Suggestions for Improving your Game

[The Atog Lord]

Recently, someone asked me how he might improve his game. That's a very worthwhile goal, and one not easy to achieve. There is no single, easy step to getting better; this isn't a video game where you hit another level and suddenly are better. There are, however, some steps which can be taken to improve. Here are some ideas on the topic.



1. Be Humble.
Being humble means acknowledging mistakes, and being open-minded about the idea that you make mistakes. We all do. To improve your game, you need to correct mistakes. To correct mistakes, you need to see mistakes. To see mistakes, you need to be open to the possibility that you make mistakes. To be open to the possibility that you make mistakes, you need to be humble. So, to improve your game, be humble.

2. Let go of the myth of luck.
Does luck happen? Sure, sometimes. But it's rare. Most things that a player perceives as luck are in fact the results of decisions that the player has made. Did you get killed by Flash on the first turn? Well, was that luck? Or did you not pack enough Leylines in the sideboard? If there is something you could have done about it, it isn't luck.

3. Practice.
I'm always amazed by how many Vintage players don't practice, and then expect to do well. Magic playing, like most other human activities, can be improved by the application of practice. So, playtest. Test until you know how your deck does against various matchups. Test the mirror match. Test beyond the point where it's fun and to the point where it's gotten boring. Test until you can use muscle memory to get through most situations and can reserve actual cognition for the unusual circumstances you sometimes encounter.

4. Learn how Probability works.
We're playing a card game, and numbers permeate the entire process. They can help you and they can hinder you; but knowing how they work can allow you to make better decisions about deck building and playing. You don't need to have a high-level understanding of statistics; but a basic understanding of how probability works will be quite useful.

5. Learn the difference between a Pet Deck and a Best Deck.
There may be reasons to enter a magic tournament other than winning or making t8, but those reasons are well outside the scope of this discussion. If you are going to enter a magic event and invest money in the entry fee, then you ought to select a deck which maximizes yours odds of success. Now, that means two things. First, just because you love a particular deck does not mean that you should play that deck. If you really like Control Slaver, but know that you'd do better playing Oath, then play Oath. That's one thing to consider. The other thing to consider, however, is that you may in fact have a better chance of winning an event with a deck that is slightly weaker in power than the current best deck, but is a deck with which you are more familiar. So, in the previous example, suppose that you're much more experienced with Control Slaver than you are with Oath, even though you think Oath is the better objective deck; in that case, you might actually be better off with Control Slaver, even if Oath is the objective better deck. The difference between these scenarios is that in the prior selecting Control Slaver is simply a matter of personal preference while in the later the decision takes into account one's perceived ability to win or top eight a tournament with the deck. There are different things.

6. Keep the right mindset the day of the tournament.
Stay hydrated. Don't get hungry. Don't get distracted by this or that stray thought while you should be focusing on the game at hand. Do you need to get eight hours of sleep before a tournament to perform your best? Then do that. I myself seldom get much sleep before a tournament, but spend time the day before getting myself mentally ready, so that when I start the tournament I am very focused on my games. Different things might work for you, so learn the mental state in which you play best and make sure that your mind is ready.

Hope this helps you to improve your game.

-- Rich

[Ufactor]

3. Practice.
I'm always amazed by how many Vintage players don't practice, and then expect to do well. Magic playing, like most other human activities, can be improved by the application of practice. So, playtest. Test until you know how your deck does against various matchups. Test the mirror match. Test beyond the point where it's fun and to the point where it's gotten boring. Test until you can use muscle memory to get through most situations and can reserve actual cognition for the unusual circumstances you sometimes encounter.

