Hi Blog,
I'm playing Planechase like a boxed set we have all 4 precons and it ends up being a great way for my family to play Magic with me.
Also a great way to see card mechanics from sets gone by and be continously humbled by what I don't know now that I'm 10 months in to the learning curve.
Ninjitsu means you have an attacking unblocked creature and you pay the ninjitsu cost and your ninja switches places with that creature- that creature comes back into your hand. You may only use that if the ninja is already in your hand.
Here's the bit I'm not sure about because of when on the stack things happen. If I attack with say a Tormented soul - he's unblocked 1/1 and then the ninja comes in for 2/2 do they both have their damage resolved off the stack because blockers have already been declared or is it just the ninja damage?
I've been playing it as just the ninja damage while on vacation with my family but really I'm just not sure and haven't had time to look it up ( I assume the question has come up). I'm writing it down here because it's important to note when I'm still unsure of rules in play. It's also important to note that I can be this unsure of rules in play after 11 months.
I went to GenCon last week, I had some really good discussions with Aaron Forsythe about coaches and coaching and non-EV based Organized Play and he brought up some assumptions about longevity of learning curve and eventual mastery that made me think about coaching that scaled up to the pro level. I spoke with Jackie Lee about something similar ( for very different reasons) and it's making me expand my concepts of pro and non-pro interaction.
No time to write really, the Internet cuts in and out where I am, but leaving this here so I can follow up.
Also I'm finishing up the wrap up for Avacyn Restored art review - I think I found the moral balance after discussing it at GenCon. It's interesting to me how much playing Magic makes me look closely at moral and ethical values in and out of the game.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Pseudo-Newb and Reactions to the internet taking up my gamespace
Hello, Competitive Journal where I cannot lie to myself or I'd be undermining the whole damn process.
How are you?
Today we will deal with three points of extreme honesty and asses their impact on my performance:
Thing 1 - Side effects of the stupid Olympics coverage juxtaposed with sexual harassment at conventions, stupid assed things on Facebook when my peer group should really be old enough to think about these things ( we are SOOO not teenagers) and the weekly/ or twice weekly fake geek girl nonsense.
Here's the problem, I keep having to deal with the side effects of retrograde backlash policy and attitude in real life scenarios such as health care, employment and other things. I am not unmarked by these things. I did however think that we were going to raise our children better than this, that some things would be difficult for me but not even blinked at by the generation we raise. Well the Internet and the government are proving me wrong, and to shut it all down for a bit I play games, but now that stuff is all inside my game spaces too.
It's my damage. But it's also kind of weird, so I'm putting something here because it's true and I posted it on twitter and backtracking won't make it less true. There is a kerfluffle about someone who is a designer referring to a difficulty tree with a special co-op mode as "girlfriend mode".
If you read the linked article there are a couple of things that make the "girlfriend mode line" not misogynistic but unthinkingly sexist. He refers to the character involved as the "cutest character" and he tells the story using "girlfriend mode" specifically "for lack of a better term" because he specifically imagined it in a scenario getting HIS sig-other to play when she might not otherwise.
Poor designer, his problem really isn't that there is a "lack of a better term". There are many better terms including the one his company actually called it which is apparently "Best Friends Forever" Mode ( as in you won't screw up my co-op game by being a newb and I won't ignore you while I'm playing my favorite game thus we can retain our permanent frienship status).
He honestly couldn't think of other reasons to use the mode, so that's what his brain came up with, but it could have been "newb mode" "friend mode" "non FPS gamer Mode" or simply "rookie mode"
Actually I like Rookie Mode, shows the inexperience but it implies competence after exposure and has NO gender associations. But designer guy is a male, and a male who lives in a kind of gaming world silo and he's probably not sexist at all so he didn't THINK about how it's sexism ( culturally pervasive sexism) that makes him think that the term that filled the "lack" was "girlfriend" because that's why HE needed the mode. What he and many commenters don't realize is this thing that I posted on Twitter:
In short - I won't play well because I'm damaged, I'm not damaged because I'm a girl, I don't want my damage to be blamed on being a girl, but it will now be casually associated with being female on a subconscious level.
One way to fight back a little bit is to self -identify the disability but it seems like I've only had to do that as an adult in order to play games. It's kind of weird actually and frankly feels like excuse making
( but in order to get people not to steamroll me or insist on clear board states I have to do it more and more. I have a feeling this is a "mid-level" magic playing problem, at high levels the board states will always be clean and at low levels everyone is having a little trouble so when you ask someone to clear up the state they just do it and everyone helps each other out).
I also think that younger gamers who don't socialize cross gender and thirty something gamers who had to be upper middle class with disposable income to play games, don't realize that the young girls who have grown up in the last 20 years had the same levels of access to console controllers that they did, even if they were playing different games when they were little. So they're remembering their childhood and the girls who have been playing forever are all confused at this portrayal of gaming. Most girls I know for instance play Dragon's Age, Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed and in my area Tekken variants. They've been playing them since they were 8. They learned the controllers while they were learning everything else, it wasn't like trucks or dolls, parents didn't gender police video games that were age appropriate. Parents controlled the games they played until they were about 11 and then couldn't keep up and just monitored ratings. Also in my area boys played Dance, Dance Revolution something fierce. I think the 30-something gamers are just like all of the other adults in the toy and entertainment industry - they're doing what they think was true based on what they remember from being that age and that is frankly just not the reality for the actual young people involved outside the very hardcore gamers and it might be the WAY they remember it but it might not have been true then either. Memory is unreliable, doubly so when nostalgia is involved.
With Magic I am almost always "patient zero". I lose a lot of competitive practice time because I keep introducing people to the game. That means most of the guys in my social circle play because of me. But if they have more free time, no LD and more disposable income they will be better than me in pretty short order. If we travel together most people will assume that I play because of them not the other way around. I'm not even on a target market chart for Hasbro or WotC as far as I can tell.
That's the effect of culturally embedded sexism and possibly hidden disability ableism. Once again, it's taking up headspace it needs to be here in the journal.
