[Article] The SCG Buffoon's Guide to Competitive Type One

[Vegeta2711]

The SCG Buffoon's Guide to Competitive Type One

Wheeee, hope you enjoy the article guys.

Thanks to Knut for editing, Shay for proofreading and Peter for the title.

[Phantom Tape Worm]

While the article is rather tongue and cheek, the messages it sends are quite profound.  I really liked it Veggies, super hot!

[MrZuccinniHead]

this is one of the better articles i read on the site as it is short, to-the-point, and humorous.

[Shabbaman]

I had skipped the article, I didn't recognize your name. But after your encouragement, I read it. Enjoyable.
One point of interest though: what's your audience? If you're writing this for people who have a "lack of competency" but do own all those cards (meaning, P9, workshops, bazaars), my guess is that that's a pretty small audience. Wouldn't people read up before they shell out all that money? But then again, there are proxy tournaments. If you're writing this for people who're still playing stompy or suicide, wouldn't these people be better served with an article on what deck to build with just 5 proxies?

[Lost In Admiration]

I thought this thing was very well-written and enjoyable.  It's dangerously true.

[thorme]

I enjoyed the article.  Another point to consider is that these type of decks are also ideal for stronger and even expert players when heading into a tournament with a large number of rounds followed by a Top 8.  Fatigue is real folks, and it causes mistakes.

[jpmeyer]

A nice little point that you missed about how 5/3 is good for the shall we say "less-good" is that you can't even forget to attack with Juggernaut.

[Akuma]

I think David's point is actually really important. The fatigue factor is a central issue in long tournaments. Sometimes, after playing for 15 or so hours straight, you start to do stupid things (like casting Su-Chi when the opponent has an active Welder   ). You usually won't see a lot of the more complicated decks at the top tables in these events.

[Vegeta2711]

First off, thanks for the appreciation guys. I wasn't quite sure how this article would go over, but I see I hit the target pretty well.

One point of interest though: what's your audience? If you're writing this for people who have a "lack of competency" but do own all those cards (meaning, P9, workshops, bazaars), my guess is that that's a pretty small audience. Wouldn't people read up before they shell out all that money? But then again, there are proxy tournaments. If you're writing this for people who're still playing stompy or suicide, wouldn't these people be better served with an article on what deck to build with just 5 proxies?

Partially this was for people who don't invest a lot of time in T1 or don't have the time or energy for a lot of extensive playtesting, I think knowing ahead of time a few decks that are simple to pick up and play can be a great help. This also goes towards people who play decks like CS, Stax, etc. and don't get the results they were looking for, it could be time to change it up a bit. Waterbury and the other SCG tourneys showed there are a lot of people showing up with the resources to play high end decks. I also tried to make it a decent read to anyone else by illustrating the three basic rules and that simplicity can be quite useful.

As Thorme pointed out, fatigue can truly doom a good run with just a few mistakes. Shay lost in the T16 of Waterbury due to a play error, Shortbus and Meandeck both played decks that were very complicated and that really strains you after a number of rounds. Sometimes being able to play a simpler deck pays divedends by allowing perfect play longer or being more forgiving of mistakes.

[Tetre]

Excellent Article, I really enjoyed it.

Actually, I printed several copies for some of the emerging players in my area to read and digest.

Keep up the good work.

Tetre
p.s. Next article...Top Picks for 5 proxy events, and why/when to play them.

[Covetous]

This article was great--its shortness and to-the-pointness make it much more effective than many other long, drawn-out articles I have read.  I am personally in the state of having a set of 9, drains & shops but not a lot of time to playtest, and I find myself in a position of not knowing what deck to play a tourneys.  Since I'm not breaking any new ground in the realm of tech, this means that I will only play known tried-and-true decks.  The ease of play of decks is an important factor for me because of my lack of time to playtest (more playtesting = fewer play errors).  So, I certainly appreciate the effort.  

I do agree that people like me, with cards but no time, are fewer than those people with time but no cards. It certainly would be helpful to a lot of people to read an article about 5 or 10 proxy decks which are actually good (and don't need you to own any >$20 cards).

[Moxlotus]

I enjoyed the article.  Another point to consider is that these type of decks are also ideal for stronger and even expert players when heading into a tournament with a large number of rounds followed by a Top 8.  Fatigue is real folks, and it causes mistakes.

I definitely agree.  Forgetting to attack in the match deciding top 8 is indeed NOT tech (not that I've ever done such a thing...).  Aggro decks like 5/3 are generally easier to play for those who don't have much time and the chances of screwing up are less likely due to fatigue (but can still happen).

[The Atog Lord]

Great article Josh.

As for fatigue, this is a real issue. Trying to get plenty of sleep is important, but I personally find it hard to sleep the night before a big event. Getting enough food and water is vital, just vital, to doing well.

Beyond even that, you need to keep your adrenaline up for a big event. I started 6-0 at waterbury, then ID'd my next two matches. This let my adrenaline drop, so I wasn't "on" during my top 16 match. I think most Type One players use adrenaline as fuel, to one degree or another.

[Mon, Goblin Chief]

Good article, now I don't have to take the blame after I tell people what to play any more . When the next proxy-tournament happens, I can just tell them go to your article, grab a decklist from it and they'll be fine. Well last time I did tell them to run Belcher. It seems to be harder than it felt for me, most of them still scrubbed out :/
 

Beyond even that, you need to keep your adrenaline up for a big event. I started 6-0 at waterbury, then ID'd my next two matches. This let my adrenaline drop, so I wasn't "on" during my top 16 match. I think most Type One players use adrenaline as fuel, to one degree or another.

So true. When I finish playing a tournament, I usually are on a complete adrenaline high and feel great. For me, that's even more important than enough food or drink. I can play low on that, but if I don't feel the pressure, it all doesn't work. And half an hour after the tournament is over I'm tired as hell.
As for the ID-thing, I found it helps to goldfish some ridiculous combo-deck like MeandeckTendrils or Deathlong at the end of the breaking-interval when I'm able to ID. Somehow trying to produce a few first turn kills with highly complex decks pushes my adrenaline back to the necessary level. And that's even though I'm usually playing decks with counterspells in them in the actual tournament^^.