In the first installment of "Ask the Pro", level 5 Pro Player Nico Bohny answers some of the most interesting questions from Blackborder.com users. He speculates about a fictional Standard format and tells you how to qualify for the Pro Tour and how he got on the gravy train.
About the author Nico is a level 5 member of the Pro Players Club, he has currently 65 lifetime Pro Points and is ranked 34 in Limited worldwide! Some of Nico’s MTG accomplishments include:
-Winning Grand Prix Torino -Top 8 at Pro Tour Hollywood -Winning the team World Championship
Apart from playing high-level tournaments, Nico judges various Magic tournaments. In addition Nico is the original designer of the BW token deck, which performed well in the current Standard format. He was also spotted winning matches with 20/20 avatar tokens (or as he says “Chuck Norris tokens”) from Dark Depths at last year’s Nationals ;-).
First of all thank you for sending in those well thought out questions. I received a plethora of questions and I enjoyed reading them. Even if I can't answer all of them right now, I might get back to your question in the next "Ask the Pro" feature article or I might answer your question individually, if I find the time to do so. So don't be discouraged if you don't find your question in today's feature and keep submitting anything you want to ask me. You can even submit the same question again in order to stress its importance.
Question: Dan Eckstein "mtgxman" from Kansas, United States asks: If Wizards decided to make us all go back to the roots by printing only basic mana for two blocks and a core expansion would it help/hurt the game? How would you feel about it? I personally wouldn't like just basics, but I do feel that mana fixing is too easy in today's game if you can afford all the expensive nonbasic lands.
Answer:
Hi Dan
I really like those "what if" questions a lot - they give you a completely new focus on the game. Cutting all the nonbasic lands would be quite an interesting change for a Standard environment, though it would hurt it a bit.
A Constructed format without nonbasics would be completely different. Monocolored decks like for example Kithkin/White Weenie or Red Deck Wins would gain in popularity due to their consistency, 2-colored decks would still work somehow (even with a shaky manabase), and 3 or more colored decks would need to be green based, to have access to their mana via cards like Rampant Growth, Fertile Ground and so on.
Overall, Constructed would feel a little more like Limited, since the mana fixing doesn't give you the option of just playing whatever cards or combinations you like, without getting a drawback. But hey, there have been some formats without good fixers, Mercadian Masques Block to name just one (I would have preferred seeing good nonbasic lands instead of Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero there).
On the other hand the mana fixing right now seems a little too crazy for me - take for example "5color blood"-decks. They are basically playing three colors, but still manage to splash Cryptic Command, a spell which - in theory - just isn't made for splashing. At least - thanks to Anathemancer - there is again some sort of punishment available for players who greedily abuse all of those sick nonbasic lands...
Firestarter vote
Question: Noah Whinston, "baldr7" from Oxford, United Kingdom wants to know:
What are the different ways of qualifying for the Pro Tour? I know about PTQs and making top 16 in a Grand Prix, but can you also qualify for additional Pro Tours by making top 16 at a Pro Tour? How did you get on the train?
Answer:
Hi Noah
There are several ways of qualifying for a Pro Tour:
Pro Tour Qualifier: A tournament where a number of players fight for one (or sometimes also 2 or more) slots at a Pro Tour. The winner of a PTQ often wins some money to pay for the flight and the hotel at a Pro Tour.
National Team: The World Championship is also a Pro Tour. The Top 4 of each National Championship will receive an invitation to Worlds.
Grand Prix Top 16: Grand Prix' are often held at famous, large cities in order to draw as many players as possible. If you manage to sneak into the top 16, you will be able to play the Pro Tour as well.
Pro Tour Top 50: If you manage to get that highly ranked in a Pro Tour, your reward will be another invitation for the next Pro Tour.
Pro Players Club: For Attending Pro Tours and performing well at Grand Prix' awards you will receive Pro Points. A Pro Tour Season starts in January and ends in December - if you manage to collect 20 points in a season, you'll be qualified for all the Pro Tours in the next season. Gathering 15 points mans that you will be able to choose one Pro Tour held next year and be able to join it.
Rating: If your Total Rating is among the top 100 players in the world, you will also be invited.
Hall of Fame: Players that have been known and around for some years at the Pro Tour (at least 10 years plus 100 lifetime pro points) will eventually get an invitation to the Hall of Fame. Members of the Hall of Fame receive lifetime invitations to all the Pro Tours, no matter how they perform...
Most of the time, you start your journey to the Pro Tour with a PTQ or Nationals. My way to the tour started back in 2004 when I qualified for my first Pro Tour (Worlds 2004 in San Francisco) via Nationals. Then, in 2006, I made top 16 at several Grand Prix', qualifying for Pro Tour Prague and Pro Tour Kobe. Unfortunately the following year, I had to stop playing Magic completely. One year later, when I came back, I qualified via Nationals for Worlds 2007, where we won the Team Competition. As Team World Champion I was invited to the next Pro Tour in Kuala Lumpur, where I ended up in the Top 50 and therefore was qualified for the next Pro Tour in Hollywood. There I ended up in the Top 8, gathering enough Pro Points to qualify for the rest of the Tours in 2008 and also for the Tours in 2009. Sadly I didn't have much time to play Grand Prix' this year, but I still hope that with some good performances on the Pro Tour I will be able to stay on the so-called "Gravy Train" to be able to attend the Pro Tour in 2010. As you can see, it is not that easy to qualify for the Pro Tour and especially to stay on the train. Nonetheless I encourage all of you to keep trying, because if you are dedicated enough, you will eventually get there.
Firestarter vote
You can already send me all your questions for the next installment of "Ask the Pro", use the contact form (use the "Ask the Pro" setting to reach me). Make sure to include your name and location. (Note: This feature isn’t intended for rules-related questions. You dont have to limit yourself to one question a week. You can send in all the questions that come to your mind at anytime.)
I will then pick the most interesting questions and answer them each week in a feature article on Blackborder.com. I will also try to answer as many questions as possible individually, if I have the time to do so. In order for a question to have a good chance of being featured in the "Ask the Pro" column, you should write the question in correct English and give as many details as possible.
All the users whose questions are chosen by me and answered in the feature article, will receive 250 Blackborder points!
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This is a cool feature. I am glad Blackborder started this, and thank you Nico for your time!
Very cool!
Wish he had time for more questions.
Although it is interesting to see what are the concerns of other people, since it gives me insight into other people's mentalities and playstyles almost as much as the decks section has.
If you collect enough points you might be able to win some of the upcoming auctions, in order to win for example training sessions and coaching from a Pro Player.
Feel free to send me any additional questions, suggestions or ideas using the contact form (use the "Editor" setting to reach me).
Make sure to visit daily in order not to miss anything and invite your friends to join the rapidly growing interactive Magic the Gathering portal that Blackborder.com is!
Have fun!
Andy
This feature is INSANE! You don't often get the opportunity to get the insights to the game at the level which Nico plays very often. These articles are the types that will make a bad player better, and a better player good. Love it!
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