World Championship Player Interview: MIT Round 12 Champion, Second Interview with SamuelChang

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Let’s get started!

For this interview we invited the MIT Round 12 champion, SamuelChang. Before winning Round 12, SamuelChang also won MIT Round 9, making him the only player in MIT history to win twice! This time we have some different questions for him. Many thanks to SamuelChang for accepting this interview!

Q1: Before we begin, congratulations on qualifying for the 2026 World Championship through MIT! Let’s first go back to the MIT Round 12 finals. What deck were you playing, and how did you feel in the final showdown?

A: I was playing Sultai Demons, which is a variant of Dimir Demons with the blue-green Elemental Wistfulness added. As for how I felt, I was up against Terryrr, who was playing Mardu Discard. The moment I knew my opponent in the finals was him, I already felt my chances were pretty good. I had played this matchup many times on MTGA, and the reason I added Wistfulness in the first place was that the Dimir version couldn’t beat it and couldn’t remove the opponent’s Cool but Rude. After adding Wistfulness, I never lost this matchup on MTGA again. But playing against Terryrr that day, what I remember most clearly is that his luck really was good. But he also made a few mistakes, and the pity is that he couldn’t turn his good luck into a win. As for my mood, it was actually fine, since I’d already won a championship once. But I still really wanted to get the World Championship qualification at the time.

Q2: Why do you want to go to the World Championship again?

A: Because last year at Worlds I started 5-2 on the first day, but unfortunately my performance on the second day couldn’t keep it up, and I finished 7-7. I still remember being dizzy by the last round, keeping a really odd opening hand, and one more win would have been another 3,500 USD in prize money. But the point isn’t really the prize money; it’s that I felt I could do better and didn’t, which feels like a real shame. As for the other participants, I think everyone’s level isn’t that different and everyone has a chance. Let me also add that if you can make the Top 8 at Worlds, you directly earn entry to next year’s three PTs (Pro Tour) and the following year’s World Championship, which is also my goal.

Everyone, come help SamuelChang gather energy to make the Worlds Top 8! That way we won’t have to see him at MIT next year. Stop coming to steal our qualifications, I don’t want a third interview with SamuelChang.

Q3: This year you played three PTs in a row, PT ECL, PT SOS, and PT MSH, and in November you’ll take the Worlds stage again. During this continuous, high-density preparation, do you have any insights to share with us?

A: I personally think the first one, PT ECL in Richmond, was the most fun. I went with 承翰 and Peter, and the three of us naturally have more to talk about. We stayed in the same Airbnb, cooked for ourselves, chatted, drove, and went all around. Although there’s nothing much to do near the Richmond venue, the point was never where you go but who you go with. Of course, part of the reason was that I got a foil Tamiyo; at the time I still felt the top 32 would be a bit hard. Another part of the reason was that the deck was one I built myself, and I also felt I built it very well. I can’t say it was only a bit of luck away, but getting that result already took pretty good luck. So I was quite satisfied with my first PT.

The second one, PT SOS, was in Las Vegas. Honestly I didn’t really get to do anything. I went to Las Vegas and didn’t gamble a single hand! Before I went, my friends kept telling me that slot machines just lose money. I also know that the expected value (EV) of most gambling is very low, with only blackjack having slightly better odds if you can count cards. But at that time I didn’t want to do negative-EV things, so I didn’t really play around in Las Vegas. On top of that, I went by myself that time and wasn’t staying with Sekun, so I felt pretty bored. It was the most boring one this year. As for preparation, that time I tested with Beenew (於睦涵) and 支逸珉. I later realized this approach wasn’t quite right, because they both like playing the mainstream decks. The problem with mainstream decks is that what Beenew says really makes so much sense. But precisely because he makes so much sense, and happens to hit exactly what I was thinking, I just keep following that direction. The deck I played in that PT was Izzet Prowess. After that first collaboration failed, my conclusion was: don’t play decks with only the two colors red and blue anymore.

The next one, PT MSH, was in Amsterdam. I didn’t find Amsterdam as fun as Richmond, but it was a lot more fun than Las Vegas, partly because I went with Terryrr and Chiyou. At least the sightseeing part was fun, and I got to play some of the PT too. After all, after going 1-1 in the draft, in round three you can still run into a Boros deck with 3 Avengers Assemble! plus The Super Hero Civil War. You think: your cards are that strong, so why are you still sitting here? It was pretty funny. But in that PT, I always felt that Heaven was telling me: you can’t keep preparing for tournaments with this attitude. I was punished all the way, losing until I laughed. Although I often lost until I laughed before, sitting there that time I clearly felt the problem might be with me, as if Heaven was reminding me: this tournament is meant to be lost.

