What does it take to be a pro gamer?
A few months ago, I registered for a semester at the University of Central Florida preparing to take a strong course load of science classes to prep and improve my candidacy for medical school. Although I absolutely love science, I couldn't decide whether the studying and monotony of spending long hours everyday behind a book was for me. Did I really want to be a doctor? This thought process eventually lead down a path of self-reflection and re-prioritizing things in my life. What did I really want to accomplish in life? What are the things I always dreamed about achieving but never thought even remotely possible? The first thing that came to mind, was the Magic Pro Tour.
When I first picked up Magic back in 2007, I played a ton of casual Magic with friends in the University of Florida dormitories and we would use our creativity to forge the best decks we could with dollar rares and bulk cards we picked up from booster packs scattered through random Walmart and Target runs. The game was interesting from the first time I picked it up, so I was always eager to learn more. To see how the best players in the world would play, I used to watch the Pro Tour coverage on the stream or on YouTube just to see what it was like. The highest level of Magic on the pro scene was really interesting and I admired those who were able to think on that deep of a level, but I didn't want to turn Magic into something ultra competitive for myself. Competition and I have had some problems in the past.
For those of you who don't know me, I used to be a pro Halo PC player back in 2005 and I've had my taste of the top. Although my time in the spot light was thrilling, thankfully it was brief. It hit me towards my final days on the ladder; I realized I wasn't accomplishing anything of worldly significance by being pro other than boosting my own ego sitting in teamspeak and vent lobbies discussing and gossiping over clan politics. The title of 'pro' held a negative connotation in my mind for many years afterwards. After learning how to play Magic, I allowed the dreams of the Pro Tour to evade me. I simply liked having Magic as a hobby and nothing more.
2012 was a strange year for Magic. A few months ago, countless articles reported that Magic: the Gathering was experiencing one of the highest growth rates in Magic players in the game's history. However, this year also brought a lot of problems to light. The charismatic and casual/competitive-friendly Tristan Shaun Gregson of Team Channelfireball was fired on charges of stealing product from the retailer and the extremely popular Evan Erwin of Star City Games disappointed the casual community by moving his 'casual content and spoilers' into premium content that stirred up a ton of discontent among a casual fan base of thousands. Furthermore, the Players Championship earlier this past summer reported extremely low viewings and the Magic community at large was disinterested. Disinterested with seeing the Top 16 best Magic players in the world that season compete against each other across 3-4 different formats? ... What? Although the amount of players playing Magic is increasing, people who took the reigns to help make Magic exciting on a professional and casual level were... well, a disappointment. The lack of huge amounts of support for the Players Championship were from the anonymity of the competitors. Who were they and what was their motivation for playing? What struggles did they endure during their life and what did they give back to the community? What qualities about them made us want to love them and follow their journey? Whether by fault of the players themselves or the lack of in-depth coverage by the Pro Tour, the story of our players would be nothing more than win percentages and statistics. Our so-called 'champions' would go unnoticed.
Fast forward to a few months ago when I had this epiphany that I wanted to compete in a Pro Tour one day. The goal I set out for myself was more than just competing in a championship for a card game; I wanted to inspire others to dream big. As we get older and our expectations become more realistic, we realize how far off and distant the goals we considered in the past really are. We consider that the work and dedication necessary to reach them far surpass what we are capable of or willing to put forward. Part of maturing is understanding our limitations and doing the best with what we have. However, I think the other part is constantly challenging those limitations and trying to exceed them every day. Spend every minute being better than you were 60 seconds ago. There's only one chance at life, so take every shot and make every shot count.
For me, the Pro Tour would be that shot.
So.. What happened in Tallahassee and Ft. Lauderdale?
As you would have guessed, I opened another foil mythic in Tallahassee that I had to pass. This was starting to become painful..
