Woodrow Engle is a dual Magic and poker player from Seattle, WA. He broke into the upper tier of tournament play by making his first Grand Prix Top 8 at Grand Prix Oakland 2016.
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Ice Age
Rise of the Eldrazi
Lhurgoyf
Woodrow got started as a young kid playing Ice Age, just throwing decks together with his friends and loosely playing by the rules.
After Weatherlight, he stopped playing all the way through college. While working at a game development studio Woodrow was invited to a poker game where he met Ryan Spain and Marshall Sutcliffe, who ended up getting him hooked on Magic again.
From there he quickly went from re-learning the rules to implementing high-end Magic thought processes.
Woodrow likes the competitive aspect and how Magic can feel a bit like poker with more skills and variation.
He enjoys how he gets to meet so many people with varying experience levels, and how sometimes he has no idea how good the person playing across from him might be.
The toughest aspect of Magic for Woodrow when he started out was card evaluation.
It took him a long time to wrap his head around when a card was worth a slot in his hand.
Understanding the opportunity cost of not drawing another card in any given situation is a high level concept that takes time to develop.
In his first PTQ Woodrow placed 9th and knew from then on that he wanted to really step up and crush tournaments.
This was around the time the Jund deck took over the Standard scene, and Woodrow set out to brew decks to take it down. Then at the advent of the PPTQ system he managed to win one and made it to a regional Pro Tour qualifier, which he Top 8’d, but missed the qualification by one match.
When Woodrow felt like he was caught in the grind he took breaks.
Eventually though, he learned to manage his tilt by being mindful and staying positive about his performance.
He reminded himself that a single tournament didn’t define him as a Magic player. This made it more fun for Woodrow to play, as it’s tough to do well in a tournament if you take an early loss and then shut down.
He discovered that ranting about his losses to friends was not only uninteresting for them to hear, but stopped him from identifying his mistakes and pushing forward.
Limited
Woodrow admits it’s difficult to stay focused when you know you’re going to lose a few turns out, but contemplating your outs and staying focused is critical for developing skill.
Players should mentally construct their winning scenario even when they may seem down for the count. This kind of mental fortitude is the mindset all Platinum Pros have when they play, and it’s how a player levels up their own game.
Being results oriented instead of decision oriented is the crux Woodrow believes most new players face.
As you go through life you want to make sure the decisions you make are sound, even if the end results don’t reflect them. When in this mindset you can realize that sure, you lost a game, but you did everything in your power to try and win it.
Woodrow won a game against Josh Utter-Leyton, but a huge mistake he made in an early turn haunted him afterwards despite the win.
He considers those kind of mistakes to be huge learning opportunities that make him less likely to repeat his blunders.
Woodrow believes that Magic remaps your brain when a player gets really competitive. This has bled over into his normal life, changing how he makes everyday decisions. Trying to get maximum value from limited time with the best decisions possible is an important crossover skill for him.
Sealed: Card evaluation is crucial in sealed. Players need to be able to analyze not only the best case scenario for any given card, but also the middle and worst case scenarios as well. This helps a player decide whether a card is worth a slot in their deck.
Draft: Don’t get married to your early picks. Being able to read other player’s signals and what your seat is open to is incredibly important.
For GP Oakland: Woodrow ended up being talked into attending the tournament at the last minute while apartment hunting in the area.
Ryan Spain let him borrow a deck, but 90 percent of the cards were in a foreign language. With preparations rushed Woodrow had to strip cards out of his deck at random as he headed into the Grand Prix.
While it felt like he was going in blind, practicing for other tournaments had left him with a strong understanding of what he needed to do.
Like muscle memory, practicing across formats and staying well rounded can help steady your hand when you get thrown into less than ideal situations.
Deck box
Pad
Pen
Dice
Tokens
Surrounding yourself with people who are smart, supportive, and have a similar mindset to how you want to approach Magic will help you develop as a player.
This applies to life in general, as meeting and interacting with positive, analytical people will help you have more success in all your endeavors.
GP Oakland: Woodrow Engle vs. Josh Utter-Leyton
Twitter: @Woodrodius
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Ondrej Strasky is 20 years old and is already a Platinum Pro! He was the 2015 Czech World Magic Cup captain and has 1 Grand Prix Top 8 at Grand Prix Brussels 2015, and 2 Pro Tour Top 8s at Pro Tour Honolulu and Pro Tour Brussels. Ondrej lives in the Czech Republic.
