Autumn Burchett is an inspiration. As part of the Magic The Gathering community, Autumn sets a fine example of a player, champion, and role model for many. Read about a rise to glory, hard work, and the type of change that gaming is bringing to the world.
MMOPRG: Tell us about your early days in Magic: The Gathering, what was it like for you?
Autumn Burchett: I started learning with the set Dragon's Maze a few years ago, when my best friend at the time taught the game to me. I dove deep in to the game pretty fast due to how fascinating and fun it was to me, and made a bunch of friends as we all went around the country to different tournaments together.
MMOPRG: Have you ever played old school or Vintage matches? What are some of your favorite cards?
Autumn: I've played a tiny bit of vintage online but am not a fan of some of the lop-sided gameplay it can create.
I love almost any card that card go in a Delver deck - Wasteland, Delver of Secrets, Daze, Brainstorm, Lightning Bolt, all these cards are wonderful to me! I really love Pteramander especially due to sentimental attachment from winning the Mythic Championship with that card, and also have a lot of sentimental attachment to The Scarab God too.
MMOPRG: How is it playing in the U.K. and then stepping onto the global stage to compete? Is the scene different or do you find Magic players generally the same globally?
Autumn: It's really nice that no matter where you go to compete you know that the people you will meet there will have this game in common with you, and will love it and enjoy it for the same sorts of reasons you do! Having that sort of connection with people you meet halfway across the world is great.
MMOPRG: Tell us your story about how open and welcoming the Magic The Gathering community has been, many fans would love to hear it.
Autumn: I know when I started going to events I was fortunate that the community I met was great about respecting my pronouns and making me feel welcome and like I fitted in - I'd heard of some pretty bad LGS's before, so the fact that the ones I attended were better than that was really helpful to keep me playing. I'd had some pretty negative experiences with communities playing other games beforehand so finding this one helped encourage me to keep competing and trying my best.
MMOPRG: Talk about some of your philosophies leading up to a competition: practice, routines, meditation? Don’t give away any secrets though!
Autumn: Don't stress yourself out or wear yourself down too much the couple days before a competition as then you won't be able to give the games all the focus they need! And remember that you deserve to be there competing just as much as anyone else does, and even if you're playing against someone better than you you are still very capable of defeating them on the battlefield!
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MMOPRG: Many people can be intimidated by Magic or its fans, what advice would you give them?
Autumn: Whilst there are definitely stores that may not be very welcoming, there are many more that are where you can find some really great people. As for Magic, the game is vast and complex and I can understand being intimidated by it, but you don't have to understand everything to enjoy it and learn it and can mostly take learning it at your own pace. Magic Arena also has tutorials that are great tools for helping learn too!
MMOPRG: You’ve won a major tournament, did that change your plans for 2019? Will more travel be involved now?
Autumn: It's changed a lot! I'm now in a position where I can go to tournaments and focus on magic full-time, which is very exciting! This also means a lot more travel and opportunities thanks to all the things I've qualified for recently.
MMOPRG: Are you planning for the next tournament this year?
Autumn: I have a bunch of tournaments coming up that I'm excited for! In the near future I'm excited to compete in the Magic Online Championship next week, the next couple Mythic Championships, and also the weekly MPL matches are encouraging me to stay really up to date with standard which is exciting!
