Playing To Win At Magic: The Gathering

A good part of this article is inspired by David Sirlin's excellent book Playing To Win, which can be viewed for free online at www.sirlin.net/ptw. This article will have many of the same concepts, but also has my own ideas and examples specific to Magic: The Gathering. Reading Playing To Win is not required to understand this text.

Playing To Win At Magic: The Gathering

An article by Jay Bailey (mtgsalivanth)

Introduction

Many of the concepts found in these texts will be ones that you do not agree with. If you wish to argue them, I'll make it easier on you by providing my e-mail address (www.salivanth@live.com) and my Twitter account. (mtgsalivanth). I routinely check both of these.

With that out of the way, let's move on to the meat of the article: Playing to win at this game. Some of you do not want to play to win. Some of you play casually, and don't want to progress past the level you are at right now. That's fine: these concepts do not apply to you. I speak to the ones who aim to improve their game.

Magic: The Gathering is a game, and the first thing you must accept is the following:

Magic: The Gathering must be treated like Magic: The Gathering.

This means that no tournament-legal card, deck, or strategy is cheap, wrong, or should not be used for reasons other than 'It will not help me win'. If you are playing casually, play casually, but in tournaments, PLAY TO WIN.

This means accepting truths about the game. A combo deck is not cheap because it does not interact with the opponent. It's not a deck that 'does not 'play' Magic'. It does not interact with the opponent because it's not designed to. If you think that's wrong, you're not playing Magic: The Gathering. You're playing a different version of the game, and you must play the version that the tournament is playing.

If a deck is going to cost several hundred dollars to build and you can't afford it, fine. But don't whinge about the fact that you can't afford it. If you cannot remain competitive with your budget, then you should set your sights to other places other than improving at the game and playing at higher levels.

Counterspells are a valid strategy. Discard is a valid strategy. Land destruction is a valid strategy. (Note that I'm not saying these are valid as in 'They are competitive' for they may not be at the time of your reading. However, it is valid as in if it is a competitive strategy, you should not refrain from using it because it's 'cheap' 'dishonorable' or 'no fun'.)

I believe David Sirlin himself said it best.

"The game knows no rules of "honor" or of "cheapness." The game only knows winning and losing". 

- David Sirlin, author of Playing To Win.

I could give many other examples. Netdecking, metagaming, rules lawyering...but the principle is the same. If you want to win, you must accept that every tournament-legal strategy is fair game if it increases your chance of winning.

You do not decide what is fair and what is not. Wizards of the Coast does. If they say it can be done (by not banning or restricting it) then it can (and if it is good, will) be done. End of story.

Sir Scrub

Let's introduce a player I call Sir Scrub. Sir Scrub has many names and many guises. He may appear at your table or your FNM. If you haven't met him, or have met him in a large tournament where you do not have to put up with him again, be grateful.

You can never outplay Sir Scrub. Ever. You can beat him, of course, but it's always due to luck. You drew better or he drew worse. He was mana screwed or mana flooded. You got a lucky cascade, he never did. Sir Scrub is cursed with terrible luck, but at least he plays with honor.

Sir Scrub is the guy who draws cards off the top when he loses and then says 'In 3 turns, I would have had you.' The fact that you made sure the game DIDN'T last longer than it had to doesn't seem to resonate with Sir Scrub. He still had all these in his deck, he just never drew them.

Do you recognise him? You probably do, and if not, it's a good thing, too.

You

The previous section seemed to make no sense. It offers no advice on winning, and just bashes people. I wrote that section to show you the opposite of what you should be.

You should not chalk matches up to luck. Sometimes you WERE mana-screwed or mana-flooded. But could you have prevented it? By saying that mana-screw cost you the game, you're saying that:

A) You fully randomised your deck.

B) You made the correct mulliganing decisions.

C) You played perfectly.

D) There was no way you could have psyched your opponent into thinking you had something to stop him doing what he did to win.

Only if all of these are true can you blame mana-screw or mana-flood, or any other luck-based occurence.

When you lose, be humble. How could you have performed better, played more tightly, anticipated your opponent's moves better? Was his lucky topdeck lucky or was he holding you off until he could draw it? Did you push him as hard as you could, or in control, did you defend and prioritise threats to the best of your ability?

You must trust your decisions and your deck. A classic example is mulliganing. Do you, after mulliganing, look at the top card to see if you would have drawn the card you need? Okay, so there WAS that third land off the top. Who cares? You still made the right decision. This is something I consciously stopped doing, since by doing so, I basically say 'I don't trust that I made the mathematically correct move.' You must trust your decisions after you make them.

You must do everything you can to win. If you need a certain card, did you aggressively mulligan to find it? Did you defend as best you could to attempt to draw the card? Did you overextend into your opponent's sweeper? These are things that could cost you the game, but can be hard to notice. A 5-land hand against your opponent's Black-Red deck in Zendikar draft can very well be suicide, even if it looks good against a slower deck. If you don't know what your opponent is playing, that's one thing, but Game 2 you should not make that mistake.

Did you do your research? You didn't know what to do in that situation. Perhaps you should have tested more.

Essentially, there are a thousand things that you probably could have done, but did not, that can contribute to your loss, a lot more than mere luck. If you're not trying your best in a situation, luck merely helped your opponent win, not sealed it for them.

Conclusion

A great deal of my blog and many other hands have written about how to improve your play skill at Magic, so I shall leave that to other articles and other hands. This is the mindset you MUST take into any serious tournament, and if you do not, you may as well not go. If you still disagree with me, as some of you probably will, my e-mail is once again www.salivanth@live.com. My Twitter account is mtgsalivanth. Feel free to argue as much as you like, but in the end, as I have come to realise: this is the mindset that counts when you want to win.

Bad Deck Baz Presents Blisters On Your Fingers!