Tallahassee was a bit of a weird case. I was pretty sick the week before the PTQ and I wasn't sure I was able to attend at all. The professors at my university also decided to pack every exam under the rainbow the couple weeks before, so I wasn't able to conduct any practice or research since Tampa, so I went into the event blind and just for fun. We also ran into a situation where someone 'took' some of our cards off a table. Luckily, one of the co-owners of Gamescape in Tally, Benjamin Bloodworth along with Stephen's efforts caught the culprit on tape and we were VERY fortunate to recover the cards. After the whole fiasco, we ended up leaving quickly because the mood had definitely changed from having a good time to 'let's get the fuck out of this awful city.' Doesn't help that we're all mostly Gator fans too. No hard feelings, Tally.
This is the deck I ended up playing in Tallahassee. My sealed pool had a Desecration Demon and a Dreadbore in it, but the support for Black and Red was a little lacking. I liked Bant (G/W/U) Tempo back in Tampa, so I decided to give it a try and hope that my read on the format a couple weeks ago was still sound. Unfortunately, that was wishful thinking as I played against every Bant deck in the room that day and finished with a 3-3 record. The lack of hard (unconditional) removal spells around 2-4 mana made it difficult to apply mid game pressure and I usually fell to the wayside as my opponents played huge creatures in the late game that could easily outclass the size of most of my creatures. I did learn a few things from my opponents like overrating some cards and underrating others. Win some, lose some.
As for Ft. Lauderdale.... spirits for the team were high and I intended to cultivate that the week before. I finished up the Tampa article a few days before the event to rally up the team to make sure we were as hyped as humanly possible for this event. We were walking away with that invite and that was that.
After travelling all the way to Ft. Lauderdale the day before the event, Felicea, Evan, and I found our room and did some small travelling around the city while we waited for the other caravan to get into town. We stumbled upon Miami Subs that I could NOT resist walking into and we feasted upon their 'terrible for you but oh so good' menu. Afterwards, we swung by Coolstuff Games in S. Florida to see if they had anything interesting going on. The store was about the same size as the Winter Park location with a lot of EDH going on. Unfortunately, we got snagged by a trading shark that would not let up on trading with us, so we were unable to get any Commander games in before the others got into town. We headed back to the hotel to briefly meet up with the others and get some rest. After some late night chatting with Evan and laughing at Felicea's mid-rem cycle in-coherency we only ended up getting an hour or two of sleep. It was completely irresponsible, but what kind of adventure would it be without some laying back and enjoying the moment?
The next morning, we went out to the port where the convention center was located and prepared for the day. With a breakfast full of muffins and coffee along with the determination that outclassed anyone in the room, I was ready. After Tampa, I spent all of my preparation on the Draft portion of Return to Ravnica and knew that if I made it to the Top 8, I would be going to Montreal; no questions in my mind. I just needed to survive the swiss portion one more time.
After all was said and done, I received my final pool and here's the list I sleeved up in Ft. Lauderdale:
1x Keening Apparition
1x Azorius Arester
1x Korozda Guildmage
2x Sunspire Griffin
1x Centaur Healer
2x Axebane Guardian
1x Trestle Troll
1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
1x Azorius Justiciar
1x Sluiceway Scorpion
Spells (11):
1x Druid's Deliverance
1x Ultimate Price
1x Rootborn Defenses
1x Eyes in the Skies
1x Launch Party
1x Slime Molding
1x Knightly Valor
1x Collective Blessing
1x Coursers' Accord
1x Assassin's Strike
1x Horncaller's Chant
Lands: (17):
3x Golgari Guildgate
8x Plains
5x Forest
1x Swamp
I know what you're thinking. Collective Blessing and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice in the same sealed pool? Holy shit. The deck is phenomenal and I couldn't have asked for a better pool. The bomb cards were also in the colors of the archetype I played the most and had the most success with. I also knew Selesnya was favored against the archetype I expected to face the most that day: Izzet aggro. Out of the 4 PTQs this season, this was my favorite and most powerful deck built. Let the gauntlet begin.
