Most of the writers for StarCityGames.com are either professionals or hardcore Magic grinders, devoting many hours a week to play, scanning the metagame, and pushing the limits of what a deck can do. Most of the site’s readers, by contrast, are more like me: time-strapped and struggling to get better, with Fearless Magical Inventories that have entries in the triple digits—as long as they’re being honest. If you’re one of them and you’re looking for the secret technique that delivers instant tournament-winning Magic results, I’m sorry to say there isn’t one. If there were, I would’ve found it and used it by now! There is only one way to achieve an honest, long-term increase in Magic skill: play more Magic and focus on perfecting your play.
Long-Term: Practice and Aim for Perfect
That’s the core of Next Level Magic and every other sensible plan for developing as a Magic player. Start small. Find the hour of your life you wish you could have back every week—maybe you have an epiphany that you haven’t enjoyed a performance on American Idol since Jason Castro sang "Hallelujah"—and play a match of Magic. If you don’t want to carve out too much time for Magic, I can understand that; in an average week, I spend more time writing about Magic and researching original illustrations for the game than I do actually playing. All the same, you need to understand the choice you’re making. I don’t walk up to a StarCityGames.com Standard Open or a Pro Tour Qualifier expecting to win, and if you choose not to spend time perfecting your Magic, you shouldn’t either. Tournament Magic doesn’t work that way. Even Jon Finkel needs to test for Pro Tours if he wants to do well.
Short-Term: Nine Techniques for Immediate Improvement
While long-term improvement is the single best assurance of better tournament results in the future, even if you’re a new player, there are plenty of small adjustments you can make to do better at the your Magic event. (If you’re more experienced these adjustments may be familiar to you, but it never hurts to get a reminder.) Though I’ve played for almost a decade now, I’m still one of the weaker competitors among the Pro Tour Qualifier players in my region. Even so, I had one of my better PTQ results this past Saturday, going 4-3 with a loss in the last round as I was playing for consolation packs. Every match I played was decided by at least one clear mistake—either mine or my opponent’s. There was also an important decision I made before I sat down for my first round.
Before the Tournament: Play the Deck You Know…
Elite players such as Brian Kibler or Patrick Chapin can pick up a deck and pilot it relatively efficiently with minimal practice. I’m not one of those players. Chances are you aren’t, either. In Constructed, you probably have one or two decks for a specific format that you know; in Limited, you may have a preferred Draft color combination or archetype. Until you’re at a high level of skill, the friend saying, "I made this sweet deck last night and you should play it!" is a trap, and if you fall into it you’re less likely to make it to the top tables. Stick with the deck you know for now and practice with that "sweet deck" for next week.
Of the top decks in Modern, I’m most experienced with Artifact Aggro (the deck formerly known as Affinity), and I played a version of it at the PTQ, switching out Etched Champion (good at breaking through stalemates but weak to sweepers such as Day of Judgment) for an old favorite that was banned in Standard but is still legal in Modern.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Arcbound Ravager
- 4 Disciple of the Vault
- 4 Ornithopter
- 4 Steel Overseer
- 4 Memnite
- 4 Signal Pest
- 4 Vault Skirge
Lands (15)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
I got a little too greedy with the maindeck and was wrong on the sideboard; the deck needs at least one more land in place of a nonland card, probably for a Disciple of the Vault, to avoid the majority of awkward "double Disciple of the Vault with no Arcbound Ravager in sight" hands. The sideboard is even more questionable, particularly Torpor Orb against Splinter Twin decks. (Note to self: the Twin player likely is boarding in Ancient Grudge. You might want to think about that!) On the balance, though, I was closer than usual to an optimized deck, and the Disciple of the Vault cards largely pulled their weight.
On to the tournament! When the mistakes are others’ those players have been left nameless; I’m not out to name-and-shame anyone.
Round One: …and Know the Deck You Play
My first opponent on the day was an Affinity pilot. It was, in his words, "The seventh time [he’d] ever played Magic," and he made the further claim that when he learned he’d been under the influence of an illegal substance. I was skeptical when he said it before the match, but not after. He made many grave mistakes over two games in which he outdrew me on threats but didn’t know how to play with them, including forgetting modular triggers on his Arcbound Ravager in the first game. When he binned his Ravager and immediately passed the turn, I asked to see the card, silently noted the "may" part of the modular ability, passed the card back to my opponent, and untapped to go on my way. (Had we been playing at Regular rules enforcement I would’ve reminded him of the Modular trigger, but at a Competitive-level PTQ I’m not inclined to help any player beat me.)
