Chris Botelho is a relatively new player who started playing in Fate Reforged. Grand Prix Portland was his first Standard GP (second GP ever) and his only Top 8. He works at CCGHouse, and goes to sleep each night a little bit better at Magic than when I woke up. Chris lives in Vancouver Washington.
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Fate Reforged
Dragons of Tarkir
Demonic Pact
Make Mischief
Connecting with new people face to face.
Playing creatures in Main I instead of saving mana for combat.
When Magic Origins launched, Chris used a sealed pool generator to practice building decks. He was able to translate which cards were good from sealed to draft. Also, when Chris was testing for GP Portland. He loved his deck and practicing it was fun.
Caleb Durward
Chris had two chances to make day 2 of his first Grand Prix and missed both. Play around cards not effects.
Top 8 at GP Portland
Draft
Getting your ego wrapped into the game. Look at every game and say "I know I made a mistake , what was it and how can I learn. "
Sorting commons every set
Evaluate how your deck is going to win.
Love Magic. The more you love it the more you'll practice.
r/spikes
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Ryan Solave is from Sarnia, Ontario and has been playing Magic since Alara block. He plays a lot of online games, but sets aside most of his time for Magic. He had his first Grand Prix Top 8 in Indianapolis and is qualified for PT Kaladesh in Hawaii.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Ryan Solave when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep134
Alara
khans of Tarkir
Bloodbraid Elf
Player base is great. People are competitive but still nice.
The Stack. Ryan was not good at it early on.
After Khans came out Ryan hit events hard. By consistently playing at a high level Ryan got experience.
Owen Turtenwald
At GP Toronto Ryan made a huge misplay. He assigned 1 damage to tokens when his opponent had a Gideon Emblem.
Top 8 at GP Indianapolis
Steppe Lynx
"How are you going to win this game."
Learning different formats has helped Ryan read his opponents better.
Over side boarding
Choose a deck and play against the gauntlet starting a month.
Deck Box, Pad, Deck
Use same water bottle, make list
Learn the stack. Know when you can respond and what you should respond to. Learn the removal of the format.
Play whatever is most fun for you. Just have fun.
Focus on your own mistakes.
Twitter: @RyanSolave
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Ethan Brown is 13 years old and loves to play Magic! Since he started playing almost 4 years ago, he has competed in 7 Grand Prixs, made day 2 in 4 of them and top 8 in one. His favorite formats are modern, legacy and pauper. Ethan lives in Portland.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Ethan Brown when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep133
Return to Ravnica
Theros and Time Spiral
Olivia Voldaren
Rune Snag
Selesnya Conclave
Like complicated mind games.
Deck building and drafting.
Solution: Listened to Limited Resources podcast.
During Theros, Ethan grew a lot as a player.
Paul Cheon
Playing against Splinter Twin. Ethan forgot to sideboard.
Grand Prix Los Angeles 2nd place. Started a journal to track sideboards.
Play often and after every game ask opponent what's the best sideboard choices.
Bad at constructed deck building. Practicing by building proper deck.
Modern and Legacy
"I'm a very fast player." Slow night.
Don't be afraid to go to tournaments.
Not asking for help from others.
Decks, Sideboard guide, KMC Sleeves, Playmat
Play Magic daily, consume Magic content.
Get into modern.
Have a sideboard plan.
MTG Goldfish
Limited Resources
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Felix Tse made top 4 at Grand Prix Montreal 2016 and live in Cananda.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Felix Tse when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep132
Facebook: Felix Tse
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Thierry Ramboa started playing magic 12 years ago but wasnt able to travel or play competitively until April 2015. He reached Silver level pro status in 2015 and has attended every European GP's since then. He Top 8d Grand Prix Sydney.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Thierry Ramboa when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep131
5th Dawn
Ravnica City of Guilds (Izzet)
Always felt he was unlucky. Thinking through the situation and realizing that if the same thing happens it's not luck.
Came back after a break and did so poorly he thought magic wasn't for him. Friends helped him get through it.
Top 8 of Grand Prix Sydney. Just focus on the match.
Standard - Look at best decks in the format. Use MTG Goldfish and pick a deck that can beat the top 3.
Tone down his over confidence.
Focus on limited and brewing. Run small tournaments within the Team and see results of each deck.
Being over confident. Think "How can I lose" and plan accordingly.
Played 2-4 drafts a day for the week.
Talking with others about magic. You get new ideas
Deck Box, deck, water, pen, dice
Borrow cards from other players. Use proxies (not in tournaments)
Never forget why you started playing.
MTG Top 8
MTG Goldfish
CFB
MTG Mintcard
Twitter: @El_Gran_Boa
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Oliver Polak-Rottmann has 4 Grand Prix Top 8 including 1 Win, 1 Pro Tour Top 16, and is a 2-time National champion (2008, 2016). Oliver lives in Vienna, Austria.
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4th Edition
Coldsnap (Draft) / Champions of Kamigawa
Island
Mana Drain
Master of Waves
Woodland Bellower
Gilt-Leaf Winnower
Oliver has made great friends playing Magic.
