Hey guys, this week’s article is about fixing regular errors in your game. I call this filling the hole (mostly because I’m funny). So what are common problems you have in your game you ask? Well I find that it’s the subtle mistakes that you don’t realise you’re making that add up towards victory, or defeat in this case. I’m going to touch on the more obvious ones that I see people make all the time.
Land
I know lands are pretty straight forward you might say but I have seen people make countless errors when it comes to how they play their lands. Whether it’s playing the lands in the wrong order or just tapping your mana poorly, it’s important to focus on all of the little things. For example you have Island, Island, Forest, Plains, Celestial Colonnade on the board and you cast Oblivion Ring which lands do you leave untapped? Now this comes to me easy now, because when I was learning to be a more competitive player I learnt to think about how I use my mana because any stumble is an advantage I don’t want to give away. So I would leave Island and obviously Celestial Colonnade untapped because in a standard environment those two lands could represent more bluffs than any other combination coming from a deck with that mana base. Now this rule is very subject to change depending on the context (format, what you’ve seen from their deck, what you’ve shown from your deck, what you want to bluff etc…). This is what I want you to take from this article if nothing else, love your land and they’ll love you.
Mulligans
Do this more. I know even I don’t mulligan anywhere as much as I should because of terrible reasons. I have seen so many people keep a loose hand because it worked out for them the other day. I mean, when you draw your seven, you really have to think “will this get me there?” “Is this hand good enough against red?” “Do I actually have good odds of drawing the land to make this hand perfect in the next x amount of turns?” Basically what I’m trying to say is, question every decision you make, because one wrong turn and it could cost you a game.
Sideboarding
Sideboarding is a really broad subject, so I’m only going to touch lightly on it in this article. Sideboarding is something that is incredibly difficult to master and that’s why I like to put the effect in before a tournament, so I have an idea what cards come in or go out and can then adjust my plans accordingly if necessary. In my opinion the best way to sideboard if you don’t know it really well is to just shuffle your whole sideboard into your deck and then take out the worst fifteen cards in the match up.
Chump Blocking
This is for scared people; manly men just attack and kill them first. But seriously I see so many people put themselves out of games with the card disadvantage of chump blocking too early to save a few life that wouldn’t be that relevant if they weren’t so behind from card disadvantage. I would say, with some obvious exceptions, chump block when you’re low on life (be aware that the life total I consider to be low depends on the match up) and when you’re high on life don’t. There is some games you will see me chump block when I’m on 20 and those are the games when your life total is your most important resource over card advantage.
Playing to your outs
This is the difference between the boys and the men in my opinion; the boys give up but the men fight for it, and playing to your outs is how you do it. When I play a game of Magic, every turn I think of what the best possible card to draw in that situation would be so that when I do draw it I know exactly how I’m going to play it. You should always know how you’re going to win and constantly ask yourself that question. Playing to your outs actually often warps how you’re going to play the game. For example, you might be in a situation where you can only draw one thing to win, but it won’t be possible unless you play in a way that may seem incorrect. You should definitely play that way, because apart from looking like you’re playing poorly, you have nothing to lose and a small chance to win is a lot better than no chance at all.
Conceding
Never concede because you think you’ve lost, unless time is an issue. Enough said. Ok I’ll tell you why you should never concede. I bring it up because I keep seeing people give up games they won because the opponent Jedied them into scooping. Jeremy Neeman would not of top 8’d Pro Tour San Juan if he didn’t mise his opponent into conceding.
Anyway guys there’s some food for thought, next time you’ll have to give me thoughts for food (nomnom mmmmm).
Please comment if you have an opinion.
Also I know I said I’d write about a deck but I haven’t had the chance to test the deck I want to write about if you have any preferences of decks you want to read about let me know I finally have internet at home again so I’ll be able to test.
Aaron Nicoll
