The Resurrection of the West Coast at Worlds By Andrea Kunstt Something amazing happened on day three of the Worlds Championships. It didn’t involve a ruling, no one was thrown off the event’s scenic balcony, and Jon Finkel didn’t change the color of his hair to chartreuse this event. What it did involve, however, was the resurrection of the California Pro Magic scene when, to the amazement of the milling players at the end of the day, five players from California made the final 8. It was, after all, only three years ago that California dominated the Pro Magic scene. The very first serious professional team, PCL (Pacific Coast Legends) was setting the Pro Tour scene on fire as Mario Robaina, Mark Chalice, Mark Justice, Henry Stern, and Frank Gilson established names and reputations as premier players. But somewhere along the way, Southern California fell off the map as PCL broke up (Mario moved to Miami, Chalice retired, Justice abandoned the group after he got a single person sponsorship, Henry was hired by Wizards, and Frank got a job doing programming and testing at Blizzard Entertainment) and left a void that would, for one year at least, be temporarily filled by the appropriately named Team Dickheads [sic]. Unfortunately, the Dickheads proved to be great players at draft and sealed but conversely poor at constructed. The East Coast players easily left the West Coast behind. The 1997-1998 Pro Tour season proved to be an especially low year for West Coast players. Kurt Burgner (Semifinals, PT Mainz), Truc Bui (Quarterfinals, PT NY), and Ben Rubin (Finalist, PT LA) were the only players to make final 8 appearances in a Pro Tour event for the entire year. And yet, inexplicably, California has reemerged. Of the final 8, which includes a French player, a transplanted Hoosier, and the machine from New Jersey, five players are from various parts of California (four players from Southern California, of which three are from San Diego, one from the earthquake ravaged city of Northridge in Los Angeles and one player from the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California) will be attempting to claim the $34,000 World Championship prize. Hailing from San Diego (California’s southernmost major city), Brian Selden fought hard for three days at this year’s Worlds to emerge in third place before the final 8 event on Sunday. Brian, an affable and friendly teenager (17) who regularly plays in California’s premier event location (Costa Mesa’s Saturday Gathering) came out of nowhere to place in the top four at the Southern California Regionals. His showing at the Regionals was considered a fluke by the Pro Tour veterans of the area and so he went to the US Nationals in relative obscurity. And yet, surprisingly, Brian played well enough at Nationals to place a rather impressive 9th. He would, obviously, qualify for Worlds on ratings from the incredible performances at both Regionals and Nationals. In fourth place at the end of the Swiss rounds, Scott Johns is one of the more recognizable pro players in the final 8 at Worlds. Scott has an interesting history in Pro Magic; for many years, he fought accusations of cheating and unsportsmanlike play and so has been rather quiet on the Pro Tour scene. Composed and soft spoken, the blonde Los Angeleno recently married and graduated with a degree in music from California State University – Northridge (Northridge was the epicenter of the last great Los Angeles Earthquake and Scott’s university was badly damaged in the quake). Since Scott was busy securing his degree (ironically, he wrote his thesis on Wagner’s opera Tristan Und Isolde, a play that premiered in Seattle that very weekend), he wasn’t completely hopeful of finishing near the final 8. And yet, Scott played carefully, cleanly, and honestly. Before each of the last two rounds on Friday, Scott would anxiously sit in a corner of the room and wait patiently for the next round to begin. As with most players, he was worried and nervous and ready for the rounds (and suspense) to be over. And so, quietly, Scott demonstrated that the past is not indicative of the future and that perseverance, dedication, and honesty are a winning combination. If Scott had controversy in the past, the matches he played in this year’s worlds are ample proof that his performance is completely skill- based. At fifth place at the end of the Swiss rounds, Ben Rubin is one of many very good players to emerge from the San Francisco Bay area. Rubin, 15, plays with a maturity that belies his young age. Articulate and shy, Ben plays with an eye on winning the game and not on theatrics or mind games. Like Ben, most of the Pro players in the Bay area are under the age of 17. For this reason, Northern California Pros earned themselves a reputation as being anarchistic and immature. Ben, however, is not given to mind games or schoolboy posturing and it is perhaps for that reason that he has been accepted so much more readily by his Pro Tour peers. Just two years ago, he qualified for the Junior Pro Tour. It was an eye-opener for Ben as he realized just how much he needed to learn before he truly was playing at a Pro level. As his skills developed, Ben began to favor midlevel decks that were neither offensive nor defensive in nature. Ben prefers a deck that doesn’t wait to establish control (such as the Draw-Go deck prototype) and yet isn’t a vulnerable beat-down prototype either (such as suicide black). Finally, Dan is rather an enigma at Magic: he is one of the few individuals to reach the top without the support of a formal team. With a Pro Tour finals (PTLA) and Worlds final 8 under his belt, Ben is one of the strongest candidates for team inception currently in the sport and readily proves that it isn’t age so much as intelligence and skill that makes a Magic Pro. If the Pro Tour has character, it is because there are players like Friday’s seventh place finisher Brian Hacker playing in it. A member of Team Dickheads, Brian (along with friends Truc Bui and John Yoo) taught the Pro Tour how to draft last year. At a time when Pro Tour sealed formats were dreaded events for the predominantly constructed-format players, Brian and his teammates carved a niche for themselves in the void left by the departure of Southern California’s first and greatest team, PCL. Nicknamed “Azul” (‘blue” in Spanish) for the color of his hair, Brian earned an interesting reputation for himself in the 1997-1998 Pro Tour season by being the first regular to publicly address the problem of Pro Tour cheating. He risked peer censure by doing so but, in the end, the result was the impetus by Pro Tour judges and players to clean up the sport before the cheating got out of hand. If Brian is a bit more colorful than his Pro counterparts, it is because he has a rather unobvious predilection for mischief and mayhem. As a result, one rule holds true when listening to the many colorful stories of the San Diego native: Believe only half of the wild rumors you hear about Azul and blame the rest of the sordid stories on his incorrigible teammates Truc Bui and John Yoo. Every once in awhile, a truly remarkable person makes the Pro Tour. Alan Comer, at eighth place after Swiss, is perhaps the most creative player and deckbuilder in Magic. A consummate professional, Alan makes the game of Magic look fun and effortless. Always with a kind word for his opponent, Alan does not hesitate to point out mistakes or provide any help he can give – even if that person is an opponent in a Pro Tour. Alan used his incredible deckbuilding genius to design a deck that took the Southern California Regionals by storm. His friends named the his creation “Godzilla” after the deck continually spat out huge creatures that none of the current deck archetypes could handle. Ironically, every person he gave the deck to managed to qualify for Nationals except Alan – who placed 9th after having mana problems for two straight matches. Despite the setback at the California Regionals, Alan was determined to do well at Worlds this year. When it was announced that Alan was 8th, many in the crowd cheered, much to Alan’s surprise and happiness. If good guys finish first, then the San Diego native will be this year’s Pro Tour World Champion. It is amazing that one part of the United States can be so quiet for an entire year – and then suddenly explode at the last major tournament of the Pro Tour season. If you ask the Californians above how they managed to survive the three day meat grinder known as Worlds to emerge at the top, you will probably get a variety of answers that echo the diversity of the State of California. If this year’s Worlds is a harbinger of times to come, the 1998-1999 Pro Tour season will truly be an incredible year for Magic. Andrea Kunstt – Contributing to TheDojo DCI Level III Judge Official Playtester, Magic: The Gathering