What if a person could measure potential success in Magic by analyzing an individual's fundamentals? What would that look like?

In the design of "real" sports, an athlete is measured by their foot-speed, bench press or even vertical leap. While playing high school and college baseball, I had been asked to participate in several drills and practices that allowed me and my potential to be "measured." Football players go through the NFL Combine to add or take away from a players college accolades or statistics. It's almost a way to chisel through any propaganda or marketing that might be added from their respective programs or "soft" athletic divisions. As most people don't consider Magic to be a "sport", it might be very difficult to argue (successfully) that there just might be certain indicators that would lead to a person's success.

Back in the day, a couple of old friends of mine decided that we would form a team called 'the Goodfellas.' Not only did we take the name from one of the greatest gangster/mob films ever but we felt that it was something that we could identify with. The three of us weren't just friends, but we had proven (at least on a local level) that we could play Magic by winning a variety of local tourneys as well as other random events. We added 3 more players, who had also displayed proficiency in the game. Whether it be by creating decks or winning with them, we invited these individuals based on a shared vote and open debate amongst the original three. A lot of times, people choose teams based on friendships or perhaps the fact that someone had enough cards to support the group. Our dedication was based on a goal of complete success. That PTQ season, all six of us qualified for Pro Tour Chicago.

Back to the point, if I could be a Pro Tour Magic scout, what would I look for to determine whether or not I have a future LSV or Jon Finkel in my sights? Now, let's say I'm Dr Frankenstein and I'm trying to transform some random blob into a Pro Tour Champion. Here's what I'd look for:

1. Any sign of intelligence - Jon Finkel MUST have a high IQ! While I'm merely speculating, based on what I know about the man outside of Magic he's got a decent pedigree (meaning college education). Now this isn't to say that a person who DOESN'T have a college degree should sell their cards and start signing up for your local weekly putt-putt golf league, nor does it mean that a person from Harvard automatically wins at this game. It just means that MANY of the Pro Tour Champions I know and have met ooze intelligence. Finkel, Vargas, De Rosa, Long, Gary, Buehler, Mowshowitz... the list goes on and on of people who are clearly higher education people. This game is one of analysis, logic and fundamental rules. Intelligence, in theory provides the essentials to succeed provided you can utilize it through those elements. What it also means, is that a person will ask to be enlightened or that a person will do whatever it takes to educate themselves toward success. I don't believe a person wins at Magic alone. Intelligence, to me, isn't the presences of knowledge but the desire to obtain knowledge.
2. Speed - Not too many people mention this, but speed is a HUGE factor in successful pro play. I'm not talking 100 meter dash speed. I'm talking about the ability to make a decision. The ability to analyze and take action. I'll assume MOST of you are reading this via computer and that computer is probably NOT a 486DX computer or a Pentium 3. Generally, computer people want higher memory (RAM) systems or processors. Why do I know this? Because we don't want to spend countless seconds waiting on our computers to think! As professional Magic has evolved, rounds are shorter so game play needs to go faster and it requires players to play accordingly. In Swiss play, one draw is forgivable but 2 might as well be a loss. I've known superior magic players who just take too long to play and they end swiss play at 5 wins 0 losses and 3 draws. Most of the time, speed play is something that is not identified or easily improved. Think "Speed Chess". I typically play at the speed of my opponent. If you control the tempo of the match, you control the opponent.
3. Desire - I just finished watching Rocky V so forgive me for my rather obscure references. (Then again, if you've read my stuff before, I'm typically full of random references.) The desire to win is something that cannot be taught. The Rocky movies always fire me up because they ignite pieces of me that has always been competitive or to reach for that which is best. Years before the ALL-POWERFUL DCI, people played tournaments to win and if it was decided that you didn't have a chance to win most people continued to play for pride. Now that everyone with a 1500 rating or higher thinks they have a chance of qualifying by rating (which is normally 2050+), they drop from tournaments whenever they are at 2 losses. Now there are several things I want to say about this, if you're rating is LESS than 1950, STOP worrying about your rating! In the PTQ circuit, you need to TOP 8 two consecutive qualifiers to earn close to 100 points (admittedly a lot of that depends on the field). Even Top 8 for a Grand Prix rarely gains you more than 150. I hear so many people ask "what was your rating" etc and they do this to feel better about losing those hard earned points they gained playing FNM. My advice to anyone who thinks they're better than their tournament result would be to keep playing. Unless you're going to draft or play in another event, keep playing to see whether it was your playing skill or simply your choice in deck. If you desire to be successful you MUST keep playing. I'm not saying one should ignore their rating altogether, I'm simply saying that your true rating is based on your ability to PLAY. Doing this also gives you the opportunity to regain some of those lost points. Successful Magic play is not like purchasing a lottery ticket and scratching off "WINNER", it's an endless pursuit of perfection or perhaps something close. Now going back to sports examples, professional scouts ALWAYS indicate personal traits in their reports. In the NFL, a prospects affiliations can be considered important information into the type of employee they are considering. Will they have the heart to play under pressure or perhaps find that a hangnail will keep the person out of the game rather than leading to a comeback.
4. Physique - I'm sure many of you are going to disagree with me on this. I believe that a person's physical health has a lot to do with whether or not they are equipped to play this game. Obviously, we're not running miles or doing anything strenuous at all. Shaquille O'Neal comes to mind, as one of THE most dominating forces in the NBA, basically got fat and unable to play his position. He's still (at 7+ feet tall) a VERY imposing figure, but I think that he's really just weighed himself down and has become slow. It isn't like he had a perimeter game, he dunked the ball 20 times a night and did nothing but dominate the floor. I just think that when he does get the ball, he doesn't have the reflexes or the ability to quickly take charge anymore.

Speaking of slow, with all of the fast food that is available at our locations here in Florida, one could imagine getting a bit lethargic after a nice super-sized value meal. Is it possible that the physical state of your body can effect your mental state? I know some players who won't eat anything during the course of a tournament. Weight gain is another thing that I think affects every aspect of your day. I believe it not only slows your body down but impairs decision making as well. Maybe not to a state of unconsciousness, but enough to take away the endurance that you might have have had at one time or it keeps you alert and awake. It's only natural to get older, get lazy and quite frankly get fat. Perhaps maybe, this is why we feel old. this is why we feel like we can't do the things we used to, because we conditioned ourselves to be unable to do those "things". This is just a theory as there aren't too many well chiseled Pro Tour Champions out there HA-HA. However, many of our champs are relatively young and presumably in better shape.

Maybe, I'm a bit abstract, but I tend to think there's more to successful magic than just shuffling 60 cards. While the mind may do majority of the work for us, the body carries out the actions that the mind suggests. I hope this random jargon hasn't bored you too much, I'm gonna get a big mac :)

Thanks for reading.