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69: How Magic: The Gathering Changed Parker Willard's Life
FromMTG Pro Tutor - Insights, Tips & Advice from Magic: The Gathering Pros
69: How Magic: The Gathering Changed Parker Willard's Life
FromMTG Pro Tutor - Insights, Tips & Advice from Magic: The Gathering Pros
ratings:
Length:
53 minutes
Released:
Feb 12, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Parker Willard recently made day two and cashed Grand Prix Pittsburgh playing Merfolk. He’s an average Joe grinder hoping to work his way to the Pro Tour. Parker lives in Michigan.
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Parker Willard when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor today! Click here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep69
First Set
Return to Ravnica
Favorite Set
Return to Ravnica
Favorite Card
Snapcaster Mage
Local Magic Scene: Michigan
While there isn't an abundance of competitive players directly where Parker lives, a short drive to Detroit offers a healthy Magic atmosphere.
What makes Magic: The Gathering fun for you?
After a series of concussions from wrestling in high school, and a car accident, Parker found that Magic easily filled the competitive gap in his life left by the sport.
Not only that, but Magic aided tremendously in his recovery process. The mental workout of playing kept his brain engaged and got him back up to speed in school.
Parker attributes this success to the multitude of mental tasks Magic makes a player take on all at once. Doing combat math, trying to figure out what's in his opponent's hand, remembering what cards are in their deck, and evaluating the board state are all aspects that helped in his recovery.
Tips for Combat Math
Parker finds it important to double check your calculations. Did you misread your opponent’s creature? Did you check to see if your opponent has lands open? Sometimes he will simply do the math itself over again to make sure he did it correctly the first time.
Early Challenge
Card evaluation was a skill that impeded Parker when he first started. He didn’t know what any cards did, so he was easily blown out by simple combat tricks and removal spells.
Understanding what made one creature good in comparison to another was something he learned to do by playing Limited. This helped him understand not only what cards did in gameplay, but which ones were good relative to others.
Level Up Moment
Parker’s greatest period of growth came by taking a break from Magic. He found himself grinding in the game, playing every opportunity he could, thinking that’s what he needed to do to get better.
During his break he realized that he had been getting a lot of practice, but not competitive practice. When he came back to the game after 3 months he started playing Magic Online and attending one competitive Magic event a week. He found that attending the one competitive event helped him more than an entire week of casual magic.
Proudest Magic Moment
Making Day 2 at Grand Prix Pittsburgh stands out to Parker as it was a hard won victory.
He had to overcome an opponent that played mental games with him over several rounds to try and put Parker on tilt going into his final round. Parker managed to work through the frustration and use his opponent's slow roll tactic against him during his last round, which let him push through to Day 2.
Heaviest Magic Moment
Parker can't single out a single moment, but points to a streak of losses which lead to him taking a 3 month break. After two months of getting crushed at every event he attended he finally decided he needed to take a break, something he had to do with Poker as well.
How to Get Feedback from Magic Online
Parker admits that it can be hard to get feedback from online matches. One way he was able to get valuable feedback was by streaming on Twitch. People in the stream's chat always called out his missteps and whether or not he was making a good play.
Best Format
Modern
Biggest Mistake Players Make
Not remembering information that's given is a common error Parker finds players making. He will write down cards if his opponent has to show their hand, this way he doesn't have to exert mental energy remembering or risk the chance of forgetting. If his opponent takes a long pause or gives pause at a card Parker plays he will make note of that as well.
Knowing When to Switch Decks
Parker finds that if a deck isn't performing as it should he has to
Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Parker Willard when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor today! Click here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep69
First Set
Return to Ravnica
Favorite Set
Return to Ravnica
Favorite Card
Snapcaster Mage
Local Magic Scene: Michigan
While there isn't an abundance of competitive players directly where Parker lives, a short drive to Detroit offers a healthy Magic atmosphere.
What makes Magic: The Gathering fun for you?
After a series of concussions from wrestling in high school, and a car accident, Parker found that Magic easily filled the competitive gap in his life left by the sport.
Not only that, but Magic aided tremendously in his recovery process. The mental workout of playing kept his brain engaged and got him back up to speed in school.
Parker attributes this success to the multitude of mental tasks Magic makes a player take on all at once. Doing combat math, trying to figure out what's in his opponent's hand, remembering what cards are in their deck, and evaluating the board state are all aspects that helped in his recovery.
Tips for Combat Math
Parker finds it important to double check your calculations. Did you misread your opponent’s creature? Did you check to see if your opponent has lands open? Sometimes he will simply do the math itself over again to make sure he did it correctly the first time.
Early Challenge
Card evaluation was a skill that impeded Parker when he first started. He didn’t know what any cards did, so he was easily blown out by simple combat tricks and removal spells.
Understanding what made one creature good in comparison to another was something he learned to do by playing Limited. This helped him understand not only what cards did in gameplay, but which ones were good relative to others.
Level Up Moment
Parker’s greatest period of growth came by taking a break from Magic. He found himself grinding in the game, playing every opportunity he could, thinking that’s what he needed to do to get better.
During his break he realized that he had been getting a lot of practice, but not competitive practice. When he came back to the game after 3 months he started playing Magic Online and attending one competitive Magic event a week. He found that attending the one competitive event helped him more than an entire week of casual magic.
Proudest Magic Moment
Making Day 2 at Grand Prix Pittsburgh stands out to Parker as it was a hard won victory.
He had to overcome an opponent that played mental games with him over several rounds to try and put Parker on tilt going into his final round. Parker managed to work through the frustration and use his opponent's slow roll tactic against him during his last round, which let him push through to Day 2.
Heaviest Magic Moment
Parker can't single out a single moment, but points to a streak of losses which lead to him taking a 3 month break. After two months of getting crushed at every event he attended he finally decided he needed to take a break, something he had to do with Poker as well.
How to Get Feedback from Magic Online
Parker admits that it can be hard to get feedback from online matches. One way he was able to get valuable feedback was by streaming on Twitch. People in the stream's chat always called out his missteps and whether or not he was making a good play.
Best Format
Modern
Biggest Mistake Players Make
Not remembering information that's given is a common error Parker finds players making. He will write down cards if his opponent has to show their hand, this way he doesn't have to exert mental energy remembering or risk the chance of forgetting. If his opponent takes a long pause or gives pause at a card Parker plays he will make note of that as well.
Knowing When to Switch Decks
Parker finds that if a deck isn't performing as it should he has to
Released:
Feb 12, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
5: Grand Prix Denver 2015 Champion Andrew Brown's Origin Story: Andrew Brown is a dedicated control player who loves sleeving islands and punishing forests. He won GP Denver 2015 and is on the map for up coming Pro Tours. He manages Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica CA where Magic is his life. First... by MTG Pro Tutor - Insights, Tips & Advice from Magic: The Gathering Pros