Worlds Player Interview: MIT Season 8 Champion 林仕峰

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

Let’s get started!

Since most Guildmages’ Forum members are from northern Taiwan, we rarely get the chance to talk with the strong players in the south. Before this, the author actually had a special experience: after the finals of one MIT championship, I rode the elevator out with 仕峰 without either of us recognizing the other. At the time I got the impression that 仕峰 was a shy, very polite player, and after this interview I felt even more of his pure passion for Magic, and took the opportunity to hear stories of his past battles in various countries.

The MIT Season 8 championship was a special and meaningful event, because both finalists are from southern Taiwan, and they are friends who regularly talk shop and practice together. After the heated battle there was a winner and a loser, but the classic match has become a record that will never be erased. Now let’s look back on it together!

Q1: First, congratulations to 仕峰 on making it to Worlds! Let’s go back to the scene of the MIT Season 8 championship. How did you feel being in the final showdown?

A: By the top four I had already secured a spot at the Pro Tour, so I didn’t have many stray thoughts. I was mostly thinking about the upcoming finals, and it just so happened that my finals opponent was 其寬, a good friend I have known for many years in Tainan.

The deck 其寬 was playing was Amulet Titan. In terms of the matchup, I thought I was at a disadvantage, but I just reminded myself to do my best, do what I should do, and minimize mistakes.

As for meeting 其寬 on the stage of the finals, I was personally happy. Running into a very good friend at an occasion like this is very rare. From that angle, whether he or I ended up winning the match, I would feel it was a happy experience.

In game one I was on the play and kept a fairly fast hand, wanting to hurry up and race down 其寬’s life total before things dragged on XD. With my opponent not doing things very smoothly, I took game one. In game two 其寬 mulliganed down to three cards, probably because he never saw an ideal opening hand, but I didn’t get a very good opening hand either, so I was still cautious and uneasy, worried that 其寬 would turn it around. Fortunately, through a more disruptive style of play, I cautiously took the match in the end. As I recall, the key was using Wear // Tear to destroy a Shifting Woodland that had already activated its Delirium ability.

Q2: What deck did you play at the time? Why did you choose this deck?

A: It was Modern, and the deck I played was Boros Energy.

The main reason I chose this deck is that I also played it in the MITQs. Although there was a ban between the qualifiers and the main event, which made it somewhat of a different deck, in the end I still chose Boros Energy, which I was more familiar with, and I was lucky enough to win the MIT Season 8 championship.

A photo of 仕峰 looking dashing with the MIT championship trophy. Before Quantum Riddler burst onto the scene, Boros Energy had always been a strong deck in Modern, and it was the good partner 仕峰 chose at the time. This precious photo was taken after his heated finals battle with his good friend.

Q3: Everyone has been inspired by someone along the way. Do you remember the origin of how you came into contact with this game? How did you first meet Magic: The Gathering?

A: I first came into contact with Magic because my older brother brought home a Fifth Edition Starter Deck one day, and I happened to see the cards inside and was amazed by the illustrations. That impact gave me the motivation to start practicing and playing, and before I knew it I had come this far.

After winning the MIT Season 8 championship, I didn’t share the news with my family right away. It was only later, when I was preparing to go abroad, that I brought it up. My family’s first reaction was: this isn’t a scam, is it? XD

Q4: Do you still feel that excitement and emotion? Can you talk about how Magic today differs from the past?

A: As in my answer to the previous question, for me the illustrations in new sets have changed a lot compared with the past. Frankly, I personally prefer the art style of the old-frame era. In any case, the difference in art style is an undeniable fact. For example, the art style of Dwarven Thaumaturgist would be hard to see in recent years. Its style is very cartoonish, and whether you like it or not, it tells you about the style of a certain period of Magic.

Although the art style is no longer what it was when I first came into contact with the game, I still went with the flow and played for a long time. Although I didn’t play for a while during graduate school, after finishing military service and entering the workforce with an income, I gradually returned to the Magic community and have become more and more deeply involved. The community around me has also gradually become closely connected to Magic, so I’ve made many friends, and those friends have become my reason to keep playing.

Q5: The drive behind greatness is often purer than we imagine. For example, opening booster packs is just so fun and exciting. What is the most important card to you? Please share the bond between you and it.

A: Talking about this really gets me excited XD. In 2018, 曹公 and two other players from the south invited me to go abroad to compete together. Since it happened to be Magic’s 25th anniversary, there was a GP in Singapore we could enter. The four of us played in the side events of that tournament, and I was lucky enough to make it to the final draft and successfully won the Mox Jet of that event.

A dashing photo of 仕峰 winning the Mox Jet at the Singapore GP. Unfortunately the resolution of the official photo from that time is not very clear. If any readers have photos from that time, you are welcome to contact Guildmages’ Forum or 仕峰 himself so we can update this and keep it as a memento.

Then I also remember that the first time I opened a booster pack, I got Jade Monolith, which was so bad that it left a deep impression XD.

