By Yusuke Kanazawa
【For Smartphone users】
The Hareruya Pros team was started with the purpose of raising new talent and to ensure Magic stays fun & exciting for all.
To help the Hareruya Pros achieve their goal, we will be introducing two brand new members!
Jeremy Dezani (France)
Takuya Osawa (Tokyo)
They Both are powerhouse players with experience of winning the Pro Tour,
It’s with great pleasure and excitement we welcome both of these incredible players to the team!
Find out who these two players really are in the following interview:
Jeremy Dezani(France)
 |
He has a stunning 10 Grand Prix Top 8s to his name including 2 wins and Runner-up twice.
He will also be the first Non-Japanese player to join the ranks of the Hareruya Pros.
■ Introduction
――「Could you tell us about how you got into magic, and what impact magic has had on your life so far?」
Dezani 「I started play magic at 15 years old , 10 years ago. After school I usually went to the game center to practice with other magic players. After the win at PT Theros I took the decision to be a professional player.」
――「You managed to win the Pro Tour, what are some of the preparations you did for the Pro Tour to be able to achieve such a great feat?」
Dezani 「The best is to find a deck 3 days before and have it in multiple copies to test and practice enough to have the best main and sideboard list possible. Also you have to practice a lot of draft to know what archetypes there are in the format and to be able to evaluate the pick order of cards..」
――「You have managed a great feat in getting 10 Grand Prix Top 8’s (Standard x3, Modern x2, Limited x5. Of those you also managed to take First Place in Modern once and Limited once. How do you prepare for these events?」
Dezani 「For Limited Grand Prix, I usually just practice online. For constructed, the Online metagame is quite different compared to the Grand Prix metagame, so i usually just make an educated guess about the Grand Prix metagame and practice keeping that in mind while sharing ideas it with some of the great players I know.」
――「Could you tell us about your magic community, and in short about some of the pro players that you respect and interact with?」
Dezani 「I have two magic communities , one is the Pro player crew and then there is my casual crew , such as my friends with who I usually cube draft. Raphael Levy is my master , since I startetd playing on the Pro Tour we test and discuss with each other about most things, interaction between us is very good and we think about magic the same. He taught me everything I know.」
■ What kind of player are you?
――「Which format Is your specialty, and the reasons for why it is?」
Dezani 「I am usually quite good at deckbuilding, when group testing I’m the guy who comes up with good ideas and bases for decklists for people but I am better at playing limited games.」
――「Up to this point, what has been the most memorable moment in a game of magic for you?」
Dezani 「The PT Top 8 of Pro Tour Theros is my best moment.」
――「Do you have any favorite cards or decks you could share with us?」
Dezani 「My favorite card was probably deathrite shaman who helped me get my first magic title with Jund at Grand Prix Lyon(modern). My favorite decks were probably mono U devotion and Jund in standard with huntmaster, liliana of the veil and bonfire of the damned.」
――「What kind of impression do you have of Japanese magic players? Do you believe there are any tangible differences between Japanese and American/European players?」
Dezani 「The experience I have with Japanese players is that it’s harder to read them. Mainly because they don’t have same reactions European / American players have during games.」
■ The history you intend to write as a member of the Hareruya Pros
――「What got you interested in joining the Hareruya Pros?」
Dezani 「Hareruya is a team with a lot of great players, many of them legends of the game. It’s an honor to be able to take part in the project and defend the colors of Hareruya.」
――「What type of activity will you be participating in as part of the Hareruya Pros?」
Dezani 「I will produce some content, articles for Hareruya and play in the highest level tournaments around the world for Hareruya.」
――「What goals do you have as a magic player going forward?」
Dezani 「I would like to travel the world next year and continue to play in all the Pro Tours. Also I would like to add to my achievements I’ve made so far in the game.」
Takuya Osawa(Tokyo)
 |
His record includes 6 Grand Prix Top 8s with 4 of them in Limited Grand Prix. His stellar record has earned him an undisputed reputation as a Limited master.
He has as of late been making a comeback to the competitive scene of magic, with lots of experience and the ability to match he’s aiming to achieve even greater success as a member of the Hareruya Pros.
