Since the end of the last season which ended with a disappointing finish to qualify for PT Kyoto, I was hit by a writer’s block, just unable to find an inspiration or a topic to touch on. But with only 13 days away from our flight to Nice, I'm now starting to feel the excitement and ready to challenge the world once more.
This year I’m surrounded with only two other guys, instead of three. Wizards changed the team format to be teams of three instead of four. I guess it fits better in terms of having a balanced playing time amongst all the members, as compared to previous years where normally one player would generally sit out for more than half the tournament. The captain for this year’s squad is Joe Soh. Who doesn’t recognize Joe – GP Kobe 2017 champion, GP Kobe 2016 finalist, two time national champion and also WMC member back in 2014. Ironically both Joe and I travelled to our first World Championships together in Berlin way back in 2003.
Then there’s Adwin Lim, the silent but towering figure, who stormed into Nationals 2017 off the back of solid Limited skills. In my recent conversation with Adwin, he was “disappointed” he came out of the draft portion with “just” a 5-1 record. To my surprise WMC 2017 would be Adwin’s first international Magic adventure of which he is excited and anxious at the same time. So its kind of fortunate that he’s in the good company of seasoned road warriors.
Home on the road again…
Every year, I’m in charge of selecting our accommodation for the WMC team. I felt Barcelona was great but outdid myself with the 18th storey loft in Rotterdam. It was going to be pretty hard to top that, but after a few hours of searching, I locked in our 600 sqft apartment for the weekend. Here’s a sneak peak:
How does it feel to be on the road again?
Looking back at the year, I’ve been out on the road far less compared to previous years. I had a short weekend in Shizuoka and Manila, mainly there for Magic. I did an extra day in Beijing to visit the Great Wall (it was awesome!) but my schedule has been relatively quiet aside from that. Short weekends to GP Hong Kong and GP Singapore were in my books but the impromptu addition of Nice was to be the highlight of the season.
Redemption - Part 2
Chye would strongly disagree, but despite missing Top 8 by a single match, I was overall pleased with our results in WMC last year. Talent-wise we were certainly capable of doing one better, but we played with our backs were against the wall the entire weekend and something had to give sooner or later. That’s just how the world works.
Thinking back about my feelings comparing to the previous two trips – 2015 I was excited to be there but at the same time I underestimated our competition and overestimated our talent. So it was no surprise that the 2015 team bombed out despite featuring three Team Decards members. I take responsibility for the team’s failure as most of the preparation rested on my shoulders. I really wanted to show we were for real but my eagerness turned to overconfidence, which later on translated to fear and ultimately falling flat in the face.
2016 rolled in and I found myself once again on the team with Chye. We all know his skills and prowess as a player but he demonstrated leadership qualities necessary to keep the team in line. He instilled discipline while at the same time being fair and considerate. He somehow manage to discover the middle ground between two outspoken team members (Shawn Khoo and Rick Lee), and resolving plenty of their unnecessary bantering. I was glad to take a back-seat and followed Chye’s lead and it was a breath of fresh air. I could just focus on playing and it worked out well for us. Hence missing out the Top 8 in 2016 was not about team dynamics despite the awkward partnership between Shawn and Rick, but we just missed out on some draw steps and the Greek caught a lucky break. Congrats to them.
And finally, it’s 16 November 2017. The team has locked down on the decks we plan to play and Joe’s simple advice is to jam games and tighten our gameplay. I could do that. Compared to previous years, there aren’t many decks to choose from. Frank Karsten wrote an article about possible combinations and I do agree with his assessment. When he did a similar article in 2016 for Modern he cited more than 40 possible strong combinations. This year = Two. Now am not saying other possible combinations are not viable but any combination without an Energy Deck and/or a Hazoret deck is just wrong. Like in previous years, its all about maximizing the number of “pillar of the format cards” in your lineup. For 2017, they are – in no particular order:
Ixalan Limited is at a mature stage so all of us are familiar with the archetypes, strategies and tricks in the format. So realistically my stress level is considerably lower compared to 2015 and 2016. We’re not overconfident or cocky but we’re in a state where we are comfortable with our skills and plan. We probably need to contend with non-Magic related issues such as:
a) Joe flying in from Melbourne, "transiting" at KLIA for 5 hours before making the 18 hour journey to Nice.
b) Adwin going on his first MTG field trip – exciting!!!!!
c) I hope both guys get some sleep on the flight otherwise I’ll have to put up with a pair of zombies in Nice
d) We’re staying only 500m from the beach, but it’s going to be freezing cold
e) Finding the best French Croissant and Nicoise Cuisine.
f) Did I already mention it was cold?
So all that said, it seems like Team Malaysia is all set for its picnic… I mean its road to claim the elusive top 8. Joe thinks we have the right attitude and sufficient experience going in so it comes down to playing sharp and don’t miss triggers (yes referring to you Adwin if you are reading this!). I will however will miss the constant bantering between Rick and Shawn while playing Infect. Just had a flashback of these two going back and forth with each other on the cons & merits of going for lethal - in Penang Hokkien. Classic.
Bon Voyage!
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