Before we even begin:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 3 Polukranos, World Eater
- 1 Arbor Colossus
- 3 Voyaging Satyr
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 3 Genesis Hydra
- 4 Rattleclaw Mystic
- 4 Whisperwood Elemental
- 3 Shaman of the Great Hunt
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (24)
Spells (2)
I received a pretty awesome amount of comments and PMs regarding my PTQ win last week, so I wanted to thank all of you for that. The support blew me away,
and as always I was humbled by it.
The other half of you asked about a decklist I alluded to: the G/R Monsters deck that my buddy Brennan built and piloted to put himself and our friend Paul
in the Top 8 of that event.
Well I’m glad to say that Brennan spread the love around a little bit for SCG Regionals in Orlando, FL this past Saturday, and his list put three people in
the Top 8. Not only is this deck the real deal, but it’s crushing the Florida metagame. Brennan gave me the go ahead to post it so you all finally had the
list that he’s been so ridiculously dominant with.
So…
Enjoy!
This week I wanted to talk about a pretty nifty revelation that I’ve had recently. It might seem elementary to some players, but for me it was either a
blessing or a rude awakening. Perhaps the two are entwined. Bad joke #1.
I’ve spent the last few weeks talking with players much better than myself. Since returning to Magic a few months ago, I feel like I’m actually playing
much better than I was before my break. My plays are more thought out, I have better reasoning, and my lines are giving me a legitimate shot to win games
that I previously wouldn’t have been able to. It’s a good feeling.
One of those friends gave me a bit of advice that I’ve been turning about in my head, and I’d like to share it with you. It’s going to be the theme of our
talk today.
Me:
“I think it’s crazy that I’m going to the Pro Tour. It’ll probably start to sink in while I’m watching the coverage this weekend. I just never thought
I’d do it with an aggro deck. Always thought it would be control or midrange.”
Him: “You ever think you’ve been doing it wrong this whole time?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Him: “You played an aggro deck in a PTQ for the first time and won it. Maybe you’ve been playing the wrong kind of decks for years.”
Wait, what?
This led me down a strange road.
When I look at the decks I’ve done well with over the years, the list is pretty clear:
- Jund
- Solar Flare
- Jeskai Control
- Frites
- Jund (again)
- Junk Rites
- U/W Control
- So Much U/W Control
Realistically the only deck I’ve played in years that relied on attacking someone to death was Frites, but that was more of an adorable combo deck. Mostly
I’ve just fallen back on midrange strategies or control decks.
That was me.
That was my style.
That was the kind of player I am- er…was. That was the kind of player I was.
Success, even on the small scale of just winning that Pro Tour Qualifier after years of trying, has been great for putting things deep in perspective for
me.
Him: “You played an aggro deck in a PTQ for the first time and won it. Maybe you’ve been playing the wrong kind of decks for years.”
Even small levels of doing can skew the way that we think about things. I won a lot with Jund, so I was stupid enough to play Jund for a year. Not because
it was the best deck (although it was fantastic) but because I was too worried that if I played something else I’d lose. I Top 8’d some PTQs with Solar
Flare, so I was stupid enough to play Solar Flare for a year. Not because it was the best deck (although it was fantastic) but because I was too worried
that if I played something else I’d lose.
Do you notice a pattern?
What I want to bring you today is a cure for my failures and how I gained a deeper understanding of how to be a better Magic player.
My First Change: Think About It. Deeply. Then Forget It.
How many of you, or your friends, said that you’re a particular kind of player?
“I’m a control player at heart.”
“I only like midrange decks.”
“Mountain Mountains Mountains Mountains burn Mountains.”
This is how we are articulating to others what kind of deck we feel most comfortable playing. Last season I never wanted to be the person making more Pack
Rats, because something about it didn’t feel right. I convinced myself that it felt wrong. I told myself casting Sphinx’s Revelations is what felt right. I
had moderate success with Revelation, so I made it clear in my mind that doing anything else was wrong.
That was inherently a flawed reason to keep playing a deck that, in most scenarios, was almost certainly worse than Mono-Black Devotion. There were a lot
of times where it was a fine choice, but on average, it wasn’t as good.
The biggest improvement that I’ve made recently is no longer labeling myself any kind of player.
I’m not a control player.
I’m not a midrange player.
I’m not an aggro player.
As of now I am just a Magic player.
This reasoning means that no stone is going to go unturned as I continue to try to improve. I won’t just play the best deck for me, but instead
I’ll play what I feel is the best deck regardless of what it is. This is going to help open me up to an entirely new world of Magic. I’ll learn multiple
avenues, and I hope that you’ll put down the notions of “this is the player that I am” and adopt “this is the player that I could be.”
