Incremental Growth goes to the Grand Prix

While me having to be in North Carolina for the week is a very very unfortunate and unpleasant circumstance, it does give me the opportunity to make a stop this weekend at Atlanta for the Grand Prix. Personally, I need something like this to get my mind off of such heavy matters so that I can resume normal life upon returning to Seattle.

But preparation? I pretty much stay up all night at the hospital with my work laptop, which rules out Magic Workstation, and then sleep all day. I have zero product with me, as I wasn't worried a whole lot about Magic cards when I made the trip, so when I arrive on Friday for the Trials, I will have not played Magic for the entire week.

But I wonder if that will have a positive or negative affect on my game? I've taken two relatively long breaks from Magic from doing drum corps for the entire summer, and both times I have come back pretty rusty at my game and lacking focus, and I would need a few weeks or an entirely new format to get back into it.

But I've been doing three paper Shards drafts a week since it come out, certainly more if you consider side drafts at PTQs and the couple draft-all-days. I'd like to say that I have a general grasp on card evaluations and what synergies and combos are available, yet I'm still making on-board mistakes and such. A semi-fresh look at the format will hopefully open my to things I'm not seeing and free me from some shortcuts and mental blocks that have been negatively affecting my game.

Alright, hopefully I'll find some things on the Interweb to write about before the Grand Prix.