How does one get skilled at Magic: the Gathering?

Question

I've played Magic for years now and the high level of play at tournaments still amazes me. What skills does one need to be able to play it at that high of a level?

Answer 1

The most skilled players have the ability to see the synergy in card abilities.  An example for when Eventides pre-release came out was the cards Morselhoarder, Power of Fire, and Sinking Feeling.  It only took one player to realize Morselhoarder, Power of Fire, and Sinking Feeling meant that you could tell your opponent that it was a good game.  Enchanting Morselhoarder with the other 2 cards gave the creature the infinite ability to do point after point of damage to your opponent.  Why didn't everyone who saw the cards realize the combination?  Not everyone is as skilled.  Depending on what you read and who you can believe, there are those writers that believe that enchantments, like the ones I just described, should never be used in tournament play.  The reason being that if the monster dies, the enchantment dies as well and it's like getting 2 cards for the one removal spell, thus those players would never even think of putting the enchantments in their decks during a tournament.

The high level of play also includes being able to sink a lot of money into your deck to make it good.  Almost all good players have 4 of the best colored card for that color in their deck or sideboard, where average and casual players can't afford to buy/trade for that kind of power.  It makes competing difficult, but not impossible.  As you can see, the combination I've previously described used no rares from Eventide, no uncommon cards either.  All three cards were common.  But the point is, once you play standard or extended tournaments, the ability to remove creatures increases and combinations become from fragile.  You have to also be able to protect them and that's where the uncommons and rares will come in.  

To wrap up your questions, the skills require patience, research for the combinations that synergize together (reading wizards articles helps), practice (against other top 8 decklists is usually good practice as other high level skilled players would do the same), and don't be afraid to tweek some originality in there.  I have yet to see a decklist with the combination of Puppeteer Clique and Mistmeadow Witch, so I'm trying to build that deck (with some momentary blinks and other protections as well.  Have your opponent destroyed by his own creatures and if his creatures are pesky, they are removed from the game at the end of your turn as well, plus the persist is a bonus).

Hopefully I'll read about you on a wizards website someday.  Good Luck and I'm glad you play magic.

Answer 2

Red Nix’s flavor text: "There is no shortcut to work done true and well. The Creators learned this to their sorrow, the first time they made the world."

This is true, as Magic is a game of skill as well as luck. If we both have the same deck, and we enter the same tournament together, I would be more likely to win if I played a hundred thousand more games with my deck than you have. There is no shortcut to work done true and well. Practice, practice, and practice some more – unless you happen to be Jon Finkel, this is probably the only way to get better.

Let’s give you an insight into a part of my life, before the Grand-Prix: I had school, I had to work, and I had to take care of my eight-year-old little sister, and still, I managed to spend every spare moment I had at the local game shop, playing the deck I would take into the tourney with, playing every single deck that I thought would be in the extended metagame. I can’t even begin to count the hours that I sat there with other players in the store, or at times, when there weren’t anyone else, with the store owner, playing different matchups – we must have played each matchup about a thousand times. (I hated the Next-Level Blue decks, as they would always go for fifty minutes, nonstop.) It was crazy. In the end, I managed to end up in money, and I was pretty happy about that. My buddy, who tested with me, also ended up getting cash. The people that we played at FNM, who didn’t test as much, didn’t make day two. Effort shows.

There are, however, some skills that one can use to get better: LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. If you lost a match, think about why you lost, then figure out a way that you could have played and won the match. When I playtest, I want to lose, because when I lose, I learn. When I win, the only thing I get is a sad partner and a unhealthy dose of ego and increased chances of becoming overconfident. Secondly, take a statistics course. I suggest utilizing Barron’s AP Statistics study guide and enrolling in an AP Statistics course. Magic is all about statistics – information is power. Thirdly, turn your creative side off. It’s fine to be creative when you are building a deck, but when you are testing, remember that Magic is a game of chance. If probability says this, do this and not that, which might not work.

We may not all be like the past and present legends of the game, such as Jon Finkel, Kai Budda, or the more recent names, Tomaharu Saito and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, but we can all be at least a little good at the game. It takes a lot of practice. Do you know how many hours Wafo-Tapa spends on Magic in a week? Every waking hour, even during mealtimes, when he is not working, is spent looking, reading, and thinking about Magic. If you put into the game that much effort, you may become just as good as he is.

Have fun, and remember, above all, Magic is just another game. If you are not having fun when you are playing Magic, then you probably shouldn’t play at all.

