It's not to be "that guy", but... why is this an article? As for the showdowns, I love reading them and watching as the game unfolds, but the final decision is on you. Hope you get better :)

Aw, feel bad for ya man. LOVE Showdown, got a lot of great tips when my Mardu deck was featured (Stupid Hornets!). Hope you find the inspiration you need. GL my friend!

Hey, I feel bad for you and want you to be happier. Life is good, just look on the positive side and it's worth it. Also, if you're religious (I am) I feel like falling back on that can also help with comfort and tough times.

I can relate to this in a lot of ways Spootyone. A lot of the factors you listed here are why I actually stopped writing my own article series. I've also lost my joy for Modern so that's also a thing.

But Spooty, let's be perfectly honest here. If you think that anyone is going to stand for your Selesnya Hippy worship, well then... Maybe there will be an "accident" hm? Who knows. Blue can do all sorts of things. Hard to say.

No seriously though, all joking aside, it's good to know things.

I, for one, welcome our new Canadian overlords.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and for the votes thus far. You're all awesome :)

I feel where you're coming from. I took about a six-month break from MtG last year. Not too long, but well over a quarter of the time I'd been playing the game, so it was a significant portion of my Magic career.

I suggest (and this is what I did) finding a new format. I suggest Modern for you unless Legacy is affordable. For me, it was Commander.

Modern is diverse enough that you can play the deck you want and still do well. It takes time to learn the format and you must also learn your deck through and through - it is a punishing format.

But the recent reprints of shocks and fetches, as well as the upcoming BFZ fetches (unconfirmed), Modern is now more affordable than ever. And it won't rotate every six months grumble grumble.

My reason for suggesting Legacy, if affordable, is that it's the most diverse of any format. It allows for the most customization and etc etc. That being said, I can't afford to spend $1200 on four lands, so I shouldn't expect anyone else to either.

More importantly, finding a playgroup is the big thing. Even if it's just some T/O users playing regularly on Cockatrice, the ability to playtest and bounce around ideas before spending stupid amounts of money is pretty big.

By the way, I've never won an FNM either. So believe me when I say I know where you're coming from.

Spootyone

It only took me doing about 4 articles to realise the most popular aspects of articles based around play-by-play match write-ups is the community involvement. Unfortunately, once that becomes the drawing factor, it's not about how creative I can get with my word play, or the html formatting I can incorporate into my next article, it's about whose going to be featured next. It can be a lot of fun when your invested in the subject material, a.k.a. it involves your current pet project standard brew for instance. But your only as important as your fan support so you eventually move away from your own decks and start showcasing decks from the community and it can be tedious recording the play by plays for a match you have zero personal interest in. At this point your literally just working a menial job with no pay off, considering here on Tapped Out articles are, for the most part, user-generated content. It goes from being a creative outlet to almost a job. That's why people get paid to do this kind of stuff, creating content for websites. Basically, signing up to be a content provider can end up being a tall order, as the work gets menial and tedious once it transitions from what you, the author, is interested in, to what your audience is interested in. It's like having a Sports column in a newspaper but having to write about gardening at your editor's request, and you don't get paid either...

It sounds like you just need to get a couple wins under your belt. Sometimes switching up archetypes can bring a much needed refresher, I'd suggests trying out something as simple as piloting a generic red deck at your next event, you shouldn't feel bad for losing with a netdeck you had no part in designing. Just jam Dragon Fodder into Stoke the Flames and punish decks for stumbling.

After Sphinx's Revelation rotated, I didn't know what I wanted to do in standard. I durdled around with Jeskai tokens for a few months then traded it off to put together G/R Dragons after CVM won an open, then sold that deck for cash as it was an offer I couldn't refuse (full cash price on each card).

That left me with the pieces to build mono-red, so I did and I've been jamming goblin tokens ever since. I recently shelled out for the lands to make it Atarka Red and I am looking forward to the rest of this standard season and origins before the fall rotation.

That being said, I don't have a sweet brew that I would want to write an article about, I remember playing with decks back in ISD/RTR Standard and the decks were incredible and inspiring and made me want to create content.

