An overseas perspective (Dublin)

Welcome to the first instalment of an overseas perspective from a local, where we talk about overseas MTG experience. Today, we invite Evan Chia, who is a student to comment about his MTG experience in Dublin, Ireland .

Noah Bradley, one of my opponents
in GP Liverpool 2017

Name: Evan En Yao Chia

Location: Based in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland since late 2015. I do come back to Singapore at least twice a year though!

Reason for being overseas: Medical School, expected to graduate in 2020.

Proudest MTG accomplishment: Winning limited master Martin Juza at a sealed CFB foiled again side event, the picture says it all :P This was in 2017, before he got inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

Bragging rights ! :p

Comparison of Overseas MTG Scene:

Ireland is approximately 100+ times larger than Singapore, but the Irish magic community is much smaller. There are only 3 stores located in Dublin, and a few others are all scattered over, both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK). Back at home, we are extremely blessed to have so many stores in close proximity.

After coming here, I can relate with the American players that talked about driving for hours just to get to a PPTQ venue. The furthest I’ve ever travelled to compete in a PPTQ was at Derry, in Northern Ireland. The total car ride took 6 hours! I doubt you’ll find a PPTQ venue in Singapore that requires more than an hour of travelling.

Another example would be that their Nationals is a single day event of swiss, followed by the top 8 on the next day, whereas Nationals back home in Singapore is 2 full days.

Also, paper magic isn’t cheap. The cost of a draft is around €16, which is slightly more than S$24. I believe it is due to boxes being more expensive in the EU. Events start earlier too, at 6.30pm or 7.30pm on weekdays, which reflects the difference in pace of life and working hours as well. I really enjoy pre-releases in Dublin, as they are much longer than the ones in Singapore. The longest ones I’ve seen in Singapore are 4 swiss rounds, but the ones in Dublin scale with attendance. The day pre-releases can be as long as 6 swiss rounds, which in my opinion, leads to a more satisfying experience.

A smaller player base also has its perks, as most people would tend to know majority of the community. I found the Irish community to be extremely friendly, both inside and outside the game.

This photo exemplifies it all.

Favourite Story at the overseas LGS:

I was playing at a modern weeknight event at the central Dublin LGS. I was up against Ad Nauseam. Before round 4, I was currently 2-1, and needed to go 3-1 or better to win any prizes (this shop only pays out to those who come in positive). My opponent was 1-2 before round 4, and he graciously conceded to me before round 4 started. We decided to play out the last round for fun. He’s on the play, lays his land, casts his spells and passes the turn. Halfway during my turn, he exclaims that he had forgotten to suspend lotus bloom on his first turn, has a good laugh and says he needs a reminder. Next moment, I see him rummaging around some scrap paper on the table, writing “NOTE TO SELF: SUSPEND LOTUS BLOOM ON TURN 1”, and promptly slides it in front of his glasses, in front of his forehead. It was my turn to have a good laugh. He left that piece of paper there for the rest of the round, and of course he still managed to topdeck his way to the typical turn 4 kill, which he would have anyway if he had suspended his lotus bloom on turn 1. Where else would you find such humor!

Most memorable PPTQ experience:

The most memorable PPTQ I participated in was the one I mentioned earlier, in Derry, Northern Ireland. This PPTQ was memorable in more ways than one. 

First, I would never forget the car ride there and back, which took 3 hours each way. As Ireland is not too warm usually (doesn’t get warmer than 25 degrees), cars aren’t equipped with aircon, and most people wind down part of the window to let the cold air in. However, this was in the early part of June, and it was starting to get warmer and sunnier. We had to drive through farmland (agriculture is quite common throughout Ireland), and you could smell the animals especially when you drove past the more wulu areas.

The attendance was quite dismal at the PPTQ, as 7 people including myself showed up. I suspect the date wasn’t very ideal, along with the location, as the bulk of the PPTQ grinders from Dublin weren’t willing to make such a long trip just to compete. One of the shopkeepers had to fill in as the 8th man, and the PPTQ was going be straight into the top 8 single elimination. This was the first time in my life that I participated in such a small PPTQ. It honestly felt like a FNM with much higher stakes. I was playing a mono red deck similar to the list that won PT DOM. 

In the semifinals, I faced against a Sultai pile, running Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Rite of Belzenlok and all sorts of graveyard shenanigans to recur with Muldrotha. I won game 1 and was all ready to scoop in game 2 when my opponent started to recur Orazca Relic and could consistently gain 3 life. However, I decided to play it out as the matches were untimed. I lost game 2 in the end and was lucky enough to win game 3 after making quite a serious mistake during the game. Interestingly, the finals ended quite quickly and I was fortunate enough to win the entire thing. I suppose the opportunity cost of travelling really dawned on me after winning the PPTQ, as 6 hours of travelling is really no joke. The entire PPTQ didn’t take longer than 2.5 hours though, which was the most memorable part of this story!

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, I’ll be back with more about my experience in competing in the EU GPs!

Writer's Shoutout

Evan is a Singaporean player currently based overseas in Dublin, Ireland. He was first introduced to MTG during his NS days at Khans block. His first taste of competitive magic was at GP Bologna 2016 à la Eldrazi Winter.

Notable achievements include a 34th place finish at GP Guangzhou 2016 (modern). Evan favours aggressive, proactive strategies, and prefers to be the one asking the questions rather than finding the answers. Outside magic, Evan enjoys playing the violin, amidst mugging for medical school.