This is an excellent bulletin on the basics.  The section under practice is the only one that I have a problem with.  I'm not on a team, nor have I had any team mates.  I live in an area that is not known for having local Vintage players - we are very few and far between.  Finding a game online is, was, always was, and always will be a nightmare (rude opponents, severely scrubby opponents, or no opponents at all).  Then I have a complicated work schedule with a two-hour (one-way) commute.  (yeah, Rich, I just started a new job.  It's a shitty new job, but it's paying the bills)


So what am I bitching about?  On average, I get about three to six hours of solid playtesting.  The bottom line is that this is, for the most part, woefully inadequate.  I know that even moderately proficient players can spend ten to twenty hours just for net decking.  I know that I need waaaay more time to get "to the point where it's gotten boring", but I'm almost ready to give up on that.  I would love to hear points from Adepts on how to get more playtesting done with severe geographic and scheduling problems.

[aosquirrels]

These are very good suggestiions for getting better at Magic.  I would also add another which woul be "Know what makes a deck work".  Too many players make serious misplays because they don't understand what makes their opponent's deck tick.  I've seen Pithing Needles set to the wrong card as well as Chalice of the Void set wrong just to name a few.  I would separate this from "Practice" since too many players seem to concentrate on what their own deck is doing rather than what their opponen't deck is doing to them.  

Just my two cents.  

[wiley]

3. Practice.
I'm always amazed by how many Vintage players don't practice, and then expect to do well. Magic playing, like most other human activities, can be improved by the application of practice. So, playtest. Test until you know how your deck does against various matchups. Test the mirror match. Test beyond the point where it's fun and to the point where it's gotten boring. Test until you can use muscle memory to get through most situations and can reserve actual cognition for the unusual circumstances you sometimes encounter.

This is an excellent bulletin on the basics.  The section under practice is the only one that I have a problem with.  I'm not on a team, nor have I had any team mates.  I live in an area that is not known for having local Vintage players - we are very few and far between.  Finding a game online is, was, always was, and always will be a nightmare (rude opponents, severely scrubby opponents, or no opponents at all).  Then I have a complicated work schedule with a two-hour (one-way) commute.  (yeah, Rich, I just started a new job.  It's a shitty new job, but it's paying the bills)


So what am I bitching about?  On average, I get about three to six hours of solid playtesting.  The bottom line is that this is, for the most part, woefully inadequate.  I know that even moderately proficient players can spend ten to twenty hours just for net decking.  I know that I need waaaay more time to get "to the point where it's gotten boring", but I'm almost ready to give up on that.  I would love to hear points from Adepts on how to get more playtesting done with severe geographic and scheduling problems.

I personally refuse to test online with opponents of unknown proficiency.  I have found in the past that this can hamper your own play skill far more than it could ever improve it.  The basics to testing have to include people with roughly the same or greater skill with their deck than you do with yours.  When I am unable to find an opponent I two-fist game after game.  This creates some possible problems with honesty and keeping track of 'known' info but is overall still more productive than the average online match.

The benefit of so much solo (non-goldfish) testing is that you learn the ins and outs of two different decks at the same time.  Sometimes this means you have a greater skill with your opponent's deck than they do, and this helps immensely when trying to get a read on their position.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by 3 hours available to you, whether this is per week or in between tournaments but I say that simply pulling a deck off the internet to test against is probably your best option.

Some good articles on what has already been said:
Sullivan Library – Playtesting: Tips, Tricks, and Traps <- currently premium only

Testing for Measurement / Testing for Discovery

This is a common dichotomy in playtesting. What on earth are we playtesting for? And, is my playtesting partner even on the same page?

Testing for measurement is the act of attempting to gauge how well a deck performs in different circumstances. Testing for discovery is the act of attempting to explore new territory in deck design.

Chatter of the Squirrel – How To Profit From Playtesting

I’m constantly amazed at people I know who play tons of Magic Online, tons of Magic in general, but fail to get better at the game because they’re basically just spectating when they sling their spells. In many ways, that’s why I spend so much of my available time talking to Richard or Adrian or Steve or Cedric about formats; it allows me to reason through a metagame or a deck’s card selections on a much deeper level than I’d be able to do myself with only ten or so games under my belt.

