So You Want to Play in a Tournament?
Opinion Tuition
zandl
6 June 2016
2400 views
6 June 2016
2400 views
So You Want to Play in a Tournament?
You’ve been playing Magic for some time now (perhaps a long time) but you’ve only ever played around the proverbial "kitchen table," at the local shop with some buddies, or maybe just online from home. Now you think you’ve got a shot and want to try the competitive scene, either to simply play more Magic or truly test your mettle. Where do you even begin to look, though? Which format is right for you? What type of deck should you bring? What should you expect from the other players?
Fear ye not, dear neophytes! I’ve come to your aid with a step-by-step guide to get you into that card shop on a sun-baked, Friday afternoon and let you show everyone who the
Step 1: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up
Let’s get this out of the way first. As negative and contradictory as it may sound to your innocent, virgin ears, this is likely the best bit of advice I can bestow upon you. Even if you’ve been playing Magic for years with your buddies, you probably aren’t strictly up to date with one specific constructed format, let alone competitive Magic. You may have a decent idea of what playing competitively entails, but let’s start slow to ensure everyone’s up to speed.
On the competitive scene, there is a metagame (’meta’, the types of decks and strategies used in a given community) for each constructed format (Standard, Extended, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Block; 60 cards, no more than 4 of each). Unless you know exactly what kinds of decks and strategies people will be using (assuming you know how to play well under pressure, anyways), you’re going to have to ride the learning curve for a some time. Now, you may have a positive feeling about your first tournament and this is good; confidence begets success. After all, if you consistently beat your buddies every time you get together and know your deck, how could you possibly lose that badly?Unfortunately, you’re probably going to lose more games than you’ll win for a little while, but that’s also good; mistakes beget experience. When you lose as a player, you’ll eventually start to understand why it’s happening.
I’m telling you all of this so you don’t become discouraged. The player who shuns competitive Magic is one who most likely set his or her expectations far too high for him/herself. My inner pessimist and procrastinator would like to bring up the infallible logic of "Set your hopes low and you won’t be disappointed," and its little brother, "Set your hopes at rock bottom and you’ll be pleased just to not catch on fire."
Step 2: Choose a Format
The first real decision you need to make is which constructed format you’re going to play in for your first tournament. This is a big decision; each format has its own traits with flaws and strengths. It’s not a decision that can be casually dismissed over one or two paragraphs. Luckily, though, I’ve already chosen for you!
It’s Standard.
"Awww, zandl! Why Standard? Everyone says it sucks and is boring and stuff!"
No format is without its problems. If you don’t already know how expensive a tournament-winning deck is for either Legacy or Modern, then you aren’t going to want to look now. Secondly, formats including older cards are going to attract long-time players. Because of the more experienced nature of the average Legacy/Modern player, you’re going to see advanced strategies that span several turns, hideously complex combos and interactions, and a higher expected level of professionalism. After all, If I were going to play in a Legacy tournament, I wouldn’t want my opponent’s Whataburger grease all over my $340 Underground Sea.
tl;dr - In a Legacy or Modern tournament, on a scale from One to Winning, you’d likely rank at a generous No.
No matter the format, you’ll undoubtedly find players who deeply know the meta and are aware of everything happening in each game. If you keep at it, you’ll be there at some point. But let’s focus on getting you into that first tournament, hot-shot.
Step 3: Build a Competitive Deck
Now that you have correctly chosen Standard as your introductory format into competitive Magic, it’s time to see what you can build with the cards available to you. Again, let’s break this down for a nice refresher:
Standard is what’s called a Constructed Format, meaning you bring a constructed deck to the tournament. There are three simple, fundamental rules for deck construction:
- Your deck may have no more than 4 of any given card apart from basic lands.
- Your deck must adhere to the format’s legal cards and may not include any banned ones (of which Standard rarely has).
- Your deck is exactly 60 cards. See:
The rest of your deck’s structure comes from you. You are in charge of all card choices, which colors you play (and those you don’t), how your sideboard is constructed, the strategies/spells you use, etc. You might be able to see now why building a deck that’s designed to take down everyone else is such a tough task. For simplicity’s sake, let’s build a Standard deck together.
What archetype of deck should you choose to build?