After the match I worked with him, giving him some pointers on playing Affinity and explaining why I didn’t remind him of his Arcbound Ravager trigger. We had more time for that than I expected because a match went to extra turns involving a player piloting Eggs. A 20-minute single turn aggravated most of the other players in the PTQ and kept a small group of Girl Scouts from selling cookies at the site. His slow pace of winning (note that I did not say "slow play") alerted the rest of the field to his deck and ensured additional judge scrutiny for the rest of the tournament. If you decide to play a technically complex deck like Eggs, please know your deck cold and play quickly enough that you can finish a three-game round in time. The rest of the PTQ thanks you (and is less likely to call a judge to watch you for slow play before you take your first turn).
Round Two: Let Go of the Bad Losses
Harold was playing Splinter Twin, a deck he admitted he hadn’t piloted in a tournament before that Saturday. The first game wasn’t particularly interesting, with his second, third, and fourth turns seeing Spellskite, Deceiver Exarch, Splinter Twin; nor was the second, where a Combust stalled his plans (and took him by surprise). The third game, though, was vicious. I had a Combust, but he used his second turn to Ancient Grudge my source of red mana and followed it up with the Deceive Exarch-Splinter Twin combination.
It was a frustrating way to lose, but I’ve learned to let go of losses like that and focus on the next match. Another player at the same PTQ was far more emotional about his losses; we were at identical 1-1 records, but he was ranting about his deck and his terrible luck to anyone who would listen. He has genuine talent for the game and qualified for the last U.S. Nationals, but if he loses early in a tournament it’s hard for him to rebound. I wish I could help him relax and let go of his matches, but he needs to do it for himself.
Round Three: Slow Down at the Critical Moment
My opponent was piloting Esper control, and I knew his reputation as a cagey and control-oriented player so I was ready for an aggro-on-control fight. In the first game I won the die roll, which was critical to a fast start that included a Memnite, an Ornithopter, a Signal Pest, and a Disciple of the Vault. After a couple of turns of beatdown interrupted only by a Cranial Plating meeting countermagic, I ended a turn with those creatures in play, two untapped copies of Inkmoth Nexus, and my opponent at seven life. He untapped, played a Hallowed Fountain at the cost of two life, tapped out, and slammed Day of Judgment directly into his graveyard.
"Stop."
I coaxed the Day of Judgment out of the graveyard, activated each Inkmoth Nexus with Day of Judgment on the stack, and let Disciple of the Vault triggers drain all of his life away. It was a nice try on his part. He knew that his only chance at a win was a trick, rushing me into forgetting the Inkmoth Nexus activations or Disciple of the Vault triggers, but I was ready for it.
After the match, he clued me into the mistake that had cost him the first game: he had Path to Exile in his hand but had chosen to fight over Cranial Plating instead. Had he used Path to Exile on the Signal Pest, he would’ve taken less damage over the turns I was attacking and would’ve been able to establish control.
When the game reaches a critical moment, stop and think. It’s a good habit to always maintain a certain guard and never get in a routine of saying "OK" to anything an opponent does, because it’s too easy to get carried away and agree to a spell resolution or attack that loses you the game. At critical moments, such as the Day of Judgment, slowing down is vital. If you find yourself letting down your guard in games, learn to build it up, and don’t be afraid to pause and think when the game is on the line.
Unfortunately for my opponent, he had to mulligan to four in our second game, and all he played was a Creeping Tar Pit. At least he had a good reason to keep a one-land hand in that game…
Round Four: Tighten Up on Mulligans
…because my opponent in round four, playing a clever R/U Counterburn-style deck, lost the match when he said "keep" with a one-land hand in the first game. He had a Goblin Guide and a little early burn for action, but by the time he drew a second land I had the game locked up. We played two more close games with me taking the third, but it never should’ve reached that point.
How often do you keep a one-land hand or other mana-light hand with the mindset that if you draw another land you’ll get there? Have you done the math on your likelihood of drawing another land? Unless you’re playing a land-heavy deck (by which I mean at least 28 lands), if you have a one-land hand you have a sub-50% chance of your next card being a land and about a 25% chance of there being no land in your top two cards.
Even with a deck with 27 lands in it you’re looking at at least a 50% chance of missing a land drop on the play and a 25% or so chance of missing one on the draw! Stumble there, and unless your opponent has kept a bad hand, you’re unlikely to recover in time.
I considered my opponent the better all-around player, and he understood the principles of the matchup far better than I did. I figured a deck full of counterspells, card drawing, and burn was favored against a deck where the most common creature toughness was one. Yet with a single careless keep of a hand he should’ve mulliganed, he threw the match away.
