by Ian Baker
Ian "The Doctor" Baker believes a large number of Magic players suffer from thinking they are better than they really are. WIthin this article, the Doc prescribes some remedies on how we should look at our games.
This article is going to be the kind that I love to write but hate to read. Yes, this is going to be a Magic theory article. The reason that I often hate Magic theory articles is because I find they frequently stray into self-help book territory, where the author attempts to sound important by telling people things that they pretty much already know. I’m going to try my best to avoid that trap with this article, because I want to address something that I feel is rampant in the Magic circles that I frequent. Anyways, the core of my argument is this: you are not as good as you think you are.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked up to a table of Magic players and heard stories about losses where a player “drew x land.” It is not anywhere near statistically possible for people to have drawn 10 lands in a row the number of times I’ve heard about it. Here’s a suggestion: the next time you lose a game because you drew several land in a row, think about exactly how many land you drew. Write that number down. It may help to keep track of your life with paper and pen rather than with dice (this is probably something you should be doing anyways). I’m betting that the actual number will be around three or four. Additionally, try and think about what exactly the board state was when you started to draw land. I’ll bet you were probably behind, or perhaps slightly ahead.
I’ve found that in Magic, there is a strange kind of “Nerd Bravado.”* It’s part of having the confidence to play a card game like this competitively, I think. Telling bad beat stories is part of the Magic culture, and I’m fine with that. Sometimes though, I feel like the people telling the stories aren’t just telling them to their friends, they’re telling them to themselves, and that’s when it gets dangerous. Generally, you need to be honest with yourself if you’re truly going to improve at anything, and of course this counts for Magic too. If you don’t analyze situations in which you lost to determine what you could have done better, then you will stagnate. That’s why earlier I advised writing down the number of lands you actually drew when something like that happens, so that you know exactly what happened, even if that’s not what you tell people later. It’s important in any loss situation to analyze things and figure out how you could have been better, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Sometimes it goes all the way back to a bad mulligan decision, and sometimes the right path is not clear, but analysis of one’s play will lead to better play decisions.
Another instance where Magic players are frequently not honest with themselves is the issue of misplays. Everyone makes misplays. I’ve watched LSV’s draft videos and seen him make a few. He doesn’t make many, and he’s a very good player so he can usually play himself out of them, but it still happens. It is impossible to eliminate them completely. That is why making a misplay should not be viewed with shame. The best players are those who can admit to their misplays, and who make misplays but still win games. Even failing to finish off a game that you could have won a turn earlier is a misplay. At the highest levels of magic, those turns matter a lot. Giving your opponent a few extra turns every single game translates into a lot of cards drawn, and there will inevitably be a couple who are able to come back thanks to those topdecks. The best players can also find ways to extend games where they are losing by a turn or two, and that can occasionally translate into an extra win or two. The small things matter, and the small misplays matter, but if you’re being honest with yourself and are aware of those misplays, you will make less and less of them. Being honest with yourself in every match you play will make you a better player, that’s the bottom line. My favorite magic video ever is of Makihito Makara at worlds 2006:
He makes a massive misplay, but realizes it, figures out what his only out is, and wins the game. If he were not being honest with himself he never would have been able to make that play.
There is definitely an element of randomness to magic that is undeniable. Sometimes you do just lose because you got unlucky. That is how the game works, and we all know that. What I am suggesting is that it is important that you be able to differentiate between the times that you made a mistake and those few times where things were just not going your way.
Some might say that this is taking the fun out of magic. I don’t think that’s true. There are games that I’ve played for fun where I make heaps of misplays because I’m not taking the game seriously. That’s another part of Magic, just goofing around with your friends. I’m just saying that any game that you want to take seriously should involve an analysis of mistakes you may have made, and a conscious effort to eliminate those mistakes going forward. Analyzing the game like this would not make me discouraged, it would make me optimistic that I could reduce mistakes going forward, and I think it’s a good policy. In fact, I think it’s the best policy.
– Ian "The Doctor" Baker
*”Nerd Bravado” is copyright 2010 Ian “The Doctor” Baker. Also, when I say nerd I mean it in an endearing way, because I’m a huge nerd too.
This article is brought to you by the Broken City School of Magic.
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.
