You’re curious, admit it. You’ve looked at my gorgeous picture, you’ve read the lead-in blurb, and you can’t find any references to which Pro Tours I won, which famous decks I designed, and which Pros I’m currently living and drafting with. Well, in a shockingly retro move that may, technically speaking, shut down the Internet forever, I decided to do things the old-fashioned way.
Yes, I’m writing about the game first, and then getting good at it. (The game, not the writing.) This has two big benefits, if you’re me. First, you won’t read my articles hoping for devastating insight into “Future Sight Print Runs and the Draft Metagame Aesthetic” (my money’s on Flores Friday) or ‘Round 17 of Worlds: My Sideboard Story’ (this will almost certainly be a translation using Babel from an obscure Japanese player who accidentally turns out to be the best deckbuilder in the world ever.) And second, if I had to do it the other way round, I probably wouldn’t ever get published.
No, you get plenty of world-class deck advice already, you lucky people. And the key word in that last sentence was “people,” because that’s what you’re going to get from me. It’s more about who wins, and less about what wins. As we go from Pro Tour to Grand Prix to Nationals to Invitational, and all the way to a week in New York in the almost mythical land that is December, I’ll be sharing the backstage fun and frolics, the traveling insanity, the powerhouse teammates, and the bitter rivals. Along the way, we’ll learn a ton about Magic, but we’ll also learn a great deal about the human condition because that is what really floats my boat.
The clock is ticking, and we’re just a few days away from the ski spectacular that is Pro Tour: Geneva. Right now, every one of you reading this has as many Pro Points as Raphael Levy, or Tiago Chan, or Craig Jones… or me. For most of us, that won’t be true come Sunday. But how these Pros become the best is about more than deck choices, optimal blocking, pick orders, and reading Nick Eisel on StarCityGames.com. Because in the end, every time a round is paired, you’re facing down a living, breathing organism, and one of you is going home. The cards are just how we keep score.
To get the ball rolling, I’m going to introduce you to a rather large selection of characters. As the year goes on, we’ll meet some more – the first time qualifiers, the Hall of Famers, the twin brothers from Idaho raising money to build a church, the judges, the backstage team from Wizards and, it wouldn’t surprise me, even Craig “the editor” Stevenson himself. [Fingers crossed. — Craig, having difficulty typing.]
Today though, it’s time to meet the Pro Class of 2007 – 83 players from around the globe with Level 3 Player Club status or above – which means they’re at every Pro Tour. As we go through this cream of the crop list, you’ll learn a lot of facts, a few Tales from the Tour, a whiff of controversy, and I’ll nobly stick my neck out and offer you a thoroughly biased opinion of how they’ll fare in 2007.
Here we go!
(Note – Abbreviations are : GP – Grand Prix ; PT – Pro Tour ; POY — Player of the Year ; CV — curriculum vitae, or ‘track record’. Simple really.)
Ryuichi Arita – Japan. Level 3.
Two PT Top 8s, but despite Level 3 he’s well down the list of likely Player of the Year winners.
Akira Asahara – Japan. Level 3.
Now here’s a basic truth – put this man in a Grand Prix that ends with anything remotely resembling “ama,” “ata,” “ushu,” or “atsu” and he will be in the Top 8. Seven GP Top 8s in total over the last four years, and he’s converted them into victories twice. You don’t get to be known globally as a deckbuilder of renown without knowing how the game works, and that’s true of 40 cards as well as 60. Could be there or thereabouts.
Wesimo Al-Bacha – Germany. Level 3.
This guy really wants to win, and isn’t scared of showing it. Runner-up in 2006 at GP: Cardiff was his best finish. Can he go one better in ‘07 at the highest level? I’d bank on a GP win first.
Jose Barbero – Argentina. Level 3.
Just a fraction behind Maradona in the global fame market, Jose has been a worthy flagbearer over the last five years. Six GP Top 8s, 6th in PT Yokohama 2003, multiple appearances for Argentina at Worlds, and an Invitational slot in 2006. Narrowly making the cut to Level 3 courtesy of a nailbiting time in Paris last month, expect Jose to not leave it so late in 2007.
Aaron Brackmann – Germany. Level 4.
