Either I'm a bad player or the game truly hates me...
TappedOut forum
Posted on Feb. 9, 2019, 9:24 a.m. by hydrothermia
I apologize for the vent about my play in Magic: the Gathering, but I think I've hit a brick wall playing magic right now. No matter what I do I rarely win. Four things happen more often than not when I play FNM or Arena. I have no answers for threats when my opponent has them, I have threats but my opponent has answers to mine. I've even waited to make sure I have the ability to protect what I have and they still get around it. It could be argued that I'm not playing the right kinds of decks to combat what's being played at my LGS.
I'm actively trying not to netdeck the meta of the Top 8's in tours and whatnot mostly due to the LGS isn't hardcore competitive and is more relaxed with a lot of home brew builds. I actively consider advice on decks I've posted here and have discussed them with people at my LGS as well. So I believe I can build them fine, I just can't execute them as good as others.
I love this game, but it doesn't seem to love me. (lol) Shuffling may still be an issue. Maybe my thought processes have slowed to the point I can't play this game well. It has just been frustrating lately.
I have had this happen to me before... it's the nature of the game... even people who go have gone to the pro tour in years past have failed to qualify in later years.
This applies to all competition like american football for example... a team can call offensive and defensive plays and have great players and still not make it to the playoffs.
And just like sports... team rosters change... the meta changes and the is always any given sunday/FNM.
February 9, 2019 10:05 a.m.
hydrothermia says... #4
Pieguy396, these are the four I have available for Standard:
February 9, 2019 10:39 a.m.
ok your lgs maybe one thing, but arena you can netdeck to your heart's content, use arena to better learn the game on a competitive level.
For your lgs it's ok to attend tournaments with a casual, non netdecking mindset, but remember fnm is still an event you pay into, respect your own time and money enough by putting a little bit of spike into your decks. Maybe netdeck but with deck changes to reflect your budget, there is a good reason why net decks become net decks, they are baseline strong decks, it's ok to spice a good deck up with some fringe playable cards for the deck, but building a deck made from mostly draft chaff isn't a good idea.
Your complaining about not winning while playing really powered down decks is like walking outside naked, and then complaining about it being cold. Put some clothes on and it might be a little warmer.
February 9, 2019 12:31 p.m.
triproberts12 says... #6
Yeah, I've gotta agree. Those don't seem like particularly good decks. I respect trying to build your own decks, but you REALLY should watch SaffronOlive, patron saint of brewing's, thoughts on the matter.
If your reasons for playing are to win, then you've gotta take the baggage that comes with that, namely that there are people that sink a lot of resources, both financial and time-wise, into testing and tuning decks. If you're playing for casual fun, then it's okay to have a 40-50% win percentage (Or look into Commander. I'm a Draft and budget Commander player myself. I watch content, but wouldn't touch a Standard or Modern tournament with a 10-foot pole). If you're looking for balance on a budget, then netdecking until you're good enough to leverage the skills to brew is a concession you'll need to make.
February 9, 2019 3:06 p.m.
triproberts12 says... #7
Oh, also, if your brews aren't doing it, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Take it from me, personally. I made some tweaks to my druid tribal Tatyova deck that I love and have had success with at my LGS and got it selected for viewer-submitted decks week for Commander Clash at MTGGoldfish. One Spirit of the Labyrinth later, it did absolutely nothing in front of 35,000 viewers, and I seriously had to question my deckbuilding skills over neglecting to include creature removal. So, yep. Just remember that next time you feel embarrassed :D
February 9, 2019 3:28 p.m.
hydrothermia says... #8
That's the thing, I don't expect to go 4-0 even with an optimal deck build. I make enough misplays to know that it could cost me a game and that doesn't bother me. My mistakes I can handle.
I was annoyed at the time when I posted that this morning. I've slept and have cooled down since. I know it isn't the best thing to do when you're annoyed about things not going your way. I know I'm very middle of the road as a player and trying to make sub-optimal builds work don't exactly help my case. I have good ideas, they just don't execute well most of the time. (lol)
So yeah, I apologize again subjecting you to my frustration this morning. Thanks for reading it and giving me some advice along the way.
February 9, 2019 7:46 p.m. Edited.
I dont netdeck myself, and have been known to push the youbger guys at our place to build their own decks themselves.
That being said for a homebrew to work, it does need to be built very well plus adjusted to the metagame or else it will fail miserably.
Best of luck good sir, dont let it keep you down. Eventually ul fill in the gaps in ur brews and they will be good to compete!
Good plays and a well built deck will bring more top 8's than anything else
February 10, 2019 1:26 a.m.
back in my heyday here I would often use the site's playtester to playtest my deck vs any same format decks in the queue, which led me to playing maindeck Grafdigger's Cage to a gp grinder finals split (I didn't want to go and he was willing to split everything but the byes to me). The best way to get better at mtg is to play mtg in a way where you can analyze each play and take the time to think about how strong each card can be in an average match up. Hell while you're at it think about the other user's decks and give advice, write why you think a card choice would be good for them, once you can really do that well you will probably find your ability to play and brew decks jump dramatically (or be able to defend playing Peek in w/u modern control).
Pieguy396 says... #2
What deck are you playing? I feel like that's probably relevant to any discussion of how to fix your problems.
February 9, 2019 9:53 a.m.