Humble reader, I hereby welcome you to my inaugural article on GasMTG. It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that it will be my last, at least for some time. Goodbye.

Maybe I should start at the beginning.

My name is Patrick Robertson, I’ve been playing Magic: the Gathering (a Deckmaster product) on and off since I learned to play on the floor of my friend’s bedroom when I was 11 years old. In the subsequent 18 years, I have taken several sabbaticals from the game for various reasons. My most recent sabbatical ended in 2012, when I decided to play at GP Melbourne and instantly fell back in love with the game. I have written about it before, but when I returned to Magic my goal was to play in another Pro Tour, and last year I achieved that goal. As is normal when you achieve something you’ve set out to do, you reassess and set new goals. My time at Pro Tour Portland last year made the next challenge seem very obvious: Get back on the tour.

But how? Qualifying for Portland seemed like a natural progression. Since moving to the east coast of Australia, I have played in every Grand Prix on this continent. My results improved incrementally, top 32 at GP Auckland, losing a win-and-in to top 16 GP Brisbane and then at GP Melbourne cracking the top 8 for the first time and making it all the way through to the finals. Clearly this wasn’t a sustainable progression and in the natural reversion to the mean I have had a string of mediocre Day 2 results that left me starkly reminded of the fact that Magic is a difficult game that I am (after all these years) still decidedly medium at.

PTQs have never been my strong suit: I’ve got a bunch of Top 8s from back in Perth but translating that to success in the larger events over on the eastern states had been sporadic at best. In fact, prior to February this year, the last time I was even in contention at a PTQ going into the last round was in July 2013 where I went 8-0 at the worst run PTQ I’ve ever attended, only to be bumped in the quarters by one of the most amazing mulligans to four that I have ever seen. All gripes aside, the single elimination nature of the PTQ had had me frustrated and I considered my relative success at GPs to be based in the longer nature of the tournament allowing you to lose one to variance and one to your own foolishness while still being alive for the elimination rounds. Still, none of this really truly matters, unless you’re running on the high side of average.

The last old style Melbourne PTQ was my chance to run hot, play mediocre and stay focused. I was rewarded handsomely for deviating from my normally stubborn deck selection, made a few dicey decisions and managed to keep my head in the game after misplaying my way to one of the more idiotic losses of my Magic career. For those who are not intimately familiar with the story, I received a match loss in round four for offering unsolicited outside assistance to a friend, as he was sitting down to his match next to me. It was dumb and unsporting of me – I got called up on it and owned my mistake. I am most grateful that the punishment got changed from DQ to Match Loss not too long ago (thanks infraction penalty guidelines!) and also very thankful that my friend was not punished since he was entirely innocent in the whole affair.

In a shocking transgression of justice, I would go on to not lose another match that day and was suddenlyburdened with the knowledge that I had checked that ‘life goal’ box again. I am sure you all feel terribly bad for me and I appreciate your sympathy at such a tough time.

All jokes aside, life is not all Magic, free travel and rainbows. The Bruce Wayne to my Magical Batman is in his third (and quasi-final) year of a PhD in Chemistry. This is a full-time commitment, but one that I have historically treated with less than maximum effort. Magic occupies a treacherous role in my life, often (read: nearly always) taking precedent over my studies, and quite frankly I am incredibly fortunate to have made it to this level in my field without truly dedicating myself to the craft. This is not sustainable. At dinner after my PTQ win, I was talking to Justin Cheung and some others from interstate about things and I had the scary realisation that I know more about Magic than I do about the field in which I am eventually going to receive my doctorate. Now, I know a lot about Magic (and I mean a LOT), so there is still hope for my scientific career, but it is not exactly something that I am comfortable with. Something has got to give, and this time it’s Magic’s turn.

After this Pro Tour, I will be stepping away from Magic for a bit. I won’t be completely absent, I’ll still be involved with this site and I foresee great things in its future. What I won’t be doing is trying to qualify for the Pro Tour for the next little while, there are barely enough hours in the day to be a good research scientist, worthwhile boyfriend and semi-functional human-being without trying to slap Pro Tour wannabe in front of it all.

Some people have asked me what I will do if I do well in Brussels, but I can honestly say at this point that I would more than likely let my qualification expire. The Pro Tour will always be there but I only have one realistic shot at making you all call me Doctor Robertson and I fully intend to take advantage of it.

It’s been a fun ride and I appreciate everyone who’s been in it with me over the years. Trust me when I say that I’ll be back. No one ever really quits.

Comments