Remember PT: Prague 2006? It was Ravnica Block Draft. And in six drafts over three days, Brackmann found only Takuya Oosawa between him and the title. That contributed to his Level 4 status for 2007, and if he’s going to challenge for serious honors, Geneva would be an obvious candidate for a strong showing.
David Brucker – Germany. Level 4.
It’s tempting to ignore someone like Brucker. He’s not “new” – he won the European Champs when there still were European Champs, back in 2002. He’s not “old” – there’s no PT top 8s from the ‘90s here. Or indeed at all. Instead, he’s a really solid Pro who did the business against a gigantic field at GP: Dortmund 2006. Once you get to drafts 4 and 5 on Day 2, making the Top 8 can be a bit of a crap-shoot, and there are some awesome names ahead of him in the queue. But for what it’s worth, I think he’s a legitimate contender.
Bernardo da Costa Cabral – Belgium. Level 3.
It’s key that BC surrounds himself with a goodly bunch of European Pros, since he doesn’t attack Magic with his undivided attention. This is probably good news for quite a lot of people, because make no mistake, he’s got game. But in a world of increasingly full-time Magic, that lack of man-hours is likely to catch up with him sooner or later. Expect another solid, rather than spectacular, year.
Pierre Canali – France. Level 3.
Magic needs characters. In the old days, that meant Mike Long. Now it means Osyp Lebedowicz. And Pierre Canali. And Pierre Canali doesn’t like to waste time. Columbus was his PT coming out party, and playing Affinity he just went and won the whole shebang. It’s not altogether surprising that, after a performance like that, he was labeled a Constructed Specialist. But unlike chiropodists or urologists, specialists in Magic have plenty of transferable skills, and as 2006 progressed Pierre began to feel more at home in the 40-card format. His Worlds ‘06 performance was hampered by a Sunny Side Up egg deck that performed well below his expectations. In 2007, he could make a run at Player of the Year. And nobody would enjoy it more.
Marcio Carvalho – Portugal. Level 3.
Some people travel tens of thousands of miles to win a game of Magic. Marcio likes to travel down the road, thanks. Two GP Top 8s at Lisbon GPs, including an outright victory, and second in Bilbao ‘05 with an Extended Boros Deck Wins concoction. 2005 was really his best year, with the culmination a 5th place finish at Worlds. Can he improve in 2007?
Tiago Chan – Portugal. Level 6.
There are only five Level 6 mages on the planet. Three of them are from Japan. Two of them, strangely, aren’t. And you’re reading about half of them right now. Within the context of the history of Magic, Tiago’s CV isn’t obviously outstanding. Not much in the GP department. Past national champion, and other team appearances at Worlds, but from a country with relatively few Pros and a relatively small player base. And two other Top 8s to speak of. But here’s the thing – those two other performances have been in the last year. First, he managed to avoid the unwinnable match in the quarterfinals that confronted Antoine Ruel Owling Mine deck in PT: Honolulu, and piloted his own card-drawing monstrosity to 3rd. And then last month in Paris, he grafted his way to the Top 8, only to be confronted by, you guessed it, the unwinnable matchup against Gabriel Nassif. A win at Worlds would have made Tiago a comfortable winner of the Player of the Year. This year, he’s likely to go to every GP that moves. This year, he’s likely to do well at every GP that moves. The Player of the Year gives you the clue. It’s about 12 months of Magic prowess, not 2 or 3 weekends. For that reason, and his ongoing access to some of the best deckbuilders in Europe (and indeed the world), I’m here to tell you that Tiago Chan is my idea of the 2007 Player of the Year. Now go google the phrase “the kiss of death.”
Andre Coimbra – Portugal. Level 4.
Anyone who makes a Top 8 at Worlds (2005) knows how to turn men sideways. Ironically for a European, his two GP appearances at the final table were in Hiroshima and Phoenix. International travel is clearly not a problem. Coming out on top of a highly talented pile might be.
Kamiel Cornellisen – Netherlands. Level 4.
