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[EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally written almost two weeks ago. ~Streetz~] Pro Tour Los Angeles just wrapped up, and Antoine Ruel’s Psychatog deck took home top honors. The PTQ circuit is about to start up, and the Timmies and Spikes of the world are tuning up their decks. They’ve got the prize of plane tickets to Hawaii in their sights. I’m sure all the casual players in the room just rolled their eyes. To them, the world of high stakes Magic and powerful netdecks just isn’t appealing. For the casual player, Magic is about having fun. It’s about building a goofy combo deck and then having that combo go off. It’s about getting together with friends on a weeknight or weekend, forgetting about the worries of this world, and diving into the colorful worlds of Kamigawa or Ravnica. Unfortunately for the casual player, many of the websites and Magic media are geared for the competitive tournament player. So how can the casual player survive in the competitive world? Use the tournaments to your advantage. When a major tournament or qualifying season rolls around, the competitive players will tend to separate themselves from everyone else. They want to make sure that the decks they test against are tier-one, not some crazy combo deck that a casual player came up with. With all of the competitive players off in their own testing-groups, it is easier for the casual players to find one another. A second way to use tournaments to your advantage is to see their decklists. You may say, “Wait! I thought we were trying to avoid netdecking. Isn’t that what you just told me to do?” Let me explain. Not all tournament decks are chock full of expensive rares and try to simply overpower every other deck. Some of the decks that show up at tournaments are actually pretty fun to play. The Japanese have become famous for this over the fast few pro tours. At Pro Tour Philadelphia, many Japanese players played a deck based on Through the Breach. This deck greatly resembled the sneak attack decks of old. I’ve seen a few casual circles where sneak attack decks are still popular. Even more recently, Tsuyoshi Fujita played a hybrid of Red Deck Wins and White Weenie at Pro Tour LA. The White Weenie strategy has long been a favorite of casual players. Now, I’m not telling you to copy a deck off the net and play that. That’s what the casual player tries to avoid. Instead, look at these ideas and try to come up with your own version of the deck. This will allow your creativity as a Magic player flow, yet still give you a deck that won’t lose nine out of ten games.
Be Flexible, and find different ways to play the game
Also, don’t be afraid to change up the way you play every once in a while. Even if you change decks on a consistent basis, the standard one on one game may lose its appeal after a while. Playing limited is one way to change things up. Booster drafts and sealed deck play are a great way to improve your collection, test your play skill, and play decks that are often unpredictable. Unpredictable decks mean that two games could be worlds apart in the way they need to be played, and this variety can make the game of Magic very fun. Another fun way to play is a format the just recently was DCI recognized: Two-Headed Giant (THG). In this format, you and a partner team up to take on two adversaries. Both teams have a life total of 40, and you control all creatures on your side of the board, even those your partner owns. You are only allowed to attack the head directly across from you, however, so remember that while casting removal spells. A third great alternative format is Vanguard. In this format, each player has a vanguard card in play with special abilities. These abilities range from gaining life whenever a creature is played, to being able to look at the top of your library before you draw, and putting that card in the graveyard if you don’t like it (see Yusuke’s Alternate Vortex article for more info on specific abilities). Do you like the idea of THG, but are afraid of two decks that work well together and run your team over? Well, try it with a booster draft. Don’t like drafting with just 4 people? Try a format called Emperor with a team Rochester draft. Confused? Here’s how it works: Team Rochester is a limited format with 6 people, 3 to a team. Teams sit across the table from each other, with the “emperor” sitting in the middle seat. There is a coin flip, and the winner can choose to either “kick” or “receive”. The team that is designated to kick has their emperor open a booster pack, and draft a card. The player to his left drafts, and the pack goes to the other team. It looks like this:
When the pack gets to General D, he drafts two cards (this is called the wheel), and the direction of the pack reverses. The same happens when it gets back to the emperor who opened it. When all the cards in pack 1 have been drafted, General A opens his first pack, and the process is repeated. General D will open pack 6, and the pick will go to the left. After pack 6 is empty, General D will open pack 7, but the pick will go right, with the Emperor as the wheel. There is no talking allowed, but teams are allowed to confer with hand gestures and by pointing. (Side note: For even more fun and more interesting decks, you can have the players alternate seats. And here, there will be no conversing or gesturing at all.) Once all players have their decks, the game of emperor ensues. Just about everyone I’ve seen play has a different set of specific rules, regarding attacking and controlling and things like that, but some basic rules go like this:
I’m sure there are other rules that will come up during games, and with those you can make it up as you go. In a competitive world, it is often difficult to find casual players who just want to play the game because it is fun, and because you can get some crazy card interactions. However, a casual game can be soothing for even the most hard-core tournament players. With the knowledge of different types of formats, and a love of the game of Magic, even casual players can survive in a world based on competitiveness. ~lionden_56~ You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here. Most Popular
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