Kevin Jones has been playing magic since Urza's Saga and has been playing competitively since Onslaught. He has 10 Star City Games Open top 8s, 1 Grand Prix top 8, is a 3 time SCG Player's Championship Competitor, has 2 Pro Tour Appearances AND is the Co-host of The Weekly Ward Wednesdays on Twitch.tv/kirwansgamestore. He is also a writer for MTGCardmarket.com. Kevin lives in Kingston, NY
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Kevin Jones when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep213
Urza's Saga
Innistrad
Snapcaster Mage
Kevin has always been competitive and his play group was too. He watched his younger friends get really good he wondered why he wasn't improving. Kevin expanded himself by playing new decks and learning different archetypes.
Kevin made top 8 at States in 2004.
At his first Pro Tour, Kevin built his deck the night before the event. He failed to make day 2 and was really taken aback by it.
Winning a Grand Prix.
Math :). Magic also changes the way you think as far as values and risk.
Caring so much that it pains you to lose. Young players tend to lose sight of the big picture and get torn up when they lose. To overcome this, your mindset / approach to Magic needs to evolve to where you enjoy the game and understand that it is a game and how lucky you are to fuel your competitive drive through a complex hobby.
Don't lose sight of yourself and don't let loses define who you are.
Twitter:@kjvsthehighway
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
Marc Tobiasch used to exclusively play Vintage and Legacy and claims he got onto the Pro Tour “pretty much by accident”. He has 1 Grand Prix top 8 and 1 Pro Tour top 8. Marc lives in Bonn, Germany.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Marc Tobiasch when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep212
Ice Age
Onslaught
Null Rod
Figuring out which events to go to and who to travel with are huge when you're climbing.
Marc used to let loses get from bad to worse. When he played around the "right" card and lost anyway he struggled with accepting it until he learned to control tilt. He overcome tilt by focusing on what he can control.
Pro Tour top 8 / Finding friends at events.
At his first Pro Tour, Marc learned there was a whole other level of Magic you can aspire to play at.
Marc is a renowned deck builder and shares his process.
Players try to think about everything every turn. You can shortcut this by weighting your focus towards what has changed. Also, players do things because they can and don't think whether they should. "Helping a little right now is not as good as helping a lot later."
Marc meets with his team a week or so before the Pro Tour. For Grand Prix, he observes the format and for Legacy or Modern, chooses his deck fairly close to the event.
Before playing a card, think "should I play this card now?"
Twitter:@MarcTobiasch
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
Martin Juza has a record that speaks for itself with an impressive 25 Grand Prix top 8s including 4 wins and 3 Pro Tour top 8s with an additional 3 top 16 finishes! He’s well known in the Magic community as a pillar of good sportsmanship. Martin lives in the Czech Republic.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Martin Juza when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep211
Urza's Destiny
Time Spiral
Counterspell
Every aspect of Magic was new but events, articles and other people helped fill in the gap.
There was a year where Martin didn't make Platinum. He missed one European Grand Prix and it cost him $1,000 bucks.
There was a year where he always made top 8 or top 16. Also, his first Pro Tour top 8 felt really great.
Travel the world and experience different culture.
Martin is working on preparing better for Magic event.
If you're choosing between two cards that are of similar power levels, always pick the cheaper card.
Don't be like Martin ;)
The most important thing in constructed is good side boarding. Having a plan and knowing what to take out and put in is key to success.
Martin practices with Channel Fireball team and they constantly discuss the best deck and evaluate the meta-game.
Martin has experience with other games (Hearthstone and poker) and brings that to Magic.
Read a lot of article, watch games and learn all you can.
Twitter:@Juzam_
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
Javier Luna is a veteran player who has played in several Pro Tours and Worlds. He runs a website at magiclair.com.ar that provides free articles in Spanish. The site covers all the formats and focuses on growing the Latin American Magic community. He has 1 Grand Prix Top 8 and 1 Super Sunday Series Final Top 8. Javier lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Javier Luna when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep210
Mirage
Legends / Urza's Saga
Mana Drain
Drafting has always been a challenge for Javier. He focuses on this by drafting online. Screenshots are a lifesaver.
At a GP in Santiago, Javier went 9-0 in day1 but went 0-5-1 on day 2. He felt so bad and struggled mentally, but came to realize that everyone has good and bad days.
First Grand Prix top 8 / Seeing countrymen do great.
Javier is working on his draft skills and is focusing on controlling his emotional responses to losing.
Legacy
Reading everything he can. Javier keeps tabs through CFB and SC. He also plays every day even if it's just one or two matches.
Javier learned about leadership and friendship.
Players complain about luck all the time when they have no control over it. Improve yourself and understand that luck is part of the game.
Javier followed the metagame closely and chose a Blue / Red deck. However, one week before the Grand Prix, he started losing a lot. So Javier talked with the best player in the country and switched to a Mardu deck.
Enjoy the game. Magic is great. Play with friends and meet new people. Travel all you can.
