[Free Article]Studying in Alexandria's Library:Deck Choices

[Marske]

You can find the article here

Editor's Blurb

This must be one of the most common questions you ever hear a player ask in time leading up to a tournament, irrelevant of the format - possibly second only to "Do you have/can I borrow/buy card X?" So let's take a few minutes to look over the relevant leading questions. The more information you can give for each question and the longer the time frame available, the better your odds.

I hope you guys enjoy this series of "introduction articles" which are aimed at the Vintage "novice".

[Grand Inquisitor]

I don't have a good ear for beginner content, so maybe I'm wrong that this seems overly basic.

I do think one critical piece is missing: what are the key cards of a given format.  I've found that correctly seeing a metagame through the lense of time vault/gush/trinisphere/ravager/necro, etc is one of the first things you do when thinking about deck (and card) choices.

[Mindstab_Thrull]

*gets dragged in by Marske kicking and screaming, then sees the audience, blushes and settles down*

Well, from my own point of view, the first thing you have to learn is how to identify what decks. Seeing a player start off with Swamp, Dark Ritual tells you the opponent is likely playing some kind of Storm combo deck, a turn 1 Cursecatcher is from Fish, and so forth. But before you can do that, you have to have an idea what the decks are and what they do - and how they aim to win. It's not always right to fight over Ancestral Recall, for example, and sometimes it's right to counter a turn 1 Lotus or Mox and sometimes it's not.

Granted, I'm sure all this obvious for people who have been playing a long time, but if you're not used to a format, you'd likely recognize cards but not be able to puzzle out the deck from it. To get to the point where I expect the Adepts to be, you have to be able to handle the game like a Sudoku puzzle - how much information are you given, and can you come up with the right answer? Of course, this also assumes the opponent is playing 'correctly', which you can't always assume.

So then, for an experienced player to help a less-experienced player make a correct decision, we need as much relevant information as possible. Out of the 'survey', I suggest the biggest questions from the point of view of someone trying to help are time and format - everything else carries with it certain default or generic assumptions. But from the point of view of the person trying to put it together, that might not necessarily be true. For myself, for example, I know I'm not a good player, but here's my answers for myself:

1. Variable, haven't got a specific one in mind, but I'm going to try to plan for the end of January; 2. Vintage, assuming ten-proxy; 3. Unknown at this point, but I assume something similar to the NE USA; 4. Probably more like Aggro-control or Control in general; 5. Oath seems to be my best bet at this point - I've unloaded too much decent basic stuff of anything else to go with; 6. Win more rounds than I lose and (c); 7. Reasonable though I don't call myself 'good' - but I think that's mostly due to lack of hardcore experience.

Feedback is welcome here or at http://forum.vintage-sideboard.com/index.php?topic=447.0.

[Womba]

I don't know if this would be specifically for a vintage player, but maybe for someone who is new to the tournament scene and/or competitive magic this seems like a helpful checklist.