Subject: Defining A Professional
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 17:26:24 -0400
From: Gary Krakower monteroy@interlog.com
To: webmaster@classicdojo.org

Defining a Professional

What exactly is a professional Magic player? What makes him or her stand apart from the millions of others who play the game? There is no simple answer to this, however what I will try to do with this post is provide my opinions on the many ingredients that often make up a professional Magic player.

ABILITY:

Overall, the skill level of magic players as a whole is rising. Still, what differentiates a pro?

For the most part, professionals make fewer play mistakes. This is primarily due to experience. When building decks, they generally use cards that are most efficient. This is the area that most players can easily improve through practice, and in fact, the skill gap between pros and amateurs is narrowing.

However, there are many other areas that a pro demonstrates that are not as obvious.

Using the opponent as a Tool:

First, the ability to read one’s opponent. When I play someone, what I always look for is how they play their cards, if they place their cards (ie: lands or spells) in the same place in their hand, do they shuffle their hand, was the card they just drew the one they played, do their facial/body movements change and if so, what does that mean?

I remember playing a rather cordial fellow at Origins last year. He always kept his land on the right side of his hand. Through the course of a game, I concluded that his hand was entirely land (based on the land he played from the far-left side of his hand). Because of this, I played ultra aggressively, over committing much more than I would have normally played. At the end, he commented on how lucky I was that he did not have any mass kill in his hand.

Gab Tsang also mentioned to me that he watches the style of how his opponent plays, is it always aggressive or passive? Will a sudden change in style indicate that he or she has drawn something of value?

The reverse of the above is true as well. A good pro will try his or her best to mislead the opponent. In the mirage sealed deck qualifiers, I had a 1/1 and a 2/2 creature in play, my opponent had a jungle wurm and a stalking tiger. When he looked at me, I stared at his life total, then counted my lands with my eyes. It was just enough to kill him with a torch if he attacked with even one creature. When chose not to attack I tried to look a little disappointed (not too much). For the next three turns, I drew land but refused to play them, since that would certainly indicate I did not have a torch in hand (I didn’t even have one in my deck). The added time did allow me to finally draw a kill spell and turn the tide of the game.

Attitude:

During this year’s Canadian Nationals, the finals were about to begin. As is traditional with Canadian Nationals, we were kicked out of the main room before it was over, and the finals had to be played in a closet-like side room.

In the finals were Pete Radonjic and the up and coming Nick Chen. Nick was just happy to be there and played as such. He took win or lose chances that he normally would not have risked. Pete played with a will to win, and even though I think it was not an ideal deck match-up for him, this determination helped him to victory.

Although inexperience cost Nick during this match, it also helped to make him a better player as his performance on team day at Worlds and at Grand prix Boston have demonstrated. He is playing with more confidence now than before.

Exploiting opponents Weaknesses:

This can come in different forms. If your opponent chooses to shuffle his deck face up, great enjoy all of the free information you can obtain.

Also, an opponent can often exhibit behavior that can be used against him. If they are egotistical, play up to it. Act like a scrub”, and if you obtain an advantage, comment on how lucky you are. It will likely frustrate them, causing them to play poorly.

In a side draft at Origins 1 or 2 years ago (when you get older you tend to forget these things), I played a fellow who aggressively proclaimed that his deck was so much better than mine as we entered game three. I agreed, saying it would take a miracle for me to win.

I then proceeded to sing the song the Swedish Chef on the Muppet show sings for the entire game. I would compliment all of his cards, and question all of mine Well, normally reality ripple stinks, but it seems to be working this time.” By the time he lost, I have rarely seen someone more frustrated. His play suffered greatly, and that was a major factor because his deck was indeed better. Note, I do not recommend singing during the Pro tour.

Luck is a factor in the game. We all win some and lose some simply due to luck, however a pro will often disguise skill under the guise of luck.

Use Their Emotions Against Them:

Did they just lose an emotional game? If so, try to start the next one as soon as possible, they may have not worked the emotion out of their system. If you just lost a tough one, take a little extra time sideboarding to regain your composure.

