10 Ways To Do Better At Your Next PTQ

1. Test your deck.

Any deck you take to a PTQ you want to have tested for a minimum two weeks before hand, hopefully more. Test online, test offline, play it at FNM, read about it. Test as much as you think is necessary, then double it. Then test some more. The more you test the better you'll become with the deck, and it's important to get every advantage you can get.

Yes, sometimes people can win with a brand-new deck or an audibled deck, but most PTQ's are won by someone who has mastered a particular archetype that is well-placed in the metagame. Which brings me to point 2...

2. Analyse the metagame.

And make sure it's up-to-date. For example, people who played Kithkin last week were likely to get their asses kicked, even though it was a great, PTQ-winning deck just a fortnight ago. The metagame can change very quickly.

If you don't analyse the metagame, it's like not bringing a sideboard. Why the hell would you go to a PTQ without a sideboard? Exactly.

3. Bring two different decks.

There's no rule that says you need to know your deck in advance. This is NOT contrary to Rule 1: you simply need to do more testing. Test both decks. And don't pick two similar decks, like Elf Combo and Kithkin which are both vulnerable to the same thing. A better idea might be Kithkin and Five-Color or Jund. Both are very, very different and beat different decks.

Arrive early before the tournament, and scope out the PTQ metagame, then pick which of the two decks you will use based on that information. Some call it overkill, but why would you not get every advantage you can get? More than two decks is not recommended however, because it's hard to test more adequately.

4. Get a good night's sleep beforehand.

Yes, this is obvious. Yes it's been said before. Yes, you already know it. But so many people don't DO IT. I know I would much rather be well-rested for a tournament than bleary-eyed and subsiding on caffeine. You may not feel the difference, but you'll probably have lots of 'bad luck' that day, and end up dropping. But through no fault of your own of course. *end sarcasm*

If you're serious about the PTQ, get a good night's sleep. If you have to choose between fine-tuning your deck and adequate sleep, you haven't prepared enough. Have your lists ironclad several days in advance.

5. Bring more than 15 sideboard cards.

An extension of Part 3. However, there's an art to this. Rather than tossing together 15 cards 10 minutes before registration ends, have a piece of paper with a few different sideboard plans on it. An example might go like this for GSS Jund:

Cards to bring:

Anathemancer

Jund Charm

Thought Hemorrhage

Firespout

Deathmark

Broodmate Dragon

Maelstrom Pulse

Sygg, River Cutthroat

Stillmoon Cavalier

Five-Color Control Centric Metagame:

4 Anathemancer, 4 Jund Charm, 4 Thought Hemorrhage, 3 Firespout

Jund-Centric Metagame:

4 Anathemancer, 4 Firespout, 4 Deathmark, 2 Broodmate Dragon, 1 Maelstrom Pulse

Fae-Centric Metagame:

4 Firespout, 3 Deathmark, 1 Broodmate Dragon, 2 Maelstrom Pulse, 2 Sygg, River Cutthroat, 3 Stillmoon Cavalier

Note that especially in the Fae example, where you have almost an auto-win against them, you not only aim your sideboard at the dominant deck, but also at the deck that BEATS the dominant deck. Note these sideboards are very rough, and probably not optimal for the situation. (I would run Anathemancer maindeck in a PTQ now anyway).

6. Eat healthily.

Eating highly crappy, greasy food is a norm at tournaments, and is fine for FNM, but if you've done all this extra preparation, you may as well eat well. Otherwise it's like fitting your car with the latest and greatest safety features and parts, and then feeding it garbage fuel. Treat your body with more respect than that.

It may be hard to obtain food at the event that's healthy, so a good idea might be to pack some sandwiches just in case. Still healthier than take-out, and quicker to eat, and it won't grease up your sleeves either.

7. Play precisely.

Unlike in FNM, where it's usually fine to draw then untap, or forget your Bitterblossom trigger until you're about to play a land, these things can haunt you in a PTQ. A couple of missed triggers and that's a game loss right there. And won't that make you feel stupid?

Announce when you're entering the following: upkeep, draw, main, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, postcombat main, end. Anything more is fairly anal, but those seven are a necessity. Also, don't play two spells at once. Allow your opponent time to reply. Give them about 3-5 seconds unless they give a verbal cue that they are considering. Such a wait time is expected and will not get you penalised for slow play.

Work out your plays in your head during your opponent's turn so you don't spend 20 seconds every turn thinking: only when your draw changes your plans. That'll make it far less likely for you to be warned for Slow Play. However, it is worth noting that some minor infractions will receive two warnings rather than one. Of course, it's best to avoid them altogether.

8. Be ruthless.

On the flip side of 7, is to penalise your opponents for their misplays. If they flip over one of your cards, or miss a trigger, or play too fast / too slow, CALL A JUDGE. Your opponents will do the same to you, and I've heard several cases where a player has committed a minor infraction, their opponent chose not to penalise it, and then that player did the same thing again later that match, and were warned. If they'd called a judge first time, it would have been a game loss, and they would have won the match.

Always call a judge if players don't play correctly. And if you make an obvious mistake, call a judge immediately rather than trying to hush it up. You're more likely to receive a lighter penalty if you call a judge after flipping an opponent's card rather than try to shrug it off and have the opponent call one instead (and they almost certainly will).

9. Know your tiebreakers.

You're 6-1, and you're offered a draw by your last-round opponent. You don't take it, and lose, and later find out you would have gone into the Top 8. Even worse, you DO take it, and wind up 10th place. Know your tiebreakers. Before the round starts you should know whether or not you can ID into the Top 8 (this only matters in rounds 7+, so is not applicable to all players, but it would suck to hit a miracle streak then not have the knowledge you need to hit the Top 8).

Knowledge is power. If you can ID into the Top 8, go ahead and try. But you need to know if you can first.

10. Maintain focus.

You're in the Top 8, but you've just fought 6-8 grueling rounds of Magic. In an ideal situation, you've ID'ed the last round and can relax and grab some food with friends before the Top 8. However, if that's not possible, at least take a few minutes to relax your mind and bolster your resources. The Top 8 will be the toughest part of the tournament. You don't want to be playing at anything less than your best.

Now sometimes you'll do everything right and still X-2 drop: this advice is not an automatic ticket to the Pro Tour. But there's only finite amounts of PTQ's in a year (This advice is even more important in Australia. The competition is only slightly less than America, and unless you're willing to fly, there's only 1-2 PTQ's you can get to in a year!) and you may as well do your best. Do not take a PTQ likely. Don't attend on a whim. Some of the area's best will be there, and the more preparation you do, the better.

Because rest assured: if you're not well-rested, prepared, tuned for the metagame and ready to play your best, you'll be competing against someone who is.

Until next time, may you prepare for a month so that people can label you an overnight success when you win.

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.