Here's a brief summary of the rounds:
Played against a very quiet guy conveniently named David as well. In Game 1, he knocked my life total to a very low 9 life with a very large Wayfaring Temple and an army to support it. With Trostani and Collective Blessing on the board and very few creatures, I was dying quickly. After playing a Sunspire Grififn to stabilize, my opponent slapped a Stab Wound on it and would slowly drain me to death. At 7 life during my upkeep, I drew into a Korozda Guildmage. I read the card a couple times, then look at my battlefield consisting of TWO black sources. Oh. My. Goodness. I cast the Guildmage and gained 5 life from the Trostani trigger and passed the turn. After my opponent entered the read zone with his 9/9 temple, I used the Guildmage's second activated ability and sacrificed the wounded Griffin and said 'put 4 tokens into play?' My opponent passed priority and I said 'Trostani triggers for the 4 tokens?' and my opponent again passed priority. Then, the most painful words my opponent probably heard that day 'I gain 16 life?' He says 'what?' He reads the Guildmage then looks at the board and reluctantly oks the life gain. Then, I put all 4 tokens in front of the Wayfaring Temple to guarantee that it dies. After his temple finally falls, he concedes the game. He didn't want to shake my hand and didn't wish me good luck. Harsh. In my head, I realized 'I have a combo in my deck.. O_O' I take a swift 2-0 victory after he's demoralized in Game 1.
I didn't think it was possible, but I played against an even more quiet individual named Dairon. We had almost no conversation, so it was strictly business. Since I predicted Izzet/black to be the most dominant deck at this PTQ, this was an easy 2-0 sweep in a little less than 10 minutes. I wished him luck and quickly rallied around the room offering emotional support for everyone during their matches. In this round, I spent a lot of time standing behind teammates during their rounds as they played, sort of playing the coach role. Dairon came up to me often throughout the day and asked how I was doing in the rounds. Fortunately for him, he destroyed the entire field and finished the swiss portion with a X-1-1 record and made Top 8. Good on him.
I played against a conversational guy named Adam. He made some pretty blatant misplays in Game 1, so I knew that this set would be a little easy. After making unprofitable combat trades in the early game, he had no army to deal with my Collective Blessing in Game 1 AND 2, so the match ended in a clean 2-0 win. Up until this point, I hadn't used any Sideboarding in Rounds 1-3, so I was feeling very confident with the main list as is.
Round 4: Rakdos Aggro
Played against a very confident guy named Chris. After a couple misplays, I knew fatigue was getting to me and I ended up throwing the match away with an 0-2 loss. My opponent would eventually finish with a X-0-1 record and make the Top 8.
Round 5: Selesnya Mid-Range (with Blue Splash)
I played against an Orlando regular at Coolstuff named Michael. He was a bit of an odd player, but I ignored it and focused on the game at hand. In Game 3, we hit a huge stalemate that was ultimately taken into turns because time in the round had elapsed. With judges and teammates surrounding the match, the pressure was on. On my final turn after swings, his life total still remained above 0 and we resolved for the draw. Immediately afterwards, Ed asked the judge how static abilities on creatures work. Frankly, I was really confused. After a bit of clarification from the judge and my teammates, I didn't realize my Rhino token via Horncaller's Chant had Trample.
Ugh.
I've never cast the card before, but that's no excuse for not knowing about mr. trampling rhino. Since I didn't physically assign Trample damage during the damage step, it's treated as a missed trigger and the extra point of damage I needed to kill off my opponent went missed. I felt really defeated after this realization.
Round 6: Izzet Aggro
After two excruciatingly poor misplays in Rounds 4 and 5, I sat across a refreshingly friendly and upbeat player named Cody. With some really fun games and joking around, I took a 2-0 victory. Luckily, Cody was trying to leave in order to get back home in Tampa since it was getting late, so he was content with the outcome. We wished each other well and both finally were able to forage for some dinner.