Then we had Theros and we got the Devotion decks like mono-black Pack Rat decks. Ever since then Standard has seemed stale and uninteresting.

Khans of Tarkir definitely livened things up, but the Abzan midrange decks aren't as flashy as the Bant midrange decks from a season and a half ago, where you could resto your thrag and snap back a rev. Siege Rhino takes the fun out of it, you don't even have to try with deck building, you just play the good Abzan cards.

Your Johnny/Spike style of play is essentially how I see myself, but I'm willing to let the Spike side of me convince the Johnny side to try out net decks like mono-red when the format gets stale. It can be VERY disheartening when your home brews consistently lose at FNM's. Questions like, 'why do I even bother' crop up and you need to get out of the rut your in before you can't get out and give up the game completely.

The one downside of refusing to play anything other than a home brew is it likely will struggle in the later rounds of an event, let alone a cut to top 8.

So it can be very hard to pull a win/loss ratio of better than .500 under that circumstance. The fact that all of our enjoyment with the game is directly tied to how we perform means that your setting yourself up for failure by not giving yourself the most optimal chance to win any given match at an event. If that means playing 1 of the top 3 decks be it red aggro, abzan midrange, or esper control, then that's how it is. By doing anything else, your doing a disservice to Spike, as your lowering his chances of winning which directly correlates to your unhappiness upon not achieving a better than .500 record.

Get a couple wins, get your spark back, and bring back the Show Down!

Oh, and feature me in your next article!

Spootyone

I always enjoyed your articles. What I enjoyed them for was the short break from real life they provided. I'm sure many would agree that this is primarily why they read them.

They were also great for improving my own playing, as well as deckbuilding, so I feel like I owe you some thanks for that!

I'd love to see the series continue. I also totally understand where you're at right now...depression is hard to deal with and when I was depressed last year it cost me a year of my life. I failed some classes because I had no motivation to do anything, and have had to repeat them this semester.

What helped me get out of it was actually MTG. I found a great playgroup at my school and they taught me how to play, and well here I am now.

Trying a new format seems like a good idea to me. Standard very quickly got stale for me, after only a year. The price tag with rotations every new block is simply too much. Modern, Legacy, and Commander are much more affordable in the long term, and the cards required will also hold value for as long as MTG is played and loved, so eventually getting out of the game will result in much less money lost than with Standard.

I'm personally getting into modern now. I tried Commander, but my budget decks just couldn't compete with my friend and his Sliver Overlord, so I kinda gave up, though I am slowly assembling pieces for a Progenitus deck. Legacy is what I'd really like to play, but is just too expensive to get into, sadly.

Long story short...I hope you're better soon mate. This community will be here for you, whether you provide us with awesome articles or not!

<3

I know that I didn't comment on your showdown's (I don't think so at least), but I always read them and enjoyed most of them.

It really comes down to this: are you willing to go get your spark back? This is essentially like working out, if you work at it enough, you can get it back. You don't have to write articles weekly. Hell, even once every 2-3 weeks would be appropriate. Your articles were some of the only articles actually being written, and they were good to learn from. It's up to you, I could love it if you were to come back to the game. Just my 3.4 cents to you.

I think MtG saved me. Or at least, it made life worth looking forward to at a very dark time in my existence. It made it easier to deal with the grind, the going to work, and dealing with people you just don't fancy dealing with, and then going home, and doing 500 things you don't get appreciation for... I'm not going into specifics, but finding MtG and later on this site were saving graces. I know firsthand what a deep depression feels like, and what it can lead to, and I appreciate and thank you for sharing your story.

While I confess to not having read all your articles, they were certainly a highlight and inspiration to be creative. And I think that's where things may need to go for you. I'll stand with Behgz and TheHroth in this regard: throw out all your old notions of what you wanted from MtG and do something new. It almost doesn't matter. Tiny Leaders, pauper, EDH, Modern, Legacy, Standard, drafts, cubes... There are so many routes you can take that it's at least worth a try to find something that could peak your interest (and though I've never played it, maybe give Tiny Leaders a try; apparently there's a reason it's catching on so quick). Don't reinvent yourself or your articles or writing, just give yourself the opportunity to try something different.