By understanding variance always happens it will even out the highs and lows
Try to finish his black border dual land collection. Money was an issue. Through trading and drafting. Oli was able to get the money for the card.
The year Oli qualified for 3 of 7 Pro Tours is when he realized he had leveled up.
In the 2008 season, Oli skipped the Pro Tour because he only needed 1 point. He needed to make to 200 of 380 players, and he didn't make it. It felt terrible . Oli learned you have to take the game seriously but not let it consume you."If you're failing at Magic, you're not failing at life".
Making Platinum at Pro Tour Eldritch Moon.
Standard
Oli learned about the world by traveling with Magic.
Players don't Sideboard correctly and they don't seek advice as much as they should. People feel they know it better.
Make Pro Tour Top 8.
Booked a house two weeks before the Pro Tour with his team to practice. Know the balance you need. Playing a lot of games (10-15) per match up helps Oli get a feel and collect data.
"Pick up Power cards and dual lands."
Enjoy the game, Make friends.
CFB
Hareruya
Twitter: @polakrottmann
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Robert Santana is an up and coming star who made top 16 at the Star City Games Open in Las Vegas in 2014 and is the Grand Prix Portland 2016 Champion.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Robert Santana when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep129
Lorwyn
Worldwake
Primeval Titan and Ishkanah
Call the Bloodline
The competitive scene drew him in.
Creature combat. Robert played more control decks to get around not playing creatures.
SCG Las Vegas 2014. Robert dropped from the Invitational and joined the open. Playing win and in for top 8. Robert played against Steve Robin and got demolished. This led Robert to really doubt his ability to play. He forced himself and asked "is this something I really want to do ?". Once he committed he went all in.
Champion of GP Portland 2016.
Started attending a competitive FNM. Associating with better players really helped.
Robert felt like he hit a wall. Tournament result were stagnant. Connecting with other players is key to his success.
Players have deck ADD. Stick to a certain deck and get to know it really well.
Find a group of like minded individuals. Build the gauntlet and attend PTQs and GPQs together.
Clothes and Magic Cards
Hard work
Get on MTGO ; Reach out to players, connect and ask for advice.
Brian Kibler
Go to LGS and get Intro decks, augment those and more up.
MTGO
Cockatrice
SCG Premium
CFB
r/spikes
Twitter: @itsRobbSon
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Travis Woo is a strong Magic personality who has made Top 8 of a Grand Prix 3 times from the 12 he's attended. He also developed a decklist that made it to the top 8 of a Pro Tour. He runs the Magic For Good Facebook group and more of his content can be found on his YouTube channel, youtube.com/traviswizard. Travis lives in Humble, California.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Travis Woo when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep128
The Dark
Shambling Vent
"I'm invested in it. It's a vehicle to share energy with people"
Mulliganing. The new mulligan rule really helps.
Deck building. Travis built a lot of decks on his own to overcome his lack of confidence.
Kai Budde, Jon Finkel, Patrick Chapin, LSV, Ben Stark, Mike Flores
Letting the community down. Driving far and doing poorly.
Hearing community members say he's made a difference in their life.
Top 8 Grand Pix Oakland 2013 with his brother.
Sealed
"I'm constantly evolving"
People not preparing the right way. Many players will play and learn nothing.
Not having a Pro Team. Need to network to overcome this.
Bike ride, record videos, risk life (surfing), eat good food
Travis was involved in a private Magic coaching group. He was helping others prepare for their events and absorbed an understanding of the format. Have a plan to win. The brain is most alert on an empty stomach.
Win the next game. Take one game at a time.
Next Level Deck Building
Travis Woo's book
Seek out players doing well in the format you want to play.
Magic For Good Facebook Group.
Twitter: @traviswizard
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com
Saul Alvarado has 2 Grand Prix top 8s: one at Grand Prix Los Angeles in 2009 and the other at Grand Prix Costa Rica in 2016. He's a 2 time National Champion and has been part of several National Teams. Right now he's focused on achieving his degree in Psychology, but is always making room for some Magical trips! Saul live in Panama City, Panama.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Saul Alvarado when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep127
Tempest
Newest Set
Mirrodin
Vendilion Clique
Eldritch
Saul loved the the competitive aspect of Magic.
Focuses a lot on Constructed and leaves Limited for last.
Before GP LA Saul was talking to Pros and asking questions.
Consistently playing tournaments. Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
Pro Tutor Honolulu: Night before the tournament Saul changed his deck the night before. He lost pretty bad.
Learned: Never change deck the night before.
Pro Tutor Sydney: Showed up unprepared. Next time he'll make the time to prepare.
Making Top 8 twice. Saul likes that he has inspired other players from his local area to do well.
Standard
"How competitive I can be"
Players don't know how to mulligan or sideboard properly. Have a sideboard plan.
Play on MTGO and get serious about 1 month before the tournament.
Camera and Deck
Practice a lot. Play as much as you can.
MTG Top 8 (Latest Decks)
Facebook: Saul Alvarado
Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.
Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com