KC doesn’t go in for GPs much, and that’s just one of approximately one reason I don’t expect to see him at the top of the POY race in 2007. Back at the turn of the century (and doesn’t that make him sound old?) Kamiel posted two runner-up positions on the Pro Tour, first with CounterRebels in Standard at Chicago 2000, and then in Invasion Rochester Draft a year later in Los Angeles. If you’ve Rochestered before, you know what an insanely complex exercise it is. If you haven’t, chances are you probably never will, because after the carnage of team day at Worlds 2006, mark my words, Rochester is D-E-A-D spells dead. Oh, and talking of team day, he sure knows who to have around him. VonDutch saw him flanked by Jeroen Remie and Jelger Wiegersma as they won PT Seattle 2004, and then Robert van Medevoort and ex-World Champion Julien Nuijten joined him to win the Team Champs in Paris last month. The reigning National Champion, would it be a surprise to see him at the upper tables closing in on the end of Day 2? No. Would it be a surprise to see him closing in on the Player of the Year come the end of November? Yes.
Thomas Didierjean – France. Level 3.
Nobody’s fool, but that’s why he’s Level 3. Level 3 to Level 6 is quite a leap for someone with one lifetime PT Top 8. Truthfully, I don’t see it. But then he’s nobody’s fool…
Willy Edel – Brazil. Level 5.
How many decisions get made by a Pro in one duel of Magic that lasts, say, seven turns? Go on, guess. I’ll offer you 100 as a top-of-the-head figure. Which land to play, what abilities to activate, and when, and what to kill, and which pressure to apply, and, and, and… and my point? In the course of a Pro Tour, the figures run into thousands. Apart from anything else, there are 270 cards to draft in six unique configurations. So why in the name of all that is holy do people insist on berating the brawny Brazilian for his last minute error at PT: Kobe 2006? (He attacked a horde of men into a Brine Elemental and paid the ultimate price by, wait for it, only beating the entire field except one.) Come on, tell me. No wait, I’ll tell you instead. It’s called schadenfreude. Also known as “there but for the grace of God go I.” Also known as “he looks a right prat, ha ha ha.” Also known as jealousy. Since the invention of the custard pie and the banana skin, we just love to see people fall flat on their faces. And Edel did it live on the telly. Marvelous. But you know what? That means he was just one decision away from a PT win, and that’s probably more than you’ll ever manage, and certainly more than I will. So, is his Level 5 justified? You betcha. Could he make my prediction of Tiago Chan for Player of the Year look laughable, like, you know, custard-pie-banana-skin laughable? Oh yes.
Gerard Fabiano – U.S.A. Level 3.
You know that everyone on this list is really really good, right? Within that context, if there’s such a thing as a run-of-the-mill Pro, it’s going to be some of the Level 3s. The kind of guy who loves life, friendship, fun and Magic, and probably likes them in roughly that order. The kind of guy like Fabiano. Now he’ll probably win everything in sight. For fun.
John Fiorillo – U.S.A. Level 3.
Two GP Top 8s in 2006, both on North American soil. Could be in for a good year, but POY would be a real leap of faith.
Tsuyoshi Fujita – Japan. Level 3.
Kyoto, Taipei, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Fukuoka, Utsunomiya, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seattle, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles and San Diego. All places I can’t reliably place on a map to within 500 miles. Apart from London of course, which is probably within 500 miles of Norway. Probably. Another thing these cities have in common is that Tsuyoshi Fujita has battered lots of people at Magic in them. Eleven GP Top 8s, including two victories. Three PT Top 8s, including second place twice, most recently in 2005 with the Kamigawa Block draft format. National Champion 2004. Three appearances at the Magic Invitational. CVs can’t tell you everything, but they can tell you that TF has to be one of the best value Level 3s in terms of potential PT winners.
Osama Fujita – Japan. Level 3.
Osama is one of those players who thrives on a regional GP circuit without quite making the transition to automatic Sunday potential at the PT. Six GP Top 8s include a victory in Taipei in 2005, and he showed his Limited skills during his only PT final day appearance to date, securing 2nd place in Amsterdam 2004 during the fun and frolics that was Mirrodin Rochester Draft. He’s been there or thereabouts for some time. But is he more thereabouts than there?
Sam Gomersall – England. Level 3.