I personally think you should continue with the series. BUT, do so with what you want to do. If it's a job and not sparking your interest, then here's where doing things for yourself really comes into play. It doesn't necessarily have to be the exact same thing as last time. It doesn't have to be with the same frequency. I would suggest, if you decide to continue, setting some goals for yourself. "I aim to have an article up at this time (every week, month, 2 months, etc.; you pick what YOU want to work with)." "I want to evaluate my own work and happiness in x amount of time, and see if I think it's worth continuing." "I may decide to do something every time I write, i.e., one article about EDH, another about Modern, etc." Really, it's up to you how you write. At this point, you need to write for yourself more than anyone else if that's what you want to do. And I know how you feel, and I know you may not believe me, but people will read what you write because it's interesting. You don't need to make it interesting for us. As long as it's interesting and fun to you, you can be guaranteed that there will be some of us who want to read it just because, hey, here's another MtG guy having a crap-ton of fun!

Good luck, whatever you decide. But I think it's worth it for you to try.

Do showdowns for lots of different formats. That's how to have more fun. Doing Tiny Leaders one week, then legacy the next brings variety to the articles, your games, and also exposes people to different formats they haven't tried before.

One of the most important things i've realized about magic is that there isn't always a creative fun way to win. Sometimes the best you're given is Siege Rhino who, while absolutely powerful, is a very boring card.

Right now standard has a wide variety of playable decks such as Ojutai Control, Temur Ascendancy Combo, Jeskai Tokens, and many more. The issue is none of these are very creative. The synergy is very clear in all of them, at least to me and after trying the more interesting builds it all comes down to getting beat by very boring, predictable cards like Bile Blight and Lightning Strike.

So while I would love to see more articles from you, I also suggest you wait until MTG: Origins comes out. If the game gets some interesting cards then it'll be a great time for more articles. Hopefully we'll both be able to come up with creative original, or possibly fringe, decks and enjoy winning FNM our way once Origins comes out.

I second (third? fourth?) the idea of having Showdown be about more than just Standard. We as TO users are looking for deck ideas for more than just Standard. Some of us only play EDH, some play only Modern, or Legacy... You get my drift. Plus, as was said before, variety is the spice of life, and you're less likely to get burned out if you're not just doing the same repetitive thing over and over again.

Also, I am 100 percent in favor of the Conclave. dodges thrown tomatoes

Spootyone, I think you are being to hard on yourself. I don't know the situation with your friend, but friendships can always be repaired.

As for your articles, they are great. You don't need to be a pro to write a great article. I just enjoy seeing how a couple of decks might play out.

And I know the feeling about never winning an FNM, its frustrating. But game really isn't about winning, its about having fun.

Hey Spooty! I'm with miracleHat -- I always read the Articles, but I've never really commented. I love your content while I don't even play Standard! It's upsetting to hear that you're having a hard time. =(

I think that making or joining an online T/O playgroup would help, or trying to find a real-life playgroup -- or even teach your friends how to play. Also, I don't think that there would be anything wrong with playing your own deck against a user-submitted deck rather than playing with two non-familiar decks if it makes you happier.

If you want to, just hit me up and we can duel on Cockatrice! I'll build a standard deck if I have to!

ALL HAIL THE SELESNYA CONCLAVE.

Spootyone, I love your articles, and for a while I would log in to T/O only to see if you had posted a new one. I'm sure there are a lot of other people who feel the same way, and I hope that that helps you cope with all of your troubles.

Feel better soon! We all miss you!

:D

I hope you feel better, bro.

As an old timer, I can tell you to be patient (as far as winning goes). I started playing MTG back in 1995 or 96, and I never won my first tournament until almost 2012 (I took a few breaks).

That old saying, "the early bird gets the worm"... fuck that.

Here is some gnarlicide wisdom: "The second mouse eats the cheese". Be patient. The bad times will pass.

As for your articles: Keep em coming. I like them. They are fun and well written. And its different. Primers are a dime a dozen, and I can write a primer about damn near any deck... But I won't know how it fares in a match until I see it happen in front of me. Thats where you came in.