My Second Change: People Want to Be Told What to Do So Badly That They’ll Listen to Anyone
The problem with Magic players is that they suck at listening.
The even bigger problem with Magic players is that they suck at giving advice.
A game like Magic offers us line after line after line to take when a play occurs. This means that there is thought process after thought process after
thought process involved when figuring out which is the correct one. No two players will think alike, and often you’ll hear the usual “you should have done
this” from the antagonist while the protagonist says “no, this is why I did it” and the two find no common ground except that each thinks that they are
right.
I have a very select group of players that I know I can bounce ideas off of, discuss plays, or ask advice from, and they’ll give the straightest answer
possible. I’ll absorb their honesty and project it outward in the next match that I play on my opponent.
A month ago I played a very tight matchup against Steve Mann at a PTQ while I was piloting Abzan. His W/U Heroic deck, which he felt unstoppable with,
locked us in to a reasonably tight game 3 that I was able to win. I was mentally exhausted from the game and after I walked away from the table and turned
in the slip, I started talking to another W/U Heroic dynamo, Logan Mize.
Me: “That was a tough game.”
Logan: “Ya, it was a good win, although I think you played the last few turns of game 3 very poorly.”
Who the hell did this guy think he was? I just beat a hard matchup piloted by one of the most talented players on the Open Circuit.
But then he explained to me what I could have done differently. I didn’t argue. I just listened.
He was right.
My lines were too conservative, and I left too many doors open for Steve to climb back in a game I should have won more convincingly.
Out there, somewhere, whether you may know them or not- there is a player that can do this for you. They can help reinvent the way that you think or
approach a game. They can give you insights and information at the cost of your pride and ego.
One thing that I’ve began to do is breaking down the constructs that I’ve built because they were wrecking my perceptions about what decks to play and what
kind of player I was.
Taking in information from better players than yourself, what they play, and how they come to their conclusions, is how you stand the best chance of
becoming something more than what you are- than what we are. We are no longer sealed vessels, but leaky ships that need patching.
My Third Change: Even Though Success Is a Reality, Its Effects Are Temporary
Shedding off the pounds that success can add to your head is difficult. There are always those people who are quick to remind you of the things they’ve
done in the past. We’re all guilty of it. I’ve done it plenty.
However, the next step is understanding that a past success may be a barrier to a future victory. Up until winning my invite to Brussels, I had Abzan
Control sleeved up. I tested it. I ran through the motions with it. I was ready to battle with it.
Then I got drunk at dinner, said screw it, and put R/W Aggro in my deck box, lent out Abzan to Bronson Magnan, and put myself up the creek without a
paddle. Fallbacks are garbage. Something is usually put on the backburner because it’s worse than what you have in front of you. Letting it simmer won’t
make it more delicious.
A huge step forward is letting go of the past and making sure it stays there. Focusing on what a format offers now and what decks give you the best chance
to win is exactly how you’ll do well rather than saying “I’ve played U/W in every format it was a deck.” How many of those formats reaped fruit, or how
many of them saw you getting frustrated?
Experimentation is key.
Expansion of parameters is success.
You’ll find a winner, even if it’s not what you were looking for when the journey started.
Bonus Content! Weekly Spotlight!
Weekly Spotlight took a small break last week so I could recount the seriousness and importance (to me at least) of what happened.
But we’re back!
This week I received an interesting inclusion to the Weekly Spotlight family. They invoked a name that many players hold sacred to Magic, so any
comparisons to it could be very dangerous in the eyes of the community.
“New Delver.”
Creatures (14)
Lands (24)
Spells (22)
As just straight U/W, Andrea is looking to out-tempo his opponent with cheap creatures like Brimaz and Seeker while holding down the board with an
underplayed star in Void Snare. It plays a lot of cards that fill up the graveyard and give you fuel for Treasure Cruise. I also like how you can parlay
your little creatures or soldier tokens into Wingmate Roc. This deck can also protect the important critters with Valorous Stance.
The sideboard is a lot of what you’d expect, but one card I love is Ephara. Against midrange opponents you can play creatures, draw cards, and even flash
in Raise the Alarm tokens to draw even more cards. Spear of Heliod can do a lot of work as well to kill Siege Rhinos and also pump your army.
Like this deck? Have changes you’d make? Let us know! Have your own deck you’d like to see in Weekly Spotlight? Message me on Facebook or also post them
along with any other questions you have.
I hope today gave you a lot to think about. Like Don Draper said: “I’m just glad this is an environment where you feel free to fail.”
We can fail together, but that’s going to make our successes that much sweeter.
This is how we reinvent the wheel and ourselves.