Arggghhh....Scrubbing out-the official self help thread

[jazzykat]

[VENT]I played hulk smash today and I lost to one of the worst decks ever. [VENT]

I started this thread in hopes that there are people who know ways to keep themselves from making stupid mistakes. I played hulk smash like I have been for over 2 months tonight.

I beat a good deck and a good player. Then proceeded into scrubdom losing to a shit control deck because I didn't fetch a psychotog off a yawgs or my strip mine to counter act maze of ith (fucking maze of ith).

The point is the game was mine, I made all the right control moves but then I screwed up the comboing moves and card selection off brainstorms/fetches.

I have playtested a lot, but my friend says it seems like when I am in a tourney I forget everything I learned about magic.

What are your tips (besides playtesting) to keep your head in the game?

[BrokenNut]

Just stay as focused to the game as possible. Ignore what is going on around you. I know at times it may be tempting to look to the game next to you and watch the action, especially if you feel so in control of your current game that it is boring. But don't give in to that temptation, stay focused on your game. Everytime something new happens in it, ask yourself how it affects you, your deck, and your strategy. Also ask yourself how you can deal with it, what answers are in your deck, how can you get them. When that maze of ith hit play, you should have told yourself, you have 1 way around it, strip mine.

The big point is to just stay as focused to the game as possible. Keep your head in the game and only the game. Turn off everything around you.

[LoA]

I actually had a streak there where I seemed to always forget to reuse a Wasteland off my Yawg's Will.  It was with Keeper so it wasn't as big an issue but, like Flores says, there's the right play and then there're a series of wrong plays.  In tournaments I usually bring a notebook and at the beginning of the match I would write something down (in illegible German) to remind me to assess the mana situation before casting the Will.  Pretty soon it became automatic.  You can't go into a tournament with pre-existing notes (how to SB various matches, etc.) but once you've drawn your 7, you can write whatever you want.

[Bram]

Take up smoking. One cig in between rounds makes a world of difference.

Also: remember that you're having fun. You're not qualifying for anything, so play like it doesn't count for anything (which, basically, is true). That really helps. The competitive thing makes some people nervous, so try to ignore that element. It's easier in T1 than in other formats, despite Smenny's best efforts

[matyburger]

While I agree that focus is absolutely crucial, I think you can take that focus too far. I've seen players put so much energy into their games that by the 5th or 6th rounds they're completely drained. Staying loose, regardless of how things are going, is imperative for playing effectively... after all, it's only a game...

[jazzykat]

Since this is the self help thread...

I was thinking, well I was trying to go to fast with hulk vs. control decks. I just ran out of gas before the kill. I went for my ak's first. Shut down their initial draw, out countered and drawed them until my hand size was at zero with a tog ready to go lethal and them having a large grip.

The decks were jankmeisters, I had no idea what the hell was in them so eating up my whole graveyard just to get cookie monster edicted or plowed (yeah they had tundras in a hulk deck????) away seemed like a bad idea ( i know that I should play like they don't have them until they show me different but....hesitate= lose).

I have problems against random decks. I practice for the metagame and then lose to random.dec and myself. I also have this problem with discarding cards because I am drawing so many (I am a greedy miser)

Also, multiple togs, a stifle, or a time walk would have been good vs. maze besides my strip mine but I should have just smoked the Frikken thing. Blah, I am going to play test tonight. Landstill or Gay Red, maybe control slaver. I hate not being able to use all my power but I am metagaming in order to win not show off how much p9 I have.

Yeah, I should definitely relax but I feel the nescessity to always win. I will try my baseball  approach. Just be calm and ready!!!

[defector]

I have beat myself before in tourneys as well.  My advice is get a lot sleep the night before, eat something before you get there.  Have some coffee, come in alert and relaxed.  Then try to maintain this state that existed prior to the start of the tourney through the tourney by balancing focus and calm.   When playing against rogue decks make them deal with you.  Archetyoes exist through a state of agreement based on performance assessments.  Odds are the rogue deck you are facing is not the next T1 elite archetyype, play tog like its suppposed to be played, when he goes for control, show him the aggro side of the deck, then when he counters the aggro, throw the combo side of it at him and win.  I've defeated myself at times as well, my biggest failure is not taking defeat in stride, if I lose game 1, I feel like I've already lost game 2, also, I overfocus on the sb, putting in to much for a card that may have only one copy to show for my trouble.  It a process that all of us will improve in with time.  I hope.
defector

[jazzykat]

Oh, most amazing tip ever: wear a watch and know when the match starts and when it ends. I could have drawn against random shite.dec because I scooped when there were only 6 min left in the round and I definitely had a full grip of nastiness, and about 10-15 cards left.

After reading steve's article I also misassigned my role. I should have out controlled him the whole way like I did, then went off when I felt like it. Instead of pushing it after the game took a half an hour anyway  

[defector]

Thnaks for the tip, good time management is always important.  Another part of the timemanagemnts game is take yor time during you rturns, don't feel rushed by an overly caffeinated opponent
thanx,
defector

[RoadTrippin]

If it makes you feel better, I lost to Parfait last tourney playing Angry Dragon. 1st Turn Humility or Aura of Silence every game just does that. To celebrate, I'm selling any card I own that could be considered playable! The moral of the story is don't lose to Parfait if you're playing a remotely respectable deck. Or something.

[bebe]

My best advice is not beat yourself up. I played the worst magic of my life at the Ontario vintage championships and dropped before my final match as I could not get it together at all. I actually expected to do quite well but after two matches of scrubby errors I totally lost focus and just gave up on the deck. Some of the other TMDers also did not fare to well. I always believe that I will make top eight but occasionally you just mess up or misread the meta. Too bad it happened at a big tournament but such is life. Just put it behind you and learn from your mistakes.

[Chaos]

My advice would be dont overtry. Just play calm and dont make rushed plays. Thats half the fun of Tourny play, the excitement of playing for that top 8 spot.. etc, but try not to get caught up in it (harder than said even for those of us that try not to like me lol)


Good luck man.

oh and btw.

PLAYTEST  

C-

[Tank]

oh and btw.

PLAYTEST  

what if you're stuck in a T2/extended environment, where you're the only serious T1 player? One other plays a bit too, but has no P9. Three others have a few P9 cards, but only play them in random cookie-decks...

(this'd be my crappy situation- and I play keeper, my pal plays welder-mud)

[DEA]

you could always try mws or apprentice

i find the best advice for me is : don't do things you're not used to doing
ie get used to one good deck, keep on playing it and get so comfortable with it you could play it when you're so tired coffee doesn't help

picking a new deck and hoping to do well with it the next day, no matter how long you practice the day before is not good
sleep is tech

[jazzykat]

Self help tip:
Get yourself a group of people that you can play test against. I play many decks during a playtest session with one member of our 3 person team. It is awesome because if you split the prize at tourneys, no matter who wins you all win!

Forming a team to be awesome is a good thing. I never used to think so, but believe me it is. Oh and after you have a team think of a jazzy name.

[TimeBeing]

yeah i've made blind mistakes befor. Playing Keeper i decked my self against TnT, and never thought to wish for My ebony charm and get rid of his squee. Since i had removed all my wishable enchanment hate out of the sidebaord. I think with control its all about thinking out side of the box (why i like playing it) and knowing your options, and just playing your deck a lot..