So please, Spootyone, fill my void... lol.

Maybe try a different format? Sometimes when I get bored with modern, I will play standard. If that doesn't happen? I go to Legacy. No Legacy tournaments around? Fuck it, play EDH. I suck at limited, so I never play it. You get the point though.

I think I've won one tournament, that was kahns draft with this almost standard competitive deck that is on here. Apparently a turn 3 Siege Rhino followed by a Rakshasa Deathdealer the next turn is too much for draft.

How and why I won isn't important as you setting goals. I try my best, like we all should, and I loose. What makes me happy is if I didn't make any mistakes and winning a prize(phht lol, it's the stupid mistakes like forgetting a trigger that's most annoying)

While that's all fine and dandy if I get last place and made a ton of mistakes, if I can learn from them, I know I can be better. So you didn't do well at FNM? What can you do to be better? Even though I had a perfect record that day I didn't use Temur Sabertooth to it's full advantage. I could've saved my blockers by bringing them back to my hand. So even though I did great, there was still lessons to be learned. And when I do bad, there's probably even more lessons.

That's what great about magic. There's always something to do or change, be it practice with our online draft thinger, or read more articles or play more. Making your own archetype/homebrew is very tedious and frustrating at times. I know, I'm trying to make Master of Cruelties work in modern. The price of Liliana of the Veils kinda threw me a little but now that I have 2 of the 3 I want it doesn't seem so bad.

Try your best and learn from your mistakes:)

Btw I really enjoy reading your articles, they're fun to read and I like them even though I don't play standard. And I'd like to note I don't sit down and make goals (but if that works for you go for it) I just sort've subconsciously try my best and then learn from the matches

This is my first comment on tappedout; I would just like to tell you that I have been checking this website like every other day for the SOLE purpose of seeing whether we would be blessed with anymore showdown articles. :)

Do whatever you gotta do, man.

I've never even had the privilege of going to an FNM. I have a Toddler and a Baby, work full time, and am trying to go back and finish college.

I know it can be frustrating not winning and all but keep in mind that Magic is a hard game played by intelligent people. Not winning isn't the end. It's a continual challenge to do better and I think that's also part of the appeal of it.

I play a lot of Modern. I have owned and played tier one decks and had just as much success with them as I have had with odd rogue decks. I've found that it's more about who's playing and how they play than the cards you play. Keep practicing and you will improve.

It's a fun game. It's challenging. It's intricate. Don't give up on it, and don't give up on the articles unless they're getting in your way. A lot of people enjoyed them. I was entertained by a number of them myself.

You're a Selesnyan brother. Never forget, No one in the conclave acts alone. ;)

Hey Spootyone it just occured to me but if you want more wins with a unique build here are some suggetions for EDH. Take em for what you will.

1. Overwhelming card draw without .

2. Artifact Zedruu the Greathearted.

3. Dovescape.

4. Dovescape + Zedruu the Greathearted is awesome because you give people birds, they beat eachother up, and you draw cards and gain life. I havne't tried it myself yet but once Dovescape hits there are very few things which can stop it.

5. Gaddock Teeg certainly isn't a very original commander in the sense that lots of people play it, it's probably the best Selesnya commander.

6. Shattergang Brothers goblin tribal combines the best of both and goblins.

Another thing I like to do is make my own Custom Cards. It's incredibly fun for me because I don't like the simplistic direction of cards like Siege Rhino compared to fun cards like Ichor Wellspring that provide advantage that you have to work for, but can overwhelm people if you play correctly. Designing your own Generals is also lots of fun.

Lastly just taking a powerful card like Savage Knuckleblade or Butcher of the Horde and playing it as your commander with a casual group is incredibly fun, even if some do turn out to be so O.P. that they aren't allowed after their first game. (R.I.P., Butcher of the Horde commander deck...)

It sounds like there's a lot of unhealthy pride in there and in a lot of the responses. Occasionally you have to accept that producing content is going to sometimes be a hard slog and fan service is necessary. Things like refusing help, and sticking rigidly to your own formula are rods you've chosen for your own back.