Hello and welcome to the second of the Bad Deck Baz posts. Last time, we looked at IT'S A TRAP!, which I piloted to a 1-3 record: not too bad given the deck. Let's see if I can repeat myself with this deck: Blisters on Your Fingers.

A “Bad Deck Baz” Deck

14 Island

2 Swamp

4 Jwar Isle Refuge

4 Drowned Catacomb

4 Alluring Siren

4 Wall of Frost

4 Sphinx Ambassador

4 Cosi's Trickster

4 Gomazoa

2 Quest for Ancient Secrets

3 Sadistic Sacrament

4 Telemin Performance

4 Polymorph

3 Haunting Echoes

Sideboard 

1 Platinum Angel

3 Marsh Casualties

4 Kathari Remnant

3 Deny Reality

4 Flashfreeze

Blisters On Your Fingers is a shuffling-based deck, with cards like Polymorph, Haunting Echoes, Gomozoa, and Cosi's Trickster. The alternate aim is to win with a Sphinx Ambassador.

The deck also has a library exiling theme, where you get rid of the opponent's bad creatures to Telemin them, or their good creatures to Polymorph them.

Let's get to testing!

Round 1: Blisters on Creatureless Control's fingers!

I don't really know how to classify this control deck, but as a creatureless deck I was hoping for a random Telemin win. 

Game 1 I play Alluring Siren and Gomozoa. I take a few points off him before he casts a Day of Judgment. I drop Sphinx Ambassador and he retaliates with Martial Coup. I drop another one. Next turn I swing. I reveal no creatures, but plenty of planeswalkers and controllish cards. He's on 8 life.

He uses Vengeant to keep my Sphinx tapped. I try to resist, but he gets me to 10, then a combination Ajani Helix and Earthquake for 7 clinches it for him.

0-1

Round 2: Blisters on WBR Midrange's Fingers!

Game 1 I play two Tricksters. He cracks an Armillary Sphere, and I start swinging. He drops Day of Judgment. He then drops Blightning, Sorin, and Siege-Gang, and slaughters me. At 1 life I drop a Polymorph to see a bit more of his deck.

Game 2 is rather anti-climactic. I get mana-screwed, he gets a Turn 5 Siege-Gang Commander. I never offer any real resistance.

0-2

Round 3: Blisters on White Weenie's Fingers!

I drop Trickster, he drops Knight of the White Orchid. I drop Gomozoa, he Paths it. He plays Conqueror's Pledge and Elspeth. He gets a quick win.

Game 2 he plays: Kazandu Blademaster, Knight of the White Orchid, Veteran Swordsmith. He then gets Behemoth Sledge and Elspeth. I Polymorph the Blademaster into an Armorsmith, and Telemin into a Captain of the Watch. I'm on 8 life, but he equips the Sledge to his Swordsmith, pumps it with Elspeth, and swings for 8 in the air :(

0-3

Round 4: Blisters on Jacerator's Fingers!

I drop two Cosi's Tricksters, he drops Howling Mine and Jace. I correctly figure he's playing Jacerator. I wait for him to tap most of his mana for a Font of Mythos, then I untap, cast Telemin Performance, and kill him in a single blow. Booyah.

Game 2 he drops an early Wall of Denial (Better than Baneslayer against Telemin). He drops Jace as well, and ramps it up. I play Telemin Performance, which gets Negated. He drops a Font, and I drop a Telemin Performance. He mills me for 20, but unfortunately he has less cards than me now and no answer in his deck. He loses the game to mill.

1-3 (Random win! Woot!)

And that ends Blisters On Your Fingers. Join me next time I get a post up (which might not be until Sunday, but hopefully is before that) for the results of It's A Wonderful Life!

See ya!

The Ten Commandments of Magic: The Gathering

And then yay, Maro descended from the heavens, his hands bound by the tomes of prophecy, and he spake: These commandments are handed down to me by Richard Garfield, and they are to be obeyed, now and forever.

1. Magic is the first TCG, and the harbinger of all TCG's. Thou shalt claim no other trading card game came before me.
2. While thou shalt play other card games, thou shalt not claim any TCG be greater than Magic, whether it be Huntik or Yu-gi-oh, whether it be old or new, whether it be simple or complex, for I, the designer, am a jealous one, visiting the inquiry of thy peers upon the people who seek to betray me and not keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not blame the designer for any problem with which the designer is not at fault, for many hands make up Magic, and blame shalt be apportioned to the proper areas.
4. Remember the casual day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou test, and do all thy optimisation, but the seventh day IS the day of the casuals, in it thou shalt not attempt to theorycraft, nor grief thy table with combo decks, for in six days all thy testing may be concluded, and casual multiplayer shalt be joined on the seventh day, and should be hallowed.
5. Honour all of thy formats, that thy days be long exploring the infinite variety that is all of Magic.
6. Thou shalt not cheat.
7. Thou shalt not deck-hop every week.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy opponent.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's deck, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's topdecking, nor his playskill, nor his drafting, nor his building, nor his collection, nor any thing that IS thy neighbour's.



Yes, I did base these off the real 10 commandments. One of them (3) was forced to change a lot, whereas one (8) was able to not change at all.

Yes, this is a very strange idea.

No, I don't believe these commandments are actually what anyone from Magic thinks, and I don't believe all of them should be followed, and as in the real bible, there is room for interpretation in it.

Also, this was a complete joke, so don't take any of it as actual gospel. Unless someone breaks 6, 8, or 9. Then Richard Garfield compels you to stone them to death.

Happy gaming, fellow initiates!

Bad Deck Baz Presents IT'S A TRAP!

