Luis Scott-Vargas

Luis Scott-Vargas
Nicknames LSV
Born 17 February 1983
Oakland, California
Nationality United StatesAmerica
Pro Tour debut 2004 Pro Tour San Diego
Winnings $262,605[1]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8) 1 (5)[2]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8) 5 (13)[3]
Lifetime Pro Points 400[4]
Planeswalker Level 49 (Archmage)

Luis Scott-Vargas (born 17 February 1983), commonly known as LSV, is a professional Magic: the Gathering player from Oakland, CA, USA, currently living in Denver, CO. His accomplishments include thirteen Grand Prix top 8s (five wins), and five Pro Tour top 8s (1 win).[5][6] In 2013, he was inducted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame. As well as being a prominent player of the game, Luis is also known for writing about the game. He was a writer for StarCityGames.com before becoming the editor for ChannelFireball.com, a Magic: the Gathering shop and strategy website. LSV still writes for Channelfireball, but ended his tenure as editor in 2012 to work as game designer in Dire Wolf Digital.

Magic: The Gathering

Career

Scott-Vargas first qualified for the Pro Tour in 2004 for Pro Tour: San Diego, and has been an active competitor in major Magic: the Gathering events since.

Scott-Vargas' breakout performance came at the 2006 US Nationals, where LSV won a play-off to take third place and earn a place on the US Nationals team with Paul Cheon and Benjamin Lundquist.[7] The US Nationals team would finish 13th in the team competition at the 2006 World Championship.

He went on to win US Nationals in 2007, leading a US Nationals team featuring Thomas Drake and Michael Bennett.[8] The US National team finished in 25th place at the 2007 World Championship. He also won Grand Prix San Francisco that season, his first Grand Prix title.

The 2008 season would bring even greater success for Scott-Vargas. He made the Top 8 of Grand Prix Philadelphia before going on to make his first Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour Berlin.[9][10] Luis reached the finals of the Pro Tour where he defeated Matej Zatlkaj to win his first, and so far only, Pro Tour title. He would then continue his success by winning his second Grand Prix event at Grand Prix Atlanta. By the end of the year Luis had amassed 58 Pro points, placing him in joint second place in the Player of the Year standings alongside Olivier Ruel.[11]

The 2009 season featured another strong set of results for Scott-Vargas. He started the season by winning his third Grand Prix in as many years at Grand Prix Las Vegas. He then made his second career Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour Kyoto. Once again, he reached the finals, but this time lost to Gabriel Nassif. He would round out his year with another Grand Prix Top 8 at Grand Prix Seattle. He finished in 7th place for the 2009 Player of the Year standings with 52 Pro Points.[12]

The 2010 season would be the first time since 2006 that Luis would not win a major event. However, despite not winning any events Luis did manage to make a Grand Prix and a Pro Tour Top 8, at Grand Prix Sydney and Pro Tour San Diego. Luis currently holds the record for the longest undefeated run at a Pro Tour after going 17-0 at Pro Tour San Diego, before losing in the semifinals to eventual winner Simon Görtzen.[13] For the second consecutive year, Luis placed seventh in the Player of the Year standings at the end of the season.

The 2011 season was a very successful one for Luis. He won Grand Prix Kansas City and advanced to the Top 8 of US Nationals, Pro Tour Nagoya and the 2011 World Championship. This was the first time that Luis made the Top 8 two Pro Tour events in a single season, and the first time he made Top 8 of a World Championship. Luis only needed to win his quarterfinal match against Richard Bland at the World Championship to overtake Owen Turtenwald and win the Player of the Year title. He lost 2-3 to Bland leading to Owen Turtenwald winning the Player of the Year title and Luis taking second place.[14] Also in 2011, Luis was invited to take part in the third annual Magic Online Community Cup. The Community Cup is a special event held by Wizards of the Coast in which prominent members of the Magic Online community are invited to the Wizards of the Coast offices to play in a tournament against staff.[15] Luis was picked for the Community Cup for his contribution to the community through draft videos and his articles and work for ChannelFireball.com.[16] Ultimately, it was the Community Team that won the tournament defeating the Wizards Team and winning the Community Cup as well as a prize for the Magic Online community.[17]

From 2009–2011, Luis was one of the most consistent players on the Pro Tour, with the highest median and average finish at Pro Tour events amongst high-ranked players.[18][19]

In the 2012 season, Luis made the Top 8 of Grand Prix Lincoln. His overall performance for the season also qualified him for the inaugural Magic Players Championship. Luis won a 2012 World Magic Cup Qualifier to earn a place on the United States national team, alongside national champion Brian Kibler, for the first World Magic Cup event.[20][21]

Luis first became eligible for the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame in 2013. Luis lead the 2013 ballot receiving 95.63% of the vote and thus was the first inductee in the Class of 2013.[22] Luis was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Pro Tour Theros alongside Ben Stark and William Jensen.