Twitter:@MagicLair
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
Max McVety is a mechanical engineer from Ann Arbor who has 2 Grand Prix top 8 finishes, an SCG Invitational win, and a couple of Pro Tour cashes. He recently picked up RIW Hobbies as his first sponsor.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Max McVety when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep209
Know the balance between pushing your range and sticking with what you know.
Andrew Elenbogen, Kyle Boggemes
Max is the side board expert. He nails down the exact cards to take out and put in.
Max aligns with blue. He likes to think deeply about a topic.
Dealing with variance.
Players know what the best deck is and try not to play it.
Prepare for the event by focussing on what you can control:
-Deck choice
-Side board
-In-game decisions
Twitter:@m_mcvety
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 Gaieski started to play seriously when he moved to Japan in 2015. He came back to the States and did decently well on the SCG Tour but didn’t get any big results. Just a lot of cash. He finally made his first GP top 8 at Grand Prix Montreal 2017.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Ethan Gaieski when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep208
Innistrad
Return to Ravnica
Sigarda, Host of Herons
Financially keeping up with Magic was really rough. Also, the mental challenge of thinking everyone is better than him.
GP Orlando 2017, Ethan did poorly and because he prepared a lot and this was the third bad Gran Prix in a row, he was crushed. Embracing the variance is a lesson Ethan learned.
Top 8 Grand Prix Montreal 2017.
Quantitative Reasoning. (Recognizing patterns and Math)
Ethan knows he can become as good as he can if he doesn't crumple under people's expectations.
When players got unlucky, they think they couldn't have won. Don't offload the responsibility. Own it and ask what you could have done. Talk to people.
Ethan watched the Pro Tour closely and strove to understood best decks. He practiced by playing 10 Leagues on MTGO.
Always be looking for ways to improve. There's always something you can do.
Twitch.tv/alexjchen, MTG Coverage, Ari Lax, Garry Thompson
Ethan can be found in the MTG Pro Tutor Facebook group.
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
Charly Traarbach is 30 years old and just made his first Grand Prix Top 8 in Utrecht 2017. He will be playing in Pro Tour Kyoto (2017) as his very first Pro Tour appearance!
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Charly Traarbach when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep207
Revised
Innistrad
[draft]Emrakul, The Aeons Torn[/draft]
Charly was terrible at losing. He's very competitive and processed losses poorly.
In the GP Top 8 in Utrecht, Charly had forgotten to take out his side board from round 15! He got a game loss and ended up losing the match.
Lesson: Always check your side board.
Making top 8 at Grand Prix Utrecht.
A better understanding of English language. Interpersonal skill. Making friends.
Workout (run, sports). When your body is strong and active, your mind will be sharper.
You're never too old to learn.
Score pad, Playmat, Extra Sleeves, Snacks, Water
To become better at Magic, play a lot of Magic. Surround yourself with people who invest a lot of time in Magic.
CFB, SCG, TCG Player
Twitter:@CharlyTraarbach
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
Eli Kassis is a past guest of the show and now has 3 Grand Prix Top 8’s (2 back to back top 4 or better finishes), 7 Pro Tour cashes, 13 SCG’s Open Top 8’s, and 17 Old school PTQ Wins.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Eli Kassis when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep206
Team events are catching on. In a team event, Eli made top 4 with his team.
X-2 still get invited to the Pro Tour, so don't draw.
Eli and his team looked at the popular Modern decks and determined, there wouldn't be a lot of control. Eli picked his deck because he knew it inside and out and it had a good match up against the rest of the field.
Eli sees the Pro circuit growing.
When stress and pressure are on players, abandon the decisions that got them there and hope luck gets them there.
You are an ambassador to the game. Be proud of it and treat others with respect so when anyone says "I play Magic" it means something.
Twitter:@lifer2121
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
Simon Nielsen is a 22 year old linguistics student from Denmark who tries to play Magic for a living. He is currently testing with the team Mint card, and writes articles for mtgmintcard.com. He was part of the Danish national team that won the World Magic Cup in 2014 (the Daneblast guy), got 2nd at GP Brussels 2015, 8th at GP Bologna 2017 and 10th at the Pro Tour Eldritch Moon.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Simon Nielsen when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep205
Mirrodin besieged
New Phyrexia
Liliana of the veil
Brewing decks were a struggle because Simon told himself he wasn't good enough to play tier 1 decks. He finally overcomes this by understanding that playing the best deck is his edge.
At Simon's 2nd World Magic Cup, his team was knocked out early. This felt bad because they had won the year before. Simon stayed and cheered on other countries and made friends.
Winning World Magic Cup in 2014.
Risk management. What's the expected value of your decisions. Compare the best thing you could get to the chance of getting that outcome.
Simon went from being terrible at Limited tot a year later top 8'ing a Limited Grand Prix. It took a while, but he started trusting his teammates and adopting their strategy.
Player's don't have plan. Look far down the line. How are you going to win. Work on the sideboard and play more side board games.
Read Simon's articles "How to become the worlds luckiest Magic Player" and "All your invalid excuses for not playing the best decks."
mtgmintcard.com -Simon's articles
Twitter:@MrChecklistcard
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