Hello and welcome to the first of three Bad Deck Baz posts. Baz, also known as ThatDamnAussie from Twitter, has happily made three decks for me to play that are all, in their own way, terrible, but are also very interesting to play. I'm happy that he's been very creative in the theme rather than 40 5-7 drops and 20 lands and calling it a 'bad' deck.

The first deck, as featured in the previous post, is U/R Trap Control, or as Baz calls it:

IT'S A TRAP!

A “Bad Deck Baz” Deck

9 Island

11 Mountain

4 Scalding Tarn

3 Goblin Artillery

3 Reckless Scholar

3 Runeflare Trap

2 Lethargy Trap

2 Mindbreak Trap

4 Lavaball Trap

2 Whiplash Trap

4 Inferno Trap

4 Trapmaker's Snare

2 Trapfinder's Trick

3 Burning Inquiry

2 Chandra Ablaze

2 Quest for Ancient Secrets

Sideboard 

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Jace Beleren

3 Font of Mythos

2 Pyromancer Ascension

1 Runeflare Trap

1 Burning Inquiry

1 Chandra Ablaze

1 Mindbreak Trap

This deck has a lot of cool interactions, and yet still manages to be outmatched. As I was quick to find out, Chandra or Runeflare Trap was my only hope of ever winning.

EVER.

Round 1: IT'S A TRAP for Boros Bushwhacker!

He curves out fast, Goblin Guide, 2 Geopedes and a Skyfisher. To match this armada, I have a Goblin Artillery, which is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot so someone else doesn't do it for you. I quickly fall to 7 life, then to 1. His creatures overwhelm me, though it's worth saying if I had another mana I could have played Lethargy Trap to live another turn.

Game 2 I Bolt his Steppe Lynx and drop an Artillery to match his Skyfisher. I kill 3 guys of his in one turn, blocking a Vanguard, shooting another, and Inferno Trapping the third (which he Paths to find a land). He drops some more guys, and I shoot them. He Paths my Artillery and starts pinging me with a Geopede. I hold on a bit longer, but he burns me out.

0-1

Round 2: IT'S A TRAP for Sigil of the Empty Throne.dec!

He drops Sunspring Expedition and Ardent Plea into Trace of Abundance. He gets a Sigil of the Empty Throne, I get Reckless Scholar. Numerous 4/4 angels beat a lone 2/1 looter. Who knew?

Game 2 he drops a Luminarch Ascension. I am literally unable to apply pressure, and am slaughtered in 4 minutes according to the time logs.

0-2

Round 3: IT'S A TRAP for Conley's Land Destruction!

Game 1 he plays a Turn 2 Lotus Cobra. I know this will not end well. He gains approximately seventeen thousand lands next turn, and kicks a Mold Shambler. Fortunately it's his third spell of the turn, so I tutor up a Mindbreak Trap to stop it. I get stuck on 3 land. He drops an Acidic Slime. I ask if he has any more LD, he reveals a second Mold Shambler, and I scoop it up.

Game 2 is a lot better.  He drops double Khalni Heart to my nothing. His Ruinblasters do very little against my all-basic-and-fetch deck. He drops Lotus Cobra. I try to bolt it, and he sacrifices his Khalni Hearts. Four hours later, my Bolt resolves to kill his Cobra after he gets about five lands. He drops an Acidic Slime, and I Mindbreak Trap an Ob Nixilis. I use Inferno Traps and trades to take out his guys, and Snare into a Mindbreak Trap to take a Rampaging Baloths.

We have a back and forth until I run out of counters and removal. He then Violent Ultimatums me to 4 lands, then again next turn to 1 land. Yeah, that'll do it.

0-3

Round 4: IT'S A TRAP for Grixis Control!

The first game went by fast. He dropped a Turn 3 Blightning, Turn 4 Blightning, and Turn 6 Sphinx of Jwar Isle, a creature to which I literally have no answer except for double Lavaball Trap. (Yeah.) I do a pathetic attempt at racing, but the Sphinx crushes me.

Game 2 he gets Sedraxis Specter and Blightning. I scoop my brains back in and start to fight back. I drop the key to this whole match: Chandra. Unlike Jund or other Pulse-endowed decks, Grixis Control has no way to kill a planeswalker outside of combat damage.  I make us both draw two, and he Bolts Chandra.

What was that I said earlier? I meant to say "Except for Lightning Bolt."

I do a killer Inquiry, discarding two lands and Whiplash Trap to his tri-land, Terminate, and Sphinx (yes!). He gets double unearth on Specters, I tutor up a Lethargy Trap and use it. I drop another Chandra to draw 3. I bolt his counterattacking Specter, and Inferno Trap when he unearths the Specter. He drops Vampire Nighthawk and I tutor for a trap to kill it with. I then drop Jace, empty my hand, draw three with Chandra, and draw with Jace.

I love planeswalkers.

He uses Blightning to take down Chandra. I start powering Jace up, noticing he only has about 25 cards in his deck by now. If I can mill him that's gg. I want to steal one game with this deck. He uses Magma Phoenix to drop Jace to 5. I'm forced to kill it, and Jace goes to 4. Sedraxis Specter drops him to 2, but all the card-draw has worked in a different way. I drop him from 16 to 9 with Runeflare Trap at EOT, then Reckless Scholar attacks, then Runeflare Trap him again for the win. Random!

Game 3 he gets Blightning, I get Reckless Scholar. The Scholar, like the Looter, actually just wins games if left unchecked: which people always do. Turn 6 he plays Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Remember him? That card I have no answer to? I changed my mind. I have one answer. RACE HIM. I declare in the chat that I will race that 5/5 flier and win.

I then drop Chandra Ablaze. Game on. 

I get her to 6 counters to drop my opponent to 16. He hits me to 11 and drops a Nighthawk. I draw a card with the Scholar and EOT Bolt it. He uses Double Negative. I Snare for an Inferno Trap and use that to kill it in my turn. And by 'use it to kill it' I mean that I pitch it to Chandra for an identical effect. (7 counters). He drops Chandra to 2 counters with the Sphinx. I drop a Jace, drawing a card which I then pitch to take him down to 12 life.