Going into Worlds, the threshold for making Level 3 was twenty pro points. Which was fine for Sam, since he had eighteen already, and would get two more after sitting down for round 1. Plus, there could hardly be any travel horror stories, with Paris a figurative stone’s throw away. And then Sam checked his out-of-date passport. As metagame choices go, this seemed sub-optimal. But maybe uncle Sam knew something we didn’t, because three days later, Wizards changed the threshold for Level 3 to eighteen points. Now if you’re reading carefully, you’ll have registered the fact that this was just the required number for Sam to retain his pro status. Of the many solid bets going into 2007, Sam having a legal travel document is a no-brainer. Meanwhile, assuming he gets to sit down at the tables, Sam is a man who really knows his way around the Limited environment. Pretty much any Limited environment. And at a Pro Tour in Geneva, where fundamental knowledge is at a premium, you could do worse than look to Sam to make the trip well worthwhile.
Julien Goron – France. Level 3.
There’s only room for so many superstars in any one country. And if you’re in the same country as the Ruel brothers, that’s quite a lot of room taken up already. Add in Hall of Famer Raphael Levy and PT winner Pierre Canali, and someone like Goron is going to have to do something seriously dramatic to get global recognition. But the good news for his Mum and other wellwishers is that the 2005 National Champion has multiple runners-up spots in GPs during ‘06, and could kick on from here to higher levels come ‘08. But the most famous player in France? That may have to wait a while.
Roel van Heeswijk – Netherlands. Level 3.
Okay, the truth? I prefer Frank Karsten, because I can say his name. But, National Championship apart, much of what applies to Julien Goron in France applies to Roel in the Netherlands. He’s more of a supporting Roel than a starring Roel, so to speak. But he seems to like GPs in Britain, where he’s notched back-to-back second and third place finishes. Number of GPs being held in Britain during 2007? Zero. But that’s a lot less than Roel’s chances of doing something special this year. I expect a breakout performance in ‘07. Learn to pronounce his name at once.
Mark Herberholz – U.S.A. Level 5.
Who’s the most famous runner-up in PT history? Not Mark Herberholz. Who’s the least famous winner in PT history? Arguably, Mark Herberholz. Why? Because pretty much everyone who knows anything about the PT in ‘06 knows that PT: Honolulu was all about Olivier Ruel in a supporting Ruel (see, any bad joke’s worth doing twice), and Craig Jones with his Lightning Helix Moment in the semi-finals. After The Greatest Topdeck In The World, there was the small matter of a best-of-five final, which Mr Jones didn’t win. Herberholz did. While this gives him the ultimate credentials for a particular Sunday appearance, a look at the venues for his premier event Top 8s bears examination. GP: Detroit, GP: Minneapolis, PT: San Diego, PT: Philadelphia, and PT: Honolulu. Hmm. Rather U.S.-centric, wouldn’t you say? Now I’m not suggesting that Mark’s been talking to Sam Gomersall and hasn’t got a passport. But I am suggesting that running a games store is a full-time occupation, and that, as a result, you can rule out Mark as a 2007 POY candidate.
Rich Hoaen – Canada. Level 5.
If you’re an aspiring Pro, this conversation should scare you just a little…
“I thought next year I might take Magic seriously. See if I can be good at the game.”
”But Rich Hoaen, you’re a Level 5 mage. What do you mean, ‘see if you can be good at the game?’”
”Well, okay, see if I can really be good at the game.”
One of the absolute number one requirements for a potential Player of the Year is desire. Gabriel Nassif is obviously a fantastic Magic player, but I’d be surprised if anyone’s picking him for POY 2007. Why? Because he has other priorities in his life. Worlds 2006 showed that he still has it in spades, but he doesn’t have it in January, and February, and July and November. Rich Hoaen has it all the time. And in terms of being “really” good, when you start to examine his career to date, you can see his point. Back to back Top 8 appearances at Canadian Nationals led to a Worlds berth as part of the 2003 team. Four GP Top 8s have all come in the last two years, mostly on home soil (Detroit, Richmond, and New Jersey), but also in Japan where Rich helped to cement his Level 5 status for 2007. But when it comes to the Pro Tour, the cupboard is relatively bare. Yokohama ‘03 was his only Sunday appearance, where he fell at the quarterfinal hurdle. And this from the player that many Pros regard as the best Limited player in the world. Back in the dim and distant days of December 2005, the newly-crowned Player of the Year, Kenji Tsumura, stated as his goal improvement in his Limited play. There was some talk around the Pro scene – not all of it entirely fanciful – that Kenji would hook up with Rich to learn the 40 card version of the game. That meeting of gaming giants never happened, but Kenji contrived to win multiple GPs during 2006, and my guess is that winning multiple GPs in 2007 is just the start of Rich Hoaen plan. Indeed, if that conversation had gone on just a little longer, I suspect it might have gone something like this…
“But Rich Hoaen, you’re a Level 5 mage. What do you mean, ‘see if you can be good at the game?’”