Flores Friday - The Top 8 Things I Get Out Of Testing

#4 How to Conquer "The Fear" Using Information and Logic

"I think there are two kinds of people who win PTQs: Those who know they are the best in the room, and good players who really don't care about winning. What those two kinds of players have in common is a lack of fear." -samstod

Playing a lot against the main decks in a format teaches you their capabilities. Subtly, it also teaches you what opposing decks can’t do most of the time.

Levelling Up - Playtesting to Perfection

Identifying Trends, Strategies and Game Plans

Sometimes playing on autopilot, unfocused, simply to obtain a lot of stats won't get you anywhere. It will only bring corrupted results. Once, I watched a Psychatog versus U/G Madness matchup being tested in which two players registered the matchup as 80-20 to Tog, while other two registered as 90-10 to U/G. Someone was wrong here. If you think the matchup data is not correct, then play the series of ten again. The more you play, the better your perception on the matchup will be. It's more likely the players will play correctly versus the opposite deck.

SCG Daily - How to Test for Vintage

Some players are naturally gifted players. They use their technical proficiency to propel them to the top levels of Magic. For the rest of us, testing is crucial.

This is an excellent thread Rich, I'm glad you put it up.

[Hi-Val]

Don't make excuses for awful play.

Know when to mulligan.

Know all 75 cards in your deck.

If you can do these 3, you're ahead of like 80% of players already.

[arctic79]

All very true stuff.  The only one I personally have a different perspective on is:

6. Keep the right mindset the day of the tournament.
Stay hydrated. Don't get hungry. Don't get distracted by this or that stray thought while you should be focusing on the game at hand. Do you need to get eight hours of sleep before a tournament to perform your best? Then do that. I myself seldom get much sleep before a tournament, but spend time the day before getting myself mentally ready, so that when I start the tournament I am very focused on my games. Different things might work for you, so learn the mental state in which you play best and make sure that your mind is ready.

I tend to perform better off no sleep (straight from night shift to magic), I don't know why but this works for me. 
Also, I don't know how many other players are guilty of this as well, I find myself playing horrible against less experienced opponents, I take them to lightly and make gross mistakes that I have to really compensate for to win the match.

Either way those were very valid points that you made.

[BC]

...The basics to testing have to include people with roughly the same or greater skill with their deck than you do with yours...

I strongly agree with this statement.  In my opinion, the very best way to go from an ok player to a pretty solid player is to play against people who are better than you as often as humanly possible.  They're obviously going to destroy you over and over again for quite a while, but if they are at all friendly or helpful, they will constantly be giving you hints on what you should have done in a particular situation, etc.  Even just observing really good players will help you get better.

[forests failed you]

Rich, I would like to point out that adapting the stratagies you listed are likely to not only make you a better Magic player when they are applied to ones game, but also make an individual a more successful human being when applied to ones life in general. 

I would like to point out one more tip:

7.  Even when the chips are down do not display the outward appearance that you are defeated!  So many players just give up when their turn one Necropotence gets countered, or an opponent Tinkers for a Sundering Titan and blows up two of their lands.  More often than not you have outs in your deck that will save you from this situation.  The last thing you want to do in a grim situation is telegraph to your opponent (who is already winning) that you don't have ANYTHING yet.  If you keep your composure you can often get them to not beat you as savagely as they might be able to because they are afraid you have something to get out of the jam.  By doing this you can also buy yourself an extra turn that may lead to you finding your out.  But most of all it comes down to playing like you are a winner, rather than a loser.  The best players in Magic make their opponents nervous and feel like they are losing even when they are winning.  For instance, Chapin, Heezy, Nassif, and LSV are all very hard to play against because you always feel like you are losing against them because they do not display weakness, and when they are weak they divert attention away from how they are vulnerable. 

The point is don't tell your opponent through body language or complaining how or where you are weak.  Represent strength, and your opponent's are much less likely to make low EV plays that blow you out, but rather will be much more likely to play it safe and give you more time when you are losing.

