At the start of the year I put together an article with my ambition for the year – not a very lofty one of making 1600 in Constructed and consequently raising my Composite rating to 1600. Okay, we all start at 1600 but my ranking had plummeted and I wanted a degree of respectability.
The year didn’t start too well as my plans for a discard-based deck failed to show any degree of consistency despite regular testing and a couple of upgrades along the line. Sure I saw Black Rack Discard decks on the MTGO Top 20 but my deck failed to work consistently.
So first off I needed a deck to compete with the best of the best. Looking around I couldn’t find a net-deck that suited my style of play and decided that I needed something more personal, something that would make me feel like I had achieved something as well. I decided that Martyr – Proclamation was a solid strategy but couldn’t face playing the blue aspect so switched in red for burn. By playing Red White the deck is not so much Boros Deck Wins but a hybrid of Firemane Angel Control and Martyr Proclamation. After some more work I had alternate win strategies that worked in synergy with the deck: Debtors Knell and Adarkar Valkyrie, and so I was happy.
Only problem was now where to play the deck. The answer came when I had to take some holidays before I lost them at the end of the holiday year. I decided that some Friday Night Magic was called for, so off to Scarborough it was and as reported previously I had a decent day with two wins and a draw proving the deck not only worked but it could work against decent players. Whilst at the event I spoke to the TO as I was undecided whether to do a GP trial or local shop Extended event. I was convinced I didn’t have the card base, especially the fetch lands, for the Extended event. He advised me to play with shock lands anyway as it sounded like very few others would have a similar deck so the playing field would be level. This time I didn’t really build my own deck, I found what Extended Cards I had and it soon became apparent I had the makings of a Boros Deck Wins/Zoo deck but needed a few more cards to make it work. I speculated on a few commons and uncommons to raise the profile of the deck and substituted in other cards with similar cards from the current sets e.g. Magus of the Scroll for Grim Lavamancer. It wasn’t perfect but I also knew something of the local player base in that they would be also missing a few key cards. I switched a few cards around to fit in with local game plan making Armadillo Cloak main deck and Molten Rain sideboard as it was less likely to be effective and the life gain from shock lands had hurt in testing. The deck was ready to roll and so was my Standard deck for its second trip out. After much haggling, whinging and a united front from the local magic scene we managed to get two events per day at the store to make the day more enjoyable. When you only have eight to ten players turning up you need to be inventive to get a full day’s play.
And so onto the Lincoln double header. The Extended deck managed to hold its own and the Standard deck likewise. Five wins and one draw for the day and the ranking shot up, 47 points in one day and a smile on my face. I had envisioned a long haul gaining a few points per event but now I could see my goal closing in fast. The best surprise though was when my Composite ranking hit 1601, so my goal was two thirds complete just two months into the year. Regular testing and finding decks that fit your playing style is certainly key to anyone’s success. A net deck helped me for Extended whilst it was a homebrew deck for Standard. Advice is always helpful but sometimes you have to go at what you feel is right for you.
The following weekend was a weekend off sanctioned magic but that didn’t mean the calendar was empty as we were off to Scunthorpe for two TS TS PC drafts for the latest Mox Radio event. Whilst another article will have covered this event in more detail they key point to come out of the day was that from being a player who struggled to win in an environment with better players I was holding my own – not only did I Top Eight, I even managed to push into the Top 4. Indeed if I hadn’t been mana screwed two games in a row maybe I would have been able to go for the big prize. The event did provide me with something we all need: confidence. The fact that I was playing against players with significantly higher rankings and consistently beating them all day shows good progress.
We headed to Lincoln the following weekend for what promised to be a very long day. Our local TO had a WOW Regional to run and so had booked his backup venue as the shop would be too full. As a result Magic had been reinstated on the calendar and better still we had a choice of events pre-sanctioned: Standard, Extended and Block. We have all arrived early and have our decks to hand. First off is Standard, then we go at Block for the first time and round the day off with three rounds of Extended. It has to be said that nine rounds of Magic is a first in a long time and by the time we hit game 9 my head was a shed. This was the first time when I have really suffered with fatigue playing Magic, my play in the last match was suspect at best and I know I made plenty of mistakes just from being both physically and mentally tired. The day went well for me in my opinion as was 2-1 in each event for an overall 6-3 record.
And so the following Wednesday and an early morning log on to the DCI. I look at my match history and there are some steady gains – 1606 after last Extended Game. OMG, that’s my goals achieved and it’s only March. Of course keeping the rating is another matter entirely as if I can gain points that quickly I may lose them as well.
So where do I go from here? Yeah I want to win Nationals and then become World Champion in December! No, seriously everything has to be taken in steps and I want goals that are achievable. My limited rating peaked last year at PTQ Geneva in Bradford as midway through the day hit 1650, prior to that I had a lowest ranking of 1478 and highest of 1652 (mid-way through my first sanctioned event I was flying at Sealed Deck). My Constructed rating was once 1486 after having a 1-5 day at Doncaster in December 1997, well I had a few of those back then but early on I had a 1663 ranking as I finished the day 4-2 in Doncaster in January 1997. May help to explain why I dropped the game as at one stage boy was I having a bad time of it. My goals are going to be quite modest, firstly get above my previous best rankings and maintain them before pushing on towards the 1700 barrier.
This may well be hard as it will mean playing to a standard I haven’t achieved before but is something I want to shoot at. It may also be an issue that with only so many local events it can be hard to keep gaining points, especially in a play group that hardly changes, so I may have to go farther afield and have a bit of consistency by the times the high K value events come around. The first part of my trip was relatively easy as the majority of my opponents had slightly better ratings than myself, so I could rely on gaining more for my wins than I would lose on my losses, locally my rating has entered that of the decent players, and by winning Store Events and the Planar Chaos Pre-release I am a local target, I am taken as a serious opponent and mistakes from opponents now are pretty rare as they know I will exploit them. I still remember a recent Extended event where Nick P was surprised to see the change in my play from fun casual on a Wednesday to a ruthless machine come Saturday at the tournament after Sudden Shocking his Atog and then burning away his other creature to allow my creatures to come through unstopped.
What I would like to say in conclusion is that no matter how bad a player you think you are, you can improve and you can get to be respected by your peers. I may never make the Pro Tour and I will probably still get flamed/trolled for my opinions as I don’t have an 1800+ rating and I’m not a member of cliquey playgroup. But be warned, I have had my moments in the sun at PTQs etc. and like the FA Cup Giant Killers, on my day I can put ANYONE to the sword and take 32 of your points home with me J.
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