Does certain methods make u a better player?

[Hellion]

I am a Magic player that always looks for ways to make myself a better player. I have tried many methods but my favourite methods including building decks that uses only Block + Basic set cards and do drafting with only commons and uncommons.

I have taken my current "training" to the max by building Mercadian Masques + 6th Edition cards only decks. I of course refused to build Rebel decks but instead built Ponza, Rising Waters, Green Control (yes it's possible) and Green/Red LD.

Some of these decks can beat existing decktypes in Standard today. Sometimes I really freak some players out by declaring my deck is Urza Block free and trash them senseless.

Umm...sorry, getting a bit off point here. Anyways, what r your favourite methods to horn your Magic playing skills? Suggestions, insights and experiences welcomed.

 

[Daenen]

I like looking at the State Championship decks, then attempt to improve upon them. My favorite deck type is Wildfire. It is a lot of fun to play, and most people don't mind playing against it. It isn't one of those impossible-to-beat decks (i.e. High Tide, Replenish, etc.).

Another fun way to build a deck is to pick up a rare/uncommon card that no one uses, and build a deck around it. One of my friends has a blue/white/black monstrosity consisting of Evil Eye of Orms By Gore, Blinding Angel, and, everyone's favorite card: Angel's Trumpet. He does something to give you the Evil Eye, and then beats you in the head with Blinding Angel, while you are stuck without an attack phase, taking a minimum of 3 points per turn. The really scary thing is, it works.

 

[Gizmo]

The only way to improve is to find somebody who is better than you and get beat by him a ton of times. You then have two options availabe to you:
a) get better
b) go home
I got REAL good at Magic REAL fast when I moved to university and the only guy I ever got to play against had no qualms about dropping Moats or Abyss` on my ass. My only response was to get good at playing, within 6 months he couldn`t take a game off me. I had transformed from a random scrub to a killer player.
As a deckbuilder I have to say that your methods can only be harmful, all deckbuilding experience should be taken within the metagame you are intending to play in. You can theorise easily enough about what cards will be good once UBC leaves, but any decks you build could be instantly rendered inviable by a single card from Invasion.

How to become a better player?
Play against somebody better, and play with your eyes and ears open. Always ask 'why did I lose', 'why did he win' - after every game, you never just lose, there was always a reason.
How to become a better designer?
Play against a better designer, and after every game ask what cards were useless or poor, what cards you weren`t using that would have been good. And be prepared to change you decks instantly to try something new.

 

[Zadok001]

A good friend of mine (who sadly graduated from my school this year, so I won't get to play against him much more ) consistantly hands me my head on a platter, even if I can beat almost anyone else I've played on a regular basis. How? Well, this guy once told me about his ideas about why some people are better at Magic than others. Adapting his ideas, I give you what I've called, The Strata of Players. It's not complete, but it is fairly accurate, based on personal experience. If anyone has suggestions, please tell me. (I intend to make this an article soon.)

Good Player w/o the "Spark": This is the standard player, it includes maybe 65% of the people out there. These players learn by playing against the best of the best, watching, and just improving by hand. They aren't the best, but they learn quickly and get better over time. I fit into this category. (I'll get into the "Spark" idea later.)

Bad Player w/o the "Spark": This is the guy who never quite seems to catch the hidden tactics behind the game, at least not of their own accord. Unless they specifically study how to bluff out of a situation, they won't. They can learn the game, but it takes more work. There's just something in their personality keeping them one step behind in strategy and tactical engagements. The use of 'Bad' in the name is a misnomer, these guys aren't bad, just not naturally skilled at playing games like Magic. (No one can tell me there's no natural skill involved in Magic!)

Average Player: Joe Average. Catches on if he wants to, but doesn't play enough to get great. The "Spark" doesn't matter here, because this type of player doesn't play or care enough to try as hard as the others.

(Aside, Discussing the "Spark": The "Spark" is a theoretical part of the intelligence which gives a player an extrordinary ability to see what cards interact well with each other. In deckbuilding, players with the "Spark" can sit still for five minutes, then grab a random pile of cards, and make an excellent casual (but still competative) deck. Given time and the resources to do so, these are the Zvis of the world, awe-inspiring deckbuilders who can find every edge, every tiny advantage they can get. The "Spark" also extends to enjoying the game more than anyone else. A player with the "Spark" watches games with more interest than anyone else, and actually has a certain love for the game. They can spend literally hours watching a slow, drawn out game, and enjoy every second of it. In play, the player with the "Spark" often looks at the board in a way no one else can or will, spotting every contingency and every card in play. Players with the "Spark" have fantastic memories, almost never using dice to track their life totals, even when it surpasses 100. They know every card they've been shown in the game, and often enough will predict the winner of large, extensive games a _long_ time before anyone else can.)