[ashiXIII]

One of the other things that most players overlook is have a sideboard plan. Instead of just putting 15 cards in your sideboard that seem good, and then on-the-fly sideboarding in each match (where you bring in what's good, and you take out what's bad, and you usually have either too many cards you want out or too many you want in.)

Having a plan means making a sideboard that works well with your maindeck. If you know you have 7 cards in your main that are dead weight against Stax, make sure you have 7 cards in your 'board that come in against Stax. Not necessarily 7 dedicated slots, but maybe 4 dedicated slots, and 3 more 'utility' slots that can replace the bad cards.

Doing this means having a really stream-lined sideboard plan where you always know what you're doing before the match (instead of wasting mental energy on it) and sideboard incorrectly must less frequently.

[Prodigal_Sorceress]

Also, one thing that I have learned: When you make a play, stick with it. If you realize it is a mistake, don't do anything. If you loose because of it, you will learn the hard way. Learning the hard way, while definitely not easy, sticks with you. Play with people who you know will not let you take back plays, or tell your opponent ahead of time not to let you. Make sure you are behind the play 100%, and that it will help you, not hurt you, in the long run. It has been said that rewarding yourself for a job well done is the best way to learn something, and letting something slide when you make a mistake is the worst. Stick to this, your victory is your reward. Know your deck, inside and out, and have reasons why each and every card is in there.

When building, ask yourself five questions about any specific card:
1. Is this card efficient?
2. Is this card effective?
3. Does this card help me accomplish this deck's goal?
4. Are there other cards that would do the job better than this one?
5. If not, how many copies of this card do I really need?

[Duncan]

I am from a region (in Holland) with few good vintage players. However I believe that you can get solid online playtesting. The trick is to play a lot of games on MWS and when you meet a player who's both skillfull and willing to test you can exchange MSN/AIM adress and get some good testing. Another option is to arrange some testing time with one of TMD's members. Just set a date and time and play on MWS.

What I beleive helps a lot to improve your game is to play a lot with different decks. Playing with a deck gives you a better understanding of it than playing against it. You get a better feeling of its strengths and weaknesses. You can exploit that information when playing against this particular deck. I know this takes some time and might go at the cost of testing your own deck, but I beleive knowing what the opponent can and possibly is about to do is as important as knowing those things about yourself.

[Cavius The Great]

I think being humble is probably the most important thing, so when you lose you don't get your feelings hurt for being an idiot. 

[Ufactor]

::bump:: Any chance we could get this thread as a sticky??

@Mods: Thanx for being awesome -Matt


EDIT:  For further improvement, use in conjunction with this thread...

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=36128.0

With all that negativity down, I would like to offer the following, which I will call my Vintage bucket list. I believe this to be the list of things that every serious Vintage player should accomplish in their career, both to improve themselves and to greatly advance and enhance the format as a whole.

1) Netdeck shamelessly for a tournament. If you refuse to pilot something you haven't tinkered to your own needs, you're missing out. Go find a Menedian or Shay list, preferably something out of your comfort zone in terms of archetypes, and take it to a tournament and kick ass. If you've ever thought that something is missing in your Vintage experience, this tends to be it. Learning to pilot a 'pro' deck will take your play to the next level, and having the options available makes you a more rounded player overall.

2) Play a rogue deck for a tournament. The flip side of that, of course, is that one should at some point try their hand at deckbuilding themselves. They say all good things in moderation. You should always have a little fun and a homemade pile to spice things up every now and then.

3) Utterly bomb out of a tournament at no fault of your own. I know players who seem to never fail to make the Top 8 but never can get that elusive first place. Winning all the time is fine, but as with any game involving an element of luck, it rarely happens. Getting obliterated straight to the 0-2 bracket despite (in our own minds of course) perfectly playing a good deck is often the wake-up call we need to get that extra bit of practice in or perhaps give another archetype a try. Anything to pull us out of the tournament rut which ruins the fun and competitiveness of the whole atmosphere. If nothing else, losing is a necessary part of the game because it reminds us that we are only human. The important thing is to accept that losing can just happen, and not automatically look for something else to blame.