Any given Magic deck can generally be squished into one of four categories:
Midrange and control can be built and played in a number of different ways, but aggro decks always have the same universal goal: kill the opponent quickly and hold nothing back. For this reason, aggro decks are arguably the easiest decks to construct, play, and understand. So let’s build an aggro deck!
Using cards from Standard-legal sets (Dragons of Tarkir, Magic Origins, Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch, and Shadows over Innistrad), our test is to construct a fast and punishing deck. First, we’ll need to find some low-cost creatures that give us the most bang for our buck (mana-wise, that is). Then, we’ll focus on adding playsets (fours) of cards to give us the highest possible consistency when we draw. Consistency is the most important aspect you must consider when building an aggro deck. When your game only lasts 5 or 6 turns on average, you want it to play the same way every time. Once we choose our cards, we’ll tally up the price of purchasing all of it outright.
Starting at the bottom of our mana-curve (how the mana costs of your cards are balanced), let’s start with one-drop creatures and go up from there.
- Goblin Glory Chaser, Village Messenger Flip, Zurgo Bellstriker
- Any self-respecting aggro deck is going to have 1-drop creatures at its disposal. With these 3, we won’t be wasting any time spinning the tires in the dirt. The Goblin and Messenger take advantage of the fact that most decks can’t prevent transform/renown with just 1 land on the board, turning them both into 2/2 creatures with menace. Zurgo is also a fine turn-1 play, but he retains a lot of relevance later on through his dash ability.
- Abbot of Keral Keep, Reckless Bushwhacker, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh Flip
- As we go larger up the curve, our creatures become more complex. Abbot keeps us in the game longer, granting us more lines of play that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Lands can also be hit by Abbot, so never play one before in case you flip one over. The Bushwhacker can hit hard on turn-3 after something like Dragon Fodder the turn prior. Turning on its surge ability then shouldn’t be too difficult, either, and you’ll see why when the list comes together. Chandra is a bit slower than the other creatures so far, but transforming her is no challenge and the reach she gives us in the mid-game is going to be valuable.
- Thunderbreak Regent
- The dragon dominates the top of our curve and allows us to mimic midrange decks after we’ve gummed up the board with our little guys. 4 power in the air is certainly nothing to scoff and the added damage clause will almost always trigger at least once.
- Dragon Fodder
- This spell allows us to "go wide," meaning spreading our creatures’ power out on many bodies so opposing decks have a harder time preventing it all. The synergy it shares with Reckless Bushwhacker is one of the most potent plays the deck has available and the tokens are a fine target for Titan's Strength when unblocked. They’ll also help us in any matches against other highly aggressive decks, serving as faithful blockers when needed.
- Titan's Strength
- With our goal of pushing through as much damage as possible in mind, it’s simple to see how strong of a card Titan's Strength is. The added benefit of smoothing out our next draw is relevant, too, as consistency is what’s going to win the game for us.
- Fiery Impulse, Draconic Roar
- We’re going to need spells that get would-be blockers out of our way so we can keep pressure on the opponent for as long as we can. Impulse at 1 mana is great value and a sneaky way to set up for a big swing with a Bushwhacker. Roar deals bonus damage to the opponent if we have a Thunderbreak in our hand or on the board. Note: It burns the opponent regardless of whether or not the targeted creature dies, and that damage can be sent to opposing planeswalkers. Even without a dragon to reveal, 3 damage will still clear out a fair number of threats.
- Mountain, Haven of the Spirit Dragon
- As I just mentioned, consistency is our best way to speed through games and outrace opponents. We don’t need (nor particularly want) to get too fancy with our land-bases. Things like Blighted Gorge and Looming Spires offer only a tiny bit of extra damage with downsides that may throw off our tempo. One land I believe is worth its colorless mana restriction is Haven of the Spirit Dragon. In many matchups, Thunderbreak will become our strongest threat and most relevant creature by far. If the opponent took 3 damage to deal with the dragon, imagine how back-breaking it would be if we just grabbed it and cast it again the next turn.
- We’re going to need 15 cards that help us most in our roughest matchups. Historically, aggro has always been weak to midrange, so our main focus in constructing a sideboard will be with those decks in mind.
