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“How can I get better?”

This is a question we all ask ourselves. Today, I’ll review techniques to improve your game, techniques that don’t concern your personal skill level, but your mentality and your effort. While some of these tips may seem elementary, it is good to remind ourselves of these things now and again…

Start Young

The ideal age to start your Magic career is sometime between the ages of thirteen and twenty, at the time when your intellectual abilities are developing naturally. Such timing makes information easier to assimilate. Magic is a complex game, and it takes years to become really good, no matter how much effort your expend, or your personal skill level. Therefore, the earlier you start, the better it is for you!

Of course, starting after the age of twenty doesn’t mean you can’t become a great player. Some players turned pro despite discovering the game in their twenties. However, they remain exceptions, and it is still better to start young.

I realize there’s little you can do to influence this, as if you’re reading this article you likely already play the game, but it’s an important thing to consider nonetheless.

Find Yourself a Rival

It is very difficult to elevate your playing skills on your own. Having a friend (or a brother, heh) whose level is close to yours is a fantastic motivation. Growing together in an atmosphere of rivalry pushes both players to try their best to become better mages.

If my brother and I hadn’t start playing at the same time, I would never have had the career I have had over the last eleven years. The fact that he was better than me made me try my best to catch up, and, eventually, when our levels were similar, we became the best playtest partners for each other. Once we had reached a decent level of skill, I could practice at any time against one of the best players in the area. Soon, it was against one of the best in the whole of France, and eventually it was against one of the best players in the world.

Attend Tournaments

Once you start trusting your game and/or want to experience the official competition, do so! The money you pay when registering, the prizes awaiting the top players, and the tournament atmosphere in general all push you to do your best.

The multitude of players and decks you play against will help you consider new cards and synergies. One important point: do not get discouraged after doing badly at your first event. Most players think they have a great deck, and that they play it well, when they enter their first tournament. They’re probably wrong. And this is more than fine fine, as everyone needs time to adjust their deck and/or playing skill to the level required at competitive events.

Playtest

When you playtest for a tournament, you must be thinking in terms of efficiency. Of course, you have to try your own creations, as it is the only way to become a good deckbuilder, and of course it is important to keep having fun when you play if you don’t want to grow tired of the game.

However, the closer you get to the tournament date, and the more important that event is, the more serious you have to be about the testing. And in these moments, you have to play whether you want to or not.

Two days out from an Extended PTQ and the new combo deck you’ve been testing for days just doesn’t seem good enough yet? No big deal. There is no shame in net-decking if what you’re looking for is the best possible result at the event. It is less fun? Sure it is, but if you do well at the event, it won’t matter that much, will it?

The final days of your preparation should be devoted to optimizing, not to researching or innovating.

Keep Your Brain Moving

In a game of Magic, most of the decisions you take directly follow logic, mathematics, intuition, or a global ability to read the game and to anticipate what is coming next. The better you get, the more naturally these choices should come to you. However, even if the most common means to assimilate those things is to stock experience, it is always good to play other games that help tone those mental muscles. You can practice your player-reading when playing Chess or Go games, your intuition and mathematics are helped by poker and more, and your logic is boosted with Minesweeper or Sudoku.

When I started doing well at Magic, I was a Tetris addict, and I think it played a role in my evolution as a player. I was playing one or two hours a day, and this game made me practice my logic and my intuition a lot. More importantly, I think it made me a faster Magic player because it taught me to follow my instincts.

Want It More Than Your Opponent

What type of person are you? Are you one of those people who sees the glass half empty, or of those who see it half full? Most Magic players clearly belong in the first category. Whenever anything goes wrong for them, it impacts their game in a negative way. The problem is that there is almost always something you can complain about in a Magic game. You didn’t draw enough lands, you drew too many, your opponent drew just the amount he needed then stopped, he has god draws, you drew two straight lands, etc etc etc. One of these situations occurs for at least one of the players in every game of Magic. You must not focus on what is not going right for you, but on what is, or what could be.

In a close game between two players of a similar level, the more optimistic one will often win. Always try to think of a way to win, and trust your deck and your game until the end… this is essential if you want to reach the top of the pile.