Amsterdam was pretty good, and it was worth going at least once. But next year’s World Championship is also held there, which makes me not so keen to go to Worlds next year, because Amsterdam is too expensive. That said, if I make the Top 8 at Worlds this year, I’ll still go. I stayed there half a month, and when I came back I hardly dared look at the bill; on average it was at least 10,000 NT dollars a day. I didn’t do anything there that isn’t legal in Taiwan… okay, I did walk around the Red Light District, but I didn’t buy anything. Even so, it cost 10,000 a day. Amsterdam is really too expensive, more expensive than the US!

Later, when I ran into 劉宇晨 in Amsterdam and we chatted, I told him that maybe neither of us should have gone to the Spotlight in Japan. He said yes, it was too tiring, really too tiring. For three months in a row, PT SOS in April, the Spotlight in May, and PT MSH in June all required going abroad, which was just too dense, and you really can’t keep playing tournaments like this. If you really want to live this kind of life, you can observe the players abroad who often appear at PTs; they seem to have no jobs. Of course, perhaps some people manage their time very well. But a day only has 24 hours, and after subtracting 8 hours of sleep and time with family, friends, and your partner, you really have to be good at allocating your time. During that period, it really felt like working two jobs, and it was too exhausting. If I were given another chance, I really think I’d only go to PTs when it’s convenient; there are still so many years in life anyway. This PT MSH was also the second time I teamed up with players from China, and again we played Izzet. Why? Because when I practiced on MO, only Affinity got 5-0. Actually Goryo’s Vengeance should also have had a chance, but I only got 4-1 with it at the time. The reason for only 4-1 was that its play on MO was a bit too complicated and I kept misclicking. The penalty for misclicking is even worse than misplaying, so there was really nothing I could do. But for the PTQ I still picked Goryo’s Vengeance, and I misplayed and lost. Actually I think Goryo’s Vengeance was still OK back then. But recently it may not be so suitable, since there is too much Azorius Control.

After these last two PTs, my conclusion is: if we choose mainstream decks, our amount of practice will definitely be insufficient compared with players abroad. It’s better to choose a homebrew deck that we’re more familiar with and whose details we can master.

Q4: Could you share with readers how you plan to prepare for this World Championship?

A: This time I’ll set off earlier than before. I should go to the US on Monday and arrive there on Tuesday. This time we also formed a testing house with people from China. I’m not sure we can gather eight people in the end, but at least we can have some discussion about draft and constructed. But I hope the conclusion won’t be playing a mainstream deck again, I hope. The logic with which I build decks has always been the same: have no matchup that is completely unwinnable. It’s a bit like early Modern Jund midrange. I’ve tried it many times: when you have a matchup that is completely unwinnable, you will usually run into that matchup in the tournament. At the testing house, before choosing a deck there should be a “gu-refining” process (like raising gu poison, where only the strongest survives). The concept is: if others come up with a deck they think is very strong, I also come up with another playable deck to practice against them. If it can’t win, I build another deck, and keep iterating like that. Like the Dimir Demons that won PT ECL, back then every other deck the whole Heavy Play team built couldn’t win, so in the end almost all of them played Dimir Demons. I think it’s the same logic. But the biggest problem is still whether you have inspiration at the moment.

As for the impact of the new set Star Trek (TRK) on Standard, judging from the cards previewed so far, Salt Vampire looks quite strong. But I don’t think many brand-new archetypes will appear, at most reinforcement of existing mechanics, and the key is still knowing which decks are stronger. Still, we need to wait for the full card list to be revealed before studying again, and we also need to practice the draft properly.

Q5: Among the new cards from this FRA set, are there any you think are worth testing?

A: The first ones I noticed are Seasoned Cryomancer and Uldaros Theorix. The ideal is: on turn two you play Overlord of the Balemurk, on turn three you play Cryomancer to draw two, discard two, and stun one or two of the opponent’s creatures, and on turn four Superior Spider-Man copies the discarded Uldaros Theorix and you’re pretty much about to win. I think it’s pretty good. With Cryomancer added, you don’t have to splash green to play Sultai Demons. One of the reasons I disliked Dimir Demons before was that sometimes Duress gets stuck in your hand doing nothing. But now you can discard it with the Cryomancer, which actually makes quite a difference. I have to say FRA is too strong a set, with a whole lot of playable cards, and even many cards that haven’t been explored in Standard yet, since lately everyone’s focus has still been on Modern.

As for the new The Theorist, Jace Beleren, everyone who has used it tells me it is very strong. I bought many copies, but I haven’t used it even once myself. But I believe it is a strong card, and in the Dimir Demons I just mentioned I’d want to put in two. It doesn’t need any particular pairing; just slamming it down to draw cards and hold the board is already powerful enough. Azorius Control now also plays four Jace, and a very important point is that he can bounce artifacts. Previous Azorius Control had trouble dealing with artifacts, and Jace plugs exactly that weakness. Passive card advantage is also important; the old Azorius Control would run out of cards as the game went on, which really wasn’t good, and now it’s much better.

