Editor: Webmaster. Monday 20th April 2005.
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Editor: Webmaster. Monday 20th April 2005.
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Writing a report of failure always seems like a useless task but the experience of playing in a Pro Circuit tournament in a foreign country with a great bunch of guys is something to be shared. For those who do not know me my name is Paul Van Der Werk and I’m co-owner of VS Paradise and live in Sydney Australia. For the last 4 years my goal has been to play in a major CCG event, before VS arrived this would have been Magic, and this has now been achieved with my recent Amsterdam adventure. The fact that my father was born in Holland made PC Amsterdam the obvious choice as it would also give me a chance to see some of my heritage and to play VS! I think I’m a player of average ability; I make too many crucial mistakes to consider myself a great player. Whether someone of my playing ability should even be attending an event as significant as a Pro Circuit is questionable, especially with the cost involved to attend, but the experience of playing against the best of the best can only be a good thing. Four Australians made the trip to the Netherlands including myself “VANWOLFGANG”, Scott “SSTEVEN Hunstad, Danesh “DJOGS” Jogia and Luke “LIKE” Bartter. Scott made his own way there with the rest of us travelling together. We decided to arrive in Holland a good 4 days before the event so that we could be well rested as jetlag can be a killer. For some reason I believed I was Mr Freeze and decided to walk the streets wearing shorts and thongs. This proved to be my downfall as I came down with the flu quite quickly and had to try to get well in time for the PC. We spent our days doing the usual tourist stuff, including visiting museums, window shopping and eating average food at ridiculous prices. I had travelled to Europe before and was continually disappointed when I started to convert the Euro price back to Australian Dollars. I would like to have said that our nights were filled with drunken disorderly behaviour but on most occasions in nerdy fashion we drafted VS instead.
Cyclops just about to finish off "The Ben Seck" The day of PC Amsterdam came and we eagerly made our way to Shipoli Airport which is where the event was held. We were staying in the city so train travel was involved to get us to the event. Adding to the nervous tension our train was cancelled due to an accident on the lines but we ended up getting to the event in time. Luke and Scott had previously been to PC LA but even they were blown away by the set up of the event. Giant Wolverine and Sabretooth battled above the feature match area and oversized Vs cards made a great touch. Huge props to UDE for putting in the extra effort to make you feel like you’re at a major event rather then some local PCQ.
Love the Feature match Area! Day 1 for me started quite well with a 3-0 record early in the piece. By round 7 I was looking at a 5-2 record with only having to win 2 games out of 5 to make Day 2. You’d expect my confidence to be high but I still had a sneaking suspicion that I would bomb out. This attitude, lack of playtesting and a couple of ordinary plays saw me lose the next four games and end the dream of making Day 2. It’s amazing how disappointed I felt. To make matters worse all of my fellow Australians made Day 2 so I was feeling a bit left out. I realise this is a bit selfish but I think it is also a natural emotion given the situation. All of my team-mates went on to win money in Day 2 which is an awesome achievement. How do I feel about this? I’m extremely proud of these guys for different reasons. Luke “Mr Consistency” Bartter deserves everything he gets from this game, he and Alex Brown created the deck three out of four of us used and put in all the playtesting to do this. He also is one of the funniest guys I know and kept me entertained throughout the whole trip. Danesh “Vegans starve in Europe” Jogia bounced back from a rotten start to finish 7-5 and went on to smash up the draft in Day 2. Most people would have just given up. Finally my business partner Scott “Snoring, what Snoring?” Hunstad amazes me that someone who did not playtest at all can pick up a deck and do so well. Obviously just a natural talent.
Feature Matches For Luke and Danesh! So yes the success of the Australian contingent was huge and although I was part of the group not making money made me feel on the outer. It’s starting to sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself but after the initial disappointment I came to the following conclusion. Yes it’s nice to win but money comes and goes and memories of this trip will last a hell of a lot longer. I also realise that I do need to lift my game and have a better understanding of the rules, so its time to play more constructed, download the VS Rulebook and stop making excuses. To anyone who has ever thought that they’d like to play in a major event, don’t let the idea that your not good enough deter you from going, it’s a blast playing in the Pro Circuit and is something that you’ll never regret! Paul Van Der Werk Vanwolfgang on the forums.
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