Thing 2 - fear of offending - I have mostly written the Stats for Vorthos entry with graphics and charts but I keep avoiding finishing/posting it because it's basically going to be slamming one particular artist and the art is actually problematic, but I feel bad doing it.
Really, really bad. Because it's the Internet and the Internet is forever. If I were his editor I would have caught it and spoken to him about it privately and allowed him to correct it or if he wouldn't just realized that it was intentional and taken the appropriate next steps.
After reading all of the comments in the various things about the Olympics and the ridiculous minimization of women in a thousand different ways I have come to the conclusion that someone really can be incredibly unaware of their own blatant objectification/sexism and actually be supported in it.
If this guy is that guy, then I really feel bad because he doesn't realize how bad it is.
I was never this timid as a reviewer before, possibly it's because I feel like I have no standing as a Magic Player and I'm not currently an editor ( although I was one before so I stand by my analysis and critique.)
I'm going to have to bite the bullet and find a way to publish the stats. Because I'm afraid of it so therefore I should do it.
Thing 3 - I forget I actually know what I'm doing.
I souped up my Quirion Deck for FNM with Ponders instead of Think Twices because I enjoyed playing the deck so much I wanted to see if I could goose it enough to move it into "possibly competitive" Meanwhile Rachel ( who is super-competitive) had been working on a green ramp build. Before FNM she had finally managed to put together the cards she had been trading for so I offered to play my Delver against her so she could test it, and I'd be playing the Quirions during the FNM anyway. A quick glance at my hand and I knew I should mulligan and what I wanted to have in the hand against her - and then I realized "Oh wait! I saw it, knew it and took appropriate action quickly because I knew my deck and what I was doing." Not that I sucked, I just hadn't learned the new stuff I was working with well enough - I beat her 7 times in playtesting with her, she used her deck to come in second that night, I used my new Quirions and increased my win rate from 15% to 60%.
I need to not undermine myself by assuming I'm dumb. I'd never let anyone else get away with that.
How are you?
Today we will deal with three points of extreme honesty and asses their impact on my performance:
Thing 1 - Side effects of the stupid Olympics coverage juxtaposed with sexual harassment at conventions, stupid assed things on Facebook when my peer group should really be old enough to think about these things ( we are SOOO not teenagers) and the weekly/ or twice weekly fake geek girl nonsense.
Here's the problem, I keep having to deal with the side effects of retrograde backlash policy and attitude in real life scenarios such as health care, employment and other things. I am not unmarked by these things. I did however think that we were going to raise our children better than this, that some things would be difficult for me but not even blinked at by the generation we raise. Well the Internet and the government are proving me wrong, and to shut it all down for a bit I play games, but now that stuff is all inside my game spaces too.
It's my damage. But it's also kind of weird, so I'm putting something here because it's true and I posted it on twitter and backtracking won't make it less true. There is a kerfluffle about someone who is a designer referring to a difficulty tree with a special co-op mode as "girlfriend mode".
If you read the linked article there are a couple of things that make the "girlfriend mode line" not misogynistic but unthinkingly sexist. He refers to the character involved as the "cutest character" and he tells the story using "girlfriend mode" specifically "for lack of a better term" because he specifically imagined it in a scenario getting HIS sig-other to play when she might not otherwise.
Poor designer, his problem really isn't that there is a "lack of a better term". There are many better terms including the one his company actually called it which is apparently "Best Friends Forever" Mode ( as in you won't screw up my co-op game by being a newb and I won't ignore you while I'm playing my favorite game thus we can retain our permanent frienship status).
He honestly couldn't think of other reasons to use the mode, so that's what his brain came up with, but it could have been "newb mode" "friend mode" "non FPS gamer Mode" or simply "rookie mode"
Actually I like Rookie Mode, shows the inexperience but it implies competence after exposure and has NO gender associations. But designer guy is a male, and a male who lives in a kind of gaming world silo and he's probably not sexist at all so he didn't THINK about how it's sexism ( culturally pervasive sexism) that makes him think that the term that filled the "lack" was "girlfriend" because that's why HE needed the mode. What he and many commenters don't realize is this thing that I posted on Twitter:
- Videogames are difficult for me due to a symbol processing disorder, playing w/ friends might help but a combo of XX/LD is embarrassing so while a tree might be a good thing casually saying "girlfriend mode" means when I don't get better it'll be associated with gender not LD.
- What it really ends up is that I will be more nervous about reinforcing a gender stereotype so I just won't play.I fight that feel for
#mtg- Just in case anyone was wondering what the effects of casual or environmental sexism were. : )
In short - I won't play well because I'm damaged, I'm not damaged because I'm a girl, I don't want my damage to be blamed on being a girl, but it will now be casually associated with being female on a subconscious level.
One way to fight back a little bit is to self -identify the disability but it seems like I've only had to do that as an adult in order to play games. It's kind of weird actually and frankly feels like excuse making
( but in order to get people not to steamroll me or insist on clear board states I have to do it more and more. I have a feeling this is a "mid-level" magic playing problem, at high levels the board states will always be clean and at low levels everyone is having a little trouble so when you ask someone to clear up the state they just do it and everyone helps each other out).
I also think that younger gamers who don't socialize cross gender and thirty something gamers who had to be upper middle class with disposable income to play games, don't realize that the young girls who have grown up in the last 20 years had the same levels of access to console controllers that they did, even if they were playing different games when they were little. So they're remembering their childhood and the girls who have been playing forever are all confused at this portrayal of gaming. Most girls I know for instance play Dragon's Age, Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed and in my area Tekken variants. They've been playing them since they were 8. They learned the controllers while they were learning everything else, it wasn't like trucks or dolls, parents didn't gender police video games that were age appropriate. Parents controlled the games they played until they were about 11 and then couldn't keep up and just monitored ratings. Also in my area boys played Dance, Dance Revolution something fierce. I think the 30-something gamers are just like all of the other adults in the toy and entertainment industry - they're doing what they think was true based on what they remember from being that age and that is frankly just not the reality for the actual young people involved outside the very hardcore gamers and it might be the WAY they remember it but it might not have been true then either. Memory is unreliable, doubly so when nostalgia is involved.