Play style

Scott-Vargas is known to favor control decks in Limited and often comments on his love for drawn out games involving mana-intensive cards.[23] In Constructed Scott-Vargas has had success mainly with Combo and Control decks. When he won Pro Tour Berlin he piloted an Elf-combo deck. He achieved his two Constructed Grand Prix wins with a blue-black control deck and a Storm-combo deck. Despite his preferences Scott-Vargas has also had success with other deck types. At Pro Tour Kyoto he piloted a black-white midrange deck to a second place finish and at Pro Tour San Diego he went undefeated in the Swiss rounds with an aggressive white-red-green deck.

Accomplishments

Season Event type Location Format Date Rank
2006 Nationals Atlanta Special 28–30 July 2006 3
2007 Nationals Baltimore Special 26–29 July 2007 1
2007 Grand Prix San Francisco Block Constructed 25–26 August 2007 1
2008 Grand Prix Philadelphia Extended 15–16 March 2008 3
2008 Pro Tour Berlin Extended 31 October–2 November 2008 1
2008 Grand Prix Atlanta Limited 15–16 November 2008 1
2009 Grand Prix Los Angeles Extended 17–18 January 2009 1
2009 Pro Tour Kyoto Standard and Booster Draft 27 February–1 March 2009 2
2009 Grand Prix Seattle/Tacoma Standard 30–31 May 2009 5
2010 Pro Tour San Diego Standard and Booster Draft 19–21 February 2010 3
2010 Grand Prix Sydney Sealed and Booster Draft 9–10 October 2010 2
2011 Pro Tour Nagoya Block Constructed and Booster Draft 10–12 June 2011 7
2011 Grand Prix Kansas City, Missouri Sealed and Booster Draft 18–19 June 2011 1
2011 Nationals Indianapolis Standard and Booster Draft 5–7 August 2011 5
2011 Worlds San Francisco Special 17–20 November 2011 6
2012 Grand Prix Lincoln, Nebraska Modern 18–19 February 2012 3
2012–13 Grand Prix Philadelphia Sealed and Booster Draft 27–28 October 2012 7
2012–13 Grand Prix Indianapolis Sealed and Booster Draft 22–23 December 2012 3
2013–14 Grand Prix Richmond Modern 8–9 March 2014 8
2014–15 Grand Prix Portland Team Limited 9–10 August 2014 4
2014–15 Grand Prix San Jose Team Limited 31 January–1 February 2015 1

Last updated: 2 February 2015
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com

Team ChannelFireball

Team ChannelFireball is a team of professional Magic: The Gathering players formed in 2010.[24] The team is named after ChannelFireball.com, a Magic: The Gathering store and strategy website, with many of the members of the team writing strategy articles for the website. Luis is considered to be the unofficial leader of the team as he is often responsible for organising the team meeting and practicing for events.[24][23]

Current and former Team Members[24][23]


Pro Tour Achievements

Team ChannelFireball has had considerable success on the Pro Tour; putting at least one player in the Top 8 of every Pro Tour from Pro Tour San Diego 2010 to Pro Tour Dragon's Maze 2013, with the exception of Pro Tour Avacyn Restored. Eight of the sixteen players participating in the inaugural 2012 Magic Players Championship were members of Team ChannelFireball. Three members of Team ChannelFireball have won Player of the Year titles since the creation of the team; Brad Nelson (2010), though he left the team prior to winning the title, Owen Turtenwald (2011), and Josh Utter-Leyton (2013).

