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The Week That Was: The Tournament That Almost Wasn't

August 01, 2025
Corbin Hosler

Sean Gallagher, Rob McKenzie, and a handful of others stood at the door, flipped on the lights, and looked out at what their hard work had wrought. The table numbers were out, the chairs had been set, and the registration software was ready to go. So was the small crew of Magic players and judges who saved the weekend.

Where there's Magic, there will be a gathering. And if there's Magic, there's a way. So when disaster struck an event planned for last weekend in Minneapolis, the Magic community came together to create a very special moment.

"The event was canceled on Wednesday. Within an hour, I messaged Rob and asked if he thought we could get something together," said Gallagher, one of the original masterminds. "I knew I had a friend of a friend who used to work at a local store. We got ahold of an event coordinator, and the next thing I know, we're getting a quote on a room.

"It was a very exciting 48 hours."

And so began the whirlwind that turned into what may be Minneapolis's most memorable Regional Championship Qualifier tournament (and certainly its most impromptu). By the time the dust cleared, Gallagher, Rob McKenzie, and the rest of the volunteer crew had pulled off something that no one asked for but no one will forget.


...

Let's step back. Our story begins at the end of another, when a flood of festivals, concerts, and other events made the large NRG regional planned event in the Twin Cities unfeasible. Large-scale, long-term tournaments are difficult to plan. Occasionally, conflicts can cause unplanned changes to the schedule. That's what happened in Minneapolis, and the late cancelation meant that several players had already booked their travel plans for the weekend.

Worse, the lost event meant a lost chance to play competitive Legacy. The format has a thriving scene in the Minneapolis area, and its adherents had been gearing up for a big event.

It was the most disappointing development possible, and one that Gallagher, a veteran of both the US Midwest regional circuit and the Regional Championships that lead to the Pro Tour, couldn't let stand if he could do something about it. And while he wasn't sure exactly what needed to be done, he did know where to start: with McKenzie, who had been tabbed as the head judge of the canceled event.

"I've been running events since 2004. My hobby is helping this stuff happen, and I was originally booked anyway as the head judge, so I was like 'Let's go,'" McKenzie chimed in. "I reached out to the judges who were originally part of the event, and three really strong local judges stepped up."

The seed had been planted, and from that initial call, it didn't just grow. It exploded. Soon, word was getting out, in many cases just minutes after the original news of the cancelation broke. The NRG Series event wouldn't be happening, but there was still momentum to play Magic.

That momentum continued to build, and within hours, Gallagher and McKenzie found themselves tasked with creating an event from the ground up along with organizing everything and everyone who wanted to pitch in. After all, Magic players across the world know the feeling of a tournament trip being canceled. It's not just about the lost time and effort put into testing and building decks for the event. To put it simply, it's also about the lost hangs.

"I've been playing a long time, and I know it's very unfortunate if you have to cancel an event. People come to these events planning on hanging out with their friends, so we wanted to give them something to do," Gallagher said. "It's very nice to give back even a little bit. A lot of the people who would have played the Minneapolis event don't usually play events that aren't in Minnesota; we had people driving in from 3 or 4 hours from the west to play."

The fever dream Gallagher had upon the cancelation news was quickly becoming a reality, and the community took it from there.

"We had a lot of people who donated random things," Gallagher explained. "We had the big cards they give out at events donated, sealed product, artist proofs, even a few prints. We ended up with enough to do giveaways between every round."

Efforts didn't stop there. NRG worked with the team to sanction the event as a two-slot Regional Championship Qualifier with a $1,000 prize pool, adding real weight to the event. Volunteers called around to every store and venue they could find, and NRG helped to facilitate the booking and payment needed to get things off the ground. The team set up registration for Saturday morning on site—like the early Grand Prix days, McKenzie noted—and after two and a half days of frenzied and furious preparation, the team found themselves looking out over the tables and chairs wondering the same thing that every Magic event organizer has thought since 1995.

"When we started trying to gauge interest, it was really hard. We wanted to do something, but the locations you can book change a lot if you're looking at ten people versus fifty people, and we didn't know how many people would show up," Gallagher admitted. "So, it was 9:30 a.m. at the site, and there were just a few of us standing there.

"An hour later, there were thirty to forty people in the room."

Not just a success, but even players turned out than originally hoped. Almost fifty players ended up playing in the RCQ, with more gaming throughout the room. Jake Coenen defeated Dan Penton in the finals of the tournament, but by that point, it was clear this was about more than the invites; the vibe on the RCQ that wasn't meant to be was a refreshing experience for all involved and why we work so hard to gather for Magic.

"Normally, people will lose two rounds and drop. But in this event, multiple people played every round," McKenzie explained. "They thought it was great and just wanted to participate and chill and play in more community events like this."

"I think it was really rewarding," Gallagher added. "People were very excited to have something to play in. They saw the quality at which it ran—this wasn't thrown together in a basement. We made it as fun as possible."

It didn't stop there either. Level Up Games in Saint Paul stepped up to host the Legacy event on Sunday, filling a niche for one of Magic's most dedicated fanbases.

Between the two venues, what could have been a lost weekend of Magic instead turned into one of its best.

And it won't be the last, either.

"We were able to get nearly fifty people with three days' notice. With more notice, we think we can do more," Gallagher said. "We want to try and do events between competitive seasons or experiment with formats like Premodern. If we can do that, break even, and hang out with our friends, that's doable and would be great."

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