Round 7: Bant (U/W/G) TempoThis round would probably be the most important throughout the entire day. With a 4-1-1 record, I needed to win out the rest of the swiss for a chance in the Top 8. Any record of X-1-2 or X-2-1 would not make it. These next two rounds were it.
I was paired up against a guy I've met a handful of times at Mega GC in Gainesville, Joshua. He and I've had several discussions about Magic in the past, so I knew he was more than a competent player. We enjoyed some pre-game jitter conversation about what it would be like to get the Top 8 and win the tournament before starting the round. In Game 1, we played the same exact spells for the first 5 turns. After some profitable combat trades, I came on top. In Game 2, he stabilized towards the mid game and slammed the bane of my existence, Angel of Serenity and swung in for lethal. Game 3 would be the deciding factor of who still had a shot at the Top 8.
Our round was going into the late stages of time and was drawing up a large crowd. Teammates, friends of friends, and judges were collectively crowding around us. This was the feature match. Since this was the clutch game and I knew my opponent had Angel of Serenity, I knew I had to amass a large number of creatures in order to seal this game away if it went into a board stall. And a board stall it was. I committed an early Trostani to the board to start the army building and force a ton of late game pressure on my opponent by making 2/2 Knight tokens every turn off of a Knightly Valor. I simply needed time. Then the dreaded words: a judge called time in the round. With only 5 turns left, I couldn't get enough time to amass the army I needed and on my Turn 4, alpha-striked with ever creature I had. Unfortunately, it only took him to 8 life and he moved onto the last and final Turn 5. On his turn, he looked at me and we exchanged a very subliminal exchange of words 'what now?' With no board presence, a low life total, and no relevant cards in hand, Josh knew there was no way he could secure victory.
Josh: 'What happens now? With a draw, neither of us can make the Top 8'
Judge: 'You have to make a decision'
Me: 'You can't make it to Montreal anyways'
Josh: 'I've never made Top 8'
Me: 'It's your turn, your choice'
He knew I wasn't going to concede the round because I was ahead on board and I was presenting lethal one turn away. Although I felt bad that he couldn't make it to Montreal because of prior commitments, I made it clear in the beginning of the match that getting the PT invite was the most important thing to me that day. After some consideration and weighing this extremely difficult choice, he opted to concede. I asked if he was sure and he said he was. I shook his hand and thanked him before promptly putting my head on the table.
I couldn't thank Josh enough for what he had done. He was, in no way obliged to give me the win, but he gave me a fighting chance for the Top 8. I was still live in the tournament and it was because of his good sportsmanship. Unfortunately, fatigue was getting the best of me and I knew that not staying hydrated and not resting the night before were taking their toll. I needed to keep myself calm for just one more round. Without any room for rest because time in Round 7 had just elapsed, I moved into the last and final round immediately after.
In the final round, I sat next to Ed, the TO of CoC Milennia and very skilled Magic player as we both fought for a spot in the Top 8. I sat across a guy named Michaelle that I had played and lost to in Round 2 of the Ocoee PTQ. I knew he was a good player, so I was expecting nothing less than a difficult round. Unfortunately, he drew into great fixing and a ton of gas while I ended up getting flooded with lands in both games. It was a bit of a heartbreaker, but I ended up losing 0-2. I wished my opponent luck and walked away from the tournament table in disappointment. Michaelle would also later compete in the Top 8.
With a 5-2-1 record in Ft. Lauderdale, I placed 18th with a 68.8% win percentage.
I definitely was somewhat crushed because I felt like I had one of the best decks in the room and I knew I had one of the best grasps on the format as a whole. I sat down for a little bit with Travis and Stephen who were awaiting results and hanging out. Fortunately, Travis, Jules, and Ed all placed in the Top 16, so I was very happy for them. After the loss in Round 8, a few people came up to me, including Dairon to shake my hand, pat me on the shoulder and told me that they really enjoyed the games I played and said I really deserved the Top 8. Without gushing too much, it was really a great feeling that people got to see the games I played in and really enjoyed them. Then..
