As you’re learning to play Magic, everything will be new and exciting and you’ll be gaining big chunks of understanding just by playing. You’ll constantly be plugging leaks and adding new skills, all with little to no effort. The more you play the smaller the leaks become, and most of your skills will have already been sharpened. I like to take a holistic approach to improving at Magic. Every bit helps, and the better you get the more important it become to focus on little things.

I love examining the aspects outside of the game, to see what I can do to improve beyond just playing more Magic to get better. Training, analyzing, planning: these are the unsung heroes that make a successful tournament happen. While the weekend where the actual casting of cards makes things official, who wins and who loses is in many ways already decided. One important realization can have an effect that improves a player for the rest of their life. We all become better Magic players step by step, and if we can make sure our steps are optimized, the faster we will get better.

As 2014 comes to a close, I’m looking back on my year and beginning to make plans to grow as a Magic player. The more I improve, the more I see that part of what makes Magic such a tricky game is that there is rarely just one right way of doing things. Often, there are even two seemingly-opposite ways of doing things that can both work.

Sometimes it’s correct to zig, sometimes it’s correct to zag, sometimes it’s correct to fuse them and zigzag.

The idea behind constructive interference in Magic is that you can fuse two opposing concepts into one that works even more powerfully. Like the ripples created from dropping two stones lining up, together we can create a wave rather than just watch them crash into each other and cancel out.

Mastering this Fusion Dance to hold both ideas without them annihilating you can be a powerful tool. Taking the good and discarding the bad will yield many rewards, and things that seem like they shouldn’t work together can combine to make something beautiful and amazing.

Let’s take a look at some ways to approach playing the game that I’ve experienced this past year. Some of these ideas might seem to go together naturally without much issue, others you might feel don’t and that just one idea is correct for you to practice.

Fire and Ice

The Fire is the desire to win. The Ice is being able to accept a loss and realize that it is not the end of the world.

I have never liked the concept of The Fire that much, I’ve felt it was redundant. Of course you need to desire the win to get the win – that should be obvious! But actually feeling and experiencing The Fire is much harder to describe, and I imagine it’s a little different for everyone. My Pro Tour win was driven by fire. The Fire is knowing every tournament is winnable. It is shaking during and after every round like a ship about to be torn apart by any wrong movement. It is wanting it.

The Fire must be fed wins or it will viciously spread in attempt to feed itself until you are consumed and burnt out. It must be tended to constantly and carefully, and it can never be fully sated unless it dies down naturally. If it grows out of control, your last moments will be a frantic attempt to find The Fire a win that will rarely come.

If The Fire is about making sure you get the win, The Ice is about going with the flow. My second-place finish at Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir was icier. I was relaxed and comfortable throughout. I felt “whatever happens happens, and I’m OK with it.” But how can you do well if you don’t care? Well, you still feel a desire to win – just not necessarily an intense, constant one. That makes it easier to simply focus on the game you’re playing and not the outcome.

Imagine the mindset of someone who is the absolute best in the world at badminton by a wide margin. They are probably a little more relaxed than everyone else playing it in a competitive setting. They would still want to win, but they would have nothing to prove.

As the movie Frozen says, ice powers are all about letting go, and showing you can’t control everything.

Fusion: Combining The Fire and The Ice creates The Warmth. Desire merged with calm. Think James Bond: smooth, calculating, and driven. If you truly feel The Warmth deep inside, you can even feel good for your opponent when they beat you. Perhaps someone should write a song about Ice and Fire.

Fast and Slow

We all have a base speed we play Magic at, and we all have a base skill level while playing fast, medium, and slow.

Some players are comfortable playing quickly and can aggressively probe their opponent for information with banter or read their expression. They can also dictate the speed of the match and try and catch their opponent up into playing too fast so they are off balance. This playstyle might cause you to make a few more mistakes, but may cause your opponent to be even worse off if they start mirroring your pace.

Playing a slower, more thoughtful game is better when you’re first learning the game or are inexperienced in certain formats. Very rarely will we even notice our own mistakes, but it can be easier to catch if you’re a methodical player. A downside is you may often mull over a decision too long and fall away from the correct initial feeling you had about a play.

Fusion: Shifting Gears. Be able to alter your pace of play a little based on what the game requires. Notice when you’re on a critical turn or decision, or when you’re playing at an uncomfortably fast pace and slow down a little. Speed up if you’re pressed to finish the round on time, or playing at too slow a pace. Get comfortable playing at any speed.

