Thursday, January 24, 2013

Let's Make a Team of PTQ Grinders!


A few years ago I had the opportunity to be a member of Gavin Verhey's Team Unknown Stars, which is probably the first "turning point" of how I thought of Magic.  At the time my results were awful (a lot of PTQ T8s, but never won a quarterfinals match), but I was lucky to be accepted thanks to having a lot of friends already on the team who thought I had potential.  While on the team, I still never won a PTQ (that wouldn't be until turning point #2 upon getting back from New Zealand), but my results improved, I played a large part in the design of the UB Mannequin deck, and I got to network with tons of amazing players who ended up "breaking through".  So, since I've been out of Magic for around a year now I'm going to try forming something similar to the old Team Unknown Stars.  Looking for 10-15 people to start and will start as a mailing list/Skype group, but maybe a forum will be in the near future.  The goal is to foster a discussion of the current PTQ format and get members on to the Pro Tour.  TO foster this goal, I'm going to be rather strict about who gets to be a part of this and am requiring an application.  If you're interested in joining fill out the following application (mostly stolen from the old TUS forum) and e-mail me at chrism315 at gmail dot com with the subject "Team Application":

-Your Name and age

-Your Magic accomplishments

-The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.)

-Why you play competitive Magic

-What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team

-What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants

-What your strengths as a Magic player are

-What your weakness as a Magic player are

-What the main formats that you play and focus on are

-Which format you think you're most proficient in

-How much modo do you play?  What's your screenname?

-Do you have a blog or write for a site?  If so, link to your work.

7 comments:

  1. -Your Name and age - Matthew Gorski - 32

    -Your Magic accomplishments - Top 4'd a PTQ, 11th in a MOCS

    -The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.)

    -Why you play competitive Magic - I enoy the game, the grind and the people

    -What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team - To finally Q for a PT

    -What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants - Because I play endlessly, I have great insight, I understand formats quickly and efficiently

    -What your strengths as a Magic player are - Able to adapt to situations quickly, cool under pressure

    -What your weakness as a Magic player are - Short attention span sometimes, quickly sour on formats that I do not enjoy

    -What the main formats that you play and focus on are - Whatever the relevant limited formats are, Standard

    -Which format you think you're most proficient in - Limited

    -How much modo do you play? Too much What's your screenname? _garetjax_

    -Do you have a blog or write for a site? No If so, link to your work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. -Your Name and age -- Marc Samarra (Arcannys), 22

    -Your Magic accomplishments -- Came back to magic in 2010, since then i've played 2 nationals, top8'd 4 PTQs IRL and 1 online and day2'd 2 GPs. Also, designed the winning deck from Bazaar of Moxen 2012.

    -The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.) Top8 PTQ, did embarrassingly bad in GP Bilbao (cuz modern sucks), 10-2-1 into 10-5-1 in GP Ghent (cuz im the worst)

    -Why you play competitive Magic -- To be the best at something.

    -What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team -- Q for a PT, is what i want the most right now.

    -What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants -- i'm very dedicated to this game, i pay attention to whats happening in every format and i usualy have a very good insight on what to do in a format.

    -What your strengths as a Magic player are -- I see myself as a very tecnical player, little things as (tapping wrong your mana etc...) matter a lot to me. I like thiking outside the box when it comes to deckbuilding.

    -What your weakness as a Magic player are -- Probably limited, i need a LOT of dratfs/sealed to even start breaking even on MODO.

    -What the main formats that you play and focus on are -- Well, i'm spanish, so i'm forced to say Legacy. I only play standard and modern when it's the current PTQ season.

    -Which format you think you're most proficient in -- Legacy.

    -How much modo do you play? What's your screenname? I play mostly limited, almost every day. Screenname: Arcannys.

    -Do you have a blog or write for a site? If so, link to your work. -- NO

    ReplyDelete
  3. -Brandon Lopez, 18

    -Numerous FNM wins, Looking to add many higher achievements

    -I have not attended one, but I have been preparing for about 4 months now.

    -Magic was the first thing I was the best at with my friends and family. It drove me to become competitive and become the best in my area.