4) Playtest the other side of the table. My golden rule when playtesting is to always switch things up periodically and play the other deck. You can only learn so much about a deck by playing with it, yet this is a trap I see too many people caught in. Until you've played against, lost to, and beaten up on your own deck, you can never truly hope to master it.

5) Play every other format at least once. I don't care if it is one draft and a single game of each other, and this should include limited, constructed, and even casual/fantasy formats such as Type 4. Trying out the many diverse options in the game is not only one of those important breaths of fresh air which keeps the game interesting, but it teaches us new skills and strategies that we don't necessarily see every day in our land of zero-mana counters and first turn kills. Even if you hate every one of them, you haven't truly experienced the game until you've tried them.

[ScottHatch(EYSPG)]

Here's my favorite play in T1.  Hold that extra land when you have no other cards in hand.  No use having it on board. ~.^ Make Em' Double Guess Their Plays!

[Purple Hat]

Know all 75 cards in your deck.

And know what each one is used for.  When you're really ready to play a deck for a tournament you don't have to think about tutor targets because you've already got a short list of 3-4 cards in mind.  i always flip through my deck anyway just to be sure, but if I've done my testing and really thought about the use of each card I know what I'm looking for in any given situation, it just pops into my head.

[Harlequin]

One sure-fire way to make an UN-Successful deck is by having an unsuccessful manabase.  Think about it, If you started with a tournement winning slaver deck and then made crazy, dramatic, and detrimental changes to the mana, how competative do you think that deck would be? 

When building, or re-building a deck, It's important to understand how the changes you make are going to effect your manabase.  Also your manabase is very difficult to 'test.'  Goldfishing helps, but to get a good sense of your stability it takes a very very large sample of tests with a trained eye examining the effects of your mana.  Its not just about casting cards in your opening hand, its also about all those times you said "If I only had 1 more blue open I could have won the game."

Core Mana:
Fetches, Deuls, Basics, Oncolor Moxen.
Could also be lands or Shops in a heavy-artifact deck

Stable "colorless" Mana:
Off color moxen, Colorless artifact mana, Mishras factory, Library, etc.
~ Shouldn't take up more than 1/4 to 1/5 of your mana Unless your deck has few cards that require double on-color mana.  Tpyically opening mana slots in your deck to add this type of mana can be dangerous.

Temporary Mana:
Waste/Strip, Sprirt Guides, Lotus Petal, Ritual Effects.
~ Should only be used if you alot extra slots.  As a rule of thumb 1 Stable Slot is worth about 2 Temp slots.  So if you have a 22 card manabase and want to add 5 strip effects, you could safely replace up to 3 mana slots. The 2 additional mana slots should really be gained from cutting non-mana cards and going up to 24 mana slots

Guidlines for Mana Slots for each Architype of deck ---
0-12  Dredge decks.  Manaless Ichorid, up to Mana'ed Ich or FOW-Dredge
19-21 Some builds of Fish or stompy type decks; almost no Temp mana.
21-23 Typical Fish or Agro-Control; with some temp mana (like wastes)
22-25 Control and Control-Combo; no more than 2-3 temp
24-26 Shop decks
25-30+ Pure Combo; could be heavy on temp mana.

[Grand Inquisitor]

There's plenty of good suggestions here, but I have a specific interest: elimination play.

I have an equal or positive record against most of the good players in the NE (ELD is a nagging exception) during swiss, and I may be the safest best to make T16 in a Waterbury, however, I'm also one of the safest bets not to win the finals.  It's not that I'm completely snake-bit.  I won moxen in the bronze age, I've made it to the Waterbury finals twice, and I routinely split in T4's or T2's, but I rarely get the big W, and I often bow out early in elimination.  I know Steve's written about archetypes that excel in elimination rounds, but those are the ones I tend to play (blue based combo control).  What are people's experiences with how different skillsets are more/less important in the elimination rounds?