”Well, okay, see if I can really be good at the game. You know, like, ‘Player of the Year’ good at the game.”
We’ll see.
Christian Huttenburger – Germany. Level 3.
With the absence of Max Bracht from the German ranks, and the holy trinity of Budde, Blume, and Baberowski very definitely on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, there’s an opportunity for someone to take German Magic by the scruff of the neck, and make damn sure that no rogue Frenchman represents Germany at Worlds 2007. With a semi-final appearance in Prague during 2006, Huttenburger is one of a handful of Germans looking to fill that space. On the back of one premier performance, it’s hard to see it. But then, I’ll probably keep on saying that until he gets a second premier performance under his belt. And then a third. So although it’s not inconceivable that he could put in a fine showing this year, the Player of the Year is probably out of reach for now.
Itaru Ishida – Japan. Level 3.
It’s a good job most players don’t have this many items on their CV, or I’d be out of ink real quick. And Ishida has been inking entries onto his report card since long before many of you first started getting manascrewed and dreaming of a world without Wrath of God. GP: Manila ‘98, that’s where it all started. But here’s the thing – Ishida doesn’t travel. From Bangkok to Kitakyuushu, and from Sendai to Singapore, Ishida is one of the genuine kings of the APAC region. But Player of the Year is all about global results, so although you can absolutely expect him to add to his enormous tally of fifteen GP Top 8s, you can’t expect to see him on multiple PT Sundays. Which is a pity.
Klaus Dieter Jons – Germany. Level 3.
When I talked about Wesimo Al-Bacha, I mentioned his apparent desire to win. Now here’s another one from the same stable. Although a relative newcomer to high level Magic, Klaus is a throwback to some seriously old school attitude. When you play Klaus, you really do play the man as well as the cards. Trash-talking is the technical term, although you probably need to speak fluent German to appreciate the full effect. But then Nico Bohny of Switzerland does speak fluent German, and vanquished the talkative Klaus en route to taking down GP: Torino 2006, leaving Mr Jons to finish fourth. Having such an obvious passion for the game, and for winning, is probably a good thing. But channeling that passion is the key, and there are more experienced Level 3s out there.
Craig Jones – England. Level 4.
So here’s a guy who hasn’t gone away. A GP winner as recently as, ooh, 1998, the Professor continues to re-invent his Magic persona. Rising star at the tail-end of the last century, then the go-to guy for European coverage, acknowledged Constructed specialist, and now “Mr Lightning Helix” following his astonishing finish against Olivier Ruel in Honolulu. Largely on the back of this barnstorming finish, he has made Level 4. So the question becomes, can he re-invent himself yet again as a genuine world-beater across multiple formats? Part of the answer lies with the schedule, as with many of the Pros on the list. Will he travel to GPs far and wide? Who will he team with for the real wildcard Pro Tour of the season, when we reach Two-Headed Giant Limited? And, most of all, does he really see himself as Player of the Year material? For me, this is too many question-marks to recommend Craig. However, you can certainly expect to see him secure Level 4 once again.
Tomohiro Kaji – Japan. Level 4.
You probably already know that Shouta Yasooka and Tomoharu Saitou can play Magic. And Tomohiro Kaji is the man they choose to play Magic with, at least when they want to win the Pro Tour. With the rather fetching Kajiharu 80 as a team name, that’s exactly what Kaji and his cohorts did as recently as Charleston last year, when the team format of Ravnica Block Constructed suited them perfectly. But there will be those of you who refuse to acknowledge team performances, so I’ll offer you these instead – 2nd, GP: Yokohama 2004; 1st, GP: Kitakyuushu 2005; 3rd, Worlds 2005. Most definitely not shabby. While I don’t necessarily expect him to actually be crowned as Player of the Year come December, I do expect him to be in contention for some time, and for Level 4 to be an absolute minimum return in 2007.