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Time Spiral
Khans of Tarkir
Daze
Prague is the only city where Ondrej can play Magic a lot in the Czech Republic, which is about a 2 hour bus ride away for him. Because of this he mainly plays Magic Online.
While Ondrej tries not to place too much focus on winning or losing, playing in tournaments and the competitive aspect is what keeps him playing Magic. Since there is no one in his town that plays he doesn’t get to play much casual Magic.
The hurdle that tripped Ondrej up the most starting out was his play speed. He played too fast and missed critical card interactions because he didn’t pause to think them through. An additional 5 seconds helps Ondrej avoid stupid blunders. While addressing the way you play is a hard thing to do, the best way to improve is to just take a little extra time.
Ondrej grew the most in 2015 after landing in the Top 8 at his first Pro Tour. At the start of the year he moved in with 3 of the best Czech players and he wholly surrounded himself with Magic. They all streamed Magic, talked Magic, and of course played as much as they could, and Ondrej credits their skill with helping push him to the next level.
Ondrej’s proudest moment came when he finished 9th in a London Grand Prix. He was super prepared and an article in Star City Games by Brian Braun-Duin helped him find an amazing deck. While he didn’t take down the whole tournament, Ondrej is proud of how prepared he was and feels like he played the best out of everyone there.
If a tournament is on the horizon Ondrej wakes up and plays Magic until he passes out, and he might squeeze in a bite to eat somewhere in between. During the holidays he slacks off a bit, but now he’s busy learning archetypes and trying out decks.
He plays best in Standard, but he loves how fun Legacy is even though it’s not his best format.
Since the meta game shifts quickly in Standard, Ondrej tries to stay on top by playing Magic Online and seeing how others shift decks from week to week. In regards to setting up a sideboard, Ondrej tries to build it with his main deck in mind as a 75 card deck so he can pick the best positioned 60 to roll with.
Ondrej thinks players shouldn’t blame luck for their losses, but they shouldn’t beat themselves up when there wasn’t much they could do in a match to win.
Handling loss better can help a player see what they did wrong and learn from their mistakes.
Sealed: Ondrej doesn’t go to pre-releases too often, but he usually looks for cards that pop out to him instantly.
Draft: Ondrej finds the best three archetypes and tries to draft them. He talks to other people who drafted and find what cards are most important to each one.
Ondrej thinks you can prepare mostly by yourself for a Grand Prix, but definitely not a Pro Tour. He has a team of 15 and sometimes thinks that’s not even enough.
They will look at what decks are being played after the first Star City Open. Then they start playing and will ask Frank Karsten about deck matchups and post results in forums to help figure out what decks were best.
Pen
Deck
Deck box for Limited portion
Water Bottle: Ondrej says he stays insanely hydrated throughout a tournament.
A new player can start by building a Pauper deck and playing Magic Online, as decks super cheap.
Ondrej reads articles written by Brad Nelson and looks at decklist postings from recent tournaments. He thinks reading solid content and playing as much as possible is the best way to improve.
If you enjoy Magic play it a lot, and the best thing you can do is buy a lot of packs, watch coverage, and spread the word of how great a game Magic is.
Twitter: @OndrejStrasky
Facebook: Ondrej Strasky
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Brian Eason has 2 Grand Prix Top 8s and has played in multiple Pro Tours. He is a former Poker pro, and an aspiring HearthStone professional. He hopes to win a Grand Prix and Pro Tour one day. Brian lives in Atlanta, GA.
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Ravnica
Shards of Alara
Brian got started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! and found it a natural progression to make the move to Magic. The complexity and more mature, professional player base drew him in despite doing poorly at his first sealed events.
Bitterblossom
When Brian started to get competitive Bitterblossom played to his creative sensibilities.
The first thing for Brian is the competitive aspect. Big tournaments, Star City opens, Grand Prixs and the possibility of hitting a Pro Tour—basically the challenge of playing amongst the best. The second thing is the ability to be creative in deck building. This creativity and competitiveness make Magic Brian’s favorite game.
Brian admits he was terrible at Limited when he started. It took watching better players for him to realize he was behind and needed to up his game.
A lot of big stores in Atlanta have fostered play for about 20 solid players, but they’re scattered around the area. Brian finds smaller groups playing at local stores on the weekends.