This leaves us with the following list:
Creatures: 24
4 Goblin Glory Chaser
4 Village Messenger Flip
2 Zurgo Bellstriker
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
2 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh Flip
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Thunderbreak Regent
Instants: 10
3 Fiery Impulse
3 Titan's Strength
4 Draconic Roar
Sorceries: 4
4 Dragon Fodder
Lands: 22
21 Mountain
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
Sideboard
2 Dual Shot (for aggro)
2 Magmatic Chasm (for decks that stall with blockers)
3 Tears of Valakut (for Archangel Avacyn Flip and Dragonlord Ojutai, among others)
3 Roast (for midrange)
3 Scab-Clan Berserker (for decks that stall with spells)
2 Goldnight Castigator (for decks with few creatures)
There we have it: 60 cards, a very straightforward strategy, and a relatively inexpensive purchase. By my math, I’m estimating that buying the above cards will set you back less than $60 by TCG mid prices, so probably closer to $40 if you know where to look. As a bonus, many of these cards are easy to find in players’ trade binders (whether in real-life or here on TappedOut) and the commons/uncommons could just be pennies at a game shop. All things considered, that’s about as cheap as you can get in a constructed format while still giving yourself a pretty solid chance to win into the prize range (usually the top 8 players).
Not too shabby. I’d be willing to pilot this at my very next FNM, honestly.
Step 4: Prepare for Your Tournament
Try some goldfishing.
Now that you’ve sleeved your freshly brewed deck (please do), shuffle it up and draw several sample hands. Get used to the cards you see, understand the order in which to play them, and get a good sense of when your deck is capable of winning the game. Generally speaking, if your deck is capable of a turn-4 kill in solitaire, that actually means you’ll only ever pull it off against a completely screwed opponent or another noob. Goldfishing, or playing out your deck solo to get a feel for it, is beneficial for all reasons listed above but obviously won’t simulate having to react to your opponent’s plays.
Playtest against friends.
Since you can’t exactly goldfish and expect to know what your deck is like against a real opponent, call some friends, entice them over with
Don’t get flustered.
Going back a bit, don’t get your hopes up prior to the tournament. Even the strongest build out there will only take you halfway. Until you fully grasp Standard’s metagame and are able to accurately predict the cards in someone’s deck just by their first few turns, you’re probably going to get trounced a few times. You’ll have victories, too, and they’ll be sweet. Just know that everyone loses and it takes a lot of losing to finally understand what you need to do to win. It’s this process of betterment and learning from mistakes that is one of the more alluring aspects of competitive play.
Know the rules.
Magic, as I’m sure you’re fully aware, is a game of rules. While you don’t have to be a rules-ninja (that’s what every tournament has a judge for), you are expected as a player to know the basics, including (but not limited to):
- shuffling your deck sufficiently and presenting it to your opponent for more randomization, either through more shuffling or a simple cut. Some opponents won’t do anything but hand it back to you, but you must present your deck to your opponent for the option every time you shuffle.
- knowing the turn structure (phases and steps). Before anything can happen on your turn, you untap your permanents. THEN you get your upkeep, your draw phase, and your first main-phase. It’s not mandatory, but it is helpful and respectful to announce when you’re moving to a new phase. This isn’t every single time, of course, but it’s always nice to announce that you plan to go to your Attack Phase so the game doesn’t have to be backed up to that point.
- keeping your own life total with a pen and some paper. Using dice is cool and all for the kitchen table, but your FNM table might get bumped, you may accidentally swipe your D-20 off the edge, etc. With a pen and pad of paper, you can mark each player’s life totals so you never have to ask and to have written proof of changes in case there’s ever a discrepancy. If a judge gets called over, he/she is going to side with the person writing down every single change versus the bro with a D-20.
- understanding how priority works, especially with planeswalkers. If it’s your opponent’s turn, you can’t do anything unless (a) your opponent has done something first or (b) a phase is coming to an end. If an opponent casts a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
, for example, you can’t burn it with Draconic Roar until after your opponent has done something else first. If the opponent uses the +1 ability of Nissa, she has 4 counters before you can even respond considering that loyalty counters are added as a cost and therefore can’t be responded to. It’s the ability taking place on the stack that you can respond to.