Frank Karsten – Netherlands. Level 3.
That can’t be right, surely? Level 3? Isn’t he, like, Level 5? Apparently not. It would be hypocritical of me to tell you that the stats don’t lie, and then tell you that in Frank’s case they do. But you know what? The stats don’t lie, but in Frank’s case they do. Why? Well, first let’s look at the stats that don’t just rely on Pro Points from 2006. Frank’s first GP Top 8 was in Cologne 2001, and although he has placed no nearer than 3rd, he has five total Top 8 appearances. Then there’s Dutch nationals. Next time you’re feeling down about Magic, go and look at the Top 8 from the last half dozen Nationals in the Netherlands, and then get on your knees and thank whatever deity you worship that you live in (delete as applicable) Italy, Spain, Brazil, Taipei or – and I dare say I’ll cop some grief for this one – the U.S.A. Because the truth is, if you swapped two names at random and replaced them with somebody Japanese, you’d have a Top 8 that would frequently be more than a match for a PT final table. And Frank has made the final table at Nationals on three occasions. So what of the Pro Tour? Mr K has a Top 8 from Nagoya in 2005, and then, for those of you who weren’t paying much attention, he really announced himself by finishing runner-up to Katsuhiro Mori at the 2005 World Championship. Mike Flores may be Resident Genius in the world of Magic, but Karsten is the Resident Genius on Tour (that’s an unofficial title, by the way). You already know I see Tiago Chan as the Player of the Year. Who builds decks with Tiago? Frank Karsten. The stats don’t lie. Frank Karsten + multiple Constructed GPs = Contender. Fact.
Shu Komuro – Japan. Level 3.
I have a ranking round about 1800. You want to know what the difference is between a high-level PTQ-standard player like me, and a high-level PT-standard player like this lot? Opportunity. You can look online and read hundreds of articles from great Pros, and there’s a huge amount of useful information out there. But it’s very hard for anyone to explain to you in detail every decision they took in one duel, let alone in the 40 or so duels it takes to get from round one to a PT final. Fact is, the Pros first recognize that an opportunity exists, and then they take it. Time after time, they take the opportunity while I’m still busy trying to work out whether one exists. The mighty Kai is the walking embodiment of this principal. When an opportunity exists… bang. Game over. His Pro Tour Top 8s? Nine. His wins? seven. That’s over 6 times what it should be, statistically speaking. So you’ll understand that in evaluating players at the highest level, I’m really interested in players who can demonstrate that they seize the moment when it presents itself. And so we come to Shu Komuro. He has four GP Top 8s over the last four years. But the key event was GP: Yokohama 2003. His first GP final table. He ran that table, seizing the opportunity. Fast forward to PT: Nagoya 2005. His first PT final table, the demanding format Champions Rochester Draft. Beat you, beat you, beat you, Champion. If you think I’m banging on about this unnecessarily, consider this: at Geneva, roughly fifty players will be one round from elimination after just two matchups. Two rounds later, and over half the field will be facing win-or-go-home matches. Better seize the opportunity. Komuro can.
Craig Krempels – U.S.A. Level 3.
If, like Springteen, you’re born in the U.S.A., you have a problem when it comes to Magic. You have to be not just “good,” but extraordinarily good, to make a name for yourself, because, quite simply, all the big names from the early days of Magic were American. Finkel, Kastle, Humpherys, Dougherty, Buehler, Long, Justice… it’s a good bet that you don’t even need me to add Jon, Darwin, Dave, Rob, Randy, Mike and Mark. But Krempels? Nope. Jones is the Craig of choice these days. Nonetheless, you don’t turn up and win U.S. nationals without being able to turn cards sideways, and he achieved this in 2004. Krempels also has a pair of GP Top 8s to go with it, and enough solid finishes in ‘06 to make Level 3. Anything beyond that in 2007 would be quite the story, and a step towards joining the States greats.
Shingou Kurihara – Japan. Level 3.
Not a lot to say here. Top 8 at Japanese Nationals in 2006 means he can play. And that’s his track record. But he’s Japanese, and that means it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see him high on the leaderboard sometime during the season.