Most of Brian’s growth happened when he first started playing. He played around people that were way out of his league, but being able to team draft with them gave him invaluable feedback. Brain thinks limited is the key to becoming a better Magic player, as the skills needed translate over to different formats.
In his first Grand Prix Brian made it to the second day but went 0-4 and lost against weaker players. This loss helped him realize his skill level and pushed him back to the drawing board. Brian analyzed the winning player’s strategy at the same Grand Prix to figure out what he was doing wrong.
Brian doesn’t have a specific, glorified moment that sticks out to him. What comes to mind for him is was placing second after his first time hitting the top eight at a Grand Prix. While bittersweet, he still is proud of how all his hard work and confidence materialize into a 2nd place finish.
Being a full time student and playing Hearthstone cuts into his Magic play, but Brian still tends to play one Magic Online draft a day. His playing incentives are driven by how fun the format is and what he gets if he wins.
Brian had a tendency to be impulsive and get caught up in the moment. Having a friend point out how he unnecessarily went all out early in a match helped him slow down.
Limited
If you want to have a good time with a descent finish, playing with a stock list with one of the better decks is the way to go. If you want to take down the whole tournament you have to do something that sets you apart—something like a tweaked deck or extra tech, and figuring that out comes from exposing yourself to different deck archetypes. Brian likes to do this to discover ways to exploit certain decks’ weaknesses.
“When you play Magic it’s a bloodbath…take every small edge you can.” Brian can confidentially say that giving away tells during a match is something newer players don’t take into consideration. Looking frustrated and throwing your hands up in the air is a surefire way to throw away a game. Make it hard for your opponent to know what you have in your hand, and better yet, use your tells to mislead them.
Sealed: Brian believes the key in Sealed is to focus on the long game, play greedy, don’t focus too much on synergy, and make sure every card in your deck is a good standalone. Don’t ignore the early game, but understand what your deck wants to do.
Putting too much emphasis on results can ramp up nerves, but going in with an experimental mindset to learn can make the experience a lot more fun. Talking with friends and getting feedback from a small group is invaluable when it comes to theory crafting and polishing your deck. Online forums are a great source too if you are a local player and don’t have any in-town connections.
Brian likes to travel light to conserve energy during a long tournament day:
Deck
Notebook
Pen
Dice
Water bottle
Snacks
Brian thinks that playtesting can be hindered by trying to jam as many games into one session as possible. Fast games can feel inorganic as it’s not comparable to how you will play outside the test. Going through deck lists with a group of friends and theory crafting while arguing back and forth about what should and shouldn’t be in the deck helps get to the root of your deck.
Magic is about creativity and flexibility, and when you build a Cube out of commons you can start a lot of discussion about deck building and have fun playing whatever version of Magic you can. Put yourself to the test and develop your skills.
If you’re a new player aiming for the competitive sphere it’s easy to get wrapped up in playtesting and not getting results. So whatever you do make sure you have fun with it, and remember, there’s no shame in taking a break if the fun fades.
Twitter: @bloodyfaceHS
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Aryeh Wiznitzer is a teacher and Magic grinder from Houston, Texas. After years of near misses, he has recently reached the professional level of play with Top-8 finishes at GP Dallas and GP Atlanta 2015.
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Tempest
Rise of the Eldrazi
Fire Covenant
Aryeh loves grinding tournaments. Traveling all over and competing in tournaments is one of Aryeh's favorite parts of Magic. He feels fulfilled when he gets to see the fruits of his labors.
Aryeh recognizes that sometimes he tries to be too creative. He used to try to play a cool deck and make the cool play instead of playing to win.
Winning more and more at his local store is when Aryeh realized that he could hang with the big dogs.
Top 8 Grand Prix Dallas 2015
Limited (at the moment)
Constructed: Deck choice and side boarding. People bring in the wrong cards in the wrong match ups and lose a lot of win equity.
Draft: Towards the beginning of a format take the rares and uncommons and see if they are good. Then you'll know which ones are worth getting later on when people know more.
Find others who as invested in the event as you are. If you play with someone who has the same goal as you then you can save hours of play testing, especially if they are better than you.
Deck
Playmat
Pen
Life pad
Swiss draft on Magic Online - even if you lose the first round you still have a chance to make back some of your investment.
Borrow cards.
