This March, Dana Fischer became the first eight-year-old girl to make it to the second day of one of Magic: The Gathering’s most competitive tournament events, a MagicFest Grand Prix. In order to do so, she had to defeat five adults more than twice her age.
Over a thousand Magic players compete in any given MagicFest Grand Prix, and fewer than 20% of them qualify for the second day. “This accomplishment hopefully can help other kids, and especially girls, play Magic by showing them that someone like them can play Magic competitively,” Fischer wrote in Channel Fireball.
With 6,000 Twitter followers, Fischer is a rising star in the Magic: The Gathering community since she was six. Through both talent and loads of practice with her dad, Adam, a former professional circuit player himself, she has honed her skills on the international level, racking up wins against even professional Magic players.
See also: A Q&A With 'Magic: The Gathering' Mythic Champion Autumn Burchett
Nearly every week, Fischer and her dad travel from their hometown of Carmel Valley, California, to attend Magic tournaments across the country. I was fortunate to catch them on an early morning at home, while Fischer was getting ready for school, to ask a few questions. The following interview occurred through email queries and a follow-up phone conversation. Read on to learn how Magic’s youngest star got her start and what she hopes to accomplish next.
Lauren Orsini: You started playing Magic at three-and-a-half. What made you want to try the game?
Dana Fischer: I had seen my dad and my sister Sadie play and I wanted to play and then on Father’s Day in 2014, he invited me to learn how to play. Since I was so young then there is not a whole lot more I remember.
Orsini: How old were you when you first beat your dad at Magic? What was his reaction?
Dana: I’m not sure exactly how old I was but I think I was 5 or 6. I don’t remember his reaction but he tells me he was really happy because it showed how much I was learning.
Orsini: Is your dad ever able to beat you, now that you’re on an international level?
Dana: Most of the time, no. If he’s playing against my deck regularly he might be able to beat me. But normally I beat him.
Adam Fischer: [laughing] I think it could go either way, most of the time.
Orsini: Your dad mentioned in a Q&A that your favorite subject in school is math. How do you apply your interest in math to your gameplay style?
Dana: I like decks where there are lots of creatures and effects that make my creatures bigger and it often involves a lot of addition and even multiplication to figure out how big my creatures are. Also, I often am doing a lot of math to figure out if I can deal lethal damage to my opponent.
Orsini: What is your favorite kind of math, or the math you apply the most often to Magic?
Dana: Most of the time addition and/or multiplication.
Orsini: Why do you always play Elves, and why is Nissa your favorite planeswalker?
Dana: I don’t always play Elves, but I have always played Elves in Modern and Legacy, except when I’m practicing where I like to try other decks to get the feel for what they do in order to know how to best win against them. In Commander, I mostly play Elves as well though sometimes I like to play other decks. In Standard, I have played lots of different decks and in Limited I play the best cards I open. I mostly play Elves because they are green which has been my favorite color since even before I played Magic and they are tiny like me. Nissa is my favorite planeswalker because she is Green and I like the artwork and she is like the queen of the Elves.
Orsini: Can you tell me a little about the Nissa cosplays you wear to matches? How does it feel to play Magic while dressed up?
Dana: I met a cosplayer at my second Grand Prix event [Air Bubbles Cosplay] and she asked me who my favorite planeswalker was. I told her Nissa and she offered to make me a Nissa costume with the help of some of her other cosplayer friends. It doesn’t feel too different playing Magic while dressed up but I like to wear my costume because it’s special to me, it’s comfortable, and I also like how it makes other people, especially kids, happy to see me in it.
Orsini: In March, you became the youngest player to make Day 2 at a Magic Grand Prix [GP]. How did you prepare for the GP in order to give yourself the best chance at success?
Dana: I prepared by doing lots of practice games, both with my dad at home and at local game stores and other big events. We also looked at the metagame (what decks were being played the most), and how I should configure my deck against each of the other decks. I also watched lots of videos of Magic pros playing and discussed the plays with my dad. In addition, I received some advice and coaching from some Magic pros and others in the community.
Orsini: Who are some of these community members who have inspired you the most?
