Application

-Your Name and age
Luca Ashok, 19

-How you found out about Team Unknown Stars
googled: apply magic mtg team

-Your Magic accomplishments
-Being one of the better players in my area.
-Making profits on mtgo.
-1st at the Alara Reborn prerelease (around 70 players)
-split finals for a GPT for Boston

-The last three major tournaments you attended and your record at each of them (Major tournaments are considered to be large events such as PTQ's, Regionals, Champs, Nationals, the Pro Tour, and other events on those levels or higher.)
SCG 5k boston (t2) - 4-3 drop
Extended PTQ in Rochester - 5-3 (lost last 2 rounds)
Standard PTQ in Rochester - 3-2 drop

-A link to your DCI Rating page
http://webapp.wizards.com/ratings.aspx?action=search_member&personid=1338756&brandid=1

MTGO: lookacard
1800 composite
1751 constructed
1848 limited
as of 10/26

-Why you play competitive Magic
I always have a great desire to be playing some game at a high level. When I was younger I played soccer very competitively and even played for the state ODP team. Later when I wasn't content with my ability in soccer, I started shifting my focus towards world of warcraft, and eventually was in a top 10 world guild while also being one of the top player versus player (PvP) characters on the server. When I moved into college I realized that I didn't have the time to play wow, so I shifted my focus to magic. I hadn't played magic for the 4 years that I had been playing wow, but I used to be good when I was younger (had 1900+ eternal rating). I think magic fits my strengths better anyways since I've always been better at the strategic aspects of wow much more than the physical "twitch" aspects.

-What your main reasons are for wanting to join the team
As I mentioned previously I always have a desire to be as good as possible at some given game. Magic happens to be that game, and in order to get better I must find at least one person to playtest with. Since none of my friends are as serious about magic as I am, the logical solution for me was to find an online team. I have seen first hand from soccer and wow that being on a team with good players makes you a better player in ways that nothing else can replace. This is especially important in magic because the main way to practice is by playtesting, and this cannot be done alone. I also have to resort largely to netdecking since I'm not a great deckbuilder myself and have nowhere else to get good lists. Being on a team would give me access to good, current lists for multiple archetypes.

-What you think you would bring to the team that makes you stand out above other applicants
Coming from a hardcore raiding guild in wow, I can put countless hours into magic since the only other things that I really have to do are eat, sleep, go to class, and do homework. I'm a math major so my strengths are suited to magic (logic, problem solving, probability).

-What your strengths as a Magic player are
Once I'm given a constructed deck, I think I am very good at maximizing my chances of winning through good play. I think it's much more difficult to play perfectly in limited because you don't know your opponent's deck list as well, and it's harder to plan for future turns, or play around certain cards.

-What your weakness as a Magic player are
The hardest part for me is coming up with the best deck for a given tournament since I'm not very good at deck building. I'm much better at playing the deck than coming up with it. Deck building is an important part of limited so I'm not as confident in my limited abilities as constructed.

-What the main formats that you play and focus on are
I focus on whatever can make me profit on mtgo and the local shop, and then I focus on whatever the next PTQ format is. Right now I'm doing a lot of sealed Zendikar because of the release tournaments on mtgo. Before the release I was messing around with pauper since I had nothing else to do. I still play pauper every once in a while online (have my own Bu control list). I originally played 5cc online and in real life for pretty much its entire duration in standard. For now I don't have any t2 decks and am still searching for one to build.

-Which format you think you're most proficient in
constructed. I find it's easier to calculate odds, put my opponent on certain cards, etc. in a format where you generally know everyone's deck list. I also generally do best in constructed (although my rating doesn't show it).