Please note, the following script is completely from my own perspective and has no intention to cause any harm, pain, illwill, distress whatsoever to any of the parties mentioned. So lets get right to it!
Competitor Name: Devsharan Singh (“Dev”)
Profession: Doctor
Age: 35
Qualification method: 2nd place GP Shanghai 2015
My guess of his favorite Magic card: Crater’s Claw (more on that later)
I think if you’re from KL and played Magic you probably know Dev. Heck in fact, if you’re from Malaysia and didn’t play Magic, you probably know Dev too. He’s that popular.
I met Dev about two years ago when we were battling at Tavern. Great guy, big guy and but very uncertain at that time when tapping his mana to cast a Sphinx Revelation for 2 cards and likely a Dissolve in hand.
PM - “Why didn’t you just tapped out to draw 5 cards instead of just 2?”
Dev – “Wanna represent a Dissolve backup.”
PM – “Would you Dissolve if I countered?”
Dev – “Probably not.”
I’m still a bit lost. But his GP Shanghai deck was anything but uncertain as Dev literally rode on the back of his Thunderbreak Regent and together with the Regent’s brother from another dragon broodmother – Stormbreath Dragon, Dev crushed his opponents one-by-one the entire weekend. He was even the politest guy on camera too, apologizing to his already agonizing opponent when he aimed an uncontested Craters Claw to the head for the win. Did I mention it was off the top? I didn’t. Dev did.
“I’m sorry. I drew it. Crater’s Claw you for 247. You are dead.”
If Dev were to get his own card, it will probably be something like this:
Dev’s Deadly Claw
XR
Sorcery
(x doesn’t matter)
If you control two or more dragons, Dev wins the match.
Dev’s heroics was streamed live on some China streaming TV (which I cant seem to locate any recordings to date. If someone knows, please share so I can relive all the action again) and had Malaysians on their feet cheering. Dev was conquering China! Unfortunately, his last opponent was a Japanese professional dressed up like Lin Dan, and like Lee Chong Wei before him, Dev succumbed to the might of more play experience.
Valiant effort nevertheless. Cool prize money. Pro Tour invite. Bragging rights until another Malaysian wins its all somewhere in 2025.
But the Pro Tour is a whole different ball game. Its Dev’s first ever Pro Tour and while his looks may be intimidating (and always smiling), its natural to be a bunch nerves heading into the PT.
Competitor Name: Raymond TanProfession: Engineer
Age: 31
Qualification method: Silver Pro
My guess of his favorite Magic card: anything with Hexproof
For the longest time, Malaysia was in a drought. Zero major wins. Terry Soh came close a few times to grab an elite title but ever since Ryan Soh (not related to Terry) took the title in Grand Prix Kuala Lumpur way way way back in 1999, there hasn’t been a winner on an elite level. Raymond changed all that.
He decided that on a hot and rainy summer weekend sometime in August 2013, he would infiltrate the quiet city of Kitakyushu (Japan) and raid its top prize in the Grand Prix. Invincible he was as his hexproof deck shielded all on-coming Japanese samurais challengers and finally took the trophy home as its champion. The drought was over. We had our champion. Our savior. Our hero.
Following up his victory, Raymond was on a tear. He hexproof his way into several more notable finishes in the Grand Prix and Pro Tour. He was unstoppable in almost every single local tournament. Chye (Jhun) just shrugs when Raymond adds another top 8 finish to his already 98617 top 8s in his resume. And as a cherry on the cake, he even stole a PTQ win in Singapore! Thank goodness for his best friend Jeffrey, who offered additional protection to Raymond once he attacked for victory and quickly sped him out of the Singapore borders before the Singaporeans knew they got raided. But they should know that they didn’t just get fleeced by a Malaysian. They got “Raymond-ed”.
Despite all his heroics and success, Raymond remains one of the most stoic players in the Malaysian community. Don’t let his calm nature fool you. It’s a pity current legal format doesn’t have a hexproof deck to showcase his roaring abilities, but I guess he don’t mind settling for a Rally of the Ancestors for a gazillion creatures and follow up by a blank stare in your face.
Raymond is also the most decorated player on Team Decards. Pro Tour Vancouver would be a sweet finish to a very modest season for him in 2014/2015. But his ultimate goal would be to lock up the captaincy once again for Team Malaysia and lead another group of combatants into Barcelona.
Competitor Name: Wee Pang Ming Profession: Head of finance
Age: 35
Qualification method: RPTQ
My favorite Magic card: Close one between Thoughtseize and Duress
And finally there’s me. I don’t actually like talking about me, but here goes:
I started MTG in 1997, played my first GP in 1999, won many PTQs and GPTs, number one ranked player in Malaysia (and Australia), top 8 GP Brisbane 2001, top 4 nationals in 2003, crashed and burn at worlds @ Berlin because I changed my deck the night before, retired from MTG since and came back active in 2012, won a PTQ and went to PT Theros with zero preparation, died obviously, played actively and realized needed to join a team, joined Team Decards in February 2014, having a great time ever since, played scrubby decks until Chye made a challenge for me to play a 75 he designed for PPTQ and RPTQ, spiked both events, so here I am!
Magic has been a big part of my life in the last 3 years. I got to see the world by travelling to many many Grand Prixs (10 over the last 2.5 years) and will continue to see the world. I do enjoy the vacation portion of my trips very much where I learn lots of great culture, see great things and eat great food. If only I could play great Magic. That’s where I need to learn from the grand master Raymond Tan.
Pro Tour Vancouver is very special to me. It’s a result of hard work that I have put into the game in the last 5 months. In the last 10 days before this article is up, I have logged in at least 40-50 hours of testing (offline and online), more than quadruple of what I would normally do to prepare for any event. Falling short of any achievement in this PT would be sad, but unlike PT Theros 2 years ago, I cant fault myself for not trying and regret a wasted a opportunity. Will see…..
No comments:
Post a Comment