- knowing that effects resolve independent of their sources. In layman’s terms, you can’t stop Auramancer’s ability from resolving if you just shoot it with Fiery Impulse. You’ll burn the bejesus out of it, but the ability already went onto the stack and will still resolve.
Keep an eye out for d-bags.
Should you ever find yourself in a scenario where someone appears to be taking advantage of your competitive inexperience or something they’re doing just seems weird or not right, call the judge. You don’t want to insinuate that your opponent is doing something shady; he/she may actually not be and it could just be your lack of tournament experience. Just ask the judge for clarification with what’s going on in the game and if anything is actually wrong, it will probably be revealed.
Also, some people are on a mission to suck the fun out of every possible moment in an effort to win through intimidation. I once had a guy call a judge on me for "notes on [my] cards" because I drew a stick-man punching a Centaur Healer in the face, with "POW!" written on it. Luckily, the judge saw right through it and gave the guy a warning. If anything’s amiss or something just doesn’t seem right, call a judge.
Don’t be the d-bag.
No one, least of all your opponent, will care that you’ve been playing the game for 15 years and this whole serious-Magic thing "is stupid and it’s just a game" and that people should get over themselves and have fun. For the same reasons that no one likes the hyper-competitive Rules-Nazi, you’d be leaving a sour taste in the mouth of everyone you come across. That, and it’s not a good way to make friends.
Now I’m certainly not saying I think you’d act like this, but simply think about everybody around you before complaining about anything. Magic players love their opinions and will tear someone’s aorta out before admitting defeat over something as trivial as logic or reasoning. Also, Magic is a different game to each person. Some people will never leave the kitchen table while others have made their careers out of winning massive tournaments - and you’ve got to respect both ends of the spectrum.
Remember who the nice people are.
They’ll remind you of things that happen in your favor, give you tips on what you could do better, and maybe even ask to look through your deck at the end of a match to break it down with you (benevolently, of course). Try to befriend these people and you just may wind up having a new circle of Magic buddies within a few weeks.
Don’t be too nice.
If you find yourself playing against an opponent who is land-screwed, for instance, don’t feel bad for him or her. You can surely sympathize with your opponent, but getting land-screwed is an unavoidable part of the game and it happens to everyone. It’s important to mention that you shouldn’t go easy on your opponents and your responsibility as the non-land-screwed player is to finish a crappy game quickly. Play your game and your adversary will either concede to you if he/she gets too far behind or the game will work itself out. You never know if your opponent needs one more land to blow you away and is trying to tilt you with mind-games. Also, rounds are timed and you should always play slow enough to not miss anything but fast enough to finish two or three games.
Shop around for shops.
If you have the luxury of living in a big city or metropolitan area, chances are good there are more than a few places to play Magic on Friday nights. In Phoenix (where I live), there are the casual shops that hold an FNM but most people are friends and just hang out. There are the competitive stores that pull in upwards of 50 players each Friday night where you can expect a good deal of experienced players. There are the hardcore stores for all the wannabe pro-players who don’t particularly care (a) if you’re new or (b) how they treat you or make you feel while playing them. To them, Magic is a test of mind and some occasionally forget that new players need to learn, too..
If you really want to get deep into highly competitive Magic, look for the hardcore stores. If you want a more relaxed atmosphere where you’ll learn competitive Magic at a more manageable pace (and have fun), pick the casual store. Of course, you aren’t likely to know which is which unless you play in a given store’s FNM. It’ll take some searching, but you’ll know where you fit in within a few weeks.
Step 5: Compete!
Logically, you’d have to find a constructed tournament to play in first. Once you find a shop, I’d suggest dropping in on a Friday night and signing up for Friday Night Magic. You can see which shops around you hold tournaments by following this link and searching from there.
Why FNM? There are a number of reasons, silly. First, FNM is Standard (or should be, unless a shop is weird and does Modern/Draft instead). Second, that’s when most people come out of their caves to play Magic. It’s the best time to get out there, socialize, and meet new people.
Sweet. Anything else I should know?
- The entry fee for most weekly Standard tournaments is $5, with some more expensive ones added more to the prize pool. For $5, you get several rounds of competitive Magic and a shot at getting some prizes (either packs or store credit for singles; I’ve seen cash rarely).
