LOBSTERCON, an Old School Magic tournament hosted by New England Old School, was held on September 29, 2018 at the George Dilboy VFW Post 529 in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts.
The field was 94 players representing 18 states and provinces in the USA and Canada. Old School player groups in attendance included Chicago’s Lords of the Pit, Montreal’s Tundra Wolves, the Quebec City “brew” crew, New York’s Sisters of the Flame, the Fellwar Stoners of DC/Northern VA, the Beasts of the Bay, and the SoCal Deep Spawners.
Deck construction rules for the event followed the recommended B&R list and reprint allowances for 93/94 championed by Eternal Central. The EC Old School rules were used in their entirety, including the sudden death Chaos Orb flip rule to prevent match draws.
The structure of the tournament was seven rounds of straight Swiss pairings, both as a function of available time at the venue and also to produce a clear “winner” of the event. There was no cut to top 4 or top 8; however, for the seventh and final round, the two X-0 players at Table 1 played a longer match (“3 out of 5” i.e. “first to 3 wins”), setting up a true “final” in a sense.
Catering for the event was provided by local institution Kelly’s Roast Beef, who delivered a total of 56 lobster rolls and 34 bowls of clam chowder for players looking to enjoy a taste of New England during the short lunch break between rounds 3 and 4.
We also had a dedicated cash bar offering a range of libations including a few New England-centric brews: Sam Adams Lager and Sam Adams Octoberfest, Harpoon IPA, and Narragansett.
CHARITY SUPPORT
The event was organized as a fundraiser for Room to Grow in Boston, a non-profit that provides vital services to economically disadvantaged parents and families in Greater Boston. Room to Grow focuses on serving families from just before their child’s birth through age three, supporting them with individualized parenting education and coaching, high-quality baby/toddler supplies, and specialty referrals to community resources to ensure that their children receive a healthy and secure start in life.
All proceeds from LOBSTERCON ticket sales after expenses were donated directly to Room to Grow. In addition, attendees were invited to participate in a baby/toddler supply drive, in which items like clothing, books, toys, feeding supplies, car seats, etc. were donated to Room to Grow in-kind. We also conducted a raffle of unique Old School items, including an engraved leather NEOS playmat, a Khalsa-Brain Retro v5 Spellground, a unique Swords to Plowshares alter done by Jeff Menges specifically for LOBSTERCON, a whole pile of Old School sealed product, a 6×9 Chaos Orb, etc., with 100% of the raffle ticket sales going directly to the charity as well.
All told, the players at LOBSTERCON donated baby/toddler items valued at more than $734, plus another $2,381 in cash generated from event ticket sales and the raffle, for a total of more than $3,116 in support for Room to Grow. The generosity and kindness shown by the Old School Magic community topped even our already very high expectations. On behalf of Room to Grow and the families they serve, and from all of us at New England Old School, thank you!
GUEST ARTIST
We had the honor of working with Jeff A. Menges / Skaircrow Graphics for this event, and it was an absolute treat to have Jeff there with us at LOBSTERCON in-person. Jeff created original art and alters for the event playmat and prize support, and he also did signatures, sketches, and alters for players over the course of the afternoon. Having one of the original Magic artists in our midst was wonderful, and a singular opportunity for the community to show our love and appreciation for the iconic contributions that Jeff made to the game in those early years, and for his very passionate and friendly engagement with the Magic fan base ever since.
BRIEF REFLECTIONS and GRATITUDE
I have been lucky enough to travel to Pittsburgh (EC Old School @ Eternal Weekend), Gothenburg (n00bcon X), and Chicago (Old School Player’s Ball) over the past year, and I can freely and humbly admit that I was standing on the shoulders of giants in organizing this event, and did my best to honor and carry forward the already very rich traditions fostered by Old School player-organizers like Magnus de Laval, Jason Jaco, Bob Agra, and Lorenzo Novaro. LOBSTERCON followed in the spirit of these Gatherings with the aim to share both New England style Old School and New England style clam chowder with our fellow 93/94 players from other regions.
I am constantly humbled by the generosity, goodwill, and passion shown by players all over the world who love 93/94 Magic and give freely of their time and energy to what is now a thriving global community supported almost exclusively by player-organized events. The list of people to thank is quite long, but I’ll still attempt it — to our dedicated judge for the day, Josh Frankel, who ran a damn tight ship; to Jeff Menges, for our thoroughly enjoyable collaboration over the past several months; to Josh Tingley from Room to Grow, a Magic player and gamer in his own right, who was far more than I could have asked for in a charity contact; to Michelle from Gamingetc and Mike and Julian from Diamonds Mined, who provided a ton of value to the players with Old School inventory at their tables all day long, as well as some donated prize support; to Bryan Manolakos, Stephen Hartford, Adam M-W, Shaun Augeri, Jeff Grasso, D.J. Seco, Nick Batista, FRDT, Benoit Seveno, Eric Dupuis (Old Gods Gaming Accessories), Tim McMath, Shaman Ben, and probably half a dozen people I’m forgetting who all generously donated cards and items for use as prizes and raffle bait; to all of the Homarid Warriors who jumped in to help at various points over the weekend, including but definitely not limited to Jared, Jason Williams, Moss, Xanadude, Ryan Lesko, Mark Price, Scott, Curt, Will M, and 8_bit Paul; to Lord Agra and Lord Maldo for the vendor hook-ups and general good advice; to Ravi and Tino; to Lorenzo for our chat that night during the n00bcon X Top 8 when visions of lobsters were just a glimmer in my eye; to Magnus and Jaco, for obvious reasons.