SamuelChang’s Classroom: How to Judge a Card’s Strength?

Actually, the simplest logic for judging whether a card is strong is: turn what you don’t understand into something you do. When you first saw The One Ring, what did you think of? I felt it was a bit like Ancestral Recall plus Time Walk. Because The One Ring comes in, gives you protection for a turn plus draws a card, and then on your turn you draw two more cards, so isn’t that close to an extra turn and drawing three cards? How could those two Power Nine cards combined not be strong? Of course, to draw three cards with The One Ring you also lose 1 life, and next turn you lose 2 more, but that price is already very cheap.

Okay, that is the logic of The One Ring. So what is the logic of Jace?

Jace is a four-mana card that can possibly gain you two life, or even four or more, and lets you draw a card. Looking at it simply, it’s four mana to gain four life or more, plus draw a card. At best you could even draw two or more cards, and who knows how much life it adds, and it also leaves a planeswalker on board that is hard not to deal with. From this logic, Jace is quite good. The early criteria for judging whether a planeswalker is strong were usually: does it have a way to protect itself, does it generate card advantage, and would using its ultimate win the game. And this Jace: his [+1] can protect himself, [-2] can also clear the board; his passive generates cards, and his ultimate can win. Looked at this way, it feels very powerful. I guess some people are unsatisfied with Jace because he can’t draw that card right as he enters, but you’re not playing him in Modern. When you slam him on four mana, even if he lets you draw a card directly, you usually can’t use it that same turn anyway. Of course, I’m definitely not saying he’s strong because I bought ten copies; I bought ten copies because I think he’s strong. Besides, even if he’s proven not strong in Standard, EDH players will definitely buy this card. So we should once again thank EDH players for giving us games to play.

Q6: In the gaps between preparing for tournaments, how do you arrange your time for life, work, and other entertainment? We’ve heard you encourage everyone to work out, and we’d like to take this chance to learn how you do it.

A: These days, every Tuesday and Thursday, if I have time I go to the gym for an hour, and even when too busy I go at least one day. There shouldn’t be only card playing in life; you should do other things too, but the premise is that you need to have other things you’re more interested in. I don’t have any other hobbies; it seems to be nothing but playing cards, again and again. But one thing is quite important: if you qualify at an MITQ (MIT Qualifier), take a rest first and don’t keep playing. Go out and walk around and change your mood. Especially if you played for five or six weeks and finally managed to qualify, I think it’s really important to rest for a while first.

Q7: With other fierce new card games appearing one after another, and seeing some teammates and players switch to other card games, what is your own view on this?

A: Recently there happen to be few Magic tournaments, so I went and played Riftbound. After trying it, I felt that the game is fun, but at the moment there’s only one set, there isn’t actually much room for play, and the content isn’t rich enough. At the moment the gap between being on the play and on the draw is rather large, and what matters more right now is actually deck building. Even so, there are very many players willing to try Riftbound, and the rewards the tournaments give are also quite good. The people who are still willing to keep playing competitive Magic should all really love this game, because the promo cards handed out in these past RC/MIT seasons really have been pretty lousy. Many things could be changed if the official side was willing, but they just don’t do it. I don’t know why either; perhaps they have some considerations of their own. Under these circumstances, would anyone switch to play other games? I think it’s definitely possible; some players really need some kind of positive feedback. If someone is still willing to keep playing without ever getting any, all I can say is they really like this game. Conversely, if you play Magic for money, I sincerely suggest you switch to something else. Making money from Magic is really too hard. Judging by current prize pools and promo card sale prices, I think making one million NT dollars in Riftbound is much easier than making one hundred thousand NT dollars in Magic. Because in Magic you need to at least reach the PT top 16 for the prize to exceed one hundred thousand NT dollars (4,000 USD). The difficulty of the two is completely out of proportion, and that’s before counting your flights to the venue, accommodation, and other expenses. If a Magic player switches to another game because they never got rewards, I wouldn’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

That said, as for those who were playing Magic just fine and went off to play Riftbound, I will chase you down all the way to Riftbound. Although I’ve been busy recently, if I have time I’ll still go chase you down.

Q8: With the rapid development of AI (artificial intelligence) in recent years, what do you think AI’s impact on Magic is? Has it changed in some way how you prepare for tournaments?