With Magic I am almost always "patient zero". I lose a lot of competitive practice time because I keep introducing people to the game. That means most of the guys in my social circle play because of me. But if they have more free time, no LD and more disposable income they will be better than me in pretty short order. If we travel together most people will assume that I play because of them not the other way around. I'm not even on a target market chart for Hasbro or WotC as far as I can tell.
That's the effect of culturally embedded sexism and possibly hidden disability ableism. Once again, it's taking up headspace it needs to be here in the journal.
Thing 2 - fear of offending - I have mostly written the Stats for Vorthos entry with graphics and charts but I keep avoiding finishing/posting it because it's basically going to be slamming one particular artist and the art is actually problematic, but I feel bad doing it.
Really, really bad. Because it's the Internet and the Internet is forever. If I were his editor I would have caught it and spoken to him about it privately and allowed him to correct it or if he wouldn't just realized that it was intentional and taken the appropriate next steps.
After reading all of the comments in the various things about the Olympics and the ridiculous minimization of women in a thousand different ways I have come to the conclusion that someone really can be incredibly unaware of their own blatant objectification/sexism and actually be supported in it.
If this guy is that guy, then I really feel bad because he doesn't realize how bad it is.
I was never this timid as a reviewer before, possibly it's because I feel like I have no standing as a Magic Player and I'm not currently an editor ( although I was one before so I stand by my analysis and critique.)
I'm going to have to bite the bullet and find a way to publish the stats. Because I'm afraid of it so therefore I should do it.
Thing 3 - I forget I actually know what I'm doing.
I souped up my Quirion Deck for FNM with Ponders instead of Think Twices because I enjoyed playing the deck so much I wanted to see if I could goose it enough to move it into "possibly competitive" Meanwhile Rachel ( who is super-competitive) had been working on a green ramp build. Before FNM she had finally managed to put together the cards she had been trading for so I offered to play my Delver against her so she could test it, and I'd be playing the Quirions during the FNM anyway. A quick glance at my hand and I knew I should mulligan and what I wanted to have in the hand against her - and then I realized "Oh wait! I saw it, knew it and took appropriate action quickly because I knew my deck and what I was doing." Not that I sucked, I just hadn't learned the new stuff I was working with well enough - I beat her 7 times in playtesting with her, she used her deck to come in second that night, I used my new Quirions and increased my win rate from 15% to 60%.
I need to not undermine myself by assuming I'm dumb. I'd never let anyone else get away with that.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Pseudo Newb and the Month of July - Winning and it's Opposite
Here is the thing I know - I have dutifully recorded all of the decks I've played and the various draft and sealed events, but the reality was not as much playing as I'd like
I played in every pre-release sealed event during a weekend my two friends were with me and took first place in the last one. I had a fantastic time playing two headed giant with Anna and frankly that weekend was the girliest weekend I've had in a while.
I then drafted in one Avacyn Restored, and I've done two Magic 2013 drafts. I think I drafted well but my playskills for draft aren't sharp. If I were playing a sport I would say my follow through is weaker than it was.
What I haven't gotten the chance to talk about is what I've been doing for FNM. I've been trying to play new decks and haven't played the same one once this month.
I played a red/blue block that was called Delver but really just played like it had Delvers in it. I like that deck which is set up around the idea of having creatures with evasion and pumping them up with unexpected spells, but it died a horrible death to any deck with Lingering Souls. I tried to give it some sweep with some Slagstorms but what it really wanted was Corrosive Vale. I couldn't help but notice that I was the only one at FNM playing any form of Delver at all. There were lots of artifacts, werwolves and vampires.
I tried it again with the stronger removal suite but didn't do much better. I don't think I'm using counter spells properly which is why I liked the Red/Blue better.
Then I really, really like the Quirion Dryad Card and art - M13 art review coming soon - and I really, really wanted to play it.
The Magic Game Plan Blog had a build that I had all the cards for so I ran that:
And the reality was that in practice it ran pretty much like a Delver Deck that just used Quirions where the delver was supposed to be and Talarands instead of Geists and Lingering Souls. That should have been a good fit for me but really it felt like it was just the answer to other Delver Decks and Humans. It was weak and Gut Shot was frequently a dead card for me. The Quirions have to stick in order for them to grow and my local meta seemed to be either control or ramp.
I still liked Quirion and was developing a real appreciation for Talarand but at least for my meta I think I need more spells that do things. This should have been fine and fun for me after all I was playing Delver from the get-go but it really wasn't. It was all the things I tolerated in Delver without any of the fun and very few answers if I had no counterspells. The dismembers never showed up when I needed them. On the other hand I did change one cavern of souls to a swamp because I hate having cards that cost me life when I could actually cast them. In an environment where life gain is a viable and played strategy voluntarily giving up the resource for some removal that can be brought back isn't as "worth it" as all of the articles imply. YOU have to be able to play that fast.
Then I saw this
Jamison VanLoocke's Green-Blue Omniscience
And I was able to put all of it together after I got the Revive Cards ( which I loved having). I had played against and Archeomancer and got a feel for how it should work so I was ready to take this to FNM. The Spells DID THINGS instead of strategically keeping things from happening.
And I was really looking forward to playing it, but I got to FNM and they had recently started doing this thing where you could draft OR play standard, basically running two different types of tournaments concurrently. Which is great for the people who draft as their main thing, but I draft basically to learn how to play cards so I can play better standard. I was there to play my Omniscient Quirion deck.
Also I'm heading into serious "start promoting" for the consultation business, and that means money and that means that I have a hard time justifying spare cash for draft because let me just tell you that "living the dream" of small business is exactly like "living the dream" of pro magic - a lot of investment, an uncertain environment and the amount you need to invest vs the amount you'll see in return is disproportionate unless people are willing to pay you for things other than what you thought you'd get paid for.
