By Jeremy Dezani

Welcome to “Player Focus”!

“Player Focus” is a short interview with one of the greatest MTG players in the world. The goal is to present the player and his MTG profile to Japanese and international communities. “Player Focus” will feature a different player each time.

This Time we have Gerry Thompson (@G3RRYT). An American player who won Pro Tour Amonkhet with a very cool designed mono black zombies deck. He is a StarCityGames player and writer.

Interview

First Name: Gerry

Last Name: Thompson

Age: 33

Nationality: USA

Sponsor: Metagame Gurus Sun

lifetime ProPoints: 336

Pro Level 2017/2018: Platinum

Occupation / Hobbies outside MTG

I’m a nerd. I like reading, playing JRPGs, watching anime, and playing other strategy card games on my phone like Hearthstone, Shadowverse, and The Elder Scrolls: Legends.

Magic is my job. I create weekly content for StarCityGames.com, which pays the bills. All I want from the tournaments is to break even.

When did you start MTG? Which set? How did you discover the game?

I bought some packs of Portal because I liked the picture of a dragon on the booster pack. Without a rule book, the internet, or anyone to play with, the cards sat in a shoebox for a few years.

I started working when I turned 15, and a kid from my class (Adam Gunderson) worked with me. We tried to find a common interest and Magic came up. After work, I went over to his house, he taught me how to play, built me a deck, and ripped me off in trades.

He had played in tournaments before and it was pretty easy to convince me to go to the Invasion Prerelease. Pretty soon we were going to basically everything.

What famous player influenced you the most to become a professional player?

Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast

Kai Budde The thing that drove me the most was improving myself. Kai Budde was known for his work ethic, and I think that helped give me the confidence that if I put in enough work, I could also achieve something great.

Previous Achievements

PT TOP 8: 2 Top 8s, 1 win

GP TOP 8: 11 Top 8s, 2 wins

Others: USA National Team 2017, lots of SCG Tour records

If you have one, who is your favorite Japanese Player and why:

I’m a big fan of many Japanese players, but Kenji Tsumura is my favorite. Like Kai, he has a tremendous work ethic. He also interacts with the non-Japanese players a lot, which means I’ve talked to him more than any other Japanese player. Kenji is always willing to make jokes and have fun, which is what Magic is about for me.

Atsushi Ito builds the coolest decks, Yuuya Watanabe is the epitome of skill and class, and Tomorharu Saito has done more to benefit Magic than most. Japan is full of incredible people.

favorite MTG Format and why:

My favorite format of all time was Extended circa 2002. It had Revised dual lands but no Onslaught fetchlands and a bunch of cool archetypes. The nostalgia is real since it’s one of the first formats I really dove into and learned a lot from.

My favorite current format is probably Modern, which isn’t something I thought I would ever say. Modern is great right now since there’s a ton of diverse archetypes and the game play isn’t all about whether or not you drew sideboard cards, which is what the format has felt like at times.

Realistically though, I can find something to love about any format in Magic.

favorite limited archetype in the current draft format and why:

My favorite archetype is U/B Pirates splashing a bunch of sweet cards off of treasures, although it’s not necessarily the best archetype. If I wanted to win, I would draft W/B Vampires every time.

favorite MTG Deck:

As a team, we annihilated Grand Prix Vancouver 2017 and unleashed the power of 《Death's Shadow》 on the real world. 《Death's Shadow》 was always a card I experimented with in Modern and Legacy, so I’m glad it finally got its time to shine.

This isn’t the best way to build this deck, especially now, but it has always been a favorite of mine. I basically innovated this deck from scratch (although Brian DeMars was the first person to put 《Shardless Agent》 in a Legacy deck). Making a deck that’s Tier 1 in Legacy is a huge accomplishment, even if only for a little bit.

Do you prefer to play aggressive, control, midrange or combo deck? Why?

When I started playing Magic, I took an instant liking to control decks. The game of Magic I played was trying to stop my opponent from achieving their game plan. Since then, Magic has changed a lot and that sort of control deck isn’t as viable as it used to be.

These days I’m playing a lot of midrange and liking it. You can build your deck to answer any situation, but the best solution to most situations is to win the game. Typically, my midrange decks will have an aggressive slant to them.

I’m also fond of tempo decks when they are viable, but that’s a rare occurrence. Unfortunately, I’m pretty bad at playing pure combo. Thankfully, playing other games has helped me get better at playing aggressive decks.