Osyp Lebedowicz – U.S.A. Level 3.
If Kurihara doesn’t have much of a pedigree at world-class tournaments, the opposite is true of our next contender, and contender he certainly is. All his four GP Top 8 finishes have been on home turf (Washington, Orlando, Boston, Detroit), but you can’t say the same of his PT successes. Top 8 in Osaka 2002 was followed a year later with a European foray to the wettest PT venue ever, Venice. With Onslaught-Legions Block Constructed being the format, Osyp took his Slide deck all the way. A staple of the Magic Invitational since 2004, Osyp is one of those players whose actual skills are sometimes masked by his own ready smile and wit. In a squeeze, I’d rather face the Silent but Deadly character than the Smiling Assassin, and I expect Osyp to reach higher than his current Level 3 status. How wide will the smile get? We’ll see in December.
Raphael Levy – France. Level 5.
What is it with some people? At a conservative estimate, Raph is comfortably inside the Top 20 right now, and inside the Hall of Fame along with some other people who could play pretty well. So what’s the knock on the affable Frenchman who beat me in round 3 of PT: London ‘99? He doesn’t win things. Right. First things first, as it were. This isn’t strictly true. GP: Lyon 1998, winner. There you go. But the wider point is that for someone who has appeared at the sharp end of so many tournaments, shouldn’t he have converted more? Maybe if you want him as your candidate for Player of the Year you’d want to bear this in mind. But bear this lot in mind, too: GP: Barcelona 99 – 4th, Gothenburg 2001 – 3rd, Barcelona 2002 – 7th, Prague 2003 – 2nd, Madrid 2004 – 4th, Paris 2004 – 4th, Cardiff 2006 – 7th, Barcelona 2006 – 2nd, Phoenix 2006 – 3rd, Pro Tour: Chicago 1999 – 4th, Worlds 1998 – 4th, Euros 1999 – 4th, Euros 2000 – 2nd, Nationals 2005 – 8th, Masters Houston 2002 – Top 4. Of course, the pressure to perform is off now that the Hall of Fame ring brings with it automatic Level 3 status forever. On the other hand, Raph is on record as saying he believes the induction will act as a spur to further achievement. At over 50, he has the longest consecutive PT streak on tour, and sometime between now and 100, don’t be surprised if he wins one.
Ben Lundquist – U.S.A. Level 3.
Reputations are funny things. Lundquist suffers from the same problem as Craig Krempels – the wider world of Magic doesn’t really know him. But if you talk to people who do know him, they’ll tell you that Lundquist is a surname you might want to get used to. He was part of the 2006 Worlds team that saw Paul Cheon finish in 12th place overall. In addition to runner-up at U.S. Nationals, Ben added to his 2006 CV with a second placed finish at GP: Madison with teammates Mark Ioli and Kyle Goodman. If it’s true that he’s part of the new wave of U.S. Magic, 2007 is the season for him to show it.
Nick Lovett – Wales. Level 3.
It’s in the nature of the Pro season that some players can manage Level 3 by turning up again and again and again, and eventually pulling together a few unspectacular finishes. Unless you’re a real student of the game, and know who actually did finish 23rd at GP: Athens, or 76th at PT: Honolulu, chances are you don’t see those points accumulating. And then there are players like Nick Lovett. No PT experience. Not a regular on the GP circuit. His route to Level 3 comes in two parts. 1 – qualify for Worlds as part of the Welsh national side. 2 – finish third at Worlds. Readers should be aware that this is a rather challenging route to Level 3 status, since it involves beating people you’ve heard of every round at Worlds from about round 7 onwards, probably including World champions past, present, or future. One other thing to note from The Nick Lovett Story – if you regard yourself as more of a Limited player, going undefeated in Constructed until the semi-finals of the World Championship probably means you’ve done quite well. So now the fun part starts. When your first PT has a third place attached, there’s not a lot of mountain left to climb.
Rosario Maij – Germany. Level 3.
Mr Maij didn’t take the Nick Lovett route to Level 3. A second place at GP: Leipzig in 2005, plus a Nationals quarter-final berth in 2006, is the sum total of “headline” finishes. Although in Magic slow and steady probably doesn’t actually win the race, it sometimes gets you a place in the starting line-up.