Drafting twice a week is money I could be saving for Gencon, and probably should, or money I should be using to promote my mad consulting skillz ( which are awesome and full of awesomeness) but part of the reason I'm good at those skills is because frankly I'm very, very conservative with risk in core budgets. Investing in draft was good for developing skills and confidence in the first six months but now it seems almost like it's eroding my constructed skillset. I'd rather pay to make sure I have playsets than risk drafting like an idiot. I'm sure someone can tell me why I'm wrong but lack of income makes drafting feel indulgent. I know I'm not a hang out in bars and drinking kind of person, but frankly everytime I came out of a draft this last month my thought was that if we were still on the Elo system I probably would have stopped playing competitive Magic altogether because it would have felt like I'd never recover. Score all my money in June and July to Planeswalker Points system!
But as I got there to pay in my 4$ they were one person short for sanctioned draft. And I had promised my Old School Friend the store owner that if he were ever short for sanctioning he could call me and I'd come. So I would have been called anyway.
I drafted a great deck and was able to go mono-green but I managed to have the worst time playing draft in a very long time because frankly none of my opponents were fun to play. Ist guy just had one of those super blank personalities and because my head was in standard, and the draft kept getting backed up because one person was having trouble deciding things - seriously there were two points during that draft passing left where I had 6-7 pack piles lined up for him - I ended up being less focused playing the first guy who was also being literally helpful about when I blended upkeep triggers vs draw. Please understand that he wasn't wrong, and he wasn't an ass about it but I wasn't really playing the game that I had come there to play and so I was friendly and polite back but I was kind of irritated that I was making that kind of sloppy play and that he was being so pointed about what "other people might do" that he wasn't doing. I also lost that 2-0, the next game was better but dude was kind of hyper, and then the third round came and I played literally against the most unpleasant person I have ever played that wasn't an asshole.
He was angry and on the verge of tilt the entire time. we both had an 0-2 record. I was now firmly in the "project manager" space where I'm just trying to keep things humming along but he STAYED angry and OCD when he won. I tried pointing out to him that he'd beaten me, that his deck had worked but I was MISERABLE after playing him. The worst part was there wasn't even enough time to play any decent side games ( just one) so I'd never even gotten to try my Quirion Omniscience. I came home and basically begged Perfectly Normal Husband to play with me.
Here's the reality- the decks I play best are white weenie variants with token strategies - but that's because they're my safe space. I NEED to play more standard. I need to be able to focus, and I'm also not the kind of person that does well playing a different deck everyweek. I think if I care about winning in tournaments I might need to build a specific tournament humans kind of thing but I also think I need to brew some of the "fun" decks that have been kicking around my head like the Mad Scientist deck and my Slumbering Dragon Deck idea.
I feel like even though July gave me my first first place finish ever, I've fallen behind in a couple of other ways. Also I realize that if I'm going to play for fun, it's more fun to to that if you enjoy the company of your opponent. I realize my focus is probably spread too thin because of the business stuff and I also think that I need to finish up Duels of the Planeswalkers on IPad at Mage level to see how I do at the higher level. Playing with the DotP 2013 game at least gave me use and exposure to the cards so I'm making informed decisions.
I also seem to be having a kind of sense of being overwhelmed with the cards coming out and new expansions needing to be acquired before I've even really absorbed the last expansion. I could see where this point (3/4 of a year) would be a turnoff for some casual but competitive types because it feels less like it's attached to the competitive space and a bit more like a money grab. If you can only play 1 or 2 times a week you're not "getting sick" of those cards like pros and grinders. It's another point of making you feel less connected to the community really.
Also - I don't know if anyone realizes how incredibly uninviting these " casual " format articles are. Everytime I read them I feel more lost aftward than when I started. Kaalia Deck forever because I don't have the time or money for any of the other Commander decks .
I played in every pre-release sealed event during a weekend my two friends were with me and took first place in the last one. I had a fantastic time playing two headed giant with Anna and frankly that weekend was the girliest weekend I've had in a while.
I then drafted in one Avacyn Restored, and I've done two Magic 2013 drafts. I think I drafted well but my playskills for draft aren't sharp. If I were playing a sport I would say my follow through is weaker than it was.
What I haven't gotten the chance to talk about is what I've been doing for FNM. I've been trying to play new decks and haven't played the same one once this month.
I played a red/blue block that was called Delver but really just played like it had Delvers in it. I like that deck which is set up around the idea of having creatures with evasion and pumping them up with unexpected spells, but it died a horrible death to any deck with Lingering Souls. I tried to give it some sweep with some Slagstorms but what it really wanted was Corrosive Vale. I couldn't help but notice that I was the only one at FNM playing any form of Delver at all. There were lots of artifacts, werwolves and vampires.
I tried it again with the stronger removal suite but didn't do much better. I don't think I'm using counter spells properly which is why I liked the Red/Blue better.
Then I really, really like the Quirion Dryad Card and art - M13 art review coming soon - and I really, really wanted to play it.
The Magic Game Plan Blog had a build that I had all the cards for so I ran that:
| UG Quirion Dryad | ||
Creatures (15)
Spells (25)
|
Lands (20)
Sideboard (15)
| |
I still liked Quirion and was developing a real appreciation for Talarand but at least for my meta I think I need more spells that do things. This should have been fine and fun for me after all I was playing Delver from the get-go but it really wasn't. It was all the things I tolerated in Delver without any of the fun and very few answers if I had no counterspells. The dismembers never showed up when I needed them. On the other hand I did change one cavern of souls to a swamp because I hate having cards that cost me life when I could actually cast them. In an environment where life gain is a viable and played strategy voluntarily giving up the resource for some removal that can be brought back isn't as "worth it" as all of the articles imply. YOU have to be able to play that fast.
Then I saw this
Standard
Main Deck
60 cards
| ||
| 9 Forest 4 Hinterland Harbor 9 Island 22 lands 4 Archaeomancer 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Quirion Dryad 2 Snapcaster Mage 3 Talrand, Sky Summoner 17 creatures | 2 Make a Wish 1 Omniscience 3 Rampant Growth 4 Revive 3 Talrand's Invocation 4 Think Twice 4 Vapor Snag 21 other spells | |
And I was really looking forward to playing it, but I got to FNM and they had recently started doing this thing where you could draft OR play standard, basically running two different types of tournaments concurrently. Which is great for the people who draft as their main thing, but I draft basically to learn how to play cards so I can play better standard. I was there to play my Omniscient Quirion deck.