Play aggressive decks. They are usually cheaper.
Grand Prix Atlanta 2015 - Check out Aryeh's amazing sealed pool.
Pat's Games in Austin Texas
Adrian Sullivan articles
Sam Black articles
Twitch.tv (Paul Cheon)
Twitter: @urafevermodo
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Lukas Blohon has an impressive Magic: The Gathering record with 5 Grand Prix Top 8s, including a win at Grand Prix Brussels 2015, and 2 Pro Tour Top 16s including a Top 8 finish at Pro Tour Dark Ascension. Lukas lives in Prague.
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Tempest
Ravnica: City of Guilds
Vendilion Clique
Limited.
Lukas is good at playing one deck over and over again and getting very familiar with it. Limited was his weak spot early on.
Training with Channel Fireball helped Lukas grow a lot because he was able to play with some of the best players in the world. This culminated in Lukas making the Top 8 of a Pro Tour.
Top 8 of Pro Tour Dark Ascension
Standard
Play all the big decks and see which works for you. Then play that one over and over again.
Mentally checking out. Whether you're winning or losing, stay engaged in the game and consider what you need to do to win.
Sealed: Synergies are always strong, but in Sealed you don't always get enough of what you need to make the synergy work. In that case, play cards that affect the board
Draft: Keep track of what's going on by noting the next picks behind yours. This gives you an idea of what the people to your left are doing. However, it's more important to track what's going on to your right. Do this by noting what is and is not being passed to you.
Use Magic Online to play anytime. You can put a few hours to good use without wasting time in transit.
Play the same deck as a trusted friend and share the insights.
Water
Snacks (Bananas)
Deck
Pen
Notepad
Constructed: Build a tier 2 deck (or whatever you can afford) and play over and over again. Also, find someone who has a similar goal as you and work together to improve and advance.
Star City Games
Channel Fireball
(The best people write for these sites.)
Twitter: @LukasBlohon
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Nicolas Beland is making a name for himself at the Pro Tour and has so far Top 32’d Star City Games Open Worcester, made the Top 8 at Grand Prix Quebec City and competed in Pro Tour Theros. He lives in Canada.
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Ravnica: City of Guilds
Ravnica: City of Guilds
Siege Rhino
Interaction with other people. Going to Grand Prix and competing with others is a huge draw for Nicolas.
Forgetting triggers. It wasn't until Nicolas started playing competitively that he learned the hard way to remember his triggers.
After his first Pro Tour, Nicolas had a bit of a big head, but he humbled himself and learned from others and experienced the most growth at this time.
Top 8 at Grand Prix Quebec 2015
Modern
Start with a style you already know and watch streams on the internet to learn how that deck plays out.
Playing the deck that won last week's tournament is a big mistake. Everyone will be gunning for that deck and will be ready for it.
Lands define a set. Pay attention to what the mana base can support. Also, familiarize yourself with the removal.
Separate creatures and spells and then organize them by converted mana cost to see what's playable.
Sealed is about tempo. Curve out and have removal to push through to the end.
Draft: Don't be afraid to switch colors if you are cut off. It's hard to recognize sometimes but important to know you can and should switch if the colors aren't coming.
Play all the big decks, pick the one you feel the best with and practice, practice, practice.
Proxying is a great way to do this.
Take one deck with you and do the best you can with that deck.
Clothes
Deck
Make friends and share card pools. Don't be afraid to submit a deck that is similar to the big decks but has substitute cards for the cards you don't have.
Daily MTG (Wizards of the Coasts)
Twitter: @NicolasBeland11
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Jarvis Yu enjoys formats with deeper card pools (especially Legacy). Having made one Grand Prix Top 8 in Legacy, as well as going 13-2 in Grand Prix New Jersey, he has also managed to win his only Top 8. Jarvis lives outside Washington.
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Revised (this is not the official symbol as set symbols were not around at this time)
Ravnica City of Guilds
Rishadan Port
Infinite diversity.
Starting out, Jarvis thought that a 1/2 for one mana was good - because it was "more efficient" than a 1/1 for one. He quickly learned that cards with abilities, like Eternal Witness, even though they don't have the best power/toughness/mana ratio are much better.
Zigging when everyone else zagged helped Jarvis grow. He saw (with the help of a friend) a strategy that wasn't explicitly supported in Ravnica City of Guilds. This opened his eyes to how to look at future sets.