Overall, the next time you watch a feature match between two name” players, don’t watch what they play, rather watch how they play.

BEHAVIOR

I am very pleased to see what I believe to be a dramatic increase in maturity and sportsmanship being demonstrated by players in general. Each event seems to contain a more professional, dignified feel to it than the past. Consider this, at Grand prix Toronto a while ago, Terry Borer failed to play a land on his second turn. His opponent stood up, put his finger in Terry’s face and shouted YES!!!!!” I simply cannot see that happening again.

To be a professional, one needs to act like one. Simply being able to play the game is not enough. Lately, when someone has made the final 8, his peers in a genuine show of support have roundly congratulated him. This is how it should be, and I am glad to see it happening.

Complaining / Disagreements:

I am going to address this in a couple of ways. First, and this is just my opinion, I believe most disagreements can be worked out among the players. I have yet to need to call a judge over except for card ruling clarifications.

I am concerned that the new tough judging will result in a rash of Judge-based victories. I read a post here where a person called a judge because his opponent accidentally untapped his land that he should not have untapped. I guess I would have simply told him to tap it and said if it happens again, I will call a judge. I simply do not believe the occasional accidental play mistake should be grounds for a match loss if it can be corrected and has had no impact on the game. Judges are necessary, but please do not try to obtain a quick victory by getting a game loss ruling on an irrelevant, accidental error.

Now, on to a different style of complaining. After a match, if you have lost a very close duel or had mana problems, it is not unusual to complain about it. I actually have no problems with this. Essentially, Magic is a mental variation of tennis in a way, except unlike tennis, we cannot release our emotions through the course of a game. They will naturally build up during a match, and releasing them after is a normal process.

In Boston, I had just lost a match due to some extremely unfortunate luck. It happens, win some lose some. Nonetheless, I was frustrated after. Dennis Bentley, the one true American hero, and I went to his room after and he patiently heard out my story.

Hey, I know Magic stories are as exiting as watching paint dry, but after 5 minutes, I felt better. I had worked the loss out of my system. Dennis showed he was a professional by being a good listener when it counted. Not every player, even the top ones can be credited with this.

Oh No!!! I Have To Play Finkle:

You are just about to start you first Grand Prix or pro tour and you are told the first person you play is Finkle. When you sit down, you are relieved to see it is a Steve Finkle.

The above makes me smile. Most people want to go through a big event without playing a name player even though the way you become a better player is by playing against the best.

I look at the recent pro tour New York. In the last 10 rounds, I played against Hacker, Truc Bui twice, Long, Finkle, Bentley, Weissman, Sven Geersten, and Sigurd Eskeland (I apologize for any spelling errors). Although I just missed making final 8, it was one of the best Magic experiences I have had.

If you play against a name player or someone wearing a team shirt, do not be intimidated. Rather, embrace the competition. Soon, you will not care whether your next opponent is Jon Finkle, Matt Vienneau, or Joe ImAScrub.

Motivations for Becoming a Pro:

Fame Most people like fame, though I can’t really understand why. Don’t worry about fame; let your actions and behavior determine how others judge you.

Money I have said this before, currently it is nearly impossible to make a career out of playing Magic. Every year, a few will do well, and some will do very well, but consider that if you finish 16^th at all 4 Pro tours and Worlds, you will Gross about 14-15,000 dollars. This is before taxes and expenses. Jobs involving french fries pay better.

Competition Although most magic players are not yet financially secure, if you ask a top player what is at stake in the final round of a pro tour, he will often not mention money, rather how they will finish if they win. When I played Mike Long in round 21 at Worlds, I did not realize till after that it was a $2,500 ante match. Money was not an issue in either of our minds when we played.

When I spoke with Pete Radonjic after the final round at Worlds, I asked if money even entered his mind (he won to make top 32. He said, No way, it’s all about the competition.”

I could not agree more, competing with the best in the world is the most positive benefit the Pro tour offers.

Thank you for your time. Good luck in all of your Magic endeavors, professional or otherwise.

Gary Krakower