43: Alexander Hayne Plays to His Strengths and Builds a Team to Shore Up His Weaknesses

  Alexander Hayne is a Magic: The Gathering Platinum Pro Player with 8 Grand Prix Top 8s including 4 Grand Prix wins! He is the Champion of Pro Tour Avacyn Restored and was the 2012 Rookie of the Year. He lives in Montreal, Canada. Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Alexander Hayne when he shared his story on MTG Pro Tutor today! Click here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep43 First Set  Ravnica: City of Guilds Favorite Set  Ravnica: City of Guilds Favorite Card Sphinx's Revelation What makes Magic: The Gathering fun for you? The challenge of perfecting your game and working on yourself. The game is always changing and keeps the experience fresh. Early Challenge Alexander thought he was better than he was when he first started but specifically struggled with combat. Having a plan, looking ahead and doing combat math is a crucial skill that every player needs to develop. Think ahead five turns and work backwards. Practice this to improve your mind for combat. Ask for advice from better players. Proudest Magic Moment Winning Pro Tour Avacyn Restored in Barcelona 2012. Favorite Format Cube Draft How to Choose a Standard Deck See what did well at the last tournament and assume people will being playing something that will beat that. Attack the meta from that angle. Biggest Mistake Players Make Playing by instinct too much. When a line of play presents itself many people react on auto pilot and make a good play when there is a better one available. Card Evaluation Tips Wait for the whole set to be released and look for interactions between new cards. Sealed & Draft Tips Try to stick to two colors in Sealed unless you have really good mana fixing. Look for solid power level cards and removal. At the beginning of a draft format feel free to take rares more often than you would later so you can test them and see what they have to offer in Limited. Draft cards that affect the board with a good curve, good removal and good tricks. Also, keep your eye out for card advantage as well. Improvement Suggestions Play with good people or watch people play. Drafting cube is an economical way to get experience. Be an aggressive trader. Read a lot of articles. Magic Resource Channel Fireball Star City Games Connect With Alexander Hayne Twitter: @InsayneHayne Like What You Hear? If you like the show, head on over to iTunes and leave an honest Rating & Review. Let me know what you like and what I can do better so I can make the show the best it can be and continue bringing you valuable content. I read every single one and look forward to your feedback. "A wizard who reads a thousand books is powerful. A wizard who memorizes a thousand books is insane." ~Battle of Wits