I know that this may come as something of a shock to my readers, but a seasoned Magic veteran I am not. I try to read up and keep myself educated, but when advanced players begin pontificating about how a specific card or mechanism may not fare well when faced with some other card or mechanism of which I have never heard I kind of get sleepy. Kind of like when that dude with glasses at work starts breaking out spreadsheets and graphs complaining about metrics or monkeys or some such thing.
Anyway, truth be told, I will never be able to afford the time investment to become a grandmaster deck brewer or draft stud. I am a journeyman. The back-up QB. The dabbler. The hot chick’s slightly pudgy friend who’s only about 6 bourbons away from getting hit on.
In lieu of experience and practice, new and casual players must rely upon focus and planning in order to remain competitive. Let us, therefore, look to the voices of the past to streamline our game. Who knows? Perhaps even the very skilled can avail themselves of the wisdom of our forbearers.
“L'audace, l'audace. Toujours l'audace!" (Audacity, audacity. Always audacity!)
--Danton
In nearly every form of competition whether in war, in business, or in sports, it is good policy to dictate the terms of the battle. This is axiom holds particularly true when playing Limited due to the general dearth of precision builds.
When the path to victory is clouded with uncertainty, attack! Take the battle to the enemy. Let your foe scramble to stop your onslaught. Leave him shaking like a Frenchman in a thunderstorm. With your opponent constantly reacting to you, less time is available to formulate a long term plan for your defeat.
Ultimately, straining from the relentlessness of your assault, mistakes will be made. In a tightly contested match, a poor block, the wrong land left untapped, or a poorly ordered combination often separates glorious victory from a shameful demise.
“To be strong everywhere is to be strong nowhere”
--Sun Tzu
It is a strange man indeed who fears choosing “rock” when engaging in a game of Rochambeau due to its reputation for weakness to “paper”. In limited, you cannot possibly guard against all possible contingencies. Unless your draft table is full of a bunch of baboons, you will not be able to field a deck that is impervious to burn, strong against creatures, robust when faced with ramp, and magnificent against control. This isn’t the NFL and your deck is not the 85’ Bears.
By the second pack, you should ask yourself “what does this deck want to do?” Identify a theme (subject to change, of course, should any notable bombs fall into your possession), select cards that complement it, and address any glaring weakness if the opportunity arises.
There will always be some card or archetype (again, sans baboons at the draft table) that is going to piss you off. Don’t worry about it. Make yourself as strong as possible at what you want to do and odds are you’ll be the one doing the pissing off.
“The maxim, ‘Nothing avails except perfection’ spells paralysis.”
—Winston S. Churchill
I like to call this “Wiley Coyote Syndrome.” That dumbass coyote is always bankrupting himself on crazy plans involving rockets, bungee cords, paint, cacti, roller skates, non-union immigrant workers, and ball bearings when all he needs is to dump a little rat poison in the bird seed.
Don’t be a shill for those a-holes at ACME. What use is having a good rat poison in your hand if it only serves to give your opponent gas unless combined with 2 or 3 other cards sitting somewhere in your library? Whatever you draft should be good by itself even if you can’t pull off the triple-Lutz. For the journeyman, keeping it real simplifies draft strategy and reduces the potential for errors during the game.
In a game that already spends at least every other Sabbath worshiping at the alter of chance, crossing your fingers and hoping for sweet music every time you draw your opening 7 is a recipe for bog-down. Yep. That’s right. I’m telling you that the Tortoise and Hare fable is a bunch of flapdoodle.
During game play, much as in life, you must be flexible in your approach in order to gain the maximum benefit. In both MTG and in poker I have seen players become so unwaveringly committed to pulling off some nifty play (that hasn’t been a good idea for 2 turns) that they miss the reality of the current circumstance.
Keep abreast of changes in your hand and on the board. What was a good play last turn, may not be the best play now.
I have a buddy who drank way too many 7 & 7’s once when we were all in Vegas and married our blackjack dealer. As you might imagine, my buddy had the buyer’s remorse. You may wonder where I’m going with this. Me too. I guess I would say that what was looking like a great idea at one moment might not be the best choice when circumstances change a bit. Stay flexible. Don’t marry the dealer.
“There are more men ennobled by study than by nature.”
—Cicero
This advice is problematic for players unable to invest a lot of time in their game but it is extremely important nonetheless. Drafting a new set is a lot like going boozing with my friend Irish Andy. If you don’t thoroughly prepare yourself for what you are about to do, things will not end well. Ever.
Unless you are a gladiator or adult film star, raw talent will not always suffice to win the day over the individual who spent time in careful study. I cannot stress enough the importance of learning the cards before sitting down to draft.
You don’t want to be the dude leaving the table, dejected, saying “Damn. I didn’t know that the Stormfront Pegasus was that good” or “I didn’t realize a Sacred Wolf would work so well with that equipment” or even “Ice Cage does what? Oh #@&$....”.
Take some time to learn the cards. Your first opponent in any draft is the contents of the pack, not the guy across from you.
“Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich.”
--Henry Ford.
Read the damn cards. Carefully. Even goat farmers in Afghanistan
A single half-assed play in an otherwise well played match can doom any player much less the novice or journeyman. Quit being lazy and pay attention. Losing a match due to mental errors sucks more than about any other type of loss. Well that and losing to some ass-face who jumps around celebrating like a 5 year old earning his first “participation ribbon” at field day……
Next Installment: The Fryguy hits his first constructed tournament and discovers some unpleasent realities.
