MTG Pro Tutor - Insights, Tips & Advice from Magic: The Gathering Pros – Details, episodes & analysis

Michael Kundegraber has been playing since 2000, back when rules consisted of semi-educated guesses and were always changed depending on whose parents’ kitchen table MtG was played at. Lately, he’s had some top results with a second place finish at Grand Prix Turin 2018 and a follow-up Top 16 performance at his first Pro Tour later that year. Michael lives in Vienna, Austria.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Michael Kundegraber when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep318

Planeshift

Mirrodin

Tahngarth, Talruum Hero

Understanding the game at first was hard. Archetype matchups and other big-picture topics eluded Michael. He improved by playing matchups of the best decks with friends.

Playing for the top 4 at Austrian Nationals, Michael approached the match-up too confidently and played cautiously (even though he was favored to win). He lost and learned that you need to have a coping strategy. Find what works for you.

Getting 2nd at Grand Prix Turin 2018.

Overthinking. Players sometimes try to wrap their mind around too much of the game at once. Break down the situation into smaller chunks and address them separately.

Keep having fun while playing Magic.

CFB, SCG, Magic Podcasts, Jim Davis Stream

Michael can be found in the MTG Pro Tutor Facebook group.

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Zach Allen is a member of Team RIW from Farmington Hills, Michigan. He Co-hosts the podcast Turn One Thoughtseize and has 2 Grand Prix top 8s, a Pro Tour top 16, and 1 SCG top 8 in his record. He's a dedicated control player and Snapcaster Mage enthusiast.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Zach Allen when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep317

Urza Block

Khans of Tarkir

Snapcaster Mage

Not being able to beat the best guy at his local store. This constant, ever-present challenge pushed Zach to improve.

Getting 9th at PPTQ's 6 times in a row. Zach learned that the results of tournaments are not indicative of your actual skill.

Making top 16 of Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica.

Making the play that sets you up for a win later. Make the best decision at the time with the information you have, but make a decision.

Getting out of the moment. Players need to focus on just the game in front of them. 

The people in Magic are what's most important. Relationships and friends are priceless.

CFB, SCG, Cool Stuff Inc.

Twitter:@A22en

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Luis Salvatto is currently tied in the Player of Year race (with Seth Manfield) and is the Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan champion. He has 7 Grand Prix top 8s which include 2 wins and was also the Sunday Super Series champion in 2014. Luis lives in Argentina.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Luis Salvatto when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep308

Luis is a past guest of the show and you can find his origin story in episode 119.

Luis spent 50 days traveling around the world. He spent 7 weeks in 7 different places. His secret was to travel Light. He had a modern deck and some clothes. That's pretty much it.

Luis friend approached him and suggested he play Lantern Control. After asking other friends what they think he went for it. After a rocky start, Luis got his steam and went all the way to take the championship.

Players don't play to win. They play to survive. Also, players don't bluff enough.

The best part of Magic is the people you play the game with. Surround yourself with good friends and soar.

Twitter:@LuisSalvatto ‏

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Lukas Blohon returns to the show after increasing his already impressive record. He now has 7 Grand Prix top 8s including 2 wins and 2 Pro Tour top 8s. Lukas lives in Prague, Czech Republic. His first appearance on the MTG Pro Tutor podcast was episode 61.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Lukas Blohon when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep219

Lukas now plays Magic full time. He produces content for Hareruya and plays.
After locking Platinum, Lukas decided to make the leap.

Breaking up Magic times with other activities helps Lukas focus better.

Lukas played in the Modern event and remembers a loss he had. After 4 days of solid Magic, Lukas missed an onboard manland and his opponent won when Lukas was favored.

Playing too fast. People don't think their whole turn through.

Playing an auto pilot. Lukas does it in practice and wants to get better.

Play one match at a time.

Twitter:@LukasBlohon ‏

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Allen Wu is a Master's student at Stanford University where he studies Management Science and Engineering. He broke onto the Pro Tour by winning an MTGO PTQ 3 seasons in a row. His best results are 2 Grand Prix top 8's with 1 win and going 10-6 in the last 3 Pro Tours. Allen lives in Mountain View, CA.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Allen Wu when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep218

Invasion

Time Spiral

Vendilion clique

Allen played a lot and got better by accident :)

At a Pro Tour, playing against  Mike Sigrist, Allen missed a play that would have won him the game. He missed out on qualifying for 2 more Pro Tour.

Winning his first MTGO PTQ.

"Magic has improved my critical thinking."

Legacy

There are so many decisions and decks learn from every game.

Making great friends has been a fantastic side effect of playing Magic.

Playing too scared. Players pump the brakes when they shouldn't. You have to read how your opponents have been playing and surmise what they don't have.

Play a lot of Magic Online and get a group to play test.

Hangout with friends between rounds. Make sure you're having fun.

Record your games and watch them.

Watch videos and pause as you go talk with friends.

Twitter:@lhefriel ‏

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Tyrell Wheeler is the first Pro Tutor Prodigy listener turned guest! He has been playing Magic since Revised and has one Pro Tour top 16. Tyrell lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Tyrell Wheeler when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep217

Time Spiral

Time walk

Don't know the proper playing of Magic when in an autopilot.

He lost his backpack including his deck and some of his personal belongings the night before the event.

Qualifying for the Pro Tour even though his life gets busy and played Magic on and off.