Bad Player w/ the "Spark": Once again, 'bad' is a misnomer. It means that this player simply doesn't have inherent skill in the game. They can learn the skill, but it takes time and effort. _Lot's_ of time and effort. With the "Spark," though, this type of player will often play strange little theme decks without any real victory conditions, and still win a suprising number of times, simply by having an amazing amount of synergy in their decks.

Good Player w/ the "Spark": The greatest players of all time probably fit this category. Casual players in this category will often play with a suprising number of generally inferior cards, and still win. Their inherent skill lets them find the strategies they need to win, and the "Spark" lets them utilize cards in ways they've never used them before. They occasionally build decks with built-in 'combos' that they never intended to be there. In casual play, they play midrange decks that seem to always have an answer to everything, often reusing their resources throughout the game. These are the guys you meet once, maybe twice in your life. And put simply, they will kick your ass all over the room.

(Aside, Personal Note: Daniel Sakurai, good luck at OIT, and feel free to come back and beat me into the ground any time. You can have your chair back. )

"To the memories of NRST."

 

[Zadok001]

Wow, I wrote alot, neh?

 

[Gizmo]

Sounds about right, 'the spark' is just an ability to focus on the game as a complete unit, meaning you are able to anyalyse the complete impact of events much faster. Just like good Chess players plan four moves in advance, players with 'the spark' plan strategies using the cards they haven`t even drawn yet, and use those unsees cards to stop cards that their opponent hasn`t even played yet.

My best friend Neil Rigby has 'the spark' but can`t deckbuild to save his life. I have the deckbuilding equivalent of 'the spark' but I know I`m not a good enough player to beat those with 'the spark'. I`m probably one of the Top-20 players in the UK and the way I play (steady, consistent, no mistakes) means that I will almost never lose to anybody outside the Top-20, but I will also never beat anyone inside the Top-20 because simply not making mistakes isn`t enough to compete with 'the spark'.

Occasionally I get glimpses of 'the spark' in my play so maybe I`m a late starter or I`ve just got a faulty sparkplug or something...

 

[Mundungu]

I agree with David,

The best is to play (and probably get beaten at first) by guys better than you.
And learn why you lost, either because the deck could be better or because you missed some plays.

REading about a deck or stack manipulation wont help much.
Experiencing it on the wrong end of the stick will teach you many lessons.

 

[Spiderman]

Chiming in here:

I also agree with Gizmo. Playing better players just forces you to think more and get better.

Zadok: You should put that in the Voting Forum: "What type of player do you think you are according to this?"

(Optimistically I'd like to think of myself as Good Player w/o Spark but I'm probably Joe Average).

 

[galtwish]

The best way to get good?
Don't play for fun

But here in the CPA, I would suggest forming a team. Even if it is just 3 other people (you'll need about 4 people, but not more than 8) who get together once a week for a few hours, you should see your play improve considerably. Don't play fun decks, play brutal decks. If you can, have a teammate watch you play. And then play the same match-up afterward with you watching. Switch off playing decks with you current opponent after a match is won to see how the opposiiton stacks up to your deck.
But I think the most important thing to do to get better is this:
Play with sideboards, and play at least as many games with the sideboard in the deck as just straight up. Learning how to sideboard properly is probably the single biggest reason casual players don't do very well in tournaments. We just never play with'em.

Erik

 

[Apollo]

I agree that the best way to learn is to play with very good players. You can also just stand to the side and watch a great player and see what he does. You'll often watch and wonder why does things only to see it work out perfectly 5 turns later. If you don't know any really good players (like if you and a group of friends were starting together), I would just reccomendend playing a lot. After the game, think about what moves made the difference in the win or loss. Also, never allow takebacks in your games. They encourage sloppy play because you don't think as hard about moves before you make them. And you play the same way in tournament games as you do casually. Sloppily or carefully.

By the way, I would consider myself in the "good player without the spark" category. I think I'm a good player, capable of thinking ahead in the game and rarely making mistakes. But I've seen much better. And I'm not a bad deckbuilder, finding silly little combos and making them work. But I'll never think of something like Trix or Fruity Pebbles. So, I think I fall in that category pretty nicely.

Cheers,

Apollo