Also I'm heading into serious "start promoting" for the consultation business, and that means money and that means that I have a hard time justifying spare cash for draft because let me just tell you that "living the dream" of small business is exactly like "living the dream" of pro magic - a lot of investment, an uncertain environment and the amount you need to invest vs the amount you'll see in return is disproportionate unless people are willing to pay you for things other than what you thought you'd get paid for.
Drafting twice a week is money I could be saving for Gencon, and probably should, or money I should be using to promote my mad consulting skillz ( which are awesome and full of awesomeness) but part of the reason I'm good at those skills is because frankly I'm very, very conservative with risk in core budgets. Investing in draft was good for developing skills and confidence in the first six months but now it seems almost like it's eroding my constructed skillset. I'd rather pay to make sure I have playsets than risk drafting like an idiot. I'm sure someone can tell me why I'm wrong but lack of income makes drafting feel indulgent. I know I'm not a hang out in bars and drinking kind of person, but frankly everytime I came out of a draft this last month my thought was that if we were still on the Elo system I probably would have stopped playing competitive Magic altogether because it would have felt like I'd never recover. Score all my money in June and July to Planeswalker Points system!
But as I got there to pay in my 4$ they were one person short for sanctioned draft. And I had promised my Old School Friend the store owner that if he were ever short for sanctioning he could call me and I'd come. So I would have been called anyway.
I drafted a great deck and was able to go mono-green but I managed to have the worst time playing draft in a very long time because frankly none of my opponents were fun to play. Ist guy just had one of those super blank personalities and because my head was in standard, and the draft kept getting backed up because one person was having trouble deciding things - seriously there were two points during that draft passing left where I had 6-7 pack piles lined up for him - I ended up being less focused playing the first guy who was also being literally helpful about when I blended upkeep triggers vs draw. Please understand that he wasn't wrong, and he wasn't an ass about it but I wasn't really playing the game that I had come there to play and so I was friendly and polite back but I was kind of irritated that I was making that kind of sloppy play and that he was being so pointed about what "other people might do" that he wasn't doing. I also lost that 2-0, the next game was better but dude was kind of hyper, and then the third round came and I played literally against the most unpleasant person I have ever played that wasn't an asshole.
He was angry and on the verge of tilt the entire time. we both had an 0-2 record. I was now firmly in the "project manager" space where I'm just trying to keep things humming along but he STAYED angry and OCD when he won. I tried pointing out to him that he'd beaten me, that his deck had worked but I was MISERABLE after playing him. The worst part was there wasn't even enough time to play any decent side games ( just one) so I'd never even gotten to try my Quirion Omniscience. I came home and basically begged Perfectly Normal Husband to play with me.
Here's the reality- the decks I play best are white weenie variants with token strategies - but that's because they're my safe space. I NEED to play more standard. I need to be able to focus, and I'm also not the kind of person that does well playing a different deck everyweek. I think if I care about winning in tournaments I might need to build a specific tournament humans kind of thing but I also think I need to brew some of the "fun" decks that have been kicking around my head like the Mad Scientist deck and my Slumbering Dragon Deck idea.
I feel like even though July gave me my first first place finish ever, I've fallen behind in a couple of other ways. Also I realize that if I'm going to play for fun, it's more fun to to that if you enjoy the company of your opponent. I realize my focus is probably spread too thin because of the business stuff and I also think that I need to finish up Duels of the Planeswalkers on IPad at Mage level to see how I do at the higher level. Playing with the DotP 2013 game at least gave me use and exposure to the cards so I'm making informed decisions.
I also seem to be having a kind of sense of being overwhelmed with the cards coming out and new expansions needing to be acquired before I've even really absorbed the last expansion. I could see where this point (3/4 of a year) would be a turnoff for some casual but competitive types because it feels less like it's attached to the competitive space and a bit more like a money grab. If you can only play 1 or 2 times a week you're not "getting sick" of those cards like pros and grinders. It's another point of making you feel less connected to the community really.
Also - I don't know if anyone realizes how incredibly uninviting these " casual " format articles are. Everytime I read them I feel more lost aftward than when I started. Kaalia Deck forever because I don't have the time or money for any of the other Commander decks .
Monday, July 16, 2012
Pseudo Newb and Mogg Flunkies plus Are We Not Planeswalkers?
Rules that had to be asked about or looked up this weekend.
Mogg Flunkes actually has 7 judges tournament notes. The question was whether or not Mogg Flunkies needed to have a friend block the same critter or if it only needed the friend to be blocking SOME creature at the same time.
I thought it would be that as long as someone was blocking somewhere on your side Mogg Flunkies could do their collectivist bit.
Are we not Planeswalkers?
Yeah, apparently as far as the mechanics go, no. No we are not.
It's too sad to write about yet so I'll just copy the tweets.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Psuedo Newb and the SuperQuick Draft Notes
Here for the Art Review?
If you stopped by because you were looking for the Avacyn Art Review it's off to the side but it's also at these links
Now back to the issues at hand.
Yesterday I wasn't sure I was going to the last Avacyn Restored draft because I have had absolutely zero success with AR draft. And by zero I literally mean zero. So yesterday changed that by my getting a bye. Now my record is less bad than the Columbia University football team in the late eighties - go me.
I'm pretty sure I screwed up the draft part - I can tell because I forced colors and literally ended up with two playsets of cards I only wanted one or two of.
Preparation - None - I wasn't going to go so I could save money for the Core 2013 sealed FNM on Friday. But then I realized that I was laying in bed reading the comments section on a personal essay published on a liberal feminist website and both torturing myself and losing all faith in humanity because really WTF liberals - way to become every friggin' stereotype of entitled white women with first world problems and lack of compassion or empathy EVAR*. Just so you know, if you have a cause, intolerance and lack of compassion never helps.
(Por-tip You're not furthering the cause of feminism by hating on someone writing about their personal trauma because they didn't use the term you prefer as an animal rights supporter for stray dogs.)