He slaughters Jace with a single blow. I then pitch another card to Chandra. I'm looting all this time, which is the only reason I keep drawing red cards. He's on 8 life. He then makes a big misplay, by knocking me down to 6 and not killing Chandra. I guess he fears a lot of burn.

I then think for a moment. The card in my hand is Lightning Bolt. There's no point looting since it's the best card in my deck to hold at that moment. So instead, I throw it at his face and then go down to 2 with Chandra to draw three. I draw a Lightning Bolt and Inferno Trap. Oh yeah.

He then swings me to 1, and then plays Nighthawk and Magma Phoenix. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're ever in the position of having lethal damage next turn regardless of whether or not you kill a planeswalker this turn, kill it. Else you might just lose to a Baz deck :p

I drop him to 2 with bolt, untap, and pitch the Inferno Trap. GOOD. GAME.

1-3.

And that's IT'S A TRAP! in all it's glory. Join me next time as we preview Blisters on Your Fingers and try to get a certain Merfolk up to godly sizes.

See you!

Letting Your Proteges Go - Part 2

Last time we covered my Magic story. It lasted longer than I thought it would so I split the post into two. Here's the second part.

After I was starting to get a new handle on the game, a pair of kids showed up: Matthew and Sarah. (I won't release last names for privacy reasons). Now, these were good kids. They were eager to learn and play. They only had two flaws:

A) Matthew was very, very irritating.
B) They both sucked.

So I set out to remedy B. I decided to teach the kids to play some good Magic. (Though I never talked Sarah out of that U/B Faeries deck...(This was a casual Faeries deck, not the Cryptic Command - Bitterblossom - Mistbind Clique concoction. It had Pestermites and Faerie Harbingers)).

Ironically, Matthew seemed more receptive. I came to the conclusion that he was a lot like me: he was young, and didn't KNOW when he was driving people up the wall. I gradually moved the kids up to Limited, I helped them with decks, I built their manabases in drafts every week. I took them under my wing.

And as karmic justice, guess what happened? I became a better player. Turns out when you have to explain how to build a sealed deck, you get a bit better at it. Same with many other concepts, like card advantage, life as a resource (Or, How To Not Chump Block a 3/3 at 18 Life 101) and drafting.

They got better. Matthew especially built new decks and got better at building them. He took my advice. Five-Color? Need less colors with that manabase. Bant? A bit too top-heavy and not consistent enough. Treefolk? Not bad. (It was able to beat my aggro decks a decent amount). Then before Zendikar came out he asked me to build him Mono-Black Control. All of a sudden he could beat me. His recent deck, Naya Cascade, is tough for me to beat. (I built that too). I wouldn't want to face that kid in a tournament with stuff on the line as much as I would have before.

As for Sarah, she improved her play but didn't change her deck. This kept her skill capped. But what happened when Zendikar came out? She built, with my tutelage, a Mono-White Emeria deck, and shot up. Both of them are now only a little below me.

And then there was Max. The third kid who only showed a few months ago. He really is a mini-me. He played the same class and race as me in World of Warcraft, he built a Jund deck like I did, and he even looks like me. I'm looking forward to sculpting him into a good player, once he learns what decks are possible and which are not.

It's time for me to let Matthew and Sarah find their own paths. I'll probably help Matt with his decks now and then, but I've taught them nearly as much as I can. I've still got Max, and I hope I keep having kids to teach. It's deeply rewarding, and makes you a better player. You can learn something from everybody.

From Sarah, I learnt to stick to a strategy. She played a deck for two years, and always drafts the same deck. She's so notorious for forcing it that nobody near her drafts it since they know she'll never quit. (Mono-White in Zendikar).

From Matt I learnt adaptability. I learnt that sometimes it's not bad cards, but bad decks. I also learnt the importance of trying different archetypes.

And from Max? I'm still looking forward to the lessons he has to teach, but he's looking like he'll end up a formidable player.

And this is my story, and some of the lessons I've learnt. I hope you find it informative.

Tomorrow, the Twitter community's best worst deck concept will be featured on this blog. I'll build it, test it, and probably fail miserably, but you learn a lot from failure.

Enjoy! See you tomorrow!

Letting Your Proteges Go - Part 1

One thing I had a lot of in my old personal development blog was, well, personal things. I don't want to do too much of that with this blog, but I do have a Magic story to tell, so I figured, why not?

Have you ever taught a player to play Magic?

What about taught a bad player to become better?

This story will first cover my journey to here, and then it'll cover the journey of my proteges.

A couple of years ago, I entered Mega Games Trader for the first time. I'd heard that they had an Arena tournament there (whatever THAT was). The friend who invited me actually never showed, and I then proceeded to be told the following by the store owner:

See those guys out there? They've forgotten more about Magic than you ever knew. Listen to them. Learn from them.

Of course I thought I knew strategy. Here was my entire bevy of knowledge about strategic thinking.

• Build your decks to be 60 cards
• Have 4 of each of your key cards
• Instants should be played on your opponent's turn. I...think...

No card advantage, deck matchups, sideboarding (what's a SIDEBOARD?) or anything that I now take for granted. My first deck was a Saproling Overrun deck. Mono-green, no removal whatsoever except a single Wear Away which was part of the snake deck I started with.

It sucked. I went 2-2 at Arena though, because other people sucked just as much as me.

Then, the best thing that would ever happen to me, happened. The thing that would sculpt me into a competitive player, the thing that rocketed me into FNM and into competition.

What was it? A staggering insight? An awesome mentor?

Well, actually, I lost my deck.