PODCASTS / WRITTEN COVERAGE
Pitcast Episode 5 — Lobstercon
All Tings Considered Episode 32: Lobstercon — The Rack
All Tings Considered Episode 33: Danny Friedman — Potpourri
PHOTO GALLERY (MAIN EVENT)
PHOTO GALLERY (SIDE EVENTS and GATHERINGS)
FINAL STANDINGS
And now, on to the deck photos!
TOP 8: SPICE
HONORABLE MENTION: Paul Kovalov, Scimitar Surprise!
HONORABLE MENTION: Matt Mucci, Crypt Seeker
8th MOST SPICY: Benoit Seveno, Turbo-Pumpkin
7th MOST SPICY: Geoff Willard, Atog Minus Atog
6th MOST SPICY: Adam Merkado-Weiss, Stormy Mishra
5th MOST SPICY: Derek Stafford, Serpent Sindbad feat. Jump
4th MOST SPICY: Stephen Hartford, Blue Counter-Rack
3rd MOST SPICY: Nick Batista, Angelic Abyss
2nd MOST SPICY: Christian Arcand, Arboria Control feat. Master of the Hunt
1st MOST SPICY: Jason Beaupre, Tidal Vortex
TOP 8: SPIKE
8th PLACE: Danny Kelly, UWb Cat Control {2x Underground Sea behind cat}
7th PLACE: Will Magrann, A Tog
6th PLACE: Dave Firth Bard, Spice Rack
5th PLACE: François R Derbas Thibodeau, The Pain Train
4th PLACE: Ryan Lesko, URb Atog
3rd PLACE: Blake Burkholder, UWb
2nd PLACE: Danny Friedman, Apex Predator aka The Deck
1st PLACE: Bryan Manolakos, Spice Rack
ALL DECK PHOTOS
(alphabetical order by first name)
Albert Iemma – UG Berserk
Andrew Oliva – Grixis Brawl feat. Sol’Kanar
Andrew Walker – RUG Burn
Ben Wagnon – Grixis Disco
Bob Agra – Grixis Disco
Brendan Cox – UWR
Brett Attmore – Grixis Toys
Brian Fay – Ape Djinn in the Library aka RG Berserk
Brian Urbano – URb DibTog
Brian Wilson – Scorched Earth Policy aka Jund Ponza
Caleb Rogers – Mono Black
Curt Christian – The Deck
Dan Courcy – White Weenie
Daniel Paulsen – Grixis Goblins
Dave Dupont – URb Burn
Derrick Boyce – Esper Midrange
D.J. Seco – Disco Inferno aka Grixis Disco
Drew Epstein — Ohh It Hurts! aka URw Twiddle Burn
Eric Dupuis – Hymn Keeper
Erik Wittern – UG Berserk
Evan Johnson – BR Con-Troll
Evan Smith – UWg Beats
Gary Steffens – Grixis Disco
Greg Kotscharjan – UW Control
Greg Titcomb – UWR Eye for an Eye
Howard Jones – Pink Weenie
Ian McKeown – RUG Angel Zoo
Jackie Kenty – UBA aka Ub Shops
James Duncan – The Deck
James Lebak – Nayageddon
Jared Doucette – Bantamgeddon
Jason Dorman – Mono Black Midrange
Jason Morawksi – Tax Tower Tetravus
Jason Seaman – Troll Control aka Grixis Disco
Jason Williams – Atog Ball
Jeff Grasso – Air Traffic Control aka UW Skies
Jim Apostolakes – White Weenie
Jordan Goodwin – RUG Berserker
Joseph Mozer – RG Aggro
Karl Rivest Harnois – URb Counterburn
Kramer Lawson – Alpha 60
Louis-Gabriel Emond – Grixis Disco
Luke Zinnen – Tax Edge Combo/Control
Marc Flore – RG Berserk
Mark Price – Robots and Nightmares aka Big UWR feat. Rasputin
Mark Seccareccia – VGBB aka Twiddle Attack
Mark Shanly – Rotten Orb aka GB Aggro
Matt Moss – 5C Juzams
Matthew Deering – Esper Shops
Nathaniel Houle – East of the River Blackblade aka Esper Control
Nicky Scars – UR Burn feat. Inferno
Paul DeSilva – RUG
Paul Paloglou – UB Tempo
Pete Lankering – UWb
Peter Broadbridge – Ali Cloak
Petr Bocak – Junk
Ravi Prasad – GW Aggro
Rich Shay – Dark Keeper
Robert Westergaard – White Weenie
Ryan Arnold – UB Beats
Scott Bradley – Mirrorball
Shaun Augeri – Lich Better Have My Money
Stephen Maldonado – Pink Weenie
Stephen Preston – GB O’Brien Void
Tim McMath – UR Counterburn
Tim Moran – Lions Dragons Efreets Oh My! aka UWR Midrange
Tino Galizio – Mono Black Rack
Tyler Etters – Naya Aggro
Uric Simard III – Grosse rougeur aka Big Red
Xanadude – Esper Goodstuff
Yan Desmeules – Fatblack EC
Yanick Blanchet – UWG
The Sentinel 