- Bring some snacks or bring money to purchase them. If you play in a 5-round FNM (which occurs from 17 players up to 32 players total), you’ll be there for a minimum of 5 hours (unless you leave early) or more if you are in the top 8 players at the end of the fifth round. The top 8 players will then duke it out in single-elimination rounds until everybody decides to draw and split the prizes evenly with whoever’s left or until a winner emerges.
- Keep your stuff in a backpack and never leave your cards unattended. I hold Magic players above nerds of other hobbies to a higher standard of professionalism (or, in the very least, to be chiller dudes), but there’s a rotten apple in every bunch. Don’t take the risk and you’ll never be sorry.
- When making trades, keep in mind that Magic cards have monetary value. If you prefer to trade just for cards and not really care, you may be taken advantage of. If it seems like someone is trying to rip you off, they may be. If you have a smartphone, use magic.tcgplayer.com to look up a card in question and most players will agree that the "mid" price is a fair value for the vast majority of cards. Other sites that house just one store, like StarCityGames or ChannelFireball, usually set prices based on their stores’ needs and aren’t always the best indicators of real market value.
Immerse yourself in Magic.
Happy tapping, players!
zandllibraryjoy says... #5
Very nice - informative and entertaining. I'm not interested in competitive Magic, but I feel like if I ever wanted to compete, this advice would get me a long way. And I still read the article all the way to the end because I enjoyed it.
June 6, 2016 11:53 p.m.
NotaParadox says... #8
Zandl, this was an amazing article I enjoyed reading top to bottom. Very helpful information for a new player contemplating the competitive scenes and a fantastic breakdown of basic information that has become basic slang over the years of the game. +so many if I could!
June 7, 2016 2:21 a.m.
Fantastic article. I'd have preferred it if it focused on modern, but we can't have everything haha. I'm glad you added the interaction between priority and planeswalkers; that was a mistake I made back when I was new to more competitive scenes. Also, please don't try and restart old drama, Tsarius. Whatever gripe you have with zandi (and I think I know what it is, if it's regarding that mess on one of zandi's previous articles), just let it go.
June 7, 2016 2:35 a.m.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I'm working hard to about bring a higher standard of content to the site. Let me know if there's anything in this same subject vein that you'd like to see as an article.
June 7, 2016 2:48 a.m.
War_Machine_800 says... #11
I've been thinking about playing competitively but I would want to start with Modern. I feel that Standard limits my deck too much but based on this article it sounds like most shops only host Standard events for FNM. Please help.
June 7, 2016 2:57 a.m.
Modern can be an unforgiving format and the competitive learning curve is much higher there than in Standard. The Modern meta rarely changes dramatically without ban list changes and you're still going to see the same top decks from month to month. Standard rotates twice per year now, evening out the playing field for all players that much more often.
I recommend Standard for that reason and many others, not to mention that being limited can be seen as helpful in that you'll be led into more logical deck decisions.
That being said, if you want to give Modern a shot, I believe you can search by format on the Wizards Store/Event Locator link in the article.
June 7, 2016 3:05 a.m. Edited.
"I'm working hard to about bring a higher standard of content to the site."
Oh, the ironies.
That's the last time I try and convince you all I'm a good writer from my phone in the middle of the night. x_x
June 7, 2016 3:13 a.m. Edited.
THANK YOU. I run a vampire standard deck and I just finished constructing my first Modern deck (I'm an agro player, so it's slivers), and I've only played in store once, and it was the more competitive store and I was not welcomed and it soured me hard and kept me at the kitchen table. This gives perspective to the why, and what I need to look for in other shops.
June 7, 2016 9:20 a.m.
Linkdude74 says... #17
This is awesome for any player wanting to start out with competitive magic. Good read. I think you should do a guide to modern next.
You're right in saying it can be unforgiving though. It's not something someone new to competitive can just jump into. There are decks in modern that do things you would never see in standard. The first time I played Modern I was playing Eggs because my buddy handed it to me and it almost felt wrong to cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, or a lethal Banefire on turn 4. But then you look at other decks in the format like the super aggro decks that win just as quick, or the various midrange decks, and even some of the other combo decks and there are just a lot of brutal things going on. I'm still fairly new to modern, playing a different deck than eggs now, so a guide for modern would be super helpful.