Logic and Intuition

Also known as the split between left brain (logic) and right brain (intuition), this is somewhat similar to playing at a slower or faster pace.

Logic is working through the plays in a methodical, mechanical manner. It can be developed well through Magic Online, where you can’t even see your opponent, you have plenty of time to think with a clock handling time in the round, and things are displayed in an orderly fashion. Logical plays can range from counting outs or playing around the most common tricks in the format.

Decisions are usually not black and white. Although a decision may be correct, it is never going to always be correct in all situations. You might be correctly playing around 99 cards and they end up having the one card you don’t want to see. This is where intuition comes in. You pick up on the idea that they have a specific card. This can be a false signal a lot of the time, and usually it’s best to trust the math and logic as to what they should have. Times when you should trust intuition are when your opponent has been giving you a clear signal that they have a card or when you feel a signal very strongly, like you just know they have it with certainty.

Fusion: The Zone. If you’re developed in both aspects and the timing is right, things will flow effortlessly and wins should come to you like flies to honey.

Confidence and Humility

You are the best Magic player, capable of winning every tournament and making great plays, and the worst Magic player, who is here to learn, make mistakes, and grow while having a good time.

Fusion: How do you manage to be confident and humble? Humor! Every truly lovable cocky character will have that element of humor to defuse the haters. How does Tony Stark get away with being awesome, rich, and a superhero while still having everyone love him? Humor. Ideally with some self-deprecation thrown in.

Familiarity and Power

Searching for the best deck versus learning a deck inside out. This one will vary from person to person, since some people enjoy playing anything while others are locked into their styles for life.

You can sometimes hitch your wagon to a powerful deck and master it, like Jund or Birthing Pod. Skills also translate for archetypes: players who always play control are usually pretty good at playing control in any format.

Fusion: Find a good deck that you are comfortable playing and give yourself enough time to learn it.

Casual and Spike

Play to win or play for fun? Some are out to just have a kitchen-table battle, others want to win so bad it hurts. There is no right answer here, it’s just a matter of opinion. Magic is a game that supports all sorts of playstyles.

Fusion: Respect for the Game. Try out Commander, draft with friends, grind PTQs or do them all. Realize there are many viable playstyles. Pick yours and own it while respecting others.

Dedication and Fallow

Do you go into every Magic tournament you play excited to be playing Magic? If not, you might need a break to rejuvenate your love for the game. Give the skills you’ve learned some time to sink in.

I will usually go into a tournament with a good idea of whether I’m going to do well or poorly based on how much practice I’ve put in. If I go in relaxed knowing I prepared enough, if I’m able to visualize winning the whole thing, I know I’ll do well. Sometimes practice comes harder because I’m not crazy about the format or I’ve been playing too much. Time to take a break! Let real life take your main focus for a while.

If you do take a hiatus, your skills will deteriorate a little, though this might be a good thing in the long run. Remember, no one can stay away forever.

Fusion: Balance. Take a little break after a big loss or an important tournament. Find the right mix of all things that works for you.

Taking Responsibility

Once you accept responsibility, you realize that your actions truly matter and that you can improve yourself to make better decisions. This belief will allow you to adopt a Growth Mindet, the idea that you can get better, where challenges are treated as learning experiences. First you must realize you are just on a certain rung of Magic’s skill ladder, then you get good enough to see the next rung up the ladder and start climbing. If there is a skill ceiling in Magic, no one is near it.

Even if a loss in Magic isn’t your fault, treat it as though it is. It’s easier that way, to see every match as a challenge that can be overcome. Accept it as if you chose it. If a car alarm goes off at 4AM, don’t blame anyone. Enjoy the car alarm as much as you can, because you can’t control it. Is the reason you lost the next day because you were tired? Why didn’t you just win on no sleep? Why didn’t you have earplugs ready, just in case? At the very least, make sure to bring earplugs next time. Improve a little more after every mistake.

For anyone going to 2015 with lofty resolutions for Magic or life, realize that you might not achieve them, things can go wrong no matter how many buckets you fill with blood, sweat, and tears. Still, it is up to you to lead the life you want to, and the decisions you make can take you there. There will always be an element of uncertainty, and even if you do end up making it where you want to be, you’ll see that every destination is ultimately just part of a new journey. Make sure to enjoy every step.