So yeah, suddenly I realized that's why I was playing Magic competitively, to get away from thinking about garbage like this - when I realized what I was doing ( triggering depression) I ran out of the house hoping I'd make the draft in time. No preparation.
Record
1-2
0-2
Bye
Which particularly sucked since I really just wanted to play and there were no side games.
Spells
Thunderbolt
Thunderous Wrath
Creatures
Butcher Ghoul
Somberwald Vigilante
2x Heirs of Stromkirk
2x Scalding Devil
2X Haneweir Lancer
2x Fervent Cathar
2x Searchlight Geist
Blood Artist
Maalfeld Twins
Marrow Bats
Undead Executioner
Zealous Conscripts
Sideboard
Riot Ringleader
Vigilante Justice
Gloomwidow
Stern Mentor
Maalfeld Twins'
Corpse Traders
4 x Battle Hymn
4x Unhallowed Pact
Polluted Dead
Rite of Ruin
2x Essence Harvest
Scroll of Grislebrand
I played a total of five games and won 1 which is a 20% win rate - which is awful. And a 40% performance drop from previous expansion drafts. However, I declaratively won the first game, the second came went to a really awesome Mexican standoff Magic-style where my opponent was down to 1 for 10 turns with a Blood Artist on the floor. He was playing to literally stall the board until he could get an advantage, leading to some really interesting math where he was trying to block my attacks without either of our creatures dying- anyone dying would have won me the game.
He managed to get a Herald of War out, and I kept pulling land instead of a creature or removal. I had no fliers on the field - at the very last moment he managed to get the Herald through for lethal damage. The third game was more interactive but he won the race. We went into overtime
The second game was against a pro-player who had left during the first round to get food and was 20 minutes into the match when he showed up. He plays crazy fast aggro pretty much no matter what. He did as expected.
I was able to play at the speed that he plays but not with the strategy I was playing - even though we were 20 minutes in he beat me 2-0 in 15 so he had plenty of time to eat the dinner he had been delayed by picking up. And he had time to watch his other friends game.
(newb note - aggro is a abbreviation for aggressive strategy using lots of creatures that have and cards that use direct damage - the idea is to not worry about defense or removal but attack, attack and attack - usually it also features some way to get mana on your side faster which is called mana acceleration and cards that can damage a player directly which is called "burn" and also called damage " to the face" in the slang used at the table)
But I got the bye on the third round and probably should have gone home because there is no participation prize for the bottom half in draft but I forgot and really didn't want to go home.
I can't remember usually what I'm picking against but I can remember why so I'm going to start recording it to see if I can dectect patterns of strengths or weaknesses that will allow me to identify areas to improve.
When I opened the first pack I got the Thunderous Wrath so I took that and figured I'd be in red with something and then the next three packs were pretty much only black - I cant remember the order but I do remember the reasons for each card
Thunderous wrath was removal or direct damage, possibly for very little cost even thought the rule in AVR draft is if you have one miracle it will ALWAYS be in your opening hand.
This is how otherwise confident people undermine themselves playing a game.
It doesn't matter - it shouldn't matter - but playing against certain people where you're pretty much an afterthought ( which isn't the way the games went, they just went fast because he plays faster) and being insecure about your picks means that it doesn't matter that I played well over the weekend and that I had a first place finish against two other high level players for Core 2013 sealed, in my head that "didn't matter because 2013 is easier" which is kind of not true and seriously stupid. Even if it is easier the people I was playing against were more experienced winning players than I was so they should be using the cards that much better. I think the worst thing that happened to me was ending up with the 4 Unhallowed Pacts - it made me feel like I had missed something really important but I passed no bombs in either color so I'm not sure what I expected me to do when I decided I was going to force colors and pursue and evasion/consequence if you interact with my creatures strategy.
I also made my second trade ever, I traded my Zealous Conscripts and thunderous wrath for a Vexing Devil - now I'm one short of a playset.
And I've been working on data analysis for the whole review so that will be coming up soon Stats for Vorthos!
SuperQuick Draft Notes
Yesterday I wasn't sure I was going to the last Avacyn Restored draft because I have had absolutely zero success with AR draft. And by zero I literally mean zero. So yesterday changed that by my getting a bye. Now my record is less bad than the Columbia University football team in the late eighties - go me.
I'm pretty sure I screwed up the draft part - I can tell because I forced colors and literally ended up with two playsets of cards I only wanted one or two of.
Preparation - None - I wasn't going to go so I could save money for the Core 2013 sealed FNM on Friday. But then I realized that I was laying in bed reading the comments section on a personal essay published on a liberal feminist website and both torturing myself and losing all faith in humanity because really WTF liberals - way to become every friggin' stereotype of entitled white women with first world problems and lack of compassion or empathy EVAR*. Just so you know, if you have a cause, intolerance and lack of compassion never helps.
(Por-tip You're not furthering the cause of feminism by hating on someone writing about their personal trauma because they didn't use the term you prefer as an animal rights supporter for stray dogs.)
So yeah, suddenly I realized that's why I was playing Magic competitively, to get away from thinking about garbage like this - when I realized what I was doing ( triggering depression) I ran out of the house hoping I'd make the draft in time. No preparation.
Record
1-2
0-2
Bye
Which particularly sucked since I really just wanted to play and there were no side games.
Deck
Spells
Thunderbolt
Demolish
Ghoulrflesh
Guise of Fire
Triumph of Cruelty
Predator's GambitThunderous Wrath
Creatures
Butcher Ghoul
Somberwald Vigilante
2x Heirs of Stromkirk
2x Scalding Devil
2X Haneweir Lancer
2x Fervent Cathar
2x Searchlight Geist
Blood Artist
Maalfeld Twins
Marrow Bats
Undead Executioner
Zealous Conscripts
Sideboard
Riot Ringleader
Vigilante Justice
Gloomwidow
Stern Mentor
Maalfeld Twins'
Corpse Traders
4 x Battle Hymn
4x Unhallowed Pact
Polluted Dead
Rite of Ruin
2x Essence Harvest
Scroll of Grislebrand
I played a total of five games and won 1 which is a 20% win rate - which is awful. And a 40% performance drop from previous expansion drafts. However, I declaratively won the first game, the second came went to a really awesome Mexican standoff Magic-style where my opponent was down to 1 for 10 turns with a Blood Artist on the floor. He was playing to literally stall the board until he could get an advantage, leading to some really interesting math where he was trying to block my attacks without either of our creatures dying- anyone dying would have won me the game.