Judge: 'David Jetha!'
Me: 'What?'
Judge: 'Come here!'
Me: 'What did I do?'
Judge: 'Here.' Hands me 8 booster packs*
I reluctantly took them, then looked at them, then looked back at him. 'What are these for?' The judge responded: 'you got 16th place, take them.' I was a little in disbelief, but I found out a little later that two players were disqualified for cheating and so we all got bumped up 2 slots. Well then. I walked up to Josh who was talking to some friends and handed him 4 of the booster packs. We exchanged no words, but simply understanding. Then, we sat down and had a friendly pack war with some of his friends and laughed about how broken Lobber Crew is. I rejoined the team afterwards for some last minute pictures and a little discussion over all the trading going on in the sidelines throughout the day. Afterwards, we said goodbye to some and stayed for drinks and dinner with others. Overall, it was a great day.
Across the 4 PTQs, overall I went 20-8-2 in rounds with a 71.4% win percentage with 2 Top 16 finishes and 1 Top 8 finish. With almost no FNM appearances this season, I managed to place in the Top 50 ranked players in Florida this season; that was a pretty amazing feat.
But the victory behind this season was more than just the statistics. This season, Casual Net became a real team. We grew not only as players, but as a family. Even though it's already been 4 events, it's still amazing how we can always keep coming back together for these events, meet a ton of great people, and enjoy the experience of Magic and the camaraderie it ensues.
So we revisit the question of what it takes to be a professional Magic player. As it is in sports, academics, and any hobby, being a professional and a champion is more than being skilled, it's a state of mind. When you walk into an event, you know that you put in enough preparation and dedication into competing in that event that you're confident that you'll walk home with a first place finish; anything less is disappointing. I believe that being a champion or a professional should be more than simply the raw statistics. A professional accepts their limitations and continues to challenge them. Champions impress other competitors with their maturity, humility, and passion for the game. Champions carry a state of mind not only to expand their own knowledge and depth of understanding of the game, but to cultivate a community that carries the same aspirations of competing on the tournament scene and playing the highest level of Magic possible, whether that be on the Limited or the Commander table.
For myself, I feel like I've grown a lot over the past few months. I'm fortunate to have the blog as a way to record the whole journey and as a tool to hopefully encourage other players to take on the gauntlet. Right now, I'm reluctant to call myself a professional, but I definitely feel like a winner at the end of the day.
Be involved in the community, help new players, and never stop having fun. Stay inspirational and you may be a champion yet. Until the next season, Magic players.
-David J.
Some special thanks to Casual Net for the season:
First, to my admins..
We could not have accomplished this much without your hard work and dedication. Both of you have given so much to the group and have helped me with both advice and guidance. I hope that our efforts together will bring more success to this group and our team as we move forward.
Our top finishers..
Robert Williams - Top 16 in Tampa
Jules Jeannin - Top 16 in Ft. Lauderdale
Travis Comnick - Top 16 in Ft. Lauderdale
Stephen Poindexter - Top 32 in Tampa
Chris Hogg - Top 32 in Tampa
Javier Remy - Top 32 in Tallahassee
Felicea Van - Top 32 in Ft. Lauderdale
Everyone who attended and hopefully had an amazing time on this journey..
Javier Remy
Stephen Poindexter
Emily Weber
Evan Forster
Gyula Gorezcky
Nick LoCastro
Chris Hogg
Jules Jeannin
Robert Williams
Travis Comnick
Justin Ashori
Matt Kiep
Luke Christakis
Felicea Van
Geovanny Perez
And of course to my non-Magic/muggle friends and family who have supported me throughout this journey. You guys are my inspiration and make me want to be a better person everyday.
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