The 2012 Blowfish Invitational Buildup

With a mere five days to go before the inaugural Blowfish Invitational, I can already feel the excitement building, and I'm not just excited about the amazing Magic that is going to be played this weekend.

When Wizards of the Coast changed the format of the old Worlds competition to the current Magic World Cup, South Africa lost it's largest Magic the Gathering event. Many mourned the loss of Nationals, but the new Magic World Cup Qualifiers not meant South Africa had almost double the number of PTQ-style tournaments.

However, there was a still the inevitable gap left by the lack of a massive two-day tournament that would pit South Africa's best against each other. And so Blowfish Entertainment responded.

There has been much debate over the manner in which players could qualify for the Invitational. Whilst there are an almost unlimited number of ways in which Blowfish could have managed the qualification process, one of the participants of the coming tournament phrased it in a most appropiate manner: "an event that could have the feel of Nationals, yet still be casual enough to allow anyone to qualify."

South Africa's best Magic the Gathering players fill the roster of the upcoming players - albeit a few notable absences - the tournament promises to sate the South African desire for a competition in the vein of Star City Games Open and the regular Grand Prix's that take place overseas. 

I will be there for the entire coming weekend, not as a participant, but as an observer, sharing what I see with anyone willing to follow my LiveBlog. And this is what truly has me excited for the Invitational, not that I am missing out on playing against the best, but that I can watch and enjoy the best of South Africa come together and go head to head over an entire weekend.