I tend to perform better off no sleep (straight from night shift to magic), I don't know why but this works for me. 

I'm the same way, and my hypothesis is that the fatigue slows down my thought process and keeps me from making rash plays or over-thinking plays where there's an obvious option.

[The Sovereign]

Two points. 

The first may be an obvious one:  don't cheat.

If you cheat and get away with it, then you've cheated yourself out of the chance to improve your play.  If you cheat and fail, then people will label you as a cheater.  In any case, the bottom line is that cheating, even in the most casual of all matches, hurts yourself in the long run.  If you succeed, you may have won the game, but at what cost?

Secondly, always be aware of the game state, your surroundings, and your opponent's actions.  In other words, watch out for opponents trying to cheat you.

I've played plenty of casual, playtesting, and even competitive games where I've caught my opponent with one extra "mystery" mana which would allow him/her to win the game.  Or perhaps, more commonly, I've caught my opponent missing an assortment of fetchland, FoW, manaburn, mana crypt, and tutor damage.  Everything from "did I lay a land this turn?" to mysterious shuffle tricks have been attempted against me.  The disturbing part is that I know that I haven't caught every attempt at cheating.

Unfortunately, I'm sure that in most tournament settings, cheating is a reality.  It may not be as blatant as stacking one's deck, but more subtle forms of cheating exist.  I would suggest to everyone that plays competitively to follow these countermeasures:

• Shuffle your opponent's deck before each game.  (preferably pile shuffle)
• Keep track of your opponent's life total and sources of his/her loss of life.
• Keep track of your opponent's land drops.
• Keep track of your opponent's hand size.
• Ask your opponent questions regarding the game state. (show that you are paying attention)
• Call the Judge if you notice any "funny business"

I realize that my suggestions may point to the darker side of tournament play; however, potential cheating is a very important consideration.  After all, money is on the line.

[BigBarn]

I just wanted to echo what was said earlier about playing multiple formats.  The more magic you play in general, the better you get.  There's several ways to improve core skills (building a manabase, bluffing/reading other players, understanding when to mulligan, etc.) that don't need to be t1 exclusive.

[Grand Inquisitor]

The more magic you play in general, the better you get.

Yeah, I was surprised that even my friend who basically dropped T1 for drafting became a much stronger player.

[BC]

Secondly, always be aware of the game state, your surroundings, and your opponent's actions.  In other words, watch out for opponents trying to cheat you.

This is well said.  I always have a notebook with me at every tournament where I keep life totals and any in-game notes I make.  This is especially important when playing against storm combo players.  Keep track of their mana pool and their storm count.  Many of them don't even keep meticulous track of those things themselves.  I have had opponents say to me "can you just keep track of my life total for me?", I have had numerous combo players miscount their storm count and mana.  It's just sloppy.

Also, I think it is important not to let your opponent take advantage of you by playing too slowly.  This has come up at the last couple of tournaments I have been at, where one player in particular was playing extremely slowly and (deliberately or not) forcing his opponents into draws or 0-1 losses.  This is unacceptable.  If you feel that your opponent is playing too slowly, politely ask them "could you please play a little faster?".  They usually will.  However, if they continue to play too slowly, simply call a judge and ask them "could you please watch for slow play?".  That will either get your opponent moving, or get them warnings/game losses for slow play.

[Mantis]

As for Shay's tips; I try but can't really put myself to playing the best deck. I just hate playing certain archetypes and take great joy in playing decks I designed myself, even if they tend to be a little bit weaker. Also, I tend to take more time testing those decks and as a consequence get to know those decks inside out, while my opponent knows nothing about my deck. The flipside is that usually those decks are a little bit weaker so it's probably not a desirable strategy, but I can't help myself.

