Интервью Artifact MT: A — MaggoGX и Shana

The second part of our tournament has come to an end. There were ups and downs, and the players were overwhelmed by both positive and negative emotions. But everything led us to the final, and we asked the winner of the tournament, MaggoGX, and the participant who took the second place, Shana,  about their impressions on the tournament. 

While you keep waiting for the final part of the largest Artifact tournament - Mighty Triad: Intelligence - give this interview a look.

1. WePlay!: Once again, congratulations! Please tell us about the first emotions after realising that you've won.

   MaggoGX: Thanks, I was in complete shock and emotionally drained, couldn't believe I won so much money. Finals were the least nervous part of the tourney for me - I was really nervous in ¼ when I was fighting for top4 prize money.

2. WePlay!: During the game, you look very focused (we are looking at the camera, aha :D) and serious - does the game require an intense concentration and paying this much attention?

   MaggoGX: Yes, I was constantly looking at gold and writing it down. I was really nervous (except for the finals) and couldn't sit still cuz of adrenaline. 

3. WePlay!: How did you play with swim? You considered him and Petrify to be among the strongest players in the tournament.

   MaggoGX: Series vs swim was the best in the whole tourney in terms of quality play, we both played really well. I wasn't really nervous and was having fun cuz we're friends with swim. We even emoted each other and had some fun BM moments :)

4. WePlay!: On the way to the finals, you didn't leave your opponents a chance beating them with a 2:0 score (except for swim). Do you consider them weaker than you are, or is it in the decks chosen by you?

   MaggoGX: Against TenShi my decks helped for sure because I won ramp mirror without any 8 mana card. I'm not sure I was the best since it's a card game and luck plays a very crucial role. 

5. WePlay!: Do you have invisible fans? We noticed that you were talking to someone during the game, or is it rather a case of personal vocal commentary?

   MaggoGX: Nah, I was talking to myself. I do that when I'm nervous, and it really helps to think out loud (or curse when smth bad happens) - people should try that :)

6. WePlay!: Tell us what mistakes do you think Shana made in the final? What allowed you to win?

   MaggoGX: I think maybe some hero deployments in game 1 and in game 2, he just didn't draw any 8 mana card. He's a very strong player, and he wasn't making any big mistakes.

7. WePlay!: Are you satisfied with the results of the tournament? Do you think that you have revealed yourself completely, or do you have something up your sleeve for the following tournaments?

   MaggoGX: Yes, I made maybe 2 big misplays overall (and I can justify 1, so maybe it was just a different line). I'm really happy with how I played on the final day, nervousness didn't beat me. I don't have (or had) anything up my sleeve - I'm just trying to play well :)

8. WePlay!: Who was the first one to whom you report your victory? Who shared the joy of this event with you?

   MaggoGX: My IRL friends and discord friends were all watching, so I just waited for stream delay, then shared the joy with all of them.

9. WePlay!: Do you have any plans for spending the prize (if it's not confidential, of course)?

   MaggoGX: Gonna buy a new phone and invest in something (now thinking, in what exactly). And, of course, celebrate with friends.

10. WePlay!: How do you like our tournament in total: what are the advantages, what are the disadvantages? It is essential for us to know the opinion of the participants (and even more so, of the winner), what can be improved and what is on an excellent level :)

    MaggoGX: I loved the tournament, 0 complaints. Really liked casters, production and, of course, the games.

11. WePlay!: Do you think that Valve should organise its own tournaments for Artifact, like the minors-majors and The International?

    MaggoGX: Yes, I really hope they will do that, can't wait for the news.

12. WePlay!: What are your future plans regarding the game?

    MaggoGX: I'm gonna try playing in every tourney I can then when (and if) ladder comes I'm gonna grind there a lot. Without ladder, I have almost 0 motivation to play Artifact, so Valve, please, help <3

Unlike MaggoGX, Shana was a lot more confident and calm on his way to the finals but he did express his emotions after the final games claiming he was really upset to miss the opportunity of becoming the winner. However, Shana acknowledged the skill and luck gap between him and MaggoGX.

1. WePlay!: Congrats on winning the 2nd place! You had a great run, but sadly, didn't manage to become the champion. How did you feel after losing to MaggoGx?

   Shana: Honestly, I felt depressed because I only needed to win those two games to become the champion.

2. WePlay!: Were you surprised to get to the finals?

   Shana: No, I wasn't surprised to get to the finals because I genuinely don't think I'm worse than anybody else in this tournament.

3. WePlay!: MaggoGx has won fast twice in a row. Do you think it's because he is a more skilled player than you are?

   Shana: I do believe that he is a really good player. In the finals, his luck and skill level were higher than mine.

4. WePlay!: Did you learn anything from him? Are you going to test new tactics?

   Shana: I think Lodestone Demolition is exceptionally good to counter ToT, actually in Chinese tournaments a lot of people try to use 4/1 red/black PA with Lodestone Demolition and good results have been achieved.

5. WePlay!: Did you make any particular mistakes that led to your defeat?

   Shana: Now I think that I should've put my Treant Protector to the second line in the first game of the finals on mana turn four. What I did is put it to the third line, and MaggoGx pushed the second line easily.

6. WePlay!: Do you believe you could've won the finals?

   Shana: Yeah, I was confident I would win but was prepared to face other results. I said to myself that I wouldn't be surprised no matter what the result was going to be.

7. WePlay!: Let's get back to the group stage where you defeated Hyped - the winner of our previous tournament. Did you feel you were facing a strong opponent there?

   Shana: I think he is a very strong opponent but he was really unlucky. In our third game, he couldn't get out Annihilation - even on mana turn seven. If he could, the result would be completely different.

8. WePlay!: Did you play any card games before you've started playing Artifact? What's your favourite CCG and why?

   Shana: I've only played Hearthstone before, but in many cases, there's almost no choice in Hearthstone. I mean, only one card can be used and quite the same goes for your opponent, so I do like Artifact a lot more now.

9. WePlay!: Do you believe that Artifact is well-balanced right now? Are there any broken or over-powered mechanics?

   Shana: I think it's not bad, because there's a variety of decks to be used effectively like red/green, red/black, mono-blue, and so on. They are very similar in strength which is a good thing.

10. WePlay!: Are you going to continue your esports career?

    Shana: Of course! And I will stick to playing Artifact for now.

11. WePlay!: Are there any difficulties in playing online tournaments from China? We've noticed your facecam had like 0,5fps. Is that due to using VPN?

    Shana: There's just a little trouble in joining online tournaments, I don't use VPN in games. Regarding the facecam, maybe the connection to the camera website was not good because I used Chinese cam website which can be 30fps.

That's it for Mighty Triad: Agility, but there's Mighty Triad: Intelligence on the way, so stay tuned. In case you've missed the finals, we've embedded the games down below for you to enjoy.