



“I am not a savant.”

-me, just now.



As someone who has been spellslinging for a quarter of a century, I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that length of time and gameplay expertise are not directly proportional. This is not to say that there will not be some relevant correlation of any kind, but merely to say that Magic the Gathering is a versatile game that serves many functions for the people that play it. The collective “we” play Magic to fulfill various roles in our existence on this planet. Some enjoy the rich fantasy back-drop, immersing themselves in a world filled with heroes and villains. Some enjoy gathering with family and friends, sharing laughter, food and drink, and creating fond memories. Then there are some that have the Fires of Yavimaya in their soul, pushing them to perform at the highest levels of competitive Magic. Naturally, these are not mutually exclusive, but for the purpose of this musing, I will be focusing on the latter.

So, I have been playing Magic for over 25 years. Why haven’t I made the Pro Tour, the Players Tour, or ever played in a Mythic Championship? Is it bad luck? Am I a bad player? Do I play bad decks(mayyyyybe)? Though it is true, I haven’t always had that “fire,” I have always considered myself to be a competitive player. The hardest step and most important step in becoming successful is correctly assessing your ability. This is easier said than done.

“If you’re incompetent, you can’t know you’re incompetent…The skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is.”

-David Dunning

Some of you may be familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect. I was once again reminded of its existence and applicability while reading a fantastic article by 2019 GP Vegas champion Allen Wu. In his article he states “people who cling to toxic mindsets and faulty frameworks invariably wind up stuck at the MCQ and GP level.” TRUTH.



Essentially, this phenomenon occurs when an individual mistakenly assesses their own cognitive ability as greater than it is. Be wary of those that are overly certain(I’m certain of this by the way). Okay, but how does this fit into the greater scheme, how does this help me get better at Magic? For most of my 25 plus years of playing, I decided I was great at Magic. I didn’t need to “study.” I was that person that is in every class who boasts about their grade when they “didn’t even read the material.” I would show up to tournaments and expect to crush it on my ability alone. I reveled in a couple top 8 pins but never won an event. I was convinced that the players that won were luckier than I was. They opened a better pool than I did. They had easier matchups, all the excuses. Here is the most difficult part: There ARE players who can win these types of events with little to no preparation. I am not one of those players. This last sentence is difficult to accept. To change the way you think about yourself, and how you fit into the rest of the world is never easy. Self-perception and self realization are not the same thing. Once I was able to readjust my world view to fit with something closer to the “truth,” only then was I able to move beyond some of those cognitive biases I had about myself and others.

I am not the best Magic player in the world. In fact, there are many, many players who are better. So, if I accept that I am not naturally the best, I must also accept that to be competitive I will have to work harder to see the results that I want. The best way to get results? Play a lot of Magic of course! Okay, but here I’m going to go a little further. Is there a way to improve your game outside of playing or reading about Magic (which you should absolutely still do)? For me, I found that there was.

In addition to playing MTG, I am also an avid poker player, and play Texas Holdem as my game of choice. In the poker world, you have strengths in your poker game, and then there are your holes. These are the areas in which you are weakest. It is the same for Magic. Some of the most common holes in a player’s game may be card knowledge, card interactions, or advanced rulings (like layering for instance). The good news is, these can be remedied by studying the format, the cards and doing independent research. What about the holes in your game that can’t be fixed by a book, an article, or repetitions? The first step is to identify what those holes are. For me, I have the same hole in Magic and poker… impulse control. I can play great poker for 3-4 hours, but almost invariably there will come a point when I will make a call or raise that I know to be incorrect, but choose to make that play anyway. Magic and poker are both games of discipline. You need to keep your temperament and urges in check, and make decisions based on the game state. A GP is a marathon, not a sprint. The top performers are the ones that can play very high level Magic over a prolonged period of time. Over the last year I have made several changes to my “game” outside the game that have helped a great deal. These three things are rest, diet and exercise.

I stopped drinking alcohol and ingesting foods with added sugars. My body is sensitive to sugar and can cause mood swings. These highs and lows are represented in a game of Magic by keeping hands that I shouldn’t, conceding too early, or just making a straight up blunder like tapping the wrong land or not noticing my opponent had not one, but two blockers. I try and go to bed early before a tournament and take extra precautions to make sure that I’m hydrated throughout the day. Going for walks, or doing cardio increases blood flow to the brain and can cause better in-game decision making. Also, in addition to cutting out items with added sugar, I’m much more conscientious of what food I am consuming and how that will impact my overall function. We all spend hours and hours agonizing over decklists, the meta, and sideboard choices- all to give us that extra perceived edge, or added EV. Should we not also do that in our day to day decisions? What should I have for breakfast? Two eggs or a pop tart? If you said pop tart, I’m sorry, that’s a misplay. Thinking about what will help me think best has now become part of my tournament routine and has greatly increased my win percentages as a Magic player. I have prized the last two GPs that I attended (Seattle and Vegas). Here is the breakdown:

Be honest with yourself about your ability Identify holes in your game Eat an egg Cash a GP

All of this has left me wondering… If I can use life choices to improve my magic results, could I also use “magic choices” to improve life results?

To be continued…

