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Why You Should Be Netdecking
January 7, 2010
Lauren Lee has a great reason to netdeck:
There is little reason to build a decklist from scratch. Back in the day, the game of Magic used to be equal parts deckbuilding and playing. Winning decklists had no way to be shared amongst the whole player pool, and thus you had to come up with your own ideas to try to beat an unknown field of decks. Magic has passed the time of those Dark Ages. We are experiencing Magic Renaissance. We have more information than we know what to do with!
Tournaments are currently skewed in favor of those who play well, not necessarily those who build well (outside of Limited). In other words, if you want to build your own deck to win a tournament, you better be damn good at it. But if you’re a Level One Kraken Hatchling, you’re better off finding a decklist someone else has already refined. Most of your time should be spent learning how to play well, not build well. The latter is an excellent ability that you will eventually pick up, but the first is essential to have. And the sooner the better.
Step 1 in Becoming a Better MTG Player: Realize That You’re Terrible
September 17, 2009
Gavin Verhey on becoming a better Magic The Gathering player:
There are three pieces in this improvement process that are the most important once you realize you really want to win and commit yourself to doing so. They are each very important:
1. Realize that you are terrible at Magic
10 Ways to Stay Focused While Playing Magic Online
September 17, 2009
Steve Gargolinski gives 10 tips for improving your focus when playing MTGO. You can also apply the principles for live play.
- Always Aim High
- Reduce External Distractions
- Understand What You Are Trying to Accomplish
- Garbage In, Garbage Out
- Rest and Exercise Your Body and Your Mind
- Breathe
- Understand When You Are On Tilt
- Bring Yourself Back
- Admit Mistakes, Avoid Negativity
- Consider Meditation
How to Prepare for Magic Online Release Events
September 12, 2009
Brad Nelson has a great article on how to get the most out of Magic Online Release Events.
Brad talks about the limited tournaments you should play and raredrafting. He even has a section on Standard.
With Zendikar being released in a couple of weeks, it’s a good idea to bookmark the article for reference sake.
How Magic Online (MTGO) Can Hurt Your Offline Play
September 11, 2009
Conley Woods on one of the negative effects of Magic Online on offline play:
When you are at your local store or playtesting with a friend, the chances of catching a crucial mistake are much higher due simply to the fact that there are more eyes focusing on the match. Online however, you are often playing alone, and your opponent will generally be silent (or rude) which means fewer eyes on your match, so a mistake is much more likely to go unnoticed. Then, due simply to the volume of games you are playing, you are likely to make this mistake again and again, ingraining it to memory. This normally would seem like a small hurdle, but as humans we have a very constant desire to develop habits as a means of freeing up working memory.
Pat Chapin on Doing The Right Thing in MTG
August 5, 2009
In one of my favorite articles of the year, Doing The Right Thing (premium article), Pat Chapin talks about integrity, cheating, losing your cool, and how to give criticism.
How to Practice to Win a Magic The Gathering Tournament
July 10, 2009
Gavin writes one of the best articles about Magic The Gathering strategy in 2009, Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.
He tells us to make our make playtesting sessions more serious to mimic the tournament environment.
One of the most common mistakes I see in playtesting is having the wrong mindset. To playtest to the best of your ability, you should still hold a mindset of seriousness and intensity. Now, this is not often the kind of behavior seen in playtesting. There are four or six people around a table, playing games at a lightning pace to maximize the amount of games they get in, goofing around, eating out of a big bowl of chips, with some sport on the television speakers in the background. How many items on that list are around in a tournament? Hopefully zero. So why are they there in playtesting?
Misdirection and Deception in Magic The Gathering
February 12, 2009
Bill Stark has another great post on his blog. He gives two examples of using misdirection to gain an advantage in MTG.
How to Improve Your Mulligan Decisions With Magic Online
January 26, 2009
Mike Flores has some useful thoughts about improving your mulligan decisions by playing in a lot of MTGO (Magic The Gathering Online) tournaments.
The difference between how I am playing now and a legitimate MTGO ringer is that there is nothing really at stake in how I play (other than my leisure / entertainment time). So I mostly just never mulligan because I care more about exploring new deck ideas than actually winning MTGO tournaments. But when you are playing tournaments and — like I was that summer — meticulously logging your ratings deltas and tournament win / loss percentages with every deck you play, there is more at stake.
The Best Method For Improving as an MTG Player
October 2, 2008
From a recent interview with one of the best players to ever play Magic The Gathering:
BDM: Do you have any advice for the next generation, the people trying to succeed on the Pro Tour today? What do you think is the easiest, the best way to improve one’s game?
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