I Walked 30 Miles — 2025 Eternal Weekend Recap

Written by James Connolly

For Legacy, Vintage, Old School, and Premodern players alike, Eternal Weekend is Mecca. Every year, players travel worldwide to the high-stakes, niche-format events. After missing Eternal Weekend 2024, I looked forward to the 2025 edition more than usual. It did not disappoint.

My performance in the Legacy Championship main event was abysmal. I dropped at 2-4, playing Cephalid Breakfast, a deck I put many reps into locally and on Magic Online (MTGO). It's a powerful archetype that was well-positioned for the event. The deck is complex; the margins between winning and losing when going off are thin and, I learned, too swingy for my play-style.

Two of my losses came resulted from being too aggressive with the combo or not aggressive enough. In hindsight, I should have chose a less high-risk/high-reward strategy.

This will be less of a tournament report and more of a highlight of the experience as a whole; the people, Pittsburgh, and its food.

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Eternal Weekend 2025

Aside from specific side events, Card Titan runs a wonderful yearly event. 2025 was was no exception. The staff, judges, and convention center were top-notch. The event felt well-organized and offered a high-quality player experience.

My lone complaint is about some side events. I played a Legacy Trial on Friday to compete for a round one bye in the the main event. $30 for a single elimination event felt terrible, especially with a round one loss. I won't participate in single-elimination events in the future.

Eliminate the Competition by Joseph Meehan

I would have loved a five-plus round Legacy Swiss tournament before the main event that isn’t the high roller event — $250 entry is too steep to be the only Swiss Legacy event aside from the main event. This was common sentiment and Card Titan confirmed they received this feedback and will adjust future Eternal Weekends.

Other issues I was aware of was my friend expressing was the lack of Vintage side events on Sunday for those who failed to Day Two the Legacy main event. Though Value Vintage events were available events, that is an entirely different format despite the partially shared name.

For many, Eternal Weekend is the lone event of the year they can play paper Vintage. Hopefully, there will be more Vintage events at Eternal Weekend 2026.

The People

The Tampa, FL, area has a wonderful eternal community. I flew out separately from the rest of my group due to scheduling. I arrived late Thursday night and my roommate at the hotel arrived the following morning. The other four friends in my group stayed in a different hotel.

The best part of these events is the Gathering. I caught up with other players from Florida who I had not seen in a while, which is always awesome. Aside from the Florida crew, shout out my opponents; every player was pleasant and fun to converse with.

This is the case with most events, but it felt truer this year. I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with other players throughout the weekend via introductions from mutual friends or standing in line in artist alley. Everyone I encountered was genuinely lovely.

Pittsburgh

Since my Legacy Championship run was shorter than I'd hoped, I had an abundance of time to explore Pittsburgh. My hotel was about a 15-minute walk from the convention center, so I paid close attention to the step counter on my Apple Watch — I walked for nearly 30 miles across the weekend.

During those walks, I took in the Pittsburgh visuals, which is beautiful. The PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium, where the Pirates and Steelers play, respectively, across the river, framed by old churches upon far-side hills and multiple near-side yellow bridges is an incredible backdrop for a Magic: The Gathering event.

I’ve been to events in many cities, most of which were held in lifeless, soulless convention centers or hotel banquet rooms absent outdoor views. On Sunday, I was burned out from playing Magic, so I bought a ticket to the Cleveland Browns/Pittsburgh Steelers game. I'm a lifelong Browns fan. It was a coincidence my favorite team was in town.

During breakfast on Sunday morning, I concluded that I'd regret not going to the game. On Sunday afternoon, I walked over the bridge past PNC Park, down the riverwalk with droves of Steelers fans and locals to Acrisure Stadium. There, my Browns performed worse than I did in the Legacy main event.

I somehow sat next to a really nice Browns fan from Cleveland, who has endeavored to see the Browns play in every NFL stadium. We talked ball the entire game. I gave him my business card to stay in touch. Perhaps he comes Tampa for a future game.

Acrisure Stadium is incredible. The energy and vibes were super high. I encourage anyone who visits Pittsburgh to catch view past the Jumbotron overlooking the river at the Pittsburgh skyline. Despite the Browns' loss, it was an unforgettable experience.

Pittsburgh's food was another high point. For lunch on Friday, while the bulk of my group played Vintage, I wandered for food and landed on a Brunch/coffee house called Sally Ann’s.

I ordered a Reuben Benedict — a fusion of two cuisines I'd never considered combining. It was so excellent I went back with my roommate on Sunday morning. We had the obligatory meatballs from Emporio on Friday night. They're fine, but the quality is inconsistent so it's skippable if meatballs aren't a must-have on your agenda.

On Saturday afternoon, my roommate ate at Mad Chicken near our hotel. It was a fast-food chicken strip place, similar to Chick-fil-A, but without any pleasant interaction from the staff. The inside looked like a dive bar without alcohol. The dining space was available, but a long table with napkins, cutlery, and condiments partially blocked the area, as if they didn’t want you actually to eat there. The lone employee, who was possibly the owner, seemed unpleasant and unfriendly, which I suppose was appropriate for a place called Mad Chicken. The food was cheap and I was into the unwelcoming vibes.

On Saturday night, we ate at Primanti Brothers, which is relatively inexpensive and without a long wait or hassle; highly recommend. On Sunday morning, we ran back to Sally Ann’s, which I can't recommend enough. I got the Brisket Hash and a black cold brew coffee, which were great.

On Sunday evening, we ate at an upscale hipster taco place called Täkō. It was dimly lit with an overtly “cool” atmosphere, which supposedly justified nearly $20 for orders of two smallish tacos. The tacos tasted good, admittedly, but were primarily served as an expensive appetizer since we left to eat elsewhere shortly thereafter. We landed at Rosewater Middle Eastern Grill — great chicken tikka, rice, olive salad, and hummus.

I took an early flight back to Tampa, pulling an all-nighter out of fear of sleeping through my 5:10 a.m. flight. Big shout-out to my Lyft driver, Carlos, who chopped it up with me about football en route to the airport.

I can't wait for Eternal Weekend 2026. I encourage anyone who hasn’t yet attended an Eternal Weekend to do so for a cool town, good people, and incredible memories.