Gabriel's trumpet
March 16th 2009 02:39
“I don’t play Magic for fun.”
-- Bill M., Meta Games regular
I make no secret of the fact that I have little time for the Pro Tour. The most I usually do is look at the top eight players’ deck lists, just for the sake of interest. In the interests of full disclosure, I did play in a qualifier once; it wasn’t too bad, but as far as Magic experiences go, I’ve had better. But I found myself more interested than usual in the Pro Tour in Kyoto a couple of weeks ago.
The event was won by Gabriel Nassif, who needs no introduction to many Magic players. If you’re not familiar with either Magic or the pro circuit, think of him as the professional game’s equivalent of Zinedine Zidane. They were both at the top of their game for a long time, both have had their ups and downs (though Nassif’s only around my age and so has many good years ahead of him), and they’re even both from France.
Nassif’s victory raised plenty of discussion points. He was playing a five-color control deck of an archetype which many Standard experts thought was on the way down, and his version contained cards that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see in constructed. He showed exceptional skill but also rode his luck once or twice – do Magic players make their own luck or do we all just rise and fall with the quantum probability distribution? But perhaps the most interesting talking points have nothing to do with his decklist or his matchups.
There’s a difference between being a pro player and being a serious player, and Nassif illustrates perfectly what it is. No matter how high the stakes, he never loses sight of the fact that Magic is a game first and foremost. He plays hard, and he plays to win – but he never stops having fun, as you can clearly see in the now-legendary video of his “called shot” Cruel Ultimatum play in the quarter-finals. He is, to borrow the words of Saucony’s marketing department, “loyal to the sport,” and he deserves credit for that as much as for his winning achievements.
-- Bill M., Meta Games regular
I make no secret of the fact that I have little time for the Pro Tour. The most I usually do is look at the top eight players’ deck lists, just for the sake of interest. In the interests of full disclosure, I did play in a qualifier once; it wasn’t too bad, but as far as Magic experiences go, I’ve had better. But I found myself more interested than usual in the Pro Tour in Kyoto a couple of weeks ago.
The event was won by Gabriel Nassif, who needs no introduction to many Magic players. If you’re not familiar with either Magic or the pro circuit, think of him as the professional game’s equivalent of Zinedine Zidane. They were both at the top of their game for a long time, both have had their ups and downs (though Nassif’s only around my age and so has many good years ahead of him), and they’re even both from France.
Nassif, though, has never been disqualified for one of these.
Nassif’s victory raised plenty of discussion points. He was playing a five-color control deck of an archetype which many Standard experts thought was on the way down, and his version contained cards that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see in constructed. He showed exceptional skill but also rode his luck once or twice – do Magic players make their own luck or do we all just rise and fall with the quantum probability distribution? But perhaps the most interesting talking points have nothing to do with his decklist or his matchups.
There’s a difference between being a pro player and being a serious player, and Nassif illustrates perfectly what it is. No matter how high the stakes, he never loses sight of the fact that Magic is a game first and foremost. He plays hard, and he plays to win – but he never stops having fun, as you can clearly see in the now-legendary video of his “called shot” Cruel Ultimatum play in the quarter-finals. He is, to borrow the words of Saucony’s marketing department, “loyal to the sport,” and he deserves credit for that as much as for his winning achievements.
The coverage team referred to Nassif as “the greater power.” And why not? Even the pros shouldn’t be here if they don’t like fantasy.
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