"To lead professional Japanese Magic Scene and also to invigorate Magic at large"
XXX XXX XXX
XXX(img*2)
Petr Sochurek and Michael Bonde.
XXX XXX
■ Interview with Petr Sochurek
Introduction
 |
|
|
Petr Sochurek: I got into Magic back in high school.My classmate brought it to school and everyone was immediately hooked on it. I started beating everyone very easily and I was looking for better opponents, so I went to a tournament in a store and never looked back.It has influenced me immensely, most of my friends play Magic and it's just the thing I enjoy the most and a thing I want to be the best in.
 |
|
|
|
|
Petr Sochurek: The magic community in the Czech Republic is awesome – given how many people play, it's actually unbelievable how many good players we have. The one I respected the most from the beginning is Lukas Blohon. I don't think he's what you would call a natural talent instead his sincere dedication and hard work made him one of the best players I have ever encountered.
What kind of player are you?
 |
|
|
Petr Sochurek: I don't mind any format and I don't think it's that I am better at one or the other. It just depends on what I have played the most recently, so I would say, that I am at my best in Standard currently. I prefer to play blue tempo or aggro-control decks that have both a strong early and late game (basically you just don't lose to anything).
Q: Up to this point, what has been the most memorable moment in a game of magic for you?
Petr Sochurek: I think the best was when I won a Grand Prix the feeling was just awesome I can't even describe it.
 |
Petr Sochurek: My favorite card is 《造物の学者、ヴェンセール》 because it does everything that I like about magic.My favorite deck is probably UB Faeries.
The history you intend to write as a member of the Hareruya Pros
Q: What got you interested in joining the Hareruya Pros?
Petr Sochurek: I got a very good offer and it was really hard to refuse. The fact that Japan is my favorite country made it an even easier choice.
 |
|
|
Petr Sochurek: I will act as befitting a pro player and do my best to represent the team. I will also do my best and perform my other duties as a member of the Hareruya Pros, such as writing articles and being a representative for them internationally.
Q: What goals do you have as a magic player going forward?
Petr Sochurek: I want to be a world champion, nothing else will satisfy me.
■ Interview with Michael Bonde
Introduction
 |
|
|
Michael Bonde: My name is Michael Bonde, 29 years old from Denmark, living in a small town called Aarhus (which is the second largest city in Denmark with roughly 250.000 inhabitants) when I am not playing magic I am studying to become a teacher of History, English and Sports.
Michael Bonde: I started playing magic back when I went to high school. A group of people gathered in the common area twice a week and played some random tribal decks. I was curious, which eventually got me into attending the weekly draft in the local community club. It really escalated when I became friends with the better local players (Lasse Norgaard and Martin Dang) who taught me loads of thing, back in 2010. During the last 6-8 years, I have travelled the world, met a lot of wonderful people and played against some of the best players in the world. Some of my best friends are also fellow magic players and I get to stimulate my brain with deck building, drafting, discussing or simply just playing magic every day, so I would say that magic has changed my life fundamentally in a positive way.
 |
|
|
|
|
Michael Bonde: The community in Denmark is very friendly and super specialized in different formats – Copenhagen has a lot of Legacy Tournaments where Aarhus (the town I live in) has a flourishing Modern and Draft Scene. Martin Dang, the PT Dragons of Tarkir Champion works in my local store and hosts 20-30 players drafts two times a week, over time these tournaments has become really intense and hard to win – due in fact to the competition and the level of plays from a lot of the locals.
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
What kind of player are you?
 |
|
|
Michael Bonde: I am the kind of player that thrives with a lot of information on the board. Playing a mid-range deck with a lot of interactions that takes the full time in the round and ends up drawing the entire deck, would be a deck that I can feel most comfortable playing. Simply having boards that are hard to cope with and out grinding your opponent through spells and creatures over the course of 12-25 turns, is the way I see myself winning most games of magic.
Michael Bonde: This love for long complex games makes me love limited – especially sealed (if it was a live format I would play Rochester Draft all the time) If I'm not testing for a specific tournament I just default back to playing sealed queues on MTGO. In sealed you get to see a lot of cards when building your deck, you also get to play a lot of unusual synergy cards with sweet interactions, which the format is made to do – and lastly, the game tends to slow down a little. It's one of the few formats where you might want to be on the draw, try see a lot of cards, and simply remove some of the variance that magic sometimes serve you, and you regularly end up getting good long games of magic, where your evaluation of individual cards and card synergies is a key to your success. These pointers that makes sealed great, I do think apply for Vintage and Legacy as well – which also makes those two formats into some of most interesting magic I have played.
 |
|
|
|
|
Michael Bonde: My most memorable moment of magic was at 【GP Strassbourg in 2013】 where I ended up 4th and my best friend Thomas won. We both played a deck that was made with help from various locals with final tuning done by myself and Thomas. Getting to test with your friend, do well in a major tournament, and finally get to attend the PT together was an amazing moment in my life and career.
 |
|
|
The history you intend to write as a member of the Hareruya Pros
 |
|
|
Michael Bonde: I love magic – and I would guess – that so do you. So my intention is to try and find some of the things that I love about the game – difficult sealed pools or some eternal extravaganza related stuff – and tell you guys, what I see as fascinating about those subjects. This is one of the things that also got me super excited when I got the opportunity to Join Hareruya pros – that there simply just is a love for the game, for Magic: The Gathering, a love that I genuinely share all the way to my bones. This love has gotten me this far – and I will continue to try and evolve my skills as a part of the Hareruya Pro team, getting to know both the European and the Asian members and having the opportunity to spar with these magnificent players is a dream come true (maybe I can even help them improve as well).
Q: What goals do you have as a magic player going forward?
Michael Bonde: Finally this leads me to the last thing I will write today – what are my goals for the upcoming season? Getting gold is one of the most exciting things I have achieved in my life so far. My goal as of now is to try and obtain gold next season as well – I will not slow down. Preparing for the PT in a way that will give me the best opportunity to get a good PT result and really launch myself into the pro scene as a regular is my goal and dream for the upcoming season – this being said, the only thing I could hope for is to understand the game better than I do now, and to become a better magician.
■