He managed to get a Herald of War out, and I kept pulling land instead of a creature or removal. I had no fliers on the field - at the very last moment he managed to get the Herald through for lethal damage. The third game was more interactive but he won the race. We went into overtime
The second game was against a pro-player who had left during the first round to get food and was 20 minutes into the match when he showed up. He plays crazy fast aggro pretty much no matter what. He did as expected.
I was able to play at the speed that he plays but not with the strategy I was playing - even though we were 20 minutes in he beat me 2-0 in 15 so he had plenty of time to eat the dinner he had been delayed by picking up. And he had time to watch his other friends game.
(newb note - aggro is a abbreviation for aggressive strategy using lots of creatures that have and cards that use direct damage - the idea is to not worry about defense or removal but attack, attack and attack - usually it also features some way to get mana on your side faster which is called mana acceleration and cards that can damage a player directly which is called "burn" and also called damage " to the face" in the slang used at the table)
But I got the bye on the third round and probably should have gone home because there is no participation prize for the bottom half in draft but I forgot and really didn't want to go home.
New Feature to record - Why'd I pick it?
I can't remember usually what I'm picking against but I can remember why so I'm going to start recording it to see if I can dectect patterns of strengths or weaknesses that will allow me to identify areas to improve.
When I opened the first pack I got the Thunderous Wrath so I took that and figured I'd be in red with something and then the next three packs were pretty much only black - I cant remember the order but I do remember the reasons for each card
Thunderous wrath was removal or direct damage, possibly for very little cost even thought the rule in AVR draft is if you have one miracle it will ALWAYS be in your opening hand.
Thunderbolt - removal especially for fliers
Demolish - I figured I would sideboard it and then I remembered how often I actually use the sideboard - it worked well against angels tomb so I'm glad I maindecked it
Ghoulflesh - cheap removal
Guise of Fire - removal or drawback buff
Triumph of Cruelty - hopeful card advantage
Predator's Gambit - buff that hopefully fed Triumph and conditionally give evasion
Thunderous Wrath - Miracle maybe castable removal for big things like angels
Butcher Ghoul - undying, soulbound target for Hanewier
Somberwald Vigilante - removal if blocked
2x Heirs of Stromkirk - evasion - abililty to grow -soulbound target for Hanewier
2x Scalding Devil - direct burn to player - early creature - mid game threat especially if opponent overused removal - soulbound target for Hanewier
2X Haneweir Lancer Everybody is first strikey
2x Fervent Cathar - Hastey soulbound target for Hanewier
2x Searchlight Geist activated deathtouch for big fliers soulbound target for Hanewier
Blood Artist direct damage- disincentive to kill my creatures
Maalfeld Twins - big threat - replaces itself at death
Marrow Bats - early threat big - damage against fliers - soulbound target for Hanewier
Undead Executioner - undying, removal if killed soulbound target for Hanewier
Zealous Conscripts because reasons - plus awesome when souldbond to Haneweir
Sideboard
Riot Ringleader - needs humans - wasn't running enough
Vigilante Justic - needs humans - wasn't running enough
Gloomwidow - green ( no black or red that pick
Stern Mentor - blue ( no black or red that pick
Maalfeld Twins' - running 1 two seemed not worth the mana curve
Corpse Traders - probably didn't run this because I was too chicken to deal with trying to process it during the draft it's got an activation cost, needs to sac a creature I could have run it in combo with the Zealous
4 x Battle Hymn I picked one and got stuck with 3 more I don't even . . .
4x Unhallowed Pact I picked one and got stuck with 3 more I don't even . . . this one was worse because I figured I could use one if I managed to pick up another fattie but passed on a different card that I needed for my collection to get it - there were then four other packs where that was the only black card and I didn't want to mess up the signals.
Polluted Dead - worried about mana curve - no playing this might have been a mistake
Rite of Ruin - powerful but definitely cut for mana curve
2x Essence Harvest - probably avoided because of the x cost but also because I was worried about not really having large creatures with enough power to make it worth while - I didn't realize until playing how versatile predators gambit could be.
Scroll of Grislebrand - wasn't running demons
This is how otherwise confident people undermine themselves playing a game.
It doesn't matter - it shouldn't matter - but playing against certain people where you're pretty much an afterthought ( which isn't the way the games went, they just went fast because he plays faster) and being insecure about your picks means that it doesn't matter that I played well over the weekend and that I had a first place finish against two other high level players for Core 2013 sealed, in my head that "didn't matter because 2013 is easier" which is kind of not true and seriously stupid. Even if it is easier the people I was playing against were more experienced winning players than I was so they should be using the cards that much better. I think the worst thing that happened to me was ending up with the 4 Unhallowed Pacts - it made me feel like I had missed something really important but I passed no bombs in either color so I'm not sure what I expected me to do when I decided I was going to force colors and pursue and evasion/consequence if you interact with my creatures strategy.
I also made my second trade ever, I traded my Zealous Conscripts and thunderous wrath for a Vexing Devil - now I'm one short of a playset.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Pseudo Newb and the Dark Abyss of June
Okay - This is the recap for all of June before I write up the pre-release weekend.
But I have three events that I have to enter into this journal before that and if you stopped by because you were looking for the Avacyn Art Review it's off to the side but it's also at these links
This was also the first draft where I started to be comfortable writing in a notebook during the draft.
But I have three events that I have to enter into this journal before that and if you stopped by because you were looking for the Avacyn Art Review it's off to the side but it's also at these links
And I've been working on data analysis for the whole review so that will be coming up soon Stats for Vorthos!
Now back to the issues at hand.
When I wrote my entries for June I ended up writing about some specific things but not the gameplay -
So in June the FNM I was writing about was actually probably the high point - I was shut out in both booster drafts I played in but sort of felt like I was beginning to understand the cards better. In both cases the decks I put together worked really well when they worked and when they didn't it was most likely because of misplays.