Round Five: Consider Your Deck’s Weaknesses
For the fifth round I was paired against Robert, a strong player who’s participated in the last two Pro Tours. Like my second-round opponent he was piloting Splinter Twin, and he was far more dangerous with the deck. Game one was uninteresting; I cleared out a Deceiver Exarch and Splinter Twin in one go with a well-timed Galvanic Blast, but he had redundant pieces and set up a kill two turns later. The second game, I lost due to my own carelessness. I saw this hand:
Galvanic Blast
Memnite
Signal Pest
Vault Skirge
Inkmoth Nexus
Springleaf Drum
Springleaf Drum
I kept. It was shaky, but I reasoned it would be better than my average six and I had a burn spell to go with my Signal Pest-assisted beatdown. What could go wrong?
Firespout. I try not to show too much emotion while playing, but that one merited a grimace.
Not only did Robert clear my board with his Firespout, he also cut off my access to red mana. After drawing two consecutive copies of Disciple of the Vault, I watched Robert cast Deceiver Exarch and flash Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. He had the mana, and I had the handshake.
That hand had a lot of tension between deploying creatures to win in a timely fashion and holding a creature in reserve to deal with a sweeper or Ancient Grudge. I overcommitted, not realizing how much damage Firespout would do to my position, and I paid the price.
Round Six: Don’t Give Up on a Match
At 3-2 I was out of running for the single-elimination rounds, but still alive for packs. My opponent for round six was another Affinity pilot, clearly bummed about losing his last round. My Disciple of the Vault draw didn’t help his mood any, as he soon was down a game. After sideboarding, my opponent glanced at his seven-card hand, shrugged, and kept. Once we were underway, my first several creatures were burned out by copies of Galvanic Blast, but in the meantime, I landed a Cranial Plating on the battlefield while he had no genuinely threatening cards. When a Vault Skirge stuck around and picked up the Plating, the life totals swung my way and soon my opponent was dead.
As we signed the match slip, I asked him if he’d had all the copies of Galvanic Blast at the start, and he had. He’d kept a hand that he knew didn’t have a long-term way to win. That intrigued me, and I asked him why he’d kept it if he knew it didn’t have a future. His answer: "I don’t know… I guess I gave up."
If you give up on a match, you won’t win it. It’s that simple.
Round Seven: Stay Focused While Sideboarding
I went on autopilot this match, which was entirely my fault. What’s worse is that I did it against Wes, a smart guy who’s considerably stronger than I am. He was playing U/R Tron, and while I got him to one life in the first game, I’ll refer you to Adrian Sullivan observation that if you get an opponent down to one life and lose, you probably made a mistake. I’m not sure where my mistake was, and even after Emrakul, the Aeons Torn put its tentacles all over me I still had a chance to win by drawing a Galvanic Blast, but I didn’t get it done.
I went to the sideboard and made a crucial mistake. I boarded in Blood Moon (not great against U/R Tron with its Through the Breach plan, but not terrible), and…Grafdigger’s Cage.
That was the dumbest thing I did all day. Grafdigger’s Cage is decent against U/W Tron, where Gifts Ungiven for Unburial Rites and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is a legitimate threat, but what was I doing sideboarding the Cages in against U/R Tron when I had Thoughtseize available to strip cards from the hand? It was completely indefensible, and even though I didn’t draw a Grafdigger’s Cage in our second game, which ended much like our first, there’s no excuse.
It’s easy to lose focus while sideboarding, whether chatting with one’s opponent or going on autopilot and thinking, "Oh, Tron! I’ll sideboard X, Y, and Z." Think through your sideboarding and ask yourself why you’re bringing in a card and how it’s better than the card you’re removing to make room for it. You have three minutes to sideboard, shuffle, and present your deck. Take a few seconds to make sure you’re not making a mistake.
After the Tournament: Break It Down
Go back through your notes and review your performance. Where did you make the right play? When did you keep a weak hand instead of mulliganing? Your notes don’t have to be as exhaustive as what I’ve written here, but as long as you’re honest with yourself taking the time for a tournament postmortem is one of the best ways to improve your play.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some short-term adjustments you can make to improve your game. The StarCityGames.com Open Series is coming to Dallas/Fort Worth this weekend, and I’m looking to defend my Draft Open title. If you’re going, check out my local’s guide from last year—the "Entertainment" section and specific tournament dates are obsolete, but everything else should be good information. Maybe I’ll see you there!
As always, thanks for reading.
— JDB
@jdbeety on Twitter