Microsoftie Takes Fourth at Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix

Last weekend, more than 1,100 planeswalkers descended on Tacoma for Magic: The Gathering's Grand Prix. After the last lava axe had been wielded, the last craw wurm summoned, and the last holy strength enchantment cast, winners were announced and, lo and behold, the fourth place finisher was Seattle’s own Charles Dupont, 24, a software testing contractor for Microsoft.

Dupont has been playing Magic since he was 10, when the Renton-based Wizards of the Coast game was all the rage with newly freaky pre-teens. But something happened to Dupont even as the game faded: he found out he enjoyed playing it. He started playing competitively, first winning the state tournament and now finishing fourth at the Grand Prix.

He took $1,500 for his efforts and also won the right to play in the upcoming Magic Pro Tour in Austin, Texas, where the first place prize is $40,000. "I get a lot less teasing when I show them the winnings," said Dupont. "It makes an impression when I tell them I won more in a day than they did in a month."

If you want to start playing Magic like the pros, get out of the basement, grab your buddy Garruk Wildspeaker, and check out upcoming events. The next pro stop starts tomorrow in Hawaii. 40,000 bones would come in handy over there.