The first draft I ended up in Blue/Red using creatres with evasion and direct burn to back them up. I opened the Avacyn in the first pick of the third pack making it the first angel I actually opened in Avacyn even though I played in all the pre-releases and had purchased a full box. The nice thing about that was that it meant there was no pressure on me and I could concentrate on learning to play with burn tactically with evasion creatures. All three games matches were close and all three went to three games.
Creatures
2 Deadeye Navigator
2 Latch Seeker
1 Fettergeist
1 Wingcrafter
2 Raging Poltergeist
5 Scrapskin Drake
2 Gryff Vanguard
4 Kruin Striker
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Scalding Devil
Spells
1 Scalding Devil
1 Battle Hymn
1 Guise of Fire
1 Pillar of Flame
1 Spectral Prison
1 Outwit
1 Searchlight Geist
1 Peel from Reality
2 Thunderbolt
Sideboard
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Tyrant of Discord
1 Crypt Creeper
1 Dreadwaters
1 Malicious Intent
1 Diregraf Escort
1 Outwit
1 Thraben Valiant
1 Battle Hymn
1 Dangerous Wager
2 Demolish
1 Kruin Striker
1 Bower Passage
1 Rush of Blood
1 Gloom Surgeon
1 Midnight Duelist
The second Avacyn draft was much better for me as a player and exactly as disastrous for me as a competitor I played Greeen/White because I wanted to work with mana acceleration but I didn't read Abundant Growth properly and didn't realize it was just a color fixer not an additional land. I adjusted to that and I did end up using it for manafixing when I needed and didn't pull white. The Lair Delves were more helpful.
The main plan was to use Cathar's Crusade and other buffs and the big threat was diregraf captains soul bonding with Lumberknot and Pathbreaker Wurm as the backup condition the games were within 3 points of each other where I lost and blowouts where I won but the match record was still 0-3 however I really learned a lot more about running green which will become really relevant later as we will see. Angel's Tomb in a creature deck rocked.
1 Moorland Inquisitor
1 Natural End
1 Devout Chaplain
1 Moonlight Geist
1 Thraben Valiant
2 Borderland Ranger
1 Pathbreaker Wurm
1 Cathedral Sanctifier
1 Goldnight Commander
1 Flowering Lumberknot
3 Diregraf Escort
1 Builder's Blessing
1 Vanguard's Shield
1 Vessel of Endless Rest
1 Lair Delve
1 Wild Defiance
1 Terrifying Presence
2 Abundant Growth
1 Eaten by Spiders
1 Blessings of Nature
1 Cathars' Crusade
1 Angel's Tomb
Sideboard
1 Vexing Devil
2 Nettle Swine
1 Diregraf Escort
1 Yew Spirit
1 Spectral Gateguards
1 Angel's Mercy
1 Snare the Skies
1 Heirs of Stromkirk
1 Banners Raised
1 Dual Casting
1 Alchemist's Apprentice
1 Favorable Winds
1 Thraben Valiant
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Herald of War
The two FNMs of June I was playing a red/blue delver build with a splash of green for the sideboard - I like the deck but it was super weak against Lingering Souls.
I was playing tired on the second Friday but I was also out of the house with The Perfectly Normal Husband, who borrowed my white weenie deck. I won a single match ( and had difficulty with mana screw) and got paired up the rest of the evening it seemed but The Perfectly Normal Husband came in 4th even though he had never played FNM before. It was my second time out with my deck, I had put in some board sweep but I didn't do it as confidently as I would now that I used more red in the pre-release. I just realized that I don't have the decklists that I'm running stored in my DeckedBuilder archives so I'd better update them.
I was going to add the pre-release to this entry but I'm going to post it and update with the two decklists, the one I was playing and the one I gave the Perfectly Normal Husband. It was literally his first FNM, he'd had a very bad day at work and met me at the store. He's a very good strategy player for all sorts of other games but because he doesn't have ego invested in winning he doesn't consider himself "good" however he did come in 4th that night. I was really happy for him, but I would have been happier if I'd done well, not because I'm in competition with him, but at the back of my head is a little voice that whispers "great, now people with think you play because of him not the other way around" which is dumb, but it's there and it's a distraction.
What's not a distraction is that now that he's placed, he'll understand that when I really can only play standard with my kitchen table friends I might need some playtime with him when we can play and just have fun but with actual practice happening, because neither of our egos are invested in playing against each other we can play at a pretty high competitive level and help each other and just have fun, we never get into those strange fights or dominance contests I see other couples who play get caught in. I guess maybe the closest I've come is that little voice, but that little voice is stupid, almost everyone who plays there knows me at this point, and it wouldn't matter if they didn't as long as I was winning, I'm just over sensitive to it because it felt like I lost some skillsets and the "girl gamer" thing is raging every single day in new and shiny spaces.
I'm not even sure that I count as a "girl gamer" because seriously? WTF I hang out with a whole bunch of older ladies and when the 60-80 year olds do stuff they're still referred to as girls but "gamer girl" GIS brings you nothing but teens and 20somethings with their cleavage exposed. I am a "girl" but frankly I'm a little concerned that there's no space between supa young and very old which I sit squarely in the middle of. Most of the time I can just sit in a genderless formless void "outlier magic player" but when my actual sig other is there I have an insecurity I never had before based on gender in SF or gaming. Not that I'm uncomfortable with him or my femininity more like I feel that I have to "represent" for both age and gender. It's self imposed - no one is asking me to.
This is also a distraction, but only after the event not during it, it's more like a feeling of embarrassment or of letting other women gamers down by setting a low bar instead of busting through it. Real life side effect though is that it does increase my anxiety level enough that I might not be playing pick up games or going to new places to play because of fear of looking dumb. Starting to address that by going to Monday night causal magic at the store.
However that is June's Headspace - Apparently the problem might have been Avacyn Restored and I were not the best mix for each other because pre-release came and some of the work I had done where I was specifically using the drafts to practice strategies really paid off.
Next entry - Pre-Release
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