The 10 Levels Of Magic Mistakes

Magic is a game of increasing perfection. The players who win more make less mistakes than those who win less. The more mistakes you eliminate from your play, the better you will become. However, not all mistakes are made equal. A new player will make mistakes you never will, and the top players in the world will eliminate mistakes you don't even know exist.

I am not a top player, so I will not be able to fully detail this system, but I present, to the best of my ability, the 10 levels of Magic mistakes. Generally, a player will almost never make mistakes two or more levels below them, occasionally make a mistake one level below them, and fairly often make mistakes at their level. They will almost always make mistakes above their level: catching a mistake at the level above you often makes you a better player.

Level 1: The Basics

Level 1. Most players who read this blog will never make a mistake at this level, as it has become subconscious. This includes things like remembering the steps of a turn, drawing your card, untapping mana, and playing lands and spells (not necessarily the RIGHT spells, just remembering to play them). Players at Level 1 are the ones still learning the game. They haven't yet achieved competence. If you're at this level, focus on mastering the basics so you don't forget them.

Level 2: Low-Level Strategy

Level 2. This is the level of playing Magic not just properly, but correctly. Again, most people reading this blog will have achieved mastery of this level. This level includes areas like playing spells after combat, playing instants on your opponent's turn, and countering / killing threatening cards. As a litmus test to see if a player has passed this level, generally someone who chump blocks at 18 life or trades their 3/2 for your 2/2 at 15+ life hasn't achieved this. A part of low-level strategy is resource management: mana and life. Card advantage doesn't come into play just yet. If you're at this level, focus on doing the most with your resources at the most advantageous times.

Level 3: Mechanics

Level 3. A player at this level will start being interested in the mechanics of the game. He starts learning and actually understanding (though not necessarily mastering) card advantage, card quality, mana curves, what you can expect at each mana cost, etc. He may begin reading Magic theory like this blog. He will understand why Enchant Creature cards are bad unless they're very high quality, and knows the advantage of combat tricks, even if he can't pull it off reliably yet. If you're at this level, focus on learning what makes the game tick, and what can give you an advantage.

Level 4: Outside the Game

Level 4. A player at this level has now gotten a thorough grounding of low-level concepts. He may still hit and miss on them, but he knows them and works on using them. A player at this level now realises that as good as they may play, there is room for improvement when not actually playing Magic. They start getting interested in deckbuilding, and in improving their decks. They begin to learn how to mulligan, and understand on some level the use of a sideboard. They know of the existence of a 'metagame', but they don't really understand it yet. A player at this level may start entering tournaments. If you're at this level, find a local tournament scene, and ask one of the players there to mentor you. A complete newbie won't benefit from this much, but you're now at the level where you can learn from them.

Level 5: Reading the Opponent

A player at this level has probably taken some tentative stabs at the tournament arena. They've probably been beaten a fair bit. Their mistakes are that they don't know what the opponent has, and probably haven't looked into it much. They start getting interested in this now. They start focusing not just on their play, but the opponent's. He learns the common cards a player might have, and knows to be wary if the opponent has mana up and cards in hand. If you're at this level, practice playing against some people that are less skilled than you and try to read what tricks they have. Once you've learnt how to, practice it on people at your level or higher.

Level 6: The Metagame

A player at this level now notices that powerful decks are played often, and remembers the metagame he's heard about. He starts researching, and slowly assimilating what he learns. It may take months to fully understand the metagame, but he's committed to doing it. His main mistakes at this level are not knowing what his opponent may have. At this level, a player may start playing a metagamed deck, and start doing better all of a sudden. If he can't do this, he'll at least be a better deckbuilder. They'll also start eliminating sideboarding mistakes. If you're at this level, focus on learning. If you can, go to a second tournament scene once in a while to expose yourself to more input.

Level 7: The Best Plays

A player at this level probably plays fairly well. But now they start looking toward the future. They start considering what the opponent may have when he gets to X mana, and conserve resources for a reason, not just because he knows he should. He'll get better at reading his opponents, and conserve the answer to a specific threat his foe has. Normally he couldn't do this, but now he knows the metagame. He can also play around tricks his foe may have. They may start becoming interested in more major tournaments, even though he probably isn't ready. If you're at this level, work on the skills you're already working on. Learn to experience the ebb and flow of the game. Also, pick one deck, and play it. A lot. Test it so you know how the deck works so you can make more intelligent predictions.

Level 8: Outplaying Your Opponent

At this point, a player has very good technical skills. Now he needs to put them to use. The next step is to recognise the mistakes your opponent is making and capitalise on them as best you can. You want to play not just as well as your opponent, but better than him. You want to win matches with your play skill, even if luck goes slightly against you. This is the level I am currently almost at: I'm in the transition. Because of this, I won't be able to write very much about the next levels. At this stage, you should be focusing on taking dominance over every part of the game, seeping into every area you can gain an advantage in, no matter how small (except cheating, of course!)

Level 9: Totality

At this level, you want to experience everything about every aspect of the game. You want to know where it's been, where it's at, where it's going, if that's good for you, how you can make it good for you if it's not, how to keep it there if it is, and what needs to happen for you to win. You should always read signals correctly in a draft and not be trapped in one that gets cut off. You should know exactly what you're doing at all times.

Level 10: Making Your Own Levels

At this level, you want to be at the forefront of Magic theory, inventing it, bettering it, and using theory the rest of the world doesn't even know yet. You should be able to progress in ways that lesser players can't even imagine. Lesser players may think you're playing suboptimally when in reality, you're playing at a level they can't possibly grasp.

There are almost certainly more levels even beyond Level 10, but I don't know them, and I'm not going to lie and say I do. I hope this has been an entertaining read for you all. An interesting exercise for you is to go back and remember your own progression through each level: it's quite interesting. I remember the moment it sunk in not to play instants as sorceries:)

Until next time, may you reach the next level.