My tip to everyone is more of a reminder to everyone; the sideboard is so important, it's not even funny. By actively paying great attention to your sideboarding plans you can create such a humongous edge as opposed to when you don't. After every game I play during testing I think about my sideboarding, what cards would have helped me in this match, did I bring the correct cards in and more importantly did I take the right ones out. Taking the right cards out of your deck is probably one of the hardest things about this game, as you are basically retuning your deck after a game and we all know how much time it takes to just build a correct mainboard in the first place. When sideboarding you also have to take into account your mana ratios, synergy and manacurve, not just what cards are good against your opponent and what cards are crap. Personally I hate seeing sideboard with 3 times a 4-of and a 3-of, as it tells me the creator take into account the mentioned points.

To FFY: great 7th point, this is very true and whilst I was aware of your point I am going to actively try to keep my emotions in check while playing. This has already helped me won some games I wouldn't have without your suggestion, so thanks.

[Rock Lee]

To FFY: great 7th point, this is very true and whilst I was aware of your point I am going to actively try to keep my emotions in check while playing. This has already helped me won some games I wouldn't have without your suggestion, so thanks.

The point is don't tell your opponent through body language or complaining how or where you are weak.  Represent strength, and your opponent's are much less likely to make low EV plays that blow you out, but rather will be much more likely to play it safe and give you more time when you are losing.

As a personal feel on this mentality, be in CONTROL of your body language, as it can work in both directions. If you always maintain a stonewall'd facade of determinate strength, and your opponent is doing the exact same thing, there will be very little information conveyed. But add a little variation into your body language depending on your hand, and you can manipulate your opponent to do anything.

Matt McNally oft retells about how he ended up coercing his opponent to cast Balance when his opponent had more lands, cards in hand, and the only creatures in play, solely through mind trickery, and I play exclusively by this philosophy. If you have a hand of removal/counters, maintaining an image of strength will make your opponent play around your hand (store up multiple threats, wait for disruption, etc), but if you're slumped down and looking defeated, they will gladly and eagerly walk into counters/removal that end their plans.

I am reminded of an instance where Ben Kowal was playing Control Slaver against a combo deck, with 4 cards in hand, and his opponent asked him "what cards you have there in hand?" Ben Kowal is a notorious ninja-liar and mind screwer, and he replied "mox Emerald, Mana Drain, Force, Thirst." His opponent assumed this "strong" hand was an obvious lie, and tried to combo out, assuming only one piece of disruption, only to find out that Kowals hand WAS "Mox Emerald, Mana Drain, Force, Thirst." Mind. Trickery.Playing the actor is more taxing and difficult than simply putting up a poker face, but in the end, your opponent will often never know what your hand is, which will draw their attention away from their cards, and let you take advantage of them.

[blee1149]

To FFY: great 7th point, this is very true and whilst I was aware of your point I am going to actively try to keep my emotions in check while playing. This has already helped me won some games I wouldn't have without your suggestion, so thanks.

The point is don't tell your opponent through body language or complaining how or where you are weak.  Represent strength, and your opponent's are much less likely to make low EV plays that blow you out, but rather will be much more likely to play it safe and give you more time when you are losing.

As a personal feel on this mentality, be in CONTROL of your body language, as it can work in both directions. If you always maintain a stonewall'd facade of determinate strength, and you're opponent is doing the exact same thing, there will be very little information conveyed. But add a little variation into your body language depending on your hand, and you can manipulate your opponent to do anything.

Matt McNally oft retells about how he ended up coercing his opponent to cast Balance when his opponent had more lands, cards in hand, and the only creatures in play, solely through mind trickery, and I play exclusively by this philosophy. If you have a hand of removal/counters, maintaining an image of strength will make your opponent play around your hand (store up multiple threats, wait for disruption, etc), but if you're slumped down and looking defeated, they will gladly and eagerly walk into counters/removal that end their plans.