■ Introduction
――「Could you tell us about how you got into magic, and what impact magic has had on your life so far?」
Osawa 「 I first got introduced to Magic by some high-school friends. I think it was back around when Exodus got released. For a year or so I just played with my friends but then everyone starting quitting, so I decided to start going to some stores and ended up playing in tournaments as well. I also got to know Akira Asahara & Masaya Kitayama at that time, so we’ve known each other for almost 20 years now, time really does go by fast (Laughs). 」
[Both Asahara & Kitayama are Japanese Pro Players with over a 100 Pro Points to their name]
Osawa 「Back in 2004 I managed to get my first Top 8 at Grand Prix Hong Kong.I think based on my ability back then getting into the Top 8 was nothing but a fluke, however from there on thanks to the help of the Pro Player community, I improved my playing a lot and that was definitely the turning point for my Magic career.」
――「You managed to win the Pro Tour, what are some of the preparations you did for the Pro Tour to be able to achieve such a great feat?」
Osawa 「To be honest, I don’t think I have any real talent for the game. Even so I believe I was blessed by my incredible community and thanks to practicing at a very high level the results were made possible. I think my 2 strengths are mental fortitude and my ability to focus. Once a game starts whether it’s Round 1 or the Top 8 I play focused only on the game, and not the results.」
――「Could you tell us about your magic community, and in short about some of the pro players that you respect and interact with?」
Osawa 「I frequently get taught by great players like Kenji Tsumura, Shota Yasooka, Yuuya Watanabe & Ken Yukihiro so I have ample opportunity to improve at Magic.」
Osawa 「I have the utmost respect for Itaru Ishida, Takeshi Fujita and Akira Asahara.Ishida taught me everything I know about being a Pro Player, while Fujita taught me about most of the magic fundamentals.As a magic player, the one who’s had the most influence on me is Asahara. I’ve never actually had him teach me anything directly though (Laughs).」
Osawa 「But the reason why I started wanting to win tournaments, was because at my local store Asahara was winning the Point race and I wanted to beat him. Or when I started thinking about playing on the Pro Tour or becoming a Pro Player, I still felt like Asahara was so far ahead of me and I wanted to catch-up to him.If it weren’t for Asahara , if he had quit or stopped playing, I don’t think I could have motivated myself to continue as I have had until now, and I truly appreciate the impact his presence has had for me.」
Osawa 「I don’t think I’ve ever really cried, but I surprised myself back in 2005 when Asahara made the Top 8 of the World Championships and I started crying. Even now I’m not quite sure what the meaning of those tears were (Laughs).」
[Both Ishida & Fujita are Pro Players with over 100 Pro Points to their name]
――「You took a break from competitive Magic, what was your reasons for taking the break?」
Osawa 「Magic is an incredibly fun game, so it’s not like I quit entirely. I went to 1 Grand Prix a year or so and played some Magic Online every now and then, however the reason I decided to come back to competitive Magic was seeing how vibrant the community was getting, teams of Pro Players and even Sponsorships happening. I might have been called a Pro Player back in 2007, but the Magic of today seems to have more genuine Pro Players burning with ambition, and I intend to take the chance at becoming one of them.」
■ What kind of player are you?
――「Which format Is your specialty, and the reasons for why it is?」
Osawa 「Definitely Draft. It’s simply because I love drafting so I end up practicing a lot.Also unlike constructed it’s a format that is very hard to wrap your head around unless you practice it a lot for yourself and learn to read the signals.」
――「You’re known for your Limited prowess, can we expect to see some articles from you on the subject?」
Osawa 「I can’t say I’m very good at writing them, but should I get the chance I would like to try it out.Just don’t expect too much from me (Laughs).」
――「Other than playing Magic, what are some things you keep in mind during tournaments? 」
Osawa 「Analyzing the games I lose and learning from misplays I make during them.Such as did I flood, or get land starved, mulligan too much etc. I try to go over it in my head several times to see if perhaps I made a Mulligan mistake or maybe a deck composition mistake.Of course anyone can flood out or mulligan to 0. However to not just let it end at that and to try and make sure it doesn’t happen as much, you have to scrutinize your decisions after the fact.A lot of players will say that dwelling too much on your losses isn’t a good idea but for me, the most useful realizations are always had from lost games, so I think it’s important to not gloss over losses just to “flooding” or “bad luck”.」
――「Up to this point, what has been the most memorable moment in a game of magic for you?」
Osawa 「The Pro Tour Geneva Finals… I won’t go into the reasons for why, but I have had it appear many a time in my dreams (Laughs).」
――「Do you have any favorite cards or decks you could share with us?」
Osawa 「It might sound a bit simple but I absolutely love value creatures with ETB & cast effects (Laughs).Good examples would be Siege Rhino & Bloodbraid Elf.」
Osawa 「My favorite decks are the Standard Jund & affinity decks of old.While most people don’t have very fond memories of those decks I loved how mulligan intensive and how important Sideboarding was for the mirror matches.」
■ The history you intend to write as a member of the Hareruya Pros
――「What got you interested in joining the Hareruya Pros?」
Osawa 「I was very happy to have had it come up in conversation some time ago, however for several years I hadn’t put up any great results nor appeared at any top-level tournaments so I was unsure if I was fit to be called a “pro player” anymore. Then in January Grand Prix Nagoya happened and I managed to grab hold of a Pro Tour invite. Resolving myself to perform once again I quickly realized that a lot has changed at the higher levels of Magic. That’s when I thought if I’m going to take Magic seriously again going forward, joining the Hareruya Pros would be the correct path to take and I made the decision to join.」
――「What type of activity will you be actively participating as part of the Hareruya Pros?」
Osawa 「To begin with my goal is to be able to play in tournaments fit for a pro, so qualifying for all the Pro Tours is my main focus for now.」
――「What goals do you have as a magic player going forward?」
Osawa 「I want to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Even my old win at the Pro Tour seems like but a dream right now, but I have resolved myself to aim high (Laughs).」
You’ve just read about Jeremy Dezani and Takuya Osawa’s burning passion for Magic and their thoughts going forward.. Both players will be playing at Pro Tour: Shadows over Innistrad and expectations will be high for the 2 new members.
From here onwards we hope you will continue to support & root for the Hareruya Pros including the 2 new members Jeremy Dezani & Takuya Osawa.
Twitterでつぶやく
Facebookでシェアする
