A bag of bugles, a bolt, a washer, and a check for $1370

This is a Magic card story. A lot of the card-specific details have been left out to make it more accessible. (If you’re a Magic player, you’re probably smart enough to fill in those details on your own anyway, but feel free to ask me anything you’re curious about.)
*Some small updates for 2018 - Almost all of my friends play Magic and know what a Grand Prix is, so I went through and cleaned up some of the terms.*

US Nationals 2018 Report - by Alex Majlaton *24th*

Every once in a while, a tournament comes along that makes you remember why you started playing in tournaments. A tournament that reminds you that you can still have a blast playing Magic. A tournament that makes you want to write a tournament report. That's what Nats was for me.

I played four straight weeks of tournaments (GP DC, PT Richmond, the team RPTQ, and GP Vegas) so I was unbelievably burned out and very disinterested in Magic (especially Standard), so I skipped GP Pittsburgh despite it being so close to me. Felt great - I don't regret it for even one second. Even though I was so tired of Magic, I still really wanted to attend Nats.