Because I lost my crappy Saproling deck, I had to build another deck, and I figured "Why not make it Standard legal?"

At this point, all I knew of Standard and Extended was that Standard was Time Spiral, Lorwyn, and Tenth Edition, and FNM was Standard. My deck was Extended. Whatever that meant.

So from the little I'd heard about Lorwyn I decided to make a Kithkin deck, since I figured it'd be budget.

4 Goldmeadow Stalwart, 4 Wizened Cenn, 4 Knight of Meadowgrain, 4 Cloudgoat Ranger made up the core of my deck. I can't remember what else I had, but I do remember it was a deck I played for months.

It rocked. I tore through Arena. And then, next week, I showed up and there was nobody there, so Manuel said he'd put me in FNM and see how I fared.

I came 3rd. I went 3-1. Of course, the competition at my store was FAR, FAR less at this point, but I didn't know that. I was on top of the world. Two months later, I won my first FNM.

Two months later, I tanked at Regionals. In fact, I got a disqualification for insufficient randomization. See, the store owner knew I wasn't good enough at shuffling so he told me to manaweave before each round started: but then I didn't shuffle it as well as he'd hoped: I only cut the deck, albeit numerous times. The end result was that when my deck got taken away (for a random deck check or someone reported it was shady, I'll never know) it was found that my deck had a near perfect land-creature distribution. I said I understood.

It was the worst day in my Magic career. Ever. I vowed to stick to FNM from then on. The months went by. I continued to do well. I even won again. And then, OMG showed up.

Team OMG (originally standing for Omega Games) were pros. They came with netdecks. They came with tech. They creamed us all. Ben was the first to rise up, but the rest of us were slow to follow. As for me, I maintained my 'netdecks are evil' policy for quite some time. I did, however, start to study the metagame in depth. I learnt about Faeries, about Quick 'n' Toast when it first came out, about Reveillark, about Red Deck Wins.

I fell in love with Red Deck Wins. It was like Kithkin, but it had removal! And it WINS! I built it, and won once with it. OMG weren't there. Then things got really tough.

Other people started netdecking. They built good decks. I was not to win another FNM for a year.

I built a red shaman deck next. It had Rage Forger, Incandescent Soulstoke, and lots of one-drop and two-drop elementals. It was frighteningly fast, but it DIED to a Wrath of God. I remember winning a game on Turn 4...through a Pro-Red creature. The problem was it didn't even have burn. It had 32 creatures and 4 Shared Animosity. This was a 50c rare that nobody knew about til I bought it.

Creatures I controlled got +1/+0 for each other attacking creature. It was amazing. I built the deck to power out 3-4 elementals by Turn 3, then drop Rage Forgers or Shared Animosity for the win. It did pretty well. Except against OMG.

Alara Reborn came out. By now I knew about aggro and control and combo, and I had some idea of my own inadequacy as a player. So I played aggro. I built a R/G deck with Giantbaiting, Bloodbraid Elf, Hellsparks, and Boggart Ram-Gang. Essentially, every card could go to the face (which was pretty nuts with Bloodbraid Elf). Shame I couldn't cascade into Flame Javelin.

Then I opened 3 Pulses over 3 weeks. These were chase rares, and I knew this, having gone ape about the card when it was previewed. I decided then and there to build a Jund deck. Next week, I asked my teammate Jeremy if he had a Jund deck I could use. He then took a deck out of his bag, and told me it was Five-Color Blood, which was similar.

I didn't see the point of splashing UUU for one card. The world soon followed suit. I took out the Cryptics and Cruels, and added in more aggro. It did great. I loved it.

Then Jeremy lost the deck. I went back to playing R/G Aggro while I collected the cards for Jund. Shortly before M10 came out, I managed it.

I got better at Jund, learnt it, added Bolts to it...and then made this blog. I wrote a lot about Jund in my early days. Everything went great.

When Zendikar rolled out, I went with the punches. I'd finally gone full-circle. Lorwyn was gone, I'd now been around for the release of all of Standard. I won again, two weeks ago. OMG weren't there, but I triumphed over some great players.

Jund is everywhere now. As is Soldiers, Vampires, and control builds. As I look around the room every Saturday, I realise it took me 18 months to catch up to the level I used to be at: but now I'm 20 times better at the game. I owe OMG more than I ever could have fathomed. And the store owner, Manuel, was right. I had no idea of how much I had to learn. Now, as a player, I realise how far I still have to go.

But that's Magic for you: the game of a lifetime.

Next bonus post, I'll talk about three kids who I decided to mentor, and how their stories have affected me, and made me into the player, and person, I am today.

How To Use Magic Workstation Part 4 - Etiquette

Hi, and welcome to the final article in How To Use Magic Workstation! In the final article, we'll be covering etiquette. These are the kind of things that a new MWS player won't know, but can seriously piss off a veteran, even though they won't even know they're doing it. They're also quite important, so let's get to it! (This is all stuff I wish I knew when I was a newbie at MWS)

Your first piece of etiquette should be before you even play a game. Go to Game -> Test Deck in Solo Mode. Then, under your name in the right side of the screen, change it from Player to whatever username you like. A lot of MWSers don't like Player as a name as it's too anonymous and also can be symbolic of a noob (or an experienced player trying to catch people out). Personally, I'll play with people named Player but a lot of people don't.

Now we're ready to play. If you decide to create a game, specify what you want. "T2" isn't a good description. "T2 2/3 sb" is. (Note: that means a game of Type 2 (Standard) 2 out of 3 games, with sideboarding: i.e, a standard tournament-style match.)

Also make sure not to be too exacting with your requirements, because it makes you look like an asshole. "T2 Tier 1 no quitters no griefers no Player no noobs 2/3 sb must be fast and use phases" is the kind of game I simply won't join, because it seems to me that that person is very likely to fly off the handle if I'm a bit too slow or even if I lag a bit.