I am reminded of an instance where Ben Kowal was playing Control Slaver against a combo deck, with 4 cards in hand, and his opponent asked him "what cards you have there in hand?" Ben Kowal is a notorious ninja-liar and mind screwer, and he replied "mox Emerald, Mana Drain, Force, Thirst." His opponent assumed this "strong" hand was an obvious lie, and tried to combo out, assuming only one piece of disruption, only to find out that Kowals hand WAS "Mox Emerald, Mana Drain, Force, Thirst." Mind. Trickery.Playing the actor is more taxing and difficult than simply putting up a poker face, but in the end, your opponent will often never know what your hand is, which will draw their attention away from their cards, and let you take advantage of them.

I find that being in control of your gestures and body language can goes both ways.  Say if you weren't keeping your emotions and body language while you are losing, your opponent might start playing sloppy and gives you the leeway to bounce back.  When I am on the winning side, I would perfer my opponent staying calm, Reason why is that it makes me follow through every step I make, taking into consideration of all the possibilities etc., which makes less mistake.  however, if the opponent starts to give me body language that he's losing, I, or others might become sloppy, then you naturally execute your decisions faster, hence leading to play errors.  So this basically brings back to Shay's point, be humble even if you are winning the match by far.

[Zieby]

First - This topic is a really good.

Some points I realiced after a weekend of tournamentplay at BOM 2 in Annecy.

Don't play to hasty, and check your hand before each action. This will make sure you can make the most optimal play regarding the current gamestate.

Discuss your matches after wards with your friends, I realized one play mistake after 2,5 hours later when I spoke with a friend for the second time about that game. I Believe that in 75% of the time the game is lost by a mistake (small or big) by myself. I don't see them always, so I replay the game over and over in my head so I can find the play mistake. Do this not during the tournament, there you should only look back for a few moments to see the clear mistakes.

Just my 2 cents

[Oath of Happy]

@ AtogLord

#7. Net Deck and play as agressivly as you can with game winning combo's! WHOOHOO Type 1 folks!

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

@ AtogLord

#7. Net Deck and play as agressivly as you can with game winning combo's! WHOOHOO Type 1 folks!

I really wouldn't recommend this, I'd suggest  evaluating game state to determine your appropriate roll, opposed to this endorsement of reckless aggression.

[hauntedechos]

  I would suggest reading articles that are based on established theories of magic.  Then apply them to test them out.

For an example, I once read an article on what rogue decks are.  This gave me clarification on a few levels and the result was that I put my U/W/b Fish deck down and started to try and solve the current meta with a rogue idea.  While I don't feel that I ever arrived to that solution, I do know that the ability to build and tweak given archtypes became much more focused.  The over all effect of the time spent was that I improved my understanding of Magic and thusly improved my game.

Haunted.

[ErkBek]

FreeCell

Yes, the card game that's kinda like Solitaire but is way better. The stupid thing about Solitaire is most games are a loss from the start. FreeCell you can win every game IF you're good at it. To be good at FreeCell, you must be able to plan multi-step plays that net you a better gamestate. In planning these plays you are forced to examine several lines of play and chose the best.

Developing these skills were extremely important to becoming a good combo player. I'd highly recommend cross-training with Freecell to anyone looking to improve their magic skills.

Also, Two-Fisting matches is an excellent tool to overcoming difficult matches and/or understanding why you're not winning a matchup that everyone else says is good.

[Odd mutation]

I just wanted to echo what was said earlier about playing multiple formats.  The more magic you play in general, the better you get.  There's several ways to improve core skills (building a manabase, bluffing/reading other players, understanding when to mulligan, etc.) that don't need to be t1 exclusive.

I'd like to emphasize this. Some of the best players I've met at tournements are also Standard or Block players. They are used to making a big difference with 'small' plays -compared to Vintage standards. Usually, they play with a lot more focus and also play very tightly. They are also more aware of recent rulings -except maybe for the rulings on some of the Vintage staples. As soon as they have adapted to the Vintage power level they seem to be doing better then players who only play Vintage or even Legacy.

This is a bit of a generalization but the point isn't moot.

Great post Rich and a necessary one. I've been trying to motivate people to play better and your post may be really helpful.

Robrecht.