Once again, I must apologize for my lack of content. It has been a crazy few weeks with many tournaments involved. Its all behind me now, though, so I should be back to writing and recording again. Today I'm going to look at my last 12 months of Magic and share some lessons I have learned along the way.


Before I started writing for The Phyrexian Arena, I had a small blog that I started to write about Magic. I'm not going to bother linking to it since I haven't updated it since I started writing here. However, one of the last things I posted was a list of New Year's Resolutions for Magic that I'm going to reproduce for you here:

Organize My Collection

This one has nothing to do with my game play, but the state of my collection is driving me crazy. I have not done a very good job keeping up as the sets have come out, but that’s about to stop. My goal is to have everything organized within the next couple of weeks. This will save me time when I'm building decks to test with which will leave more time for testing.

I have come to realize that this is an ongoing challenge. It is mostly under control, but could still use some work. Will be working on that this week actually.

Play More Magic

Now that I’m more focused on improving my game play, my biggest goal is to just play more Magic. I plan on playing a lot more on MTGO as well as trying to go to more major tournaments this year. I have plans to attend three GP’s, at least two SCG Opens, and several PTQ’s and IQ’s throughout the year.

This has been much easier. I have played ALOT of magic this year. I have not played as much on MTGO as I would have liked so I hope to change that soon. I have played several IQ's, a couple of PTQ's, 2 SCG Standard Opens, 3 SCG Classics, 2 Grand Prix, and 2 SCG Invitationals. While I have not always had the best results, I am happy with the amount of events I've played and my average finishes.

Improve My Drafting

This goes hand in hand with playing more MTGO. I consider myself a better than average drafter but not by much. Because drafting is so important to high level competitive play, it is imperative that I get better at it. This was perfectly clear to me at my PTQ Top 8. It was definitely not my best draft, and I basically punted myself out of that T8.

While I have not been drafting on MTGO, my local game shop did start doing drafts every Monday night, so I have gotten lots of practice this year. My draft skills are still not as good as they should be, but they are definitely improving.

Keep Writing

My goal is to continue this blog and possibly write other Magic related content as well. I find that writing helps keep me focused and helps me reinforce what I’m learning. Also, when I write, I create an opportunity for feedback to help me grow. I’m hoping that as I continue to write, my writing will improve as well. I plan on posting a tournament report for each of the major events I attend as well as trying to discuss my testing processes as well.

While I have not continued with my blog, I did start writing here, so I consider this one a success. I will continue to write for the Arena as long you people continue to read it. I am going to try to do more video as well, and at some point start a podcast as well.

Qualify!

Ultimately, my main goal for 2013 is to qualify. I want to win a Pro Tour invite and/or a SCG Invitational invite. Just sitting down for round 1 of one of these major events would help solidify all of the work I have put into improving. I’m already looking forward to the post I get to put on here when I do.

This is the one I'm most proud of. I ended up qualifying for not one, but TWO SCG Invitationals this year, and have already locked up an invite for one next year as well.


Its been a good year for me when it comes to Magic but there is room for improvement. I'm going to go over some lessons I've learned this year when it comes to Magic and what I plan to do to make for an better next year.

Preparation

If you are going to play Magic at any competitive level, preparation is very important. This is a lesson that I have learned numerous times this year and has cost me a couple of opportunities. The first example came with I went 3-3 in a Modern PTQ early this year. I do not have a lot of experience with the Modern format and had even less when I went into that PTQ. As a result, my performance was an abysmall 3-3 drop. Had a studied and playtested more I would have had a much better chance to succeed in that event.

The second situation came just this past weekend at the SCG Invitational in Indianapolis. My overall record in the Legacy portion was 3-5, while I had a record of 4-1 in the standard rounds I played in. This is directly a result of me having no experience in Legacy and that is entirely my own fault. I am not familiar with all of the major cards and card interactions in Legacy so I chose to play Affinity. Affinity is basically an all-in aggro deck where you either kill them in three turns or you are dead. It was a bad choice and I was punished for it appropriately. Since I will be playing in another Invitational next year, I am about to step up my Legacy testing and get a handle on the format. As a result, you will see me start to write increasingly more about Legacy as I become more familiar with the format.

I will be doing the same for Modern as well. I don't have any Modern tournaments in the immedate future but I know that I will be playing the format at some point so the sooner I start the better.

Accepting Losses

This is a lesson that has served me well this year. Losing sucks, but it is going to happen, especially if you are unprepared. What's important is to not let the losses break you down. Its important to use the losses as stepping stones to becoming better. Instead of using the losses as excuses, use them as learning opportunities. Many times when you lose, there is something you could have done better. Maybe you should have made a different play. Maybe you could have put a different card in your deck. Maybe you should have mulliganed. Maybe you could have picked a different card while drafting.

Every time I lose, I've started thinking about the match and thinking of things I could have done differently, or cards that might have won me the game. Sometimes it is pretty obvious what cost me the game. My prime example of that this year came at Grand Prix Charlotte. I was in an on-camera feature match against Shuhei Nakamura. It was Gatecrash draft, and I had a Deathpact Angel in play. Shuhei was able to kill the Angel, and I completely missed the deah trigger of putting the Cleric token into play. There is no guarantee that I would have won the game had I remembered the trigger, but it certainly would have been a different game if I had. If you go back and watch the video of the match, after game 1, you can actually see where I realize my mistake. Because of this, I have become more vigilant about not missing triggers.

Nobody wants to lose when they play Magic, but it is going to happen. You have to be ready for it and use those losses as opportunities to grow.

Remember to Have Fun

This is something that players can lose sight of when they are playing a lot of competitive Magic. Even after all the time and money you invest into the game, you have to remember that that's what it is: a game. You originally started playing Magic because it was fun. The aspects of the game that you found fun haven't changed. You have to remember these things you can quickly get burnt out.

Some of the most fun I've had this year has been with Magic. Sometimes it is the conversations had on the car ride to a tournament. Sometimes it is the stories you tell your friends when you are victorious and hearing their stories as well. Sometimes it is the late nights cube drafting at my house. What's most important is that you remember the fun factor and it will alleviate some of the stress that comes with a large tournament.

Year in Review

The last 12 months have been the best success I've had with this game. I made my first PTQ Top 8, my first Open top 8 and made top 16 of another. I made Day 2 of two Grand Prix. I have played in two SCG Invitationals and even made Day 2 of one of those. While I'm very happy with my performance, I know that I can do better. I only have one more event this year and that is an Elite IQ in December, so my year is pretty much over for now, but as I look forward to 2014 and start planning out my tournament schedule, I know that I want to achieve more. Success creates the feeling of wanting more success and it has led me to try harder and harder. Hopefully, you can take something away from this that will help you with your own success.


Eddie Walker
@praethus - twitter
praethus - MTGO
praethus at gmail dot com