The author later looked up this old card… and indeed it gives a subtle feeling of being fun but having no idea how to play it XD.

Q6: On Worlds Day 1 and Day 2 there will be an Avatar: The Last Airbender draft and four rounds of Standard respectively. Please share with readers which formats you personally like and are good at, and roughly how you will prepare this time.

A: The format I consider myself both fond of and good at is actually Limited, but having said that, my results in Limited at big events aren’t particularly outstanding, so it’s all rather wishful thinking on my part XD. But seriously, I really like drafting. One very important reason I chose to find work in Kaohsiung in the past was that I wanted to go to 童年往事 often to draft.

For the Avatar: The Last Airbender draft and Standard, I personally will focus more on preparing for the draft, planning to try drafting each color pair and get a feel for how each one plays differently.

Q7: What type of player do you consider yourself to be? What kind of game plan are you better at? Is there a simple but classic turn you can share with readers?

A: I have actually played aggro, midrange, and control decks. I think I’m fairly open to different decks and tend not to project my preferences onto my deck choices. If I had to say, combo and ramp are the decks I’ve touched less, and I play the other types quite often.

When choosing a deck, I mainly weigh its strength in the tournament environment and how proficient I am at piloting it.

Q8: I’ve always been curious that competitive players must have their own particular habits when playing. Beyond the “cards,” do you have any nearly superstitious habits? Or any little tricks for hinting at or misleading your opponent?

A: I personally don’t have any superstitious habits. As for tricks, during a match, in how I arrange my hand, I sometimes try to mislead my opponent’s thinking, hoping to make them believe I have something or don’t have something. But at MIT-level events, mind games like “predicting your opponent’s prediction” are already everywhere, which I consider one of the great delights of Magic.

Q9: Competitive-level events always go through multiple rounds of qualifiers, with at least a full day of continuous play. A good player needs correct fundamentals, focus, and plenty of stamina… Which of these traits do you think is the key to your standing out?

A: Stamina, I’d say XD. I think if your stamina is poor, your fundamentals and experience can’t be exerted to 100 percent.

In the past I have also made mistakes in Win & In situations because my focus dropped, and been turned around. At the moment of the Season 8 championship, I think it was because I was familiar enough with my deck and had done a lot of homework on the environment, so I knew better how to face various situations, and could therefore keep my focus all the way to the end.

Q10: Although the players are the ones standing on the stage, the team, family, and friends around them surely take part too. Have you had any memorable support or arguments in life? How did you resolve them in the end?

A: After going to the Singapore GP in 2018, I couldn’t attend the next month’s Chiba GP. A friend who did go happened to run into 泱泱 and asked her to record a cheering video for me XD. That really moved me deeply.

Thanks to 仕峰 for sharing this treasure XD. After the interview the author got to see this video, and it really is a memory that makes your heart flutter (ドキドキ).

Q11: Can you name a few players who have influenced you, and tell us what you learned from them?

A: The first who comes to mind is 一刀 (洪珣皓), the 2018 national team qualifier champion. When I was gradually getting deeper into the tournament scene in high school, he was my first practice partner. Later he was less often at tournaments because of work, but he is definitely an important player who led me deeper into this game.

And a player 蔡博仁, whom 俊廷 also mentioned last time. I saw some new and different ideas from him, and some of them are worth drawing on.

Finally, the owner’s wife at 童年往事. The first time I went to 童年往事 to draft, I felt pressure from the single-elimination format a lot of pressure XD, but in such an environment I gradually trained my Limited fundamentals and skills, and so I improved a great deal.

Q12: As a competitive player, what is the most valuable piece of advice you have ever received?

A: Don’t be afraid of losing. I think if you care too much about winning and losing at tournaments, you will instead have too much fear of failure. When I play around Kaohsiung I also run into losing streaks, and if I haven’t misplayed along the way, that’s exactly when I especially remind myself to pick myself up and just keep playing.

I also hope to have a better mindset about this, minimizing mistakes during matches and not making wrong judgments.

Q13: This is a TCG with a lot of depth, but also relatively hard to get into. If you were to briefly introduce the charm of Magic: The Gathering, how would you describe it to newcomers?

A: I think one special thing about Magic is that, compared with other TCGs, its diverse formats give players more choices. Whether Constructed, Limited, or EDH, they all give newcomers about to get into the game more options. Players don’t have to take a highly competitive tournament route. Enjoying the game and improving through Limited or EDH is fine too, and as your mindset changes later on, you can even switch formats and routes within Magic. The flexibility is huge.

Q14: Last of all, please describe what Magic: The Gathering means to you.

A: It’s a game I’ve played for a long time without ever getting a lifetime pension XDD. I often tell friends that if I had spent my years of Magic experience in military service, I could already be collecting a lifetime pension.

All of that is a joke, of course. In this circle I’ve met many friends, and some of them have a really good friendship with me, which is something that could only have happened through Magic.