Obviously there are difficult circumstances here that you need to work through, but equally you need to be prepared to accept help and be flexible in what you do. A lot of this situation is based on your own stubbornness, your own self pity, your own misplaced pride - and these are things you need to address. If you're absolutely fixated on expecting things to go your way, or to not go at all then life is going to be bloody difficult.

You need to do what you enjoy, but you also need to be willing to compromise.

Much love for ya Spoots. Come on back to our loving embrace <3

Spootyone: I have been in a few of your articles, and while I have not fared well in them, I enjoy just being a part of them and having the chance to try some of my brews against other players and against decks that are very tough in the meta, regardless of what is going on with the whole "netdecking" crap. I love the way you do things, and love the series. I would love to help and be a part of it, if at all possible, but if not, then I will support you as best as I can with my encouragement and good words. You are a good person and don't deserve to lose heart like this. I have been there before, and in the moment I felt the worst, what I figured out that you can't play to win FNMs, or to compare yourself against "everyone else". All you can do is play for your own enjoyment, and do that to the best of your ability. Once you let go of the outside expectation of winning, then you learn to have fun again. I have never "netdecked", and I play my own brews all the time, and I will regularly go 2-2 or so at FNMs. What does that mean? I don't win anything, but I have fun for a few hours, and you can't really have fun for $5 for 4 hours anymore. That's what I look at it as.

Honestly Spootyone my friend, you are a good person, and deserve better. Take the time you need, and get things going in the right direction once again. Once you do, you will find everything in alignment again.

@Spootyone Please continue with the articles, they were good and interesting. Even though I didn't play standard I saw quality and dedication in your work. I very much understand your current situation, heck I have no friends to play magic at all with for the moment and not much money either. I understand that you want to win on your own terms but playing constructed on such terms will not gain what you seek. I can't really give you much advice since I almost has quit the game myself. Be strong and make the choice you feel is right and not the one enforced on you. Remember that you are a great person and I really hope we can ignite your spark again. Cheers from Sweden!

@Spootyone - I feel you. When i was younger, in Ice age and before I played startard (type 2) a lot and I ended up quitting the game because I just hated how competative it got. Here is how i found my way back. EDH. greatest format ever. i built a deck found a small playgroup at my LGS and now we hang out often. i win a low percent of the time. But when i do its amazing (Johnny all the way). I would suggest that as a way to love the game again. If you feel the articles flow, do playthroughs or just videos of EDH play. I mean how often have I dropped in and out to write for the site. Dont sweat it. Love the game and hate the players who forget its a game.

Hey Spootyone,

Hang in there man. My first post in 6 months is solely to support you and the great work you do. I really enjoyed doing the showdown series with you. It was a lot of fun and something I was doing on the side at the time anyway. I had to stop collecting 6 months ago after my wife lost her job due to cutbacks. But to be honest, after standard rotated I really lost my rudder and never found that new brew that grabbed my interest. So part financial part personal made me put MtG away for awhile. But I love the game and I've just started collecting again and know almost nothing about the current standard (I was literally cold-turkey without MtG for 6 months). Anyway, your series was always fun to read and be a part of too. I first played from 1996-1998 and retired for almost 15 years before coming back. When I started playing again I didn't know anyone at all, just walked in cold, but with time I made a lot of friends. At the right store you'll fine great people.

I guess only you can know when you need to walk away from the game for awhile, come back, or move onto something else. Hang in there, listen to yourself, and know that it will be alright.

Apop

(P.S. to all of the other Tappedout community, I am not the RL friend/jerk who ruined it. If you don't believe me just ask me to code something, in all likelihood you'll get a secret message in wingdings... that's about the limit to my coding unless you want 10 print "Apop rules", 20 goto 10).

Like others have suggested before me I think you should try commander. Pretty much everyone is in it to have fun so winning doesn't matter that much. Also there is extreme variety which gives you potential to make a fun deck that can win.

If you are looking for a fun, successful, standard deck, let me suggest mono-green aggro. It works well, damn well, and is an absolute blast to pilot. I'm a control player through and through, but I haven't had this much fun with a deck since sphinx control rotated.