Check out who is Mark Dictus

Discuss this profile in the forum  

Name:Mark Dictus

Age:39

Occupation: Outpost Manager

Hometown:Berchem

Number of pro tours:1 Worlds, 2 European Championships, 12 PTs

Top8’s in GP/PT : 1/0

Pro Points : 39

Mark is one the oldest Magic active players from Belgium. He posts some good finishes in international events from time to time and made lately the semi-finals at GP Brighton. He is one of the Outpost gamecenter managers and you can meet him at OPG.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mark, When did u start playing the game? 1993/1994. At the end of revised unfortunately and the beginning of 4th edition.

You are one of the oldest players on the Belgian scene. Which aspect of the game makes you still playing after all these years? Thanks! :) Well lots of reasons. Meeting new people, making friends, the competitive nature of the game. Play the game see the world. I made a lot of trips thanks to magic.

Your first tournament memories? I think I didn t win a match. My deck sucked big time, far fetched combo's, only cheap stuff. :) Next tournament I borrowed the power 9 from a shopkeeper (Jef Van Leuven) who later became one of my best friends. So the next tournament went much better. No in those days it all depended on the cards you owned. Without power 9 you were crippled. I have nice memories about the national prereleases. They only held one so it was not regional but national. 100+ players

Your first homebrew deck? Teferi's Veil - Fog Elemental - Necrataal deck... (my first PTQ top 8)

Your best deck ever in a tournament? 3 decks come to mind.

- My Dame Blanche deck which I won nationals with. Vincent Lemoine-Marijn Lybaert and I developped it to play PT Honolulu. I just improved it for nationals that year going undefeated in constructed.

- The elves deck Pascal and me build for PT Berlin. Just broken! (wasn t it Philippe!!!??? :P )

- Another deck for nationals (2001) : Ben Possemiers and I made and played a land destroying deck. That year 90% of the players played rebels or Fires of Yavimaya decks. We just found the anti deck making those match ups almost impossible to lose. The core of the deck was stone rain, pillage, rishadan port, Tectonic break. But to defeat the metagame decks we also played cards like singe and Orcish artillery... The best metagame call I have ever made.

Your favourite format? Team Rochester Draft

Your all-time favourite card? Everything that reads card advantage...

Style of play: Aggro/control/combo/agro-control/whatever...I adapt to every style. I just want to play the best deck. In draft I notice a tendency towards control/combo.

What do you like the most in the game in itself? The constant rotation of cards. I know that for many it goes too fast but to me it is a blessing. It never gets bored.

What do you like the least about the game? Luck factor.

Where can we play with you? Outpost Gent/Outpost Antwerpen, at my place. @ PTQs and GPs.

You are working at OPG. Is it easy to do both working and playing competitively? No problem to me, I think it is even a good combination.

Player you respect the most in Belgium/Europe/World ?

Belgium – Lots as there are many reasons to respect players. The players who combine the most are to me Jan Doise and Fried Meulders. Respect for how they approach the game. There fantastic players but I respect them the most for their mentality. They always lose gracefully.

Europe -- Also a lot but Frank Karsten en Bram Snepvangers come to mind. Same reason actually as Fried and Jan.

World -- South Africans! :) No I just have a South African magic connection and I feel great around them. Again lots of players in the world.

Player you are afraid of playing in Belgium/Europe/World? No one. I think fear is a bad counselor. Respect is better.

Your worst experience (tournament, event)?  PT Nagoya. Rochester draft. 4 rounds to go and I m 7th in the standings. I lost the next round horribly and then I did a very disappointing last draft. Result : 22nd. Still ok but top 8 was possible so very disappointing.

Which aspect is more important to you while playing Magic? Intuition/hard thinking/preparation? In order of elimination : Intuition, hard thinking, preparation

Is Magic a big part of your life or just a hobby? gradually a big part. I played the game- saw the world. I have lots of friends who I met playing magic.

What do you think of Modo? Did you play it a lot? I just draft if I need to practice for a big event.

Are you a bad loser? Can you get really angry after a loss/bad play? I don t like losing. So I tend to get grumpy. Bad habbit, hard to beat. Still working on it.

How do you prepare yourself for big competitions? Who do you test with? Do you often test?  Yes I test a lot for big events, especially for Japanees PTQs or exotic destinations. I test with friends, in the shop in Gent and Antwerpen, with other belgians who are qualified...

Your best topdeck?I didn t make one yet that stands out I think. But no doubt that I already made a lot of top decks ofcourse :)

Your worst “badbeat”? No idea.

What do you like the most in competitive play? On the PT just playing the best of the best and try to finish in top 64. GPs try to make top 32! Nationals trying to get into the team. PTQs only one slot! I like those kind of challenges and I can really get motivated for that.

Your best trip abroad? PT Honolulu (exotic) and any Japanees PT.

Are you still playing in PTQ's? Yes probably still for a while, although not into PTQs for Austin as Austin doesn t motivate me that much. You will see me extremely motivated if Japan comes up again.

Your experience at Worlds for the first time? When was it? Only made it to worlds once. Paris 2006. Individually my performance was mediocre, but the team (Bernardo-Xof and me) was doing well, especially in the team format. Last round we lost to Brasil and just ended 9th, just outside the money. We also forgot to agree upon a splitt so we lost like a 1000$ each I think. Anyway if we would have won we would have had 2000$ each and an invite to PT Geneva. We ended up with nothing! :)

Your GP brighton performance: 4th

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpbri09/welcome

G

Who is the “new Belgian rising star”? Pascal Vieren!

What do think of your performance at Nationals? How did it go for you? Nice! I was not even Qualified. :) Bad PTQs in june ruined my rating just before the cut. And kidney stones got in the way of the LCQs.

What were your results in standard and draft? -

Any good story from the Nats? I was recuperating at home. :)

What are your expectations in life? To be happy and do meaningfull things in life.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Going abroad.

Your favourite meal? Bread with nutella for breakfast, Japanees food for lunch and belgian fries for dinner sounds like a perfect day.

Your favourite Movie? I have a lot. Try: The big lebowski, I just love the Lords of the rings trylogy, the godfather trylogy, One flew over the cuckoo's nest, the usual suspect, V for vendetta, Kill Bill, Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi...

Other interests in life? Hobbies? Sport? I love sports. Still play indoor soccer, squash, tennis... I do like and play occasionally golf. I think I will pick it up more as I get older.

Belgian players are usually....nice once you get to know them.

Walloon players are usually....nice once you get to know them.

Flemish players are usually…nice once you get to know them.

Any nice website or band you like?  I like all kinds of music, so I like a lot of bands. I ll give you some golden oldies: Joy Division/New Order, The Doors, Prince, The Dire Straits, Nick Cave and the bad seeds, The Cure...

Anything you would like to say about you to finish this article? Don t try to stop me going to a Japanese Pro Tour! :)

Thank you Mark!