What is your favorite deck to play at the moment? Any format;

This is one of the decks I’ve tested the most leading up to the World Championships and Pro Tour Ixalan, but never had the courage to pull the trigger. It wouldn’t surprise me if I register this for Grand Prix Portland 2017 though.

《Glint-Sleeve Siphoner》 is one of the best cards in the format that very few people are playing and 《The Scarab God》 is the best end-game in Standard. Many people would consider putting those in a Sultai shell, but you really don’t need the green. Instead, you get access to things like 《Gifted Aetherborn》 that are very good against Temur’s 《Longtusk Cub》 and 《Bristling Hydra》. Your mana is also great.

Despite not being played prevalently in many large tournaments, B/U Midrange has gone through a lot of different iterations on Magic Online thanks to grinders like M3L0Q and Jaberwocki. The removal of 《Champion of Wits》, 《Liliana, Death's Majesty》, and 《Noxious Gearhulk》 was a big step in the right direction. 《The Scarab God》 is by far a better end game than those cards and that leaves slots for a 《Torrential Gearhulk》 package.

What is your First Pick, First Pack in this booster and why?

You won PT Amonkhet. You did an amazing thing after it. You sold your trophy To Benefit Planned Parenthood. Can you tell us more about Planned Parenthood and why it was important to you to do it?

After winning Pro Tour Amonkhet, I was so overwhelmed by the positivity from the community. I’ve wanted to find some way to give back to those who need it and it struck me that winning the Pro Tour gave me a unique opportunity to help people.

Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast

There is no shortage of great causes to donate to, but Planned Parenthood checked all the boxes I wanted. Planned Parenthood helps millions of people every year, often for those who couldn’t get help otherwise. With Planned Parenthood in danger of losing their government funding, I felt like donating to them would do the most net good for the world.

I wasn’t born wealthy and my childhood wasn’t great, so I have a ton of empathy for people in general, but also the various struggles they can go through. If I’m in a position to do good, I want to take it. In this instance, it was effectively free to do so since I’m not very sentimental. For whatever joy or happiness, I would feel looking at that trophy every day, I feel even better knowing that it’s out there somewhere, and it went there for a good cause.

You played World Championship for the first time of your career in 2017. How was it? How did you finish? What player impressed you the most during it?

Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast

Playing in Worlds was easily the best experience of my Magic career. Small, invite only tournaments are awesome because it feels really special to be there and WotC did a great job making the players feel like they were being taken care of and valued.

I finished 7-7, which put me in 9th place. I was live for Top 4 even in the last round, so it was a pretty deep run that I’m extremely proud of.

Kelvin Chew absolutely dismantled me in a game of draft. Over the course of several turns, he made perfect attacking decisions that eventually lead to me going to exactly 0 the turn before I could have killed him. It was a game that several people (even Pro Tour regulars) would have lost, yet he navigated it perfectly. It was truly impressive.

You worked for Wizard of the Coast before. Tell us more about this experience. What was your job? Is it not too hard to not join MTG event? Do you want to do it again if possible?

It was a great experience where I learned a lot thanks to working with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met.

I was an intern for Development during Khans of Tarkir block and was even on the development team for Dragons of Tarkir. Most of my days were spent drafting, playing sealed, and testing constructed all the while getting paid for it, which is kind of the dream. I’m very proud of the work I did there and think that I helped usher in an era of great Standard Magic.

We obviously made some mistakes, like 《Treasure Cruise》 and 《Dig Through Time》 ruining Modern for a bit, 《Siege Rhino》 being a little over-powered for Standard, and Fate Reforged limited being rare-centric, but it could have been way worse.

Ultimately, the reason I left is because I missed playing Magic and everything that comes with it. My free time was typically spent playing Magic or thinking about Magic, and with that being part of my job, it meant not having anything to do when I got home. There was a huge part of me that was missing. If I could play Pro Tours while also helping to make Magic, I would happily do that. Unfortunately, that’s not allowed, at least for now.

In December, you will represent United States at the WMC in Nice, France. Tell us more about your team and your success during nationals.

The key to most multi-format tournaments is trying to get an edge in draft. It’s the format that people have prepared for the least, so it’s easier to get a significant advantage there rather than in constructed.

I went 6-0 in draft and that helped me comfortably make the Top 8.

In truth, I only went to Nationals because the prize was “get to team with Reid Duke.” Japan and Brazil both have excellent teams, but ours is very good too. Oliver Tomajko is secretly great and I hope people underestimate him.

I’ve never been able to officially represent my country for Magic, so this is a huge honor for me and something I’ve always wanted to do.