Once you get in the game, greet your opponent (a simple "Hi" will suffice), and then Ctrl + S to shuffle your deck a few times. Ctrl + I rolls the dice to determine who goes first, and then you should say whether you play or draw. If you keep, say so, if you mulligan, feel free to simply press Ctrl + M rather than say 'mull'.

Under M10 rules, after your first mulligan, you then wait for your opponent to decide. If they are reticent (generally trying to get you to reveal further information) ask them 'keep?'. They'll then have to reply.

When you play, at the end of your turn, it is a good idea to say 'End my turn'. Your opponent will then end your turn, or say EOT and perform something in that step. You do the same for him. This gives players the opportunity to respond to the end of turn step.

As to phases, generally you use them in more complex situations (such as when you're attacking with a Putrid Leech and expect a removal spell). or if you're in a tournament game or your opponent expects it. If you're a precise kind of person, you have the right to ask them to use phases (but if they aren't used to it, they may forget).

If you have a rules question, and you can't work it out with your opponent, go to magic-league.com and join the #judges4you chat. They'll be able to answer it.

If you want to play combo, it's a good idea to become fluent at goldfishing it before playing on MWS, for the happiness of all concerned.

Last but certainly not least, if you play against a rude or abusive opponent, simply leave. There's plenty of other opponents out there: don't waste time playing against someone who abuses you. It isn't worth it.

These are all tips that I simply picked up from learning. There seems to be a lot there, but don't worry: you'll pick it up bit by bit until most of it is second nature. It's okay to be slow with the program at first (just make sure you solitaire enough to remember the basic functions before you play), and you'll get faster before you know it. And now, you people who don't know how to use MWS have absolutely no excuse:) Hop on MWS, and play some games!

Enjoy!

How To Use Magic Workstation Part 3 - Playing The Game

Welcome back to How To Use Magic Workstation. Previously we've covered setting it up and making your deck, and today we'll cover the more common commands in a game of Magic Workstation.

When you start playing, press Ctrl + S a couple of times to shuffle your deck. You can chat with your opponent with the chat box, but most are there to just play. A simple 'hi' will suffice. Ctrl + I rolls a 20-sided dice, to see who goes first. Once you decide, press Ctrl + M to mulligan (Mulliganing from 0 draws 7 cards). until you're happy with your hand.

During your turn, you can play cards from your hand by dragging them from your hand to the field. You tap a card by right-clicking and selecting tap, or double-clicking. You can also click and drag a box to tap several permanents at once, say for a big spell or large attack.

Ctrl + D draws you a card, which you'll need sooner or later. To attack, go to the Declare Attackers step (the phases are at the top left of your half of the screen. You don't need to worry too much about them in a casual pick-up match unless the play is complex.) and right-click to choose Declare Attack.

To untap your permanents, use Ctrl + U, and to end the turn, press Ctrl + Enter. It's customary to say 'End my turn' or something similar, and your opponent will then end your turn for you assuming he has no EOT effects. You do the same for him.

Now that you know the basics, here's a rule of thumb for advanced functions. When in doubt, right-click. You need to search your library? Right-click your library and select the option. If right-clicking doesn't help, go to the Card menu on the bar at the top. That should teach you 99% of what you need to know. If you still don't know, ask your opponent.

Enjoy MWS! Next week: Etiquette of MWS. It's actually pretty important.

Fetch A Shockland: Part 1 - A Journey Into Extended

Hello, new and returning readers and welcome to my newest series: Fetch A Shockland. This series will chronicle my journeys into learning more about Extended as a format, and becoming more skilled in playing it. This first post will be all about the introduction: where I am now, and where I intend to go.

I know a bit about Extended already. I know the major players in the format and I keep a casual view of the metagame. So here's my current, immature analysis of the metagame:

The major players are Zoo, Faeries, Next Level Blue, Hypergenesis, and recently Dark Depths. Various Rock decks including Death Cloud also exist in some capacity. Dredge is a rogue deck that comes and goes in cycles. Everyone forgets about it, and it strikes. Everyone boards in hate, and it dies. People stop boarding in hate, and forget about it. It strikes again.

The deck I intend to begin with is Zoo. It's the only really Tier 1 aggressive deck, but comes in a few flavours. Here are the decks I considered:

Rubin Zoo

Pros:

•  Has controllish elements in Baneslayer and Punishing Fire / Grove of the Burnwillows.
• Good lategame: something many Zoo decks lack.

Cons:

• Noble Hierarch is a bad topdeck.
• Has to play 24 lands, thus has more chance of flood.
• A lot of people will be playing it, since it won PT: Austin.

Spectral Zoo:

Pros:

• Has random tech against Hexmage Depths
• Has Jitte, which Rubin Zoo couldn't fit in.

Cons:

• Sideboard seems weird.
• Spectral Procession puts a lot of strain on the manabase.

Landfall Zoo:

Pros:

• Abuses the HELL out of landfall. I mean, seriously.
• Has very aggressive starts.
• Has better Knights than other Zoo builds.

Cons:

• Can attack from less angles.
• Hasn't got much of a late-game.
• Can't really defend with it's landfall guys.

Hyper Aggressive Zoo:

Pros:

• 16 1-drops.
• Fastest Zoo deck ever.

Cons:

• Runs out of gas too quickly.
• NO lategame.
• Sweeper = you lose.

I decided to go with a process of elimination. I figured Hyper Aggressive Zoo simply wouldn't cut it in the mirror, so that was out. I also want a deck to start that will teach me a lot about the format, and mindless attacking won't do it. That ends the chances of Landfall Zoo.