June 7, 2016 1:50 p.m.
RainbowGuts says... #18
This is wonderful. I would love something like this for drafting since I want to get involved in drafts but don't know the first thing about them.
June 7, 2016 2:09 p.m.
Great article! The section on building a competitive deck cannot be praised enough. I think a lot of people moving into competitive MtG don't realize they should play to win, not do difficult moves.
Remember that people are playing for prizes. You aren't going to score any points for calling anyone a netdecker (and often, fine-tuned decks for local metas aren't copied card-for-card) and it's not going to help you win games if you hold that mindset.
June 7, 2016 3:35 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #21
Great article zandl - although I think Sealed is every bit as good as Standard as an intro format. Maybe show 40-card decks some love as well next time!
June 7, 2016 5:30 p.m.
Havok.Bane says... #22
Great read! I remember my first entrance into the competitive scene, it was actually a legacy tournament and also my second time playing legacy! Overall it was a great learning experience, and I no longer play legacy
June 7, 2016 6:15 p.m.
As a really new player who started by building a modern deck I can't agree with this enough. After being to 3 casual modern tournaments I can say that each time in at least 1 or 2 of the games (out of 7-9 games over the course of the tournament,) opponents will take advantage of my lack of knowledge to either rush me through sequences, (not giving me a chance to react and then realizing hours later that there was a thing I could have done,) or just me missing a trigger or mis-using a card and having them conveniently allow it to happen or simply not mention something that would be extremely obvious to probably most players, like attacking with a creature that has a destroy enchantment when it deals damage trigger but forgetting the trigger and losing the next turn to the only enchantment effect (islandwalk,) on my opponents board and then realizing hours later that I'm an idiot.
So yeah its really unforgiving and I've already spent waaay too much money on this deck which I now know is garbage.
June 7, 2016 7:57 p.m.
Vergil_Redgrail says... #24
All I will say is, when I'm in a tournament, that I've paid money to play in, I don't care if my opponent is new or not. I won't do anything underhanded and cheat, but it's their responsibility to know the rules and handle their things, not mine. If they miss something, I'm not obligated to tell them about it. I won't intentionally mislead someone, I'll just keep my mouth shut and play the game. The only time this caused a problem (actually I was on the other end of this) was during the SOI Prerelease, and it was a very close game 3. We had already gone to time, so we were on extended turns. I tried to figure out how I could attack and finish the game, or keep him from doing anything and finishing next turn. Long story short, he was at one life because I missed that Bloodcrazed Neonate (or whatever it is, the one with Menace) had to be blocked by at least two creatures. We go to his turn and he swings to kill me, after playing something to take one of my creatures, and I realized Neonate couldn't have been blocked, and it's an innate ability, not a trigger. I called the shop owner over since no one else could really decide how to proceed, and he couldn't say either. So we played Rock Paper Scissors (It's a more casual, small shop, and we all know and generally like each other).
June 7, 2016 9:01 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #25
Please don't do that. Determining the outcome of a match randomly is bad. Like, really bad.
This is an excerpt from the JAR, the "Judging at Regular REL" policy document that governs FNM and the like:
Serious Problems
Certain actions will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Every effort should be made to educate players before and during events; however, ignorance is not an acceptable defense of these actions. Any player engaging in the following must be removed from your event and, at the Organizer's discretion, removed from the venue entirely:
[...]
- Determining match outcomes by incentives, coercion, or outside-the-game methods, or gambling on any part of a tournament.
[...]
Removing players in this way is called a Disqualification, and we must always try to educate our players on why these actions are unacceptable. Also let the player know that while your decision is final, the Judge Program would still like to hear his or her side of the story. You can contact your local Regional Coordinator, high level Judge, or WPN Representative to guide you through the process of a Disqualification.
At the FNM level, when there is an error in gameplay, you either back the game up (if it's easy) or fix the situation to the best of your abilities. In this case, if I were the judge at this event, I'd have backed the game up to declare blockers in the previous turn and let the defending player declare legal blocks.
June 7, 2016 11:01 p.m.
Vergil_Redgrail says... #26
It wasn't a FNM, nor any other sanctioned tournament. They just used their stock.
