tournaments.
• Players who have accumulated at least 1,500 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #2 (April 2, 2012 – August 19, 2012)
• Players who have accumulated at least 1,500 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #3 (August 20, 2012 – December 16, 2012)
• Players with a 2012 Pro Tour Players Club level of 4 or higher
• Players with a 2012-2013 Pro Tour Players Club level of Gold or Platinum
• Members of the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame

Second-Round Byes

• Players who have accumulated at least 750 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #2 (April 2, 2012 – August 19, 2012)
• Players who have accumulated at least 750 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #3 (August 20, 2012 – December 16, 2012)
• Players with a 2012 Pro Tour Players Club level of 2 or 3
• Players with a 2012-2013 Pro Tour Players Club level of Silver

First-Round Byes

• Players with a 2012 Pro Tour Players Club level of 1
• Players who have accumulated at least 400 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #2 (April 2, 2012 – August 19, 2012)
• Players who have accumulated at least 400 Planeswalker Points in the 2012 Seasonal Award Season #3 (August 20, 2012 – December 16, 2012)

Trial winners
Winners of a Trial tournament are awarded 3 byes in the Grand Prix that it feeds. Trial byes are not cumulative with other byes and do not pass down.

For complete information about Grand Prix byes and their corresponding competitive season, please check the 2012 Magic Premier Event Invitation Policy.

Public Events

For a complete schedule of all public events please visit the Phoenix Games website. Here you will find not only the event schedule but information to help you plan every facet of your Magic weekend in Charleston. Some of the planned public events include Standard and Sealed Friday trials with extra prizes in the pool, a TCGPlayer Sealed $1K & Star City Games Constructed $5K on Sunday. Drafts, Win-A-Box tournaments, Commander, and other events will occur throughout the weekend.

Artist Information

Dan Scott will be in attendance at Grand Prix Charleston. Dan's work includes new Return to Ravnica cards Blistercoil Weird, Druid's Deliverance, Epic Experiment, Firemind's Foresight, Gore-House Chainwalker, Hypersonic Dragon, and Vassal Soul.

• Magic card art by Dan Scott

Travel Information

Travel by Air The Charleston International Airport (Airport Code CHS) is served by a number of airlines including American Airlines, Delta, United, US Airways, and Southwest. The Charleston Convention Center and Hilton Embassy Suites Host Hotel are just outside the airport entrance so you can be relaxing in your room within minutes of collecting your bags.

Travel by Car
The Charleston Convention Center is a pay-to-park facility but we have secured a discounted daily parking rate of only $5.00. Be sure to tell the parking attendant you are with Phoenix Games to receive this discounted rate. If you are a guest of the Hilton Embassy Suites in our discounted room block, parking is free.

The Convention Center and Hilton Embassy Suites are located just outside the Charleston International Airport entrance where Interstate 526 and International Blvd meet in North Charleston. Specific driving directions from various areas are also available here.

Contact Information

Tournament Organizer: Phoenix Games – Jeff Williams
Web site: www.PhoenixGamesInc.com
Email: info@PhoenixGamesInc.com
Phone: 407-578-4263 for tournament, staff or event questions

Venue Address

Charleston Convention Center
5001 Coliseum Drive
North Charleston, SC 29418