Kyle Edwards
Added 8-29-08
So you want to play Magic: The Gathering. Odds are that if you are reading this you already do play Magic. Odds are that if you are reading this you already play Tournament Magic. This is not
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/academy/home
By all means if you just leaned to play yesterday, this is not for you… right now. If you did indeed just learn to play yesterday, a month ago or are fairly new in general, go to the above link and read
Scrubs
Scrub – Usually a derogatory term used to describe new players. A scrub is someone who is stuck at their skill level. A player is a scrub because they are satisfied with the level they are at, even if they don’t consciously admit it. Scrubs will usually complain about things. Just complaining about something won’t fix it or make you win more. Common items of complaint are luck (including topdecks), net decks and rogue decks. Luck happens and is part of the game, the only thing you can do about it is realize that it is there. A player who isn’t a scrub tries to learn from this. A good player takes advantage of each part of the game; probability is part of this as well. Netdecks and random players playing rogue or janky decks is part of the game. Just learn that you can never have a perfect deck tuned to destroy the entire field all of the time. People communicate and you too should be getting in on what people are playing. A scrub isn’t out there getting every bit of information they can find.
Magic is a Game of Information
In the long haul, the players with the most information win. This seems simple as it is one sentence to define who wins. But the fact is the amount of information out there is what makes this very difficult, and Magic the most complicated game on the earth. What can you have information about? Here is a short and by no means exhaustive list:
What deck your opponent is playing?
What decks everyone in the tournament is playing?
What cards are in your opponent’s hand?
What are your opponents tells?
What are your tells?
What is your opponent’s history?
What is you opponent’s personality?
What card do you need to play around?
What color(s) each player in your pod is drafting?
What archetype are you drafting?
How skilled is your opponent?
What is the correct play in situation X?
The list continues. There is an insane amount information to gather, and no one is going to get all of it and have what I believe to be the Holy Grail of Magic. Patrick Chapin believes that the Holy Grain of Magic is being able to pull off Jedi Mind Tricks. I believe he is wrong. Having perfect information is the Holy Grail of Magic. If you have perfect information, you will be able to pull off Jedi Mind Tricks every time. What do you need to pull off Jedi Mind Tricks, just read the above list and many of those factor in.
The Quest for the Holy Grail
So how do you go about getting this so called “Holy Grail?” Gather as much information as you can, duh. Get out there and read Magic articles, playtest, talk with friends about anything Magic, play Magic, draft, make pick order lists (to an extent), notice print runs, read signals, scout tournaments, watch games, analyze player behavior and ask questions to yourself and others. You are by no means going to get perfect information, but the closer you get the more armed you are. Would you rather show up to a battle with a Handgun or a Tank? You are already on the right track just by reading this, but when your done with this, go get some more.
So How Do You Get Started?
Before getting started, you must realize something. If you want to succeed, there is a lot you are going to have to do. Nothing worth anything ever took less than everything. So if you want to be the perfect Magic player, you are going to have to give it all. But if you are looking to just at least be a good magic player, you won’t have to give everything up, but you are going to have to work for it. While information is the Holy Grail of magic, getting that takes time. Essentially everything can be boiled down to time. What about money for that new chase rare? Well time is money, in the fact that it takes time to get money. If you aren’t having success right now, then you need to change something.
What Do You Need to Change?
To get to The Next Level it is going to take a bit of financial commitment. In constructed, you need to buy cards, in limited you need to buy packs and in high level Magic you need to buy entry fees, plane tickets and other traveling expenses. Do what you have to do. If your parents are loaded and just send you loads of money every semester, you are good to go. But for everyone else, you may need to mow an extra lawn, get a job or work a few extra hours. Magic like any other hobby, takes an investment. I am not saying that you are going to have to put everything else aside, but what I am saying is that you might just have to take it one more step to get to The Next Level. Go ahead, buy that playset of $2 rares you need, or that Ticket to the next Grand Prix. It might be that one thing you need to get that little bit of an edge on your opponent. Just be responsible and for you economically minded, spending fuels the economy.
Alternatives to Spending
Maybe you already bought that $800 dollar deck for the extended PTQ season. You still lose every weekend. Then maybe that is not the problem. Maybe you need to spend a little more time in the gauntlet playtesting it out with your team. Maybe you need to finally get a MODO account. That sounds plausible, I just dropped $800 for a deck and maybe I should also go and drop $700 to buy the same deck online. I’ll pass. What else can you do then? Download Magic Workstation, that’s what. There are many alternatives to MODO, which is great for drafting but not so much on the pocketbook. Maybe you can’t playtest that much in real life because you have an uncommitted team or no team at all. Get a team! Go out there and convince people why they should play in PTQs and that you guys can playtest and share expenses, such as gas and hotel, with. Does this article motivate you? Then get your magic friends to read it and it might do the same for them. Bam! You have a new playtest partner. Just start with you and someone else and go from there.
How Did I Get Into Tournament Magic?
A while back, I went from playing at my school with friends to playing at the local store. This was a leap as I had to travel to the next city, a very far away “30 minuet drive”. Some of you are going, “How short!”, but for me it was a giant leap. I took it to The Next Level. I still wasn’t playing what I would call tournament Magic though. I knew no one there. But we had something in common, we played Magic and like a few others there, I was competitive in nature. So after a while I got to know them. Most of these guys are now my friends. But it all started when a player named Mike Barnes asked me “Are you going to Regionals?” I said I hadn’t thought about it, and needed to ask my parents, as I was in High School at the time. I wasn’t really “one of the guys” yet and this was sort of like an initiation. I didn’t imagine I would ever go. It was in a large city many miles away and I would have expenses. But I thought of how cool it would be and how I had only read about stuff like this and that I really wanted to go. So I asked my parents and did some convincing but I eventually got permission to go far away for a weekend with adults my parents didn’t know to play a game. My parents obviously could tell I wanted it, but I didn’t want it at first. I didn’t want it until Mike said something like “We could lend you cards to improve you deck and make it competitive.” From there I was hooked on the thought of going to a “big” tournament. Before, I thought my deck wasn’t good enough. Afterwards I started going to PTQs, Prereleases and Grand Prix Trials with these guys. But it might have not been so if they hadn’t offered to help me with my deck and to teach me the game, which is Tournament Magic.
What Can You Do To Be Like Mike?
Invite that kid who isn’t that good to go to an event with you. Lend him some cards for his deck. Give him some pointers. Teach him about the stack. Introduce him to Card Advantage. Just do something. In the end you are only helping yourself and your store. The more playtest partners you create the better your playtest sessions will be. Why do you think I am writing a series or articles on how to get better, because I realize by making Magic grow as a whole I am only making Magic better for me. So get out there and take on an apprentice or two. Do what you can to take it to The Next Level.
Kyle Edwards
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