June 8, 2016 12:16 a.m.
Linkdude74 says... #28
Let's not get away from the point of the article guys.
June 8, 2016 1:02 a.m.
shepherdofire says... #29
I would say that knowing your deck in and out, knowing all the combos, finishers, synergies, and downfalls are important to being successful in magic. Learn your deck, read up on the meta game in articles online, and practice with people who want to help. Disregard the people who say you suck, or your deck sucks. Everyone is into magic for different reasons and you are trying to go into the tournaments. Better question is to ask what you are looking for from doing this? To win? To learn more? To test yourself and your deck? Meet new people? Human interaction? What have you. Just know what you want and why. Then set a goal, a smart goal. With an achievable set of conditions. You can set several. Just make sure you dont set unrealistic goals and standards for yourself or your deck.
Tldr: know what you want out of your experience with magic. Know your deck and the meta. Know that everyone isnt an asshole, sometimes the cards draw poorer than others. Have fun!!!!!!!
June 8, 2016 8:32 a.m.
I would like to comment on "(...) you should always play slow enough to not miss anything but fast enough to finish two or three games." - from my experience, round times shouldn't matter to anyone while playing in a tournament, other than the judges. Unless one pf the players plays control-ish decks, or they're unfortunately equal powered and trade all their resources 1-for-1 but never progressing the game itself, the time limit for a round should be way more time than needed for 3 games. I think it's actually harmful to think "let's take some more time to think this through, as it's the first game, and we've only been playing 10 minutes". Always play at a reasonable to fast pace, especially in constructed tournaments, because everything else leads to bad habits, and it might be you suffering the consequences towards the end of the match.
I feel like that's the reason why judges often (according to my observations) only announce the 5 minutes mark and nothing else, when they could also be saying "one third of your time for the round is over" - players should simply play reasonably fast, and if that doesn't help and you draw, fine - but if you tied because the only game you played reasonably fast was the last one, that is a problem.
Other than that, I feel that limited formats are a lot more approachable for newer Magic players, and are more often than not the first tournament someone plays at... I'm just dropping this line to maybe hint you on adding some information regarding that.
June 8, 2016 11:01 a.m.
libraryjoy says... #31
I've tried not to rise to the bait, and I usually never get offended and huffy about stuff people post on the Internet. But MagicalShrek's post is bothering me. I understand it's supposed to be sarcastic, and I'm not posting this to start an argument or get off topic.
But seriously - domestic violence is not a joke. It's not a punch line. For the sake of all the TappedOut community, please don't treat it as such.
June 8, 2016 2 p.m.
Vergil_Redgrail says... #32
Just because it's a prerelease doesn't mean it's sanctioned.
June 8, 2016 2:30 p.m.
Let's keep discussion focused and petty squabbles on profiles. Thanks. :)
June 8, 2016 4:39 p.m.
Ownagemaster says... #35
Lightning Berserker is arguably better than Zurgo Bellstriker.
June 8, 2016 10:09 p.m.
An interesting article, and as I was reading through it, I was starting to think "Wait, do we actually have a viable RDW for Standard?" However, while I've paid little attention to the meta for the current Standard, I have a bad feeling that this is not a true RDW... (true RDW being exactly that- a Red Deck that Wins)
The only suggestion that I would make, but it's technically at a more advanced level: though it applies more to Modern, and especially Legacy, if you want to do well at a competitive level (and let's face it, at some point, you're going to want to start racking up points in the W column), be prepared to pay a good chunk of cash, easily above $100, if not $200 for cards. The sad truth is, at the higher levels of competition, Magic is ultimately a Pay-to-Win game.
June 9, 2016 12:54 a.m.
iBleedPunk says... #37
Awesome article zandl! I am not really a Standard player but this actually gave me a ton of useful tips and insights.
I do enjoy seeing more content on T/O that actually matters. Thanks for everything you do bro!
June 9, 2016 2:42 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #38
An analogy about abilities on the stack being independent of their source that I use all the time involves a sniper and a rocket launcher.
If I launch a rocket at your face but you snipe me while the rocket is in the air the rocket is STILL flying at your face.
Dylan says... #1
Great article as always
June 6, 2016 9:36 p.m.