Pay attention, however, that you don’t begin to hate losing, because this makes the random part of the game unacceptable. Such an attitude could lead to unacceptable behavior towards your opponent, if you believe he doesn’t deserve his win.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Self confidence is very important, but it is useless and becomes a shackle if you can’t question yourself.

You didn’t draw the right lands in Limited? Maybe it’s bad luck. You feel like it happens all the time? Do you really think you’re that unlucky, or do you build unstable decks and/or manabases?

Also, it is very important to avoid making the same play mistake twice. You forgot to pay for a Pact of Negation’s upkeep? That can happen… just make sure from now on you’ll always put a reminder on the top of your deck every time you have an upkeep cost to pay. You try to play Incinerate on a 2/3 Tarmogoyf with no instants in the graveyard? That’s fine… it’s okay if you didn’t know it would survive. Just make sure you don’t make the same mistake again.

And when you lose a close game, in particular when you put your opponent on one or two life, don’t blame bad luck, no matter if your opponent topdecked for the win or if you draw three straight lands. Just ask yourself if there was anything you could have done to win. And then you will realize you could often have won if you had played perfectly.

Handle the Pressure

The closer you get to the higher levels of play, the more often you’ll have to play under pressure. It can come from a round in which you absolutely need to win, from a prestigious opponent, or from the eyes of the spectators you can feel burning into your back.

You have to get used to people watching you until their gaze doesn’t affect you at all.

People are making unpleasant comments about your play? Mocking you? So be it. They make mistakes too; you play Magic for yourself, not to please spectators.

I know it is hard to overcome, but if I may give you a piece of advice: do never turn away a player who wants to watch your game. Actually, you should ask people to watch you play. The best technique is to sit in the most crowded area of your local shop or tournament site, so people wandering around stop by and pay attention to your match, as they don’t have anything better to do until their next round starts. At one point, you will stop noticing them.

But if you’re not used to such attention, self confidence helps a lot. When you arrive at a tournament well prepared and you make Top 8, it’s like you have worked hard for an exam and face the subject you know the most. You have no reason to stress at all… there is no reason things will go wrong. And in case you’re not prepared and/or you’re here because you’ve been lucky, you have nothing to lose and no one will blame you if you punt on this stage. The same goes if you have a bad matchup: just leave your opponent to deal with the pressure of being favorite, and be ready to seize your chance.

Never Give Up

When playing in a tournament, it is important to never concede a game. Of course, if you have two life, no cards in hand, no creatures on board, and your opponent has four guys ready to attack, there is no shame in waving the white flag.

But as long as you think you have the smallest possible chance to turn the tables, do not concede! You won’t win unless you draw your deck’s final two removal spells in the next two turns? You only have 1% chance to win? Wrong! You still have 1% chance to win!

Over the last two seasons, for instance, here are a few examples of games I won despite having almost no chance to end up victorious:

- Three opponents forgot to pay for their Pacts.
- One opponent drew an extra card in the middle of his combo, with a judge at the table. (I’m pretty sure it was not on purpose though, as he clearly had the game won.)
- I double-topdecked my only combination of outs. More than once.

Unlikely, heh? But these things do happen.

Pay Attention To Your Physical Condition

It is very important to be in a good physical shape when arriving at an event. In order to do so, it’s best to have a good night’s sleep and eat well in the days prior to the event.

Of course, I am not telling you to go on diet, or make sure you’re in bed by ten every night. But you have to keep in mind that Magic is a sport, and you can’t play your best if you’re not in a good physical condition. Would an athlete go out until 3am two days before running a 10k? No. Should a Magic player playtest until 2am the night before an event? No.

It is common to be exhausted at the end of a day, and not to be able to focus at all on your game. This phenomenon can be avoided, or at least limited. Just try and sleep well in the last two or three days before an event, and avoid junk food in the meantime. Also, do not forget to eat and drink at an event, as it is common to lose the notion of time and to skip lunch.

At GP: Rotterdam, I played a Tower Gargoyle instead of a mono-Blue creature and passed the turn when I was at three life and my opponent’s only guys were Valeron Outlander and Guardians of Akrasa. The night before, I was sick and slept for a mere three hours. Coincidence? Probably not.

I hope this advice helped. Next week, I’ll start explaining some techniques to actually improve your playing skill level. Unless I do well at Hannover, of course…

Until next week!

Olivier Ruel