I really like Rubin Zoo, but I also like the Jitte. However, in the end, I'm a sucker for an aggro deck that can control the game (that's why I play Jund) and the Grove / Punishing Fire combo simply suckered me in, so I decided to choose Rubin Zoo.

Here's the decklist I will be using, copied almost card for card from Brian Kibler's deck:

Lands (24)

4 Arid Mesa

2 Ghost Quarter

4 Grove of the Burnwillows

1 Marsh Flats

4 Misty Rainforest

1 Sacred Foundry

2 Stomping Ground

1 Temple Garden

2 Treetop Village

Creatures (21)

3 Baneslayer Angel

4 Knight of the Reliquary

3 Noble Hierarch

3 Qasali Pridemage

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Wild Nacatl

Spells (15)

1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Lightning Helix

4 Path to Exile

4 Punishing Fire

Sideboard (15)

3 Ancient Grudge

3 Blood Moon

3 Celestial Purge

2 Ghost Quarter

1 Kataki, War's Wage

3 Tormod's Crypt

The only change I made (and the changes that rippled from that) was removing the Meddling Mages. I don't have enough of a handle on the format to name the right card. Because of that, I removed the Hallowed Fountain from the sideboard, and due to that was able to cut a Marsh Flats for a second Ghost Quarter (against the mirror). To make up for the missing slots, I added Tormod's Crypt as an anti-Dredge mechanism and Celestial Purge against Dark Depths.

I'm concerned about my ability to beat Hypergenesis now, so the next thing to do was to look at the match reports for an idea on how Zoo can combat the deck. I don't know too much about how it works, either.

After a read up on Kibler's beating Hypergenesis, I find that Hierarch into Blood Moon is a strong move, and Ghost Quarter is very good. (So it's good against Hypergenesis, Dark Depths AND Rubin Zoo? Why am I not playing FOUR!?)

And so this is the deck I've decided to play. I'll be playing some matchups over the next week, and that, as well as the lessons I learn about the format, will be featured next week!

Play Along At Home:

This is the Play Along At Home portion of the post. If you want to learn more about Extended yourself, you can follow along with my journey and do what I intend to do in order to improve our knowledge of the format.

Homework: Play 10 matches of Rubin Zoo (either through real-life, proxies, MODO or MWS, I'm really not picky).

Look up some articles on the current metagame and Rubin Zoo.

See you next week with Fetch A Shockland: Part 2!

How to Use Magic Workstation Part 2 - Using The Interface

Hi everyone, and welcome to part 2 of How To Use Magic Workstation! Today we'll be covering how to use the interface: i.e, building decks.

Now that you've gotten all 173 million cards in Magic, how do you sort them into formats? To do that, first press Ctrl + F2. You will then be in the Deckbuilding screen. Now, notice the row of pictures below the menu (the bar with File and Edit in it.) Click on the fourth one. You can then select Classic, Extended, Standard, or Custom. Standard or Extended may not be updated, so if so, trim the sets that are no longer legal, then you're ready to build decks.

The deck building interface is so ridiculously simple that I almost feel guilty for writing a guide about it. It seems...cheap somehow. Anyway, here's the ridiculously complicated way to add a card to your deck:

Select the card.
Click the blue arrow.

To remove the card, select it from the deck menu, and press the red arrow. To put a card in your sideboard, select the card from the left, and click the green arrow. Simple as that.

To make this post last longer than 200 words, let's talk about connecting.

Either press Ctrl + I, or go to Game -> Connect to Opponent to bring up the connection window. Choose mwsplay.net (the default one) and press Connect. From there, you can join a game by clicking Join, or start your own, and Accept players who enter it. Next time we'll cover how to play the game in MWS and go over some shortcuts you'll use very often.

See you next time!

How To Use Magic Workstation: Part 1 - Download and Installation

Welcome to How To Use Magic Workstation! This series will cover the basics and not-so-basics of Magic Workstation (henceforth referred to as MWS), and get you up to speed with getting it up and running with all the cards, the interface of both building and playing, and the etiquette of the program.

To download the core of Magic Workstation, you can follow this link: http://www.magicworkstation.com/downloads.php. It's the first file.

Alright! You've downloaded it. Installing it is easy, simply follow the prompts.

However, when you bring up your Magic Workstation, you'll probably see some very odd cards. These aren't Magic cards, so we're going to need the gamepack. Thus, follow this link: http://www.mwsgames.com/index.php/Main_Page and download the MTG Card Database.

There's one small problem: the database as of this writing does not contain Zendikar cards. To get those, we'll need to add a new set. Since you have to do this every few months anyway, I'll walk you through the process. First, Google up <set name> MWS patch. To make it easier on you, the Zendikar one is here.

Once it's downloaded, we need to install it. First, go to the toolbar at the top (the one with File, Edit and View in it in basically all programs) and go to Tools. Under there, select Analyse/Add/Remove Editions. Once there, choose Add New Edition, then tick the "Get data from text spoiler" option.

You can then proceed to go to your Downloads folder and select the Zendikar file. Click Next. Under the booster pack option, change the basic lands value to 1, and the commons value to 10. Then you're done! Go to File -> Save, or simply press Ctrl + S, and you're ready to play with the new cards.

Join us next time, when we talk about how to build some new decks and connect to your opponent!

P.S: I apologise for the lack of screenshots. Magic Workstation takes up most of the screen and I have a big screen, so screenshots are generally nearly useless. I'll do my best to explain it all with text.

More Zendikar Spoilers

Hi guys! It's time for more spoilers already, so I don't fall too far behind again! Let's go!

Feast of Blood
Sorcery
Cast Feast of Blood only if you control two or more Vampires. Destroy target creature. You gain 4 life.
#88/249

This card is a sideboard card, at best. "But, Salivanth, what are you talking about? It's a better Doom Blade in Vampire Aggro!"