Winning Grand Prix Seattle Tacoma 2015.
Legacy
Mulliganing when they shouldn't or not mulliganing when they should.
Know the match up and what you need to be effective in the early game. If you don't have that in your opening hand then ship it back.
Sealed: Jarvis runs 18 lands and looks for card advantage, big creatures and removal.
Play different decks, then settle on one and play against a lot of decks.
Extra cards
Snacks
Water
Pens
Paper
Build and play a pauper cube.
Jarvis mentioned a [card]Battle of Wits[/card] deck from Grand Prix Milwaukee 2002.
Twitter: @jkyu06
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Florian Reiter is a writer and editor from Munich, Germany. He has been writing articles about Magic for various German Magic sites has been active in the tournament scene since 2009. He has one Grand Prix Top 8 from GP Lyon 2015.
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Urza'a Saga
Time Spiral
Horned Turtle
Cryptic Command
The diversity of cards and strategies and the mental challenge.
The people he's meet and the friends he's made have kept Florian around.
Combat.
Concentrating and keeping track of combat tricks was hard at first. Practice slowing down and thinking through each combat phase is how to improve.
Florian improved the most when he surrounded himself with a group of really motivated Magic players, all striving to get better. If everyone is trying to win a Grand Prix then the collective knowledge will raise everyone's level.
Grand Prix Prague 2015 (Standard). Even though Florian only got Top 64 he feels like he really executed his game plan well. He approached the meta game from a different angle and brought an unknown deck that performed well.
Standard - Lower power level means more cards are playable
Not being introspective enough. Talking about luck is not a useful way to spend your time. Focus on what you can control and how you can play better.
If you really focus your energy on Magic you will improve.
Sealed: Sort out the unplayables. Lay out the rest by color. Determine what your really good cards are and build combinations that take advantage of the strengths
Watch streams and listen to podcasts. Magic content is largely free, so consume as much as you can.
There is no substitute for playing but there are lots of free things you can do to get better.
Florian's articles can be found on MTG Mint Card
Twitter: @HandsomeMUC
If you like the show, head on over to iTunes and leave an honest Rating & Review.
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Magnus Lantto is an online grinder turned pro. He’s a member of the European pro team Team Eureka. Magnus finished 5th place in the 2015 Magic World Championship, is the MOCS 2014 champion, and has 3 Grand Prix Top 8s which include 1 win in Grand Prix Milan. To top it off, Magnus Lantto has the distinguished honor of being the first guest on MTG Pro Tutor in 2016! He lives in Sweden.
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Fourth Edition (This set did not have an official symbol.)
Magnus feels Magic gets better and better every year. His favorite set is the most recent one.
Survival of the Fittest
Birthing Pod
Magnus has never seen a game that is as intricate as Magic. It changes every year and he loves how it stays fresh. There is a lot to think about. He loves how deep it is.
Magnus was really bad at the start of tournaments. The first round of an event he has made really bad mistakes. By focusing on the psychological aspect of the game you can identify problems and adjust. Magnus learned to slow down at the beginning of tournaments so he could improve on this weakness.
Playing Magic Online has really upped Magnus' game.
Winning Grand Prix Milan.
Modern
Rely on team mates to test and identify the best decks.
Blaming losses on bad luck. YOU did something wrong. Slow down and think about what you did through out the game. If you make a mistake in the middle of a game, don't give up. Stay focused and bounce back. Adjust your plan accordingly and stay in it.
Look for cards that create new archetypes. Is there a new mechanic that can be built around?
Sealed: Identify a clear win condition that exists in you pool.
Draft: What your being passed is more important than what you're passing. Prepare ahead of time by reading what others think about cards. Set reviews are a great way to do this.
Deck construction, specifically mana curve, is very important in draft.
Play regularly leading up to the event. Play with a group so you can get feedback. Join groups on FB and ask questions.
Deck
New sleeves (Dragon Shield or from MTG Mint Card)
Deck box
Find a way you can contribute to your friends / team. Be the driver, take people out, be a friend. You can make good connections and if you are helpful you can borrow cards or a deck.
LSV set reviews on Channel Fireball
Twitter - track what Magnus and others in the Magic community are up to
Twitter: @MagnusLantto
If you like the show, head on over to iTunes and leave an honest Rating & Review.
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