He could repeat other people's process to success so being mindful. Practice does not make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect.

Sealed deck.

Players just talking with everybody and setting down to play. People need to put the mental energy into thinking about what the best plays. Keep in touch with your monologue, ask questions why that this happened and internalize the game.

Watching Limited videos, ask pieces of advice from mentors, watching Magic matches once a week, get practice, think some plan and strategy and have confidence.

Have big meals, eat salad, apple, banana, drink enough water, bring paper, pens, tokens, dice, etc.

Mindfully think through the games and adapt else' process that is so much better than you.

Tyrell can be found in the MTG Pro Tutor Facebook group.

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Magic Story is the audio presentation of Uncharted Realms, the weekly Daily MTG column that tells the lore behind Magic: The Gathering.

This episode is brought to life by voice actors, a composer, and a sound designer all of the highest caliber.

Credits:

Austin Schumacher (Narrator)

T Katz (Arlinn Kord)

Nathan Ondrecek (Archmage Reeves / Archmage Rembert / Cathar Leighton / Male Cathars)

Kaitlyn Lavo (Olaylie / Mad Angel / Female Cathars)

Miriam Penrod (Boy)

Nathaniel Drew (Composer of the original score)

Ansh Rajput (Chief sound designer)

Brian Lang (Cover art)

Shaun Penrod (Executive Producer)

Benjamin Luft is a 31-year-old Tax Consultant Assistant from Hannover, Germany. He’s been playing Magic since Visions but has stepped away from the game several times (as many of us do). He cashed for the first time at a Grand Prix when he made top 8 at GP Amsterdam which also sent him to Albuquerque for his first Pro Tour.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Benjamin Luft when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep215

Mirage

Zendikar

Cryptic Command

Finding people to play with as preparation for tournaments.

Losing on a PPTQ in semifinals and losing again in another PPTQ the day after in finals. But it paid off because he got practiced in higher level and made him qualified for another PPTQ.

Win and got 6-1-2 after 9 rounds and hit 6-0 on day 2 and even considered dropping to play some Mulligan side events.

Seeking opportunities to open and get yourself in a situation where you can gain experience and even risk but keep trying to succeed.

Standard

A week before the event and test it with friends.

Choosing and positioning the deck matters. Decide from the recent tournament results and find the weaknesses of the dominated decks.

Become a better person. Be able to handle mistakes, loss and treat others nicely.

People concede earlier.

More foods and keep hydrated.

Not conceding earlier. Don't try to win but also try to make it an enjoyable experience. Keep trying and succeed.

SCG, CFB, The game podcast

Twitter:@_bluft

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Hunter Cochran is a 25-year-old graduate student of physics at Stony Brook University. He’s originally from Arkansas and Texas and has made the top 8 of three GPs, winning one. Hunter lives in Long Island, New York.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Hunter Cochran when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep214

Onslaught

MIrrodin, Darksteel

Perilous Vault
Tireless tracker

Not having the access to cards and the money to buy to very competitive decks. Difficult to play ranges of decks and be able to think from other perspectives and learn new types of decks and strategies.

During the PPTQ in the Spring of 2015 when he decided to spend some money and attend the events. 

A very embarrassing and lowest moment that got him banned from playing Magic in a local venue in college. Playing against a good player that got him rolled by his opponent's super deck. Got angry, throw his fist to the table, punch the table and sat on the table for the rest of the day. 

His first PPTQ win in just 3 months of playing.

Learned controlling emotions when results are unfavorable to you.

Not having a very clear vision for the game, not knowing your role and how your deck is built and the difficulties to pinpoint why you lose the game. For Constructed - thinking about things before the tournament. For Limited- thinking about things before your round.

Try to be pretty animated and vocal with opponents. Try to make interaction and experience be personal. The more you see your opponent as a person, the easier to beat frustration.

Magic is a community game so build relationships, talk to people who might help you to open and close doors and get so much perspective on Magic.

SCG, CFB

Hunter can be found in the MTG Pro Tutor Facebook group.

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com

Kevin Jones has been playing magic since Urza's Saga and has been playing competitively since Onslaught. He has 10 Star City Games Open top 8s, 1 Grand Prix top 8, is a 3 time SCG Player's Championship Competitor, has 2 Pro Tour Appearances AND is the Co-host of The Weekly Ward Wednesdays on Twitch.tv/kirwansgamestore. He is also a writer for MTGCardmarket.com. Kevin lives in Kingston, NY

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Kevin Jones when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep213

Urza's Saga

Innistrad

Snapcaster Mage

Kevin has always been competitive and his play group was too. He watched his younger friends get really good he wondered why he wasn't improving. Kevin expanded himself by playing new decks and learning different archetypes. 

Kevin made top 8 at States in 2004.

At his first Pro Tour, Kevin built his deck the night before the event. He failed to make day 2 and was really taken aback by it.

Winning a Grand Prix.

Math :). Magic also changes the way you think as far as values and risk.

Caring so much that it pains you to lose. Young players tend to lose sight of the big picture and get torn up when they lose. To overcome this, your mindset / approach to Magic needs to evolve to where you enjoy the game and understand that it is a game and how lucky you are to fuel your competitive drive through a complex hobby.

Don't lose sight of yourself and don't let loses define who you are.

Twitter:@kjvsthehighway

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com