    -I need better people to test with, and to test constantly. I'm just not getting enough stimulation playing at FNM.

    -I'm a keen thinker. I can address where mistakes were made and am willing to give criticism and love to take it.

    -I am a very fast learner. I can respond to the things I see and adapt my plans accordingly.

    -I don't have the play time that other players have. This causes me to make slight misplays occasionally, but as I said I learn fast.

    -Standard, and Modern. Though I would like to start grinding limited.

    -Modern

    -I do now. Chaoswithak

    -I did a bit, and wanna start doing it regularly. http://teammanaburn.tumblr.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. -Your Name and age: Gunner Sledgeski, 20

    -Your Magic accomplishments: Top 32'd SCG Open Baltimore

    -The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.)
    PTQ, 2-3 drop
    SCG Baltimore, 19th place (8-2)
    Grand Prix Philadelphia 1-3 drop (Pool wasn't the best)
    -Why you play competitive Magic
    I play competitive magic for the game, the competition, and the ability to challenge my mind while also challenging others.
    -What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team
    To help others make it to the PT stage, as well as help myself to progress in the game further.
    -What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants
    My ability to recognize which cards will see a lot of play in limited environments, as well as a good reader of metagames and what to combat them with.
    -What your strengths as a Magic player are
    Ability to read metagame, ability to build a limited deck quickly and efficiently.
    -What your weakness as a Magic player are
    Sometimes forgetting to look at board state before making plays. Playing decks for fun at points instead of always wanting to win at FNM.
    -What the main formats that you play and focus on are
    I play standard, modern, and limited, focusing on limited more.
    -Which format you think you're most proficient in
    Limited
    -How much modo do you play? What's your screenname?
    No modo
    -Do you have a blog or write for a site? If so, link to your work.
    No

    ReplyDelete
  7. -Your Name and age: Matheo Gavilano, 20 years old

    -Your Magic accomplishments: Got second in Bolivian Nationals in 2010, multiple PTQ top eights, Qualified for Pro Tour Dark Ascension via PWP, also played in the FNM Championship because of this.

    -The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.) Las Sundays MTGO PTQ (started 5-0 finished 5-4 ), SCG Open Dallas (3-4 T2, 2-4 legacy, both drop)

    -Why you play competitive Magic: I love competition in general and enjoy the mental effort MTG requires for someone to be competitive

    -What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team: Having qualified for the pro tour twice and never getting good results feels bad for me. I feel like I have decent play skill and have a lot of potential but still can’t show this in the bigger stage.

    -What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants: I enjoy playing the best decks at the moment. In my previous testing team I was the Jund/caw blade/delver player I our testing sessions. I find that in some groups people just get all excited about their new brews that they overlook testing against the best decks and just battle with their brews or pet decks.

    -What your strengths as a Magic player are: I think the fact that I over analyze things before and after each event/round and am able to improve on that quickly is my biggest strength. I believe I’m also good at pointing out the biggest weakness in metagames and can tune decks to beat those weakness fairly well

    -What your weakness as a Magic player are: Real life events sometimes get in my concentration at events. I am very likely to tilt at some point, especially if I get a call or some news from something bad at events or at some close point before events. I’m also good at punting the important matches (The finals of 2010 nationals and a couple of PTQ semifinals come to mind)

    -What are the main formats that you play and focus on are: Modern and Standard, but ironically all of my PTQ top eights are in sealed events

    -Which format you think you're most proficient in: Modern, I have been playing it since Gavin’s overextended and it is the format I am most comfortable playing at the moment

    -How much modo do you play? What's your screenname? I play about 6-8 hours a week, sometimes more if I don’t have much schoolwork or have to test for events etc. My screen name is matheo_vago

    -Do you have a blog or write for a site? If so, link to your work.: I do not work or write for any site, but I did a tournament report for that 2010 nationals and an explanation on Magic in Bolivia for The Starkington Post a while back
    http://thestarkingtonpost.com/articles/_/885
    http://thestarkingtonpost.com/articles/_/1557

    ReplyDelete