Thursday, January 22, 2009

Five Things Newbies Should Remember When Joining a Magic Tournament

Hey peeps. This topic came up in my mind and decided to write about it because I've noticed in our area that there's a lot of new Magic players who are afraid of joining our weekly tournaments. Yeah, I know they are still new to the game. I've been there too. That's is why maybe they're afraid of losing or committing mistakes or something like that.

Here are the five things or reminders I came up with that I think can clarify to the newbies, or what we call in gaming term as noob, why they shouldn't be afraid.

Experience is the best teacher – I think everybody will agree on this one. You won't grow in Magic if you can't experience the actual tournament, on how the matchup goes, etc. Just learn every new thing or play scenarios you encounter in every game. You will commit mistakes of course. Everybody does. But the experience will tell you that you'll be prepared for it the next time.

Its okay to commit mistakes
– As what I've said earlier, its natural for newbies to commit mistakes. The reasons could be wrong decisions, intimidation with the pro opponent, wrong understanding of the rules, and much more. But you just have to embrace it. Embrace your mistakes because its a part of the learning process.

If you don't know it, call a judge – This one should be remembered always when you encounter complicated game states or card effects. Another thing is that don't ask your opponent. Remember that he is not a judge and he might explain things that will be in his favor. It's better to ask stupid questions than to commit stupid mistakes.

Don't get intimidated – Intimidation is one big factor or reason why they don't join. So what if he's the Champ of last week's tournament? Can he dodge a bullet? I think not. (Sorry I couldn't think of any other examples. Lol) Just think that he's just another player in the room and you will be able to beat him. Positive thinking helps I tell you.

Have fun and enjoy – This is the thing I think most players forgot when they are in big tournaments. You would say you are playing to win. Of course, I agree with that but don't forget the fun side. Magic is a game of tactics and strategies on building effective decks but the creativity and fun part is another factor. Don't frown if you lost because he outraced you before your Dominus Clouted Stream Hopper beat him to zero. At least you had fun.

To sum it up, actual Magic tournament games give much more and far better learning than casual ones. I hope these five reminders help or rather convince you now to join the Magic tournaments in your area. If you have any reactions (I hope it won't be violent), feel free to leave me a message below.

Until next time...

7 comments:

Nicholas Davis said...

Great article! Very good information. It's very true, the best way to learn the game is to hop into a tournament or two. How to counter, proper timing, how to handle different types of threats, etc. If you don't place well, just take the information you learned and adapt! It's half the fun of the game, I think.

Death Mark said...

Thanks for the comment. Its one of the causes why our community wouldn't expand much. We are trying though to get them to join and so far we are successful as three new faces joined the tournament last Saturday.

GagayMD said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hi!
What a great article on magic tournament. Have you attend any? Is it though to be a magician out there?
See you around.

Anonymous said...

Nice article. I remember when I started playing, I was intimidated by the experienced players. And I was even beating the Nationals champion out of the tournaments, in casual play, but I was so scarred when I was playing against him on tournaments. :D

Now everything is ok, I just need a better deck I guess.

Nice blog. I'm following you for some time.

All the best.

Death Mark said...

Thanks for the comment Wort. I see you are a fan of the Goblin decks. you got a cool blog too. Keep it up! :)

Unknown said...

great advice...especially the have fun part. I think too often this is forgotten. Check out http://power9pro.com/blog/2009/01/grand-prix-la-tournament-report-james/ for more tournament tips!