Hello, my name is Shirag. If you’ve ever attended an MTG event in Cape Town, chances are we’ve crossed paths. Magic, and the community, have been a big part of my personal development as both a player and individual. I started out in Khans of Tarkir when I was 14 and trying to cheese single game wins at FNM. Ten years later I’m now preparing to compete in Pro Tour Vegas, representing not just myself, but the entire African MTG community.
Pro Tour is reserved for the best of the best, and qualifying for something like that wasn’t really something I considered for myself until recently. Making it this far is incredibly validating, but now that I’m here I don’t just want to show up, I want to prove that I can also compete. I’m aiming to chain qualify for the next Pro Tour and keep South African representation alive at the highest level.
I’ve always considered myself a Johnny—I enjoy discovering unique but powerful interactions then refining them into something competitive. But as I evolved as a player, the line between brewing new decks and optimizing meta decks blurred. Now, I analyze formats, play patterns, and deck strengths to find the best strategy for any given tournament, whether it’s the format boogeyman or a rogue build with strong positioning.
My road to Pro Tour Vegas took place in the Pioneer format. Leading up to my Regional Championship in France, my deck of choice was Amalia Combo. A creature toolbox deck capable of winning from any board state. I had previously done an extensive write up on how I felt about the deck, but it ended up getting banned a few months before the RC. My goal for the RC was to qualify for PT, but I was left scrambling for a new deck and not very confident in any of the options available to me in the new Pioneer metagame. The American RCs rolled in and I watched the metagame develop into something new, and within that I took notice of a deck I’m very familiar with—Humans Aggro, but splashing blue for Mockingbird. I copied the list, ran it through MTGO leagues, made some changes, and started to build my confidence. After doing some play testing with local players piloting my bad matchups (mainly losing) we began to discuss what we thought about the game plan and play patterns. Between my online testing and local discussions I was able to notice specific pilot habits and created a strategy to exploit opponents who were not prepared for my deck or the way I was playing it. This became a repeatable system that I could use to continue stealing wins, staying undefeated against the most popular decks that are traditionally seen as unfavourable matchups.
Despite qualifying, the challenges don’t stop there. Unlike other regions, Africa does not have its own Regional Championship, meaning South African players must compete in Europe to even have a shot at the Pro Tour. This means that even highly skilled players are often forced out of competition due to financial barriers. This is why I want to keep qualifying. Every time an African player makes it to the Pro Tour, it proves that we belong at this level. If we can establish consistent representation, we have a stronger case to push Premier Play support to our region.
To make this trip possible, I’m hosting competitive fundraising events at Luckshack Plumstead, with prizes supplied by Unplug Yourself. If you’d like to support, you can do so by attending events—not just my fundraising events (though they have great prize support, and I could really use the travel funds), but all competitive events at your local game stores. Our player base isn’t massive, but it’s surprisingly active even by international standards.
The more we show up, the more we push ourselves, and the more we prove that South African MTG deserves to be on the global stage. We keep building, keep competing, and one day, we’ll be sending a Team South Africa to the Pro Tour.