I'm in a bit of a
funk. My Magic skills seem to be going nowhere. I have so much desire to
improve, and I'm reading and listening to every single piece of advice I can
find. I am working hard to learn everything there is to learn, and I know I'm
getting better, but I don't *feel* like I'm getting better.
Battle for Zendikar
draft did something to me. At the end of Origins, I started to feel like I was
beginning to feel my way around - that I could achieve something with my game.
I felt like I was beginning to understand how to best play the game, and I was
starting to win once in a while.
Now, not so much.
 |
| This is me right now. But with less cute. |
I know I'm winning
more than I used to, say six months ago. But my record at the end of the FNM
draft is still pretty much 1-2 or 0-3. I know that the devoid decks were
powerful, but they felt alien to me. I was just starting to get the feel of
drafting strong cards and playing with devoid decks in BFZ and now we are into
Oath of the Gatewatch. I feel like I'm back at the beginning.
So should I blame
Wizards of the Coast for ruining magic? Or am I just bad at the game? I'm
pretty willing to put my hand up for not being perfect at it... and yet I seem
to not be improving.
However something
struck me today. Something that I should have recognised before now, and in
some small way I already did. While I consume copious quantities of Magic
content in a search to make my game better, I don't play the game nearly as
much as I would like. This is in large part due to not having a computer at
home - so in order to play outside of FNM, I either forgo an evening with my
partner (which I'm not willing to do at the moment due to clashing work
schedules) or I draft online. I haven't drafted online even once before - I
don't have a computer at home that works.
Its not good enough
for me to continue to do what I'm doing and complain that I am not very good. I
need to improve. The thing that my game lacks at the moment isn't skilled
opposition (I have both a skilled group at FNM and a casual draft crew with
some of the most experienced Magic players I know), its repetition. Its giving
myself a chance to really understand the cards, pre-empt combat tricks and
lines of play. Its picking cards confidently, reading signals and making good
judgements.
While I might be
stuck at the moment, I know there's a way through. I'm buying a PC and jumping
onto MTGO.
