Interview With The Editor: Gerry Thompson

Danny West:
Be honest. How lucky were you last weekend?

Gerry Thompson
: Heh, good question. It’s tough to answer because I hadn’t played
much with Zombies before the tournament, so I have no baseline to
compare to. My draws were solid, I had some nice midgame peels in
Liliana’s Mastery and Dark Salvation that continually showed up,
and my matchups were all mostly what we prepared for. As for
Limited, I had two great decks and in five of the six matches I
played, I didn’t have too many issues.

I guess I mostly feel like I wasn’t unlucky?

West
: When was your first Pro Tour? How has Magic changed since then?
How have you changed to stay with the game?

GerryT:
My first PT was a team PT in Boston back in 2002. The game itself
is way different, with a distinct shift in focus toward making the
game be about permanents. That’s mostly in contradiction to how I
was taught to approach the game, so relearning everything has been
a huge process throughout the entirety of my career. The game is
always going to be changing and you need to adapt with it.

West:
The culture has changed too.

GerryT:
Yeah. Back then, secrecy was a big deal, but now it’s kind of
impossible. With Magic Online and the SCG Tour having tournaments
before each Pro Tour, along with there being no shortage of data on
the internet, it’s rare that someone shows up to a PT with
something no one has ever seen before. This was an easy one to
adapt to, especially as I’m more in a teaching role than anything
else. Tech wants to be free.

West
: A lot of viewers (few of which have won a Pro Tour I’m guessing)
went crazy when you cast Grasp of Darkness on the 4/5 Winding
Constrictor in that semifinal. What would you say to them?

GerryT
: Do I “know” that Grasp of Darkness isn’t going to kill a 4/5? Uh,
yeah. Clearly my head wasn’t in the game. I could explain exactly
what lead to that happening, but it’s irrelevant. It was a wake-up
call for me. I needed to get my head in the game, and that’s what I
tried to do.

West
: I liken it to tripping, or tongue-biting when you’re eating. We
all do it.

GerryT
: Everyone is going to make mistakes, whether they’re small or
incredible blunders. This happened to be in the latter camp, on
camera, in the biggest match of my life up to that point. It
doesn’t feel good, but I’d feel way worse if I tilted off and let
it get to me.

West
: I wanted you to win obviously, and I hated the idea of reading
this wall of armchair criticism almost as much as you losing the
match.

GerryT
: It was horrible, inexcusable, and likely disappointing for an
audience that wanted to watch Magic at its highest level. For that
I apologize. You can say whatever you want about that play and it’s
not going to bother me, though. I’ve made mistakes before and I’ll
make them again, and it doesn’t really matter how many people were
watching.

West
: A huge number of players seem to validate themselves off the
mistakes of others, even though we all do it. Were you ever that
way? Is it something you think players grow out of?

GerryT
: Oh yeah, I wasn’t what I would consider to be a “good” person a
decade or so ago. Bringing others down in order to bring yourself
up seems to be a natural thing for most people. If you don’t have
something to derive a sense of self-worth, comparing yourself to
others and knocking them down is an easy short-term fix for those
negative feelings you might have about yourself.

Over time, you grow, mature, and eventually find something other
than Magic to get that sense of self-worth. At that point, knocking
others down is no longer necessary. I imagine there were more than
a few people out there who understood what my situation was and
just felt bad for me. Empathy is incredibly valuable and goes a
long way.

West
: Does your career look different to you now than it did last week?

GerryT
: I think so? I mean, my immediate plans aren’t going to change,
but I imagine this could springboard into more opportunities. I’m
mostly just excited to see what the future holds.

West
: You’re a very down-to-Earth guy. What’s it like for someone who
is very grounded to have an experience as surreal as this was?

GerryT
: It’s exactly that. Surreal. It hasn’t sunk in yet. Not only has
winning a Pro Tour been a dream of mine for a long time, but I’m
also completely humbled by the response from the community. I’m
mostly just in awe. People are great and nothing hits me in the
feels as much as knowing that I’m making an impact on peoples’
lives. It’s incredible. I’ve had moments where I’m just going about
my day, and something makes me remember that I did, in fact, just
win a Pro Tour, and it hits me all over again. I’m not sure I’ll
ever get over that.

West
: How was the pressure throughout the weekend? Was there a distinct
point where you suddenly thought, “I can win this.”?

GerryT
: The later rounds of Day 2 were tough. I had multiple feature
matches in a row with the lights and uncomfortable headphones, and
I got a piercing headache around that point which persisted into
Sunday. Once I was playing on Sunday, I didn’t feel any pressure.
Top 8 was the goal and the thought of winning the tournament didn’t
even seem like a realistic outcome. It was a freeroll.

West
: Quite the freeroll.

GerryT
: After Yuuya didn’t play a second land in Game 1, the thought
flashed into my head. It was mostly along the lines of “Not like
this. If I actually do this, I don’t want it to be because of
this.”

West
: What is the single biggest factor in getting you to where you are
today in Magic? What was the single biggest obstacle that prevented
you from getting here sooner?

GerryT
: The short version is I work hard. I’m rather fortunate that the
puzzle aspect of Magic appeals to me to the point where I never get
sick of it. Thanks to Magic’s various formats, there’s always
something to be thinking about or something to be tweaking. That
contributes to me learning a lot while also doing what I enjoy.

Oddly enough, I also think the biggest obstacle to me getting to
this point sooner was myself. There are always the fears and doubts
that creep in, especially when you basically devote your life to a
single thing. Mostly though, it was about getting over the notion
that in order to succeed, I have to do it by outwitting my
opponents. You don’t get extra match points for being creative, and
sometimes the best decision for a tournament is to register 22
basic Swamps. At the end of the day, I don’t feel smart or clever,
but I did win. And that’s something I never would have done ten
years ago.