I want to give a quick word of thanks for @JustActTypical on Twitter who has made it possible for me to experience Comic-Con the last 3 years.

As many of you know this past week was San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve been very fortunate to get to go the past three years to at least one day of the actual Con. The past two years a lot of my time has been spent playing magic in the open gaming room and going to panels on some of my favorite TV shows. The past couple of years, Wizards and Magic in general have not had a huge presence at the Con. There is always an open gaming area, and last year there was a panel. They often have a booth to demo Duels of the Planeswalkers, and sometimes a member of R&D will come gunsling (bring a deck and play against all-comers) in the gaming area for a while. Today I present Part 1 of my Con Experience!

This year Wizards really stepped up their presence and their availability. They created an off-site MTG Experience that anyone could go to (and get a sweet Euro land, or a foily Merfolk Mesmerist).  This was really beneficial because I only had a Con badge for one Day this year. I had actually arranged to come play a game of EDH/Commander with Scott Larabee from Organized Play on Thursday night (we’ve been playing regularly on MTGO but I had not met him in person).

I checked in on Facebook, got my Euro land and then proceeded to ask where I could find him. I was told to just knock on this back door and he would be in there. What I didn’t know is that the door would be answered by Mark Rosewater (@Maro254 himself)… I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t often meet people whose work I read regularly or helped design something like half the cards I play with. I felt awkward and out of place immediately so I did the only thing I could think to do: Ask for him to pose for this photo with me and Scott Larabee next to a giant Jace statue. After I was done freaking out I was able to get in a game of EDH with Scott and his awesome Damia, Sage of Stone BUG Zombie Tribal Deck (I think the Green was just for Glissa, The Traitor and Vulturous Zombie). I played my Nicol Bolas EDH (which I will be showing off on here someday), and two friends joined us playing Maelstrom Wanderer and Ghave, Guru of Spores. The game was pretty epic with Ghave controlling the board while Maelstrom Wanderer sat back and waited turn after turn to find a green source. Once he finally dropped a forest into play, it was pretty much game over for the rest of us (cascade is broken just in case you didn’t know). It was an awesome time getting to see all the cool FBB (Foreign Black Bordered) duals and shiny foils in Scott’s deck and showing off some of the ones in mine! I really enjoyed that there was somewhere to play a few games of Magic and by sweet Magic products like a Planeswalker Symbol Messenger Bag that was off-site. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for San Diego residents to get to experience the Con, so this helped bring a little part of it to the public.

Friday morning I arrived to the Con with Dallas (@JustActTypical) around 5am in order to stand in line to get badges. What do you do when you have to be somewhere 3 hours early and sit in a line? Play more EDH obviously (noticing a trend?).  In past years we have gotten in line this early in order to sit in one room all day long (the big TV show/Movie panels) but this year I wanted to try and meet some of the awesome artists that I know from Twitter and get some work done on my Spellground Playmat.­­ Rk Post (@postrk , artist of such cards as the Avatars, Morphling, Torchling, Arbor Elf, Tidehollow Sculler, Owen Turtenwald penis tokens…) often complains on Twitter how no one ever brings him coffee at events. So armed with a Venti Mocha from Starbux I marched up to him with my Playmat in hand. His first remark to me was “You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.” Rk is an awesome guy with a great personality, and a wry sense of humor. I found him to be so approachable and willing to play along with jokes.

Case in point (this next paragraph is not PG-rated): Another artist at the con @inkwell_looter has been doing tokens of Pro Players for Channel Fireball. Rk Post has been altering tokens of Owen Turtenwald to have a giant penis. I of course wanted to get one of these (because I am like a 12 year old some days). Rk came up with the idea to alter the token as Demon Turtenwald and then have me take it over to Inkwell’s booth and have him add on to the perverted drawing (if you’re brave it can be viewed here). Going back and forth between the booths of two artist’s I really enjoy getting penis drawings was one of the best memories I have from Con. I also purchased a more normal Zombie Token and Zombie Goat Token from Inkwell, who was cranking out amazing full color individualized tokens all weekend (I saw numerous other people with them).

I have never really gotten to interact with artists and people in the Exhibit Hall before. In past years I either avoided the Hall due to crowds, or I walked the floor for a few hours, looking at stuff but not stopping to meet/talk to people. Twitter has opened up relationships with so many people online, that felt great to interact with some of these people in person (crazy concept I know). Both Rk and Inkwell were awesome and I would get a chance to interact with Inkwell in a Magic Setting later on Friday Night (coming in Part II). I can’t believe I have already reached 1000 words (typical length of my posts) and we are only to lunch time. Join me next time when I talk about the Magic Panel and the Special Sealed Event I was fortunate enough to play in.

I want to thank all the readers who have been coming to check this out. I can be reached on the comments here and @HobbesQ on twitter! I appreciate any and all feedback.