A: The last time I adjusted Sultai Demons, I wanted to try putting in two Professor Dellian Fel, and then the mana base would necessarily have to change. In theory, you should have 12 lands that can produce green, and my version at the time had about 14 lands that could produce green. I pasted my decklist into ChatGPT and had it refer to Frank Karsten’s theory article, and it also pulls data from Scryfall by itself. The result of the initial configuration wasn’t ideal, and even the updated version after I supplied more information still differed a bit from my understanding. That said, I do think this gap will narrow. For mana-base-type problems that lean toward mathematical calculation, the underlying logic is to account for the amount of mana needed on different turns and all the related variables. For example, in Dimir Demons, on turn two you must have two black mana to cast Deceit and look at the opponent’s hand, so you configure according to that requirement. As long as you enter the right keywords and requirements, repeated iteration has a chance of producing a very close answer.

But as far as I know, there is currently no way to use AI for reliable game simulation. For example, if you throw in a Boros Energy deck and a Goryo’s Vengeance deck and tell it to play these two decks against each other repeatedly and then tell you how to adjust, it currently can’t really do that. It might be that the corresponding data doesn’t exist yet, or other reasons. But what it does very well is collect and organize data. Although AI can’t play for you, based on data online it can explain how certain matchups work. I once tried having it produce a sideboard plan, and it actually explained things quite convincingly. Of course, there are still some deeper things it can’t read out at present. For example, in actual games the way of playing might change, or after swapping a certain card the game plan will adjust accordingly. But as long as people start using it, I believe AI will definitely get stronger the more it’s used, and its output will come closer and closer to real testing.

With appropriate models or training, AI’s performance in Magic will certainly keep getting better. Perhaps soon you’ll be able to use AI to open two MTGA accounts and play them against each other, then give you the key points of the games, even organizing the play and sideboarding neatly. We would just read the report it gives and think about deeper situations. As long as the token quota is sufficient, I think this should be doable. But thinking about it, it would cost a lot of money, and who knows how many tokens it would burn. I personally don’t want to put in that effort, but those who are interested can try it; it should make a great thesis topic.

Q9: Based on the announced 2027 schedule, how do you predict Magic’s development next year? Are there any news items, sets, or tournaments you are looking forward to?

A: I think it will definitely develop in a good direction. First, there is finally a PT and a MagicCon in Asia. Next, the promo card given out at next year’s first RC also looks good. So far everything looks fine, although I’m not sure whether it’s because our demands have lowered. Before the pandemic, weren’t there GPs every weekend? Now there are only four MagicCons a year, and they have to be bundled with a PT or Worlds. But there’s nothing to be done; we’ll take it slowly, and at least there are now events reachable from Asia.

I strongly recommend that everyone who can go to a MagicCon should go, and it’s even more worth going than the Spotlight: Final Fantasy in 2025. For a Magic player, this is a place you must go at least once in your life! You can skip Disneyland, skip Universal Studios, skip the Sagrada Familia, you can skip a whole bunch of places, but you should attend a MagicCon once! Only after going will you discover: wow, this game is so awesome! Although I’ve gone a bit numb to it, and in the last few PTs I’ve hardly toured the venue anymore, when I went the first time, being able to see my favorite artists, interesting booths, and decorations connected to the game’s story elements was really wonderful. This time it’s held in Japan again; you go for three days, take one day off, book flights and accommodation early, and it won’t cost you too much. Compared with going to the US or Europe, where a trip easily costs over a hundred thousand, I think the Japan one is about thirty thousand. Opening three fewer Collector Booster boxes saves roughly thirty thousand. Save that money and go to next year’s MagicCon in Japan! Next year I only want to go to one PT, the one in Japan; I really don’t want to go again to the others held in the US.

Q10: At the end of the interview, we’d like to ask you once more: what does Magic: The Gathering mean to you? Is it different from your last understanding of “play games, make friends, see the world”?

A: Later I felt the “see the world” part needs a correction, because PTs are always held in the same few cities, so the places you see are about the same. Before the pandemic there was the grand occasion of three GPs in a single weekend, when there were many more places you could go. But making friends, yes, I’ve really made quite a lot of friends. For me this year, it might be wanting to prove myself. I hope to get at least a PT top 8 result. Then in the future I can brag to my grandson: “Your grandpa once made a PT top 8 back in the day!” That is my personal hope, and everything else is fine. I’ve already won MIT twice, and I feel only on the PT stage will it be different, which is how I can accept myself. But actually, it’s fine even if I don’t get there. Many things depend on fate, life is still long, and there’s no need to be too stuck on it. This is actually a battle of endurance. However great the Pros at the top are, they will eventually age and one day stop playing. Like Jon Finkel, who doesn’t play anymore either. If you keep playing you have a chance, and if you have a chance, you’ll keep playing.

Good games!

From two-time MIT champion to continuing to challenge PTs and Worlds, SamuelChang shows not just card-playing skill but an attitude of continuous commitment, constant review, and adjustment.