Czech Magic: The Gathering Pro Ondřej Stráský is putting all his focus on competitive play in the Magic Pro League.
Following an extremely successful 2019 Magic: The Gathering Pro season, including a win at Mythic Championship VI, Stráský announced yesterday that his final full-time stream will be the MTG Arena Early Access Event today. After that, he won’t be streaming again for a long time.
Stráský earned a total of 83 Mythic Points, 28 via Magic Arena tournaments and 55 from tabletop events, throughout the 2019 MTG season. And the successful year secured him a seat in the Magic Pro League for the upcoming 2020 partial season. But success can sometimes come at the cost of burnout.
“After long deliberation I’ve decided that I want to give competing my all, and try my best to stay in the MPL,” said Stráský. “I’ve played a ton of events in the past year and towards the end I felt like I was incredibly burned out. To prevent this I want to cut down on the amount of time I spend playing Magic, and that means cutting down on streaming.”
The decision to step away from streaming wasn’t easy for the Czech MTG superstar, but he realizes it’s necessary.
“I’ve seen the impact MPL has on players, it’s a lot of pressure, a lot of hard work and a big strain on mental health,” Stráský said. “I felt like I’ve struggled with that in the past, so I’m trying to take steps to prevent suffering in the future.”
Stráský will participate in the MTG Arena Early Access Event today that previews the Theros: Beyond Death set, releasing tomorrow via Magic Arena and MTGO. And it won’t be his final stream forever, as Stráský admits he might return to it in the future.