Quentin Martin – England. Level 4.
Do me a favor, and forget that I’m English. Why? Because obviously I’m biased, but Quentin deserves your consideration as a contender in the coming year. His first high-level appearance came at GP: Bologna 2005, and this was supplemented by final table seats in both Hasselt and Cardiff last year. Then Quentin finishes his studies, and goes off traveling around the world in true ex-student fashion. Oh, and pops into Kuala Lumpur along the way to finish 3rd in their GP. There are players who can’t step up from GP to PT. Not so Quentin. Prague in 2006 continued his progression towards legitimate threat, as he saw PT Sunday for the first time. Although he went out in the quarter-final, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that he’ll be back. Crucially, he’s now rumored to be based in that powerhouse of European Magic, the Netherlands. That should take care of any perceived Constructed deficiencies, and with Geneva kicking off the season, you could do a lot worse than back Mr Martin to get 2007 off to a winning start.
Chris McDaniel – U.S.A. Level 3.
Finishing 4th at PT: Los Angeles 2005 = A Good Thing.
Not having much other Pro experience = Not A Good Thing.
Having the nickname “Star Wars Kid” = You Decide.
The man has talent, he doesn’t have huge experience. Whether he progresses to the real deal, or goes and finds other things in life, I’m not here to tell you. Like I said, Star Wars Kid = You Decide.
Jan-Moritz Merkel – Germany. Level 3.
Merkel, a mighty 17 years of age, came to PT: Kobe in 2006 and, with a small amount of final help from Brazilian Willy Edel, beat everybody in his path. It turns out that when you have The Answer, you have The Answer. Now that he’s old enough to drink, and drive, although presumably not simultaneously, it will be interesting to see how another young talent develops. Another couple of Answers in 2007, and Merkel could be among the highest placed Europeans come the end of the year.
Makahito Mihara – Japan. Level 5.
Mihara is one of the hardest Pros of the lot to evaluate, since so many factors seem to serve to confuse the picture. First off, he doesn’t have much of a global reputation (at least until very recently). He had no PT Top 8s (at least until very recently). He only has one GP Top 8, and that’s on home turf. So now here’s the big plus, and the big reason for his Level 5 status. Guess what? He’s the reigning World Champion. That should be enough to secure a serious reputation. But there are two question marks against him coming out of Worlds. First, the Dragonstorm deck he piloted to ultimate victory occupied a very strange space in the Standard metagame. Never before have I heard so many players say of a deck, “well, it’s possibly the best deck out there, and I guess I basically lose to it, unless the deck just beats itself, which happens a fair amount, hopefully.” Everybody knew Dragonstorm was good. Not many people did much about it. So when the Top 8 rolled around, Mihara essentially spent three rounds saying “Oh, you’re one of those players who basically loses to Dragonstorm. And look, you have.” The final in particular was a real letdown, unless of course you’re Mihara’s Mum. The second knock on Mihara revolves around game 5 of the quarter final against long-name himself, Paulo Vitor Dama da Rosa of Brazil. You all know that Dragonstorm needs nine mana to go off, right? In game 5, Mihara tried to count to nine, and only got as far as eight. Anytime you want a master-class in The Body Language of Hope, go and watch the coverage of this match, as the Brazilian Level 6 starts to get extremely interested as the match that looked over becomes virtually his. Now, if the story ends here, the knock on Mihara becomes more understandable. He choked. But, whilst he clearly made a pretty fundamental error, he then examined every possible way of rectifying the situation. He sees the puncher’s chance, casts Repeal on an irrelevant monster, and blessedly finds another Ritual on top of his library. And that, as they say, equals nine. The case for the defense concludes with these three facts: Japanese Nationals 2003 – 8th ; Japanese Nationals 2004 – 7th ; Japanese Nationals 2005 – 5th. There are better-known players in Japan, yes. But as we may very well see in 2007, there aren’t many better players in Japan.
…
That’s where we take a break. Still to come on Magic’s Most Wanted: more Top 8s and more top8magic, more Mori and more Morita, why the Oomens are good for the Dutch, why the future’s looking Rosy, Magic’s very own Ruel family, and how you can prove you know even more about the world of Pro Magic than I do.
Until then, play hard and play fair.
As ever,
R.