Year Pro Tour Members in Top 8 (players in bold won)
2010 San Diego Luis Scott-Vargas
2010 San Juan Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Josh Utter-Leyton, Brad Nelson
2010 Amsterdam Brad Nelson, Brian Kibler
2010 Worlds Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Eric Froehlich
2011 Paris Ben Stark
2011 Nagoya Luis Scott-Vargas
2011 Philadelphia Josh Utter-Leyton
2011 Worlds Conley Woods, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Luis Scott-Vargas, Josh Utter-Leyton
2012 Dark Ascension Brian Kibler, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Lukas Blohon
2012–13 Return to Ravnica David Ochoa
2012–13 Gatecrash Ben Stark, Gerry Thompson, Eric Froehlich[25]
2012–13 Dragon's Maze Josh Utter-Leyton
2013–14 Journey into Nyx Josh Utter-Leyton
2013–14 Magic 2015 Patrick Cox
2014–15 Fate Reforged Eric Froehlich

Limited Resources Podcast

On January 3rd, 2015, at GP Denver, Marshall Sutcliffe[26] announced that LSV would join him as co-host of the Limited Resources podcast.

Limited Resources, one of the most popular Magic: The Gathering podcasts, focuses on the limited formats for Magic: The Gathering and was formed in 2009[27] by Marshall Sutcliffe and Ryan Spain, who now works in Research & Development at Wizards of the Coast.

Luis is well known for his draft videos and set reviews, so his joining the show as co-host and bringing Limited Resources into the Channel Fireball brand represents a major consolidation of expertise for Magic players interested in improving at limited.

Personal life

Luis was born in Oakland, California to his parents Claudio and Penny. He has two brothers, Antonio and Miguel. He graduated from UC Davis in 2005. On 6 September 2009, he married Geneva Sarcedo in Oakland.[28]

In May 2012, Luis announced that he would be moving to Denver, having acquired a job as a game designer there.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  3. ↑ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  4. ↑ "Planeswalker Points". Wizards of the Coast. 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  5. ↑ "Back to Back for LSV". 15 November 2008.
  6. ↑ "LSV + ELVES Equals Champion!". 31 October 2008.
  7. ↑ "Cheon Conquers All at U.S. Nationals". Wizards of the Coast. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "All Hail Scott-Vargas the Omnipotent!". Wizards of the Coast. 29 July 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Scott-Vargas, Luis (7 November 2008). "Feature Article - Pro Tour: Berlin Tournament Report, Part 1 *Winner*". StarCityGames.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Scott-Vargas, Luis (11 October 2008). "Feature Article - Pro Tour: Berlin Tournament Report, Part 2 *Winner*". StarCityGames.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "2008 Pro Tour Player of the Year". Wizards of the Coast. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "2009 Pro Tour Player of the Year Standings". 17 June 2009.
  13. ↑ "Görtzen Goes All the Way in San Diego". Wizards of the Coast. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  14. ↑ "2011 Pro Tour Player of the Year Standings". Wizards of the Coast. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Magic Online Community Cup 2011". Wizards of the Coast. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  16. ↑ Ashley, Monty (24 May 2011). "2011 Community Cup: The Community Team". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Community Team Makes it Three in a Row". Wizards of the Coast. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  18. ↑ David-Marshall, Brian (2 September 2011). "Phantasy Drafting". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  19. ↑ Mascioli, Chris (24 August 2011). "Magicalmetrics – Pro Tour Statistics, 2009-2011". StarCityGames.com. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  20. ↑ Scott-Vargas, Luis (10 June 2012). "WMCQ Interview with Winner Luis Scott-Vargas". ChannelFireball.com. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  21. ↑ Scott-Vargas, Luis (14 June 2012). "Luck, Skill, Victory – WMCQ Report". ChannelFireball.com. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2013 Voting Results". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 "Team CFB". ChannelFireball.com. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Vitor Damo da Rosa, Paulo (4 January 2012). "PV’s Playhouse – Team ChannelFireball". ChannelFireball.com. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  25. ↑ Cooperfauss, Andrew. "Tom Martell Wins #PTGTC". ChannelFireball.com. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  26. ↑ Announcement on twitter Retrieved Jan 5, 2015.
  27. ↑ Limited Resources blog Retrieved Jan 5, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Luis & Geneva". Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  29. ↑ "Magic TV: Show #125 – Cubing at the Players Championship". ChannelFireball.com. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
Preceded by
Paul Cheon		 Magic US National Champion
2007 		Succeeded by
Michael Jacob