New Years resolutions are stupid.
It logically makes no sense.
If you really wanted to accomplish something that you truly cared about, why would you want to wait to do it? Just go after it as soon as you realize you
want it.
When I decided to make a run for the Players’ Championship, I started the day I realized I could do it. Fast forward a year, and I’m solidly on the
Players’ Championship leaderboard, but the work is far from over.
This was the first year where I really set out and made a push to do some real damage. This was also the first year where I actively honed my skillset
while also detaching myself from nonsense like colors, cards, or decks. If I’m going to win tournaments, then I can’t pigeonhole myself into the same thing
every time. I need to be willing to do what it takes, no matter what. More importantly, I did my best to learn from the players that I knew were willing to
teach me, without judgment. Often times, discussions will happen for the sole purpose of the ever-static basis of right and wrong. I don’t learn anything
from that. Magic is too dynamic of a game to always treat right and wrong as law, and you’re doing yourself a disservice to lock yourself into that
mindset.
So I began talking to the Roanoke players more, as the respect we have for each other is, in my mind, very high, and they’re some of the few players I can
comfortably talk to with the intention to grow, not to prove myself. I traveled with, and spent more time around Players’ Championship competitors Ross
Merriam and Jim Davis, as their drive to succeed is far beyond most players I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to see what they did to attain that drive. I took
a long, hard look at myself, and asked myself: “Who am I?”
I’m someone with a chip on my shoulder.
Many of you may not know this about me, but my confidence in Magic has always been very, very low. In many competitive ventures I’ve participated in, I’ve
always been the guy that never really knew what he was doing, who was only there because someone else needed someone to practice with, or the guy who
always got close but couldn’t get the job done. I wanted to prove that I could work as hard as anyone else, and that I wasn’t just some random player. I
felt the same way about writing. I didn’t want to just be someone that had nothing to say about the game. I wanted to be the best writer I could be and
work my way up until my voice could be heard. I wanted to be a positive influence among the northeast, and have an impact on the community.
This year, I felt that I was able to become that influence, and I’ve made very long strides toward improving my writing. I haven’t necessarily spent more
time on my writing, but I’ve spent my time in a much smarter manner, and as a result, I’m able to get my points across more easily and be more direct and
to-the-point than I used to be.
That said, I’m definitely set on achieving a lot of goals for 2015.
As a writer, my primary focus is to continue giving you the absolute best content I can give, each and every week, right here on this very site. I know
that I’m not the most well-known player on the Open Series, nor am I the most skilled among our fantastic group of writers, but I will promise that I will
work harder than ever before. I have the privilege of writing for the best Magic content website in the world, and it would be a disservice to them,
myself, and all of you if I gave less than 100% with every word that’s published.
I will do a better job at putting my thoughts out there in a clearer manner. I know that the not-so-hot pieces I’ve written ( The PTQ Experience being the big standout) have this problem. If
you noticed my writing as of late, they may seem a tad shorter at times. This is because I’m trying to be more concise and accurate, and less scattered and
all over the place. I take my writing extremely seriously, and the last thing I want is to have pieces I’m unhappy with. That said, one of the biggest
things I need to work on is not trying to write for everyone. Let’s face it, a lot of people like my work, and a lot of people don’t. Trying to convince
those that don’t like my work to like it is something I simply shouldn’t do. The reason doesn’t, and shouldn’t, ever matter, and focusing on the
destructive negatives instead of the positives and constructive negatives is just not worth it.
As a player, there’s a lot on the table.
The first plan is pretty simple: make better decisions.
I’m going to force myself to work on all of the holes in my game and do a better job at all of my decision making, both inside and outside the game. I used
to wonder how my strong starts would turn into blunders and how I would come up short so often, but now I realize that a good number of those blunders and
short finishes were decided before the tournament even started. No longer will I pigeonhole myself into a deck because it’s in my range. Instead, I’m going
to expand my range. No longer will I try and justify a reckless card choice play because I’m known to do that. Instead, I’ll start being more focused and
spend more thought on the best thing I can come up with. Speaking of “best,” this doesn’t mean I’m going to try to be perfect. Why? Because perfect doesn’t
exist. Perfect is something that we use to make ourselves believe that the unattainable is attainable, and I don’t believe in that stuff. Every single
player in Magic’s history has strengths and weaknesses, and instead of trying to be this fictitious deity of a Magic master, I’m going to be the best
Anthony Lowry that I can be and surround myself with players that have that mutual drive to help each other be the best “each other.”
I’m so set on wanting to get better, that I may consider leaving New York City to be closer to Roanoke. I’ve thought about it before, but now that I’m
actually getting somewhere, I feel that the biggest hurdle is actually being around that group with the aforementioned mutual drive, and there’s no better
group than the players down in Virginia. Period. Does it sound like a major move to make? Of course it does, but when you want something bad enough, you’ll
do almost anything for it. I’ve grown up in New York City my entire life, but it’s simply not where I should be if I want to accomplish my goals. There are
very few players on the Open Series circuit that want to succeed as much as I do, and by being in that kind of environment, things become much more
feasible.
Second: have a better attitude.
I’m generally easy going, a giant ball of positive energy, and laid back at events. The problem is when that carries over to inside of a game. It’s not
that I shouldn’t be that way, but there’s a point where it takes away from my focus and effort, and that’s where I need to fix things. This happens a lot
when I’m in round one or top 8. Outside a match, I want to maintain the same personable and upbeat attitude, but I also want to find better ways to
decompress and wind down after matches and tournaments. After a tense match or day, I haven’t always been the best at interacting with others. We all have
our bad times, and trying to fix it before the next match or tournament is one of the main objectives.
Inside a match, I’m going to do my best to be all business. I will treat every match like it’s the most important match of my career, not only because
it’ll help my mindset long term, but also because it’s partially true. If I’m going to have any chance at making the Players’ Championship next year, I’m
going to have to buckle down and fight for every single point. Put simply, I have to want it more than everyone else and let whatever happens happen. The
players that got to the Players’ Championship didn’t get there by “whatever-ing” their way there, they busted their ass for it, and contrary to popular
belief, even minor leaguers know what it takes to get to the top of their game.
Last but not least: push myself every day.
Believe me when I tell you this: there are days where I’ll wake up in a hotel room, the day of a tournament, and tell myself: “I don’t want to do this
anymore.” But I have to. I know that some may think that Magic shouldn’t feel like a job, that it should be fun. Well, for me, things aren’t fun unless they feel like a job. I love the feeling of working hard at something I love, and that “blood, sweat, and tears” view is what I live for. I
enjoy Magic much more when I’m putting my all into it, and that also doubles as a preventative measure for being upset with the game too much. Mana screw,
flood, and unlucky breaks don’t affect you nearly as much when you’re constantly aware of the fact that you’re fortunate enough to play the game in the
first place. The ups and downs and ins and outs of every Open, IQ, and Invitational is something I wouldn’t ever want to leave. The Open Series is my home,
and I would never want to give my home anything but my all, 24/7.
So, what are your magical plans for 2015?