Dana: Some of the pros are Reid Duke, William Huey Jenson, Ross Merriam, and Eric Froehlich.
Adam: She actually knows a fair number of people in the community because we watch a lot of videos and go to a lot of events, and she’ll see and meet a lot of people. She’s always excited seeing somebody she knows or who is a familiar face on video or on coverage.
Orsini: About how much time per week do you spend on practice?
Dana: About as much as we can. About five hours a week?
Adam: Probably more than that. Because when we go to an event, it’s a lot.
Dana: Most of the time, five to ten hours.
Adam: It’s not every day, but it will be in chunks. For instance, we might practice for an hour or an hour-and-a-half at home some days, but some days she has activities or homework or I’m working a lot and we won’t get to it. We’ll usually go to a local event, I would say on average once a week or twice a week. That’s usually three hours or so. And then when we travel to a MagicFest for a Grand Prix, that is probably 25 to 30 hours, because it’s three full days. We go to one of those a month on average, so I’d say all told, 10 to 15 hours a week on average.
We also watch videos or play Arena as practice, if that counts.
Orsini: As your story gets more attention, do you feel increased pressure to succeed? How do you keep calm during practice and tournament play?
Dana: The increased attention doesn’t make me feel increased pressure to succeed because I ignore all of it because I’m focused on my own goals. I keep calm during play by tuning out everything except for the game that I’m playing.
Orsini: Which of your accomplishments playing Magic are you most proud of?
Dana: I am most proud of being the youngest player to make Day 2 of a Magic Grand Prix. I also am proud that I’ve shown how young girls can do well at Magic since there aren’t very many of them that play.
Orsini: How do you think players can encourage more young girls to play Magic?
Dana: Players can encourage by showing themselves doing their best at Magic and showing them that little kids and girls can play. Little girls can see that and say, “Oh! I can play this game, too.”
Orsini: Magic technically says it’s for “ages 13 and up.” Do you think that’s still accurate?
Dana: Yeah.
Adam: When we go to events, we definitely see a sprinkling of players in their early teens. Before 13, there aren’t that many, and I think we know most of them because they’re a small enough subset of the people there, and they tend to seek each other out like, “Oh, there’s another young kid.” For a younger child, they have to be really interested and focused and wanting to learn Magic, because it will take a while. It takes a lot for an adult, so it will take an especially long time for kids because they need to have the reading and the math and the critical thinking. But we’ve seen other young kids and when they’re focused on it, they absolutely can get there.
Orsini: We could talk about your successes all day, but what about the game have you found the most difficult or challenging?
Dana: The most challenging aspect for me is that a lot of the time there are a lot of different options for plays I could make, but I usually have to choose among them and don’t have all the time or information with which to make the decision.
Orsini: As you continue to play Magic competitively, what are your goals moving forward?
Dana: My goals are to win as many matches at a Grand Prix as my age, youngest to win a cash prize at a Grand Prix, youngest to Top 8 a Grand Prix, youngest to win a Grand Prix, youngest to qualify for the Mythic Championship, youngest to Top 8 a Mythic Championship, youngest to win a Mythic Championship, youngest to win the World Championship, and youngest to make it into the Hall of Fame.
Orsini: Do you get fan mail? What are some of your favorite pieces of feedback about your accomplishments?
Dana: I don’t really get fan mail.
Adam: She doesn’t get fan mail, most of the interactions tend to be online—
Dana: On my Twitter.
Adam: Twitter, and Facebook, and people who want to meet [Dana] at events, too. People ask if she can autograph tokens and send it to them, or seek her out at an event for that.
Orsini: What are some of your favorite pieces of feedback that make you think, “I’m making a difference and showing what young girls can do in Magic?”
Dana: I think it feels really good knowing I can do this. I think I’m really making a difference because people will come up to me and say, “I showed my daughter or son a video of you and they now want to play.” It makes me feel like I’m changing the world, I’m changing things in Magic.
Adam: We’ve had several parents come up to us and say something just like Dana said, and that is one of the coolest experiences.
You can follow Dana and her successes on her Twitter or Facebook pages.
