I’ve been playing Magic for quite some time now, being back since March 2006 but previously playing between Fallen Empires 1994/5 and Tempest 1997/8. My first events back were a pair of local events where I had mixed fortunes building two of my own decks, the first being a black white deck with discard and the second a black blue control of my own making. However, results were mixed but considering they were the first few games back I was pleased. The following Sunday I became part of the ‘in-crowd’ as I mentioned in passing that I was going to head to the Dissension Pre-Release in Doncaster, at which point I had two new friends looking for lifts and I had someone else contributing to my expenses. Now during this time I didn’t have too many cards and was mirroring my current card pool online to be able to run my deck(s). I was actually happy as I had been winning matches and learning to play again.
Then my friend suggested we go to some Nationals Qualifiers and I decided that it would be fun. I was wrong, it was torture as far from enjoying myself I was being outplayed at every opportunity and losing ranking points at a rapid rate of knots. I even went 0-3 before dropping at Doncaster such was my poor performance on the day. Mirror this to just before I left magic I had played a home build Sleight of Mind/Mind Bend white weenie knights deck splashing red using Undiscovered Paradise and Gemstone Mine to run head shot Fireball and other 1 base cost useful spells. You see in the old days you built your own deck and so did your opponents, we didn’t have a resource called the internet truly at our command then to build and test our decks for us. Likewise a Magic tournament used to be fun, we took theme decks, coin toss decks and any other deck we thought might work or would just be fun. Sure we had heard about Ernham and Burn ’em, Necropotence and Turbo Stasis but didn’t know much about the exact decklists. We even had Doncaster Magic in a scout hut with two rooms, with the poorer players in their own mellow, chilled out room where we all had a laugh more often than not. Problem was I was now in a dark place where I struggled to get even a match win some days and I wanted to do well – I had been good in the past so why was I now so poor and not up to speed?
Some reasons spring to mind on reflection: firstly I wasn’t as good as I thought I once was. Whilst now everyone at a tournament has to have some degree of skill, in the old days wives and girlfriends used to play too. Things just weren’t that competitive in the old days whilst now we have the information superhighway and websites not just cram-packed with strategy info but your match history too. Now I can get my rating on a whim and have it updated every Wednesday when I didn’t even know my rating in the past or care to know it. So after coming back on a poor rating I had plummeted to just a shade over 1500, but on reflection when I played casually that rating had been even lower and so I should have counted my blessings.
Things were not right though with my game, as I thought I was improving with two wins, one loss and a draw at the first Coldsnap pre-release and then the next day I went nought and three with a bye making me officially worst player of the day. Something must have clicked though – whilst I didn’t realise it at the time I was able to deduce a lot of what was wrong with my second build which would stand me in good stead for later.
Along came Nationals and some erratic performances to put it mildly. An RGD draft that is best forgotten but a not too shabby Coldsnap draft in grinders. PTQs and 2HG weren’t so good but I had a decent Coldsnap draft for me, as I won a match in knockout. I came home with mixed feelings but got a surprise when ratings came back as they had risen despite an overall losing record. That was the main catalyst as I saw I could make progress and could also beat people with better ratings than myself. I went on what could only be considered as a limited charge as I played Store Team Challenge every weekend for six weeks and had a winning record in all but one event and won one too. My rating was flying and then I went to a PTQ qualifier in Altrincham for Kobe not expecting to do very well but thinking it would be fun. This was to be one of my favourite moments of the year as I went Top 8! My rating smashed through the 1600 barrier for Limited and has stayed clearly above ever since with some more consistent play culminating in a recent Planar Chaos Pre-Release Tournament win. Okay, I still struggle to read signals in draft but my Sealed Deck play is solid and had my first draft side event split this year since my return. These may be modest achievements and to some they are the very least they expect to attain. However, I am trying to take my progress in small steps to keep my feet on the ground. A winning record each event and net points gain seems like common sense to me at my level.
Now this year has put a new focus on my game as whilst my Limited game has without doubt improved the same cannot be said for my Constructed game, though this may in part be due to the lack of events. Since Doncaster stopped I have played in three sanctioned Standard Constructed tournaments in 2006 but with Pre-Releases and release events I’ve only managed to do two events at Constructed. The first the TO forgot to pre-sanction and the second was a Mox Radio unsanctioned event so no points or bonus promo cards for me. This throws up other problems as there is no FNM for me as there are none in the area and nothing within easy reach of home. There have been the PTQs for Extended but without the cards to play or borrow I have been unable to play as I haven’t been too keen on splashing out £100+ for cards I will hardly use, especially with a shiny new set on the way. So I am sat 70 odd points off 1600 with no regular play on the horizon to get my ranking up. Whilst in May & June there are Nationals Qualifiers to look forward to, with only informal testing to prepare myself it could be a long couple of months.
Sure, I have MTGO but sometimes I begrudge spending money for online cards as well as real world cards, despite the obvious benefits. I tried Magic Workstation but strangely couldn’t get the hang of using it. The other problem I have with MTGO is the lack of atmosphere, you can’t really chat and learn as play progresses. If you play in the friendly rooms you tend to not get a true test of your deck and if I play in online events I end up playing someone with a play ability so far above mine I can be destroyed so swiftly I don’t get chance to learn or analyse play.
So how on earth do I intend to get my play better and consequently improve my rating? The first is quite simple really, play more. Every Wednesday night you will find me playing Magic at the local club. Decks have been discarded before they even hit sanctioned play or tuned to run much better when we do play. This plan may not have worked to perfection at Store Team Challenge Finals but thinking back maybe it did. Sure I lost to Daniel Godfrey but hell he is a good player and he went Top 8. The second match I lost to Michael Bungey, who was also playing Ghazi Glare, but his build was better for the mirror, and was the same build that Calum Stephenson took to the final, plus let’s be honest Michael was a couple of hundred ranking points above me. Finally we had match three and the testing certainly helped me to come back with one win against Nigel Barham as time was expiring. Taking the positives from the weekend, testing is vital on so many levels and the familiarity with the deck is also helpful. Too many times last year as we hadn’t many opportunities we’d just turn up with a net-deck and play it with little if any prior play. The week my girlfriend and I were sat away in the Lake District and tested the Snakes deck each night we learnt a bit more about our decks, leading to better plays.
So testing is set in stone to improve our games, though now I need to actually get the ranking points despite limited opportunities to play.
They do say it is Grim Oop North and it certainly is tournament-wise. My limited game is now at a tolerable level which I am constantly improving upon and now spot the mistakes I have made and have also spotted some before I even make them. Now I just need to get my Constructed game together and by extension my composite rating.
It’s 1600 or bust for me …..
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