Answer: Not really. In a hyper-aggressive aggro deck, 4 life is only a bit more important than Instant vs. Sorcery, and you can't play it Turn 2. You also, obviously, can't play it after a Judgement. I think Doom Blade is a better choice.


That being said, you can probably pick these up late in a Vampire deck in Limited for some more removal.

Kabira Crossroads
Land
Kabira Crossroads enters the battlefield tapped. When Kabira Crossroads enters the battlefield, you gain 2 life. : Add  to your mana pool.

This could be decent in Mono-White Control, which is being pushed a decent amount. ETBT doesn't matter as much to control, and control is all about incremental advantages. 2 life tacked on to a Plains is an incremental advantage. Keep an eye on this card.

Obsidian Fireheart
Creature - Elemental
: Put a blaze counter on target land without a blaze counter on it. Lands with blaze counters on them have "At the beginning of your upkeep, this land deals 1 damage to you". (The land continues to burn even after Obsidian Fireheart leaves the battlefield.)
	4/4

Hmm...the RRR cost is a bit much for decks that aren't almost all red. However, regardless of the effect, it's a 4/4 for 4 in Red. Not to be sniffed at. As for the effect, it's clearly a way to spend extra mana. I think this could see play in a Red aggro deck as a finisher. Even if it dies, if it sticks around a turn or two, your life, probably already low, is now in dire peril.

Oran-Rief Recluse
Creature - Spider
Kicker  Reach When Oran-Rief Recluse enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target creature with flying.
	1/3

This card isn't that great. Could be decent versus W/U skies in Limited, but I don't see it seeing much play.

Quest for the Gemblades
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to another creature, you may put a quest counter on Quest for the Gemblades. Remove a quest counter from Quest for the Gemblades and sacrifice it: Put four +1/+1 counters on target creature.

An interesting quest. I think this'll be a good rattlesnake. It's very hard to attack into this card. Or block either. In fact, combat math becomes bloody hard. Pick these up. I wouldn't hesitate to play 2-3 of these if I could get them in a Draft. They'll be fifth-seventh pick, but they should be higher.

Mire Blight
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature When enchanted creature is dealt damage, destroy it.

This is a good piece of common removal, and you can probably pick it up pretty late. It's not hard to do damage. Basically, the card reads "If enchanted creature is nonevasive, if it attacks or blocks, destroy it at end of combat". Plus, there's probably at least one pinger in Zendikar.

Turntimber Grove
Land
Turntimber Grove enters the battlefield tapped. When Turntimber Grove enters the battlefield, target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. : Add  to your mana pool.
#227/249

Not really a playable. This card does not work, since it's only really decent application (a combat trick) is nullified. Probably second-worst of the cycle (the black one being the worst).

Relic Crush
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment and up to one other target artifact or enchantment.

Enchantment removal is a lot better in Zendikar than in other sets because of quests. This card is better than it would be in another set. Pick it accordingly.

Expedition Map
Artifact
, , Sacrifice Expedition Map: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

Good common mana-fixer, that can also get you a non-basic should you need it. This isn't spectacular, but it does it's job in Limited.

Unstable Footing
Instant
Kicker  Damage can't be prevented this turn. If Unstable Footing was kicked, it deals 5 damage to target player.

This is, essentially, a Lava Axe. Not too great. The R effect is incredibly, INCREDIBLY narrow, and will almost never be used. Just...no. Don't play this except if you have to.

Kor Aeronaut
Creature - Kor Soldier
Kicker  Flying When Kor Aeronaut enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, target creature gains flying until end of turn.
	2/2

Decent card. Probably not quite Constructed material (maybe with Kicker W) but it's good for Limited. Gets in there well. Still, a 2/2 flier for 2 is damn good. This might see play in Constructed yet. Wait, it's a SOLDIER? The plot thickens...

Kor Hookmaster
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Hookmaster enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
	2/2

Strong Limited card, doesn't quite make the Constructed cut. At 1W it would. If only...

Verdant Catacombs
Land
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Verdant Catacombs: Search your library for a Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Vance Kovacs #229/249

Cool. I have a name to start praying for. Verdant Catacombs. Open for me please...

Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Creature - Sphinx
Flying, shroud You may look at the top card of your library.(You may do this at any time)
#68/249	5/5

WOW. In Limited, in 19 cases out of 20, you just win when you play this. In Constructed, it's a great finisher. This card is amazingly good, since a 5/5 flier is basically proof against anything but removal. This WILL see play in Block, and in T2 if Baneslayer is not in M11.

Savage Silhouette
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has ": Regenerate enchanted creature".

If you have spare mana, this card is great. It's nearly indestructible with the new removal spells. Good to put on fragile utility creatures.

Hagra Diabolist
Creature - Ogre Shaman Ally
When Hagra Diabolist or an other Ally enters the battlefield, target player loses life equal to the the number of Allies you control. Then gain that much life.
	3/2

In an Ally deck, this can be quite mean. In a non-ally deck: not really.

Ondu Cleric
Creature - Kor Cleric Ally
When Ondu Cleric or another Ally comes into play, you may gain 1 life for each Ally you control.
	1/1

Now THIS is an ally. In a deck with half-a-dozen plus allies, it could gain 6 life or so before dying. I think Allies may be worth looking at in Draft, as a matter of fact.

Nimbus Wings
Sorcery
Two target creatures get +2/+2 and flying until end of turn.

An innovative pump spell. Well designed, and this could totally take out a stalemate if put on a couple of decent-sized creatures, like 3/3 or bigger.

Kor Outfitter
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Outfitter enters the battlefield, attach target equipment you control to target creature you control.
#21/249	2/2

Now that's a good weenie in Limited. Look out for B/W Aggro as a Zendikar archetype, because it will be mean stuff.


And that's another bundle of cards.


See you tomorrow!