Answer 3

Practice, practice, practice.  Make changes to your decks to deal with the major decks you will see.  Look online for the current decks that are being played and then ask yourself, "Can I make something that can at least deal with the bigger threats out there or should I just join the flock and follow the leader?"  But the biggest thing is to keep practicing your deck building skills.

I've been playing since 98 and I was never a good tournament deck builder.  I was a better fun deck builder.  Decks not meant to win all the time, but each time I play, I have fun.

Answer 4

As steve said about deck building, check current decks on tourney level and see if you find answers how to stop or prevent the serious threats or damage.  Each major deck has focus point that tears down the base of operations (or two or three in my case due to this experience).  After a while of seeing things this way, start looking for kill methods in your deck and back up plans in case one thing fails or never starts.

Answer 5

I myself have been playing for 6 years now and I didn't get serious until last year.  I had decks that were fun to play, they could do anything, but they weren't winners.  To be able to stand up to the high level players, you need a deck that compliments itself and what it's focus is.  Like I have a green beast deck.  My focus is to run your face over with 8/8's and junk, but to do that I need to make it as easy as possible.  So I throw in cards that reduce costing amounts, mana acceleration, and some smaller creatures to take early blows.

It's all about making your deck work with itself.  You want cards that make it not only easier to play things, but things that do better when you play them.  Like a buddy of mine has a goblin deck, and in 2 turns, he killed my other friend...it was amazing.  He first played a Raging Goblin on the first turn, attacked, and played Blazing Shoal.  What that card does is, "You may remove a red card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay Blazing Shoal's mana cost. Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn"  He removed a 10 mana costing card, and did 11 damage, first turn with a Raging Goblin.  Next turn, he did it again cuz he had 2 of them in his hand.  You want cards that work well together and a few cards that balance off what your opponent has.

Sideboards are very important for tournament play.  Put cards in there that could handle any situation when needed.  Some destroy cards, maybe some more powerful creatures, or some small defenders, or spells that you may need more of to stop him/her from playing things.

It's all about complimenting and balancing a deck so it gets done what you want done.

Answer 6

Well, paractice for starters. Also having a deep knowledge of the rules is very important. Probanly the most important thing is to find new challenge in the form of going to events with a higher level of competition.

Also it is important to recognize the mistakes you make and your misplays. Identifying them and realizing what should you have done is a big step into enhancing your skills to play.

Answer 7

I am pretty much the same way as Steve. I don't play in tournaments anymore.

Anyway, you have to practice a lot and know how all your cards interact with other cards. You can often find some pretty cool combos or interactions in which one card stops another card. Also, Magic: The Gathering is a lot like chess in many ways. Use some of the same strategies in chess as you do with Magic. The only difference is that both players get a new card, and a new situation, during their turn. Plus, it usually isn't really the skill: it's the deck. There is really no time when a game goes down to skill, but rather to luck and the decks. That's why I don't compete in tournaments anymore in any card game.

Answer 8

I've been playing high level tournaments (PTQ,GP,Regionals etc) since Tempest, and here is what you need to know to be successful:

1. You need rules knowledge. You don't have to know as much as a level 3 judge, but you should still have enough of a rules knowledge to pass the level 1 judge test.

2. You have to be able to make the optimum play every time! This is the HARDEST PART of being a tournament player. You will find that at the higher levels, things as innocuous as tapping the wrong lands to play a spell WILL cost you games! Whenever you are considering what play to make, look at all of your options and think "which one of these either gets me to the game state I want to be at, or which play gives me the best odds of winning".

3. You need to have gameplans against all of the top decks that are thought out and practiced well in advance. This gameplan need to include weaknesses of the opposing deck that you want to exploit; how the first few turns are likely to play out; what the board will ultimately look like when you expect to win; how you're going to win. You will need to execute these flawlessly.

4. This may sound obvious, but you need to be playing one of the best decks in the format. If you intend to get very serious (like Pro Tour Qualifier level), you'll realize that PTQ's aren't the time to be playing your homebrew. Unless your deckbuilding skill is professional level, stick to what you see top 8'ing similar tournaments. There's a reason why these decks win... they're extremely good. You play your fun decks at FNM, since the quality of player is much lower.

5. You must tune your sideboard. The metagame (what decks you see and their percentages) differ greatly from local area to local area. Your sideboard should be designed to address this fact. Another very important part of sideboarding, which most people don't understand, is that you should choose your sideboard cards based on what your opponent will be bringing in from their sideboards against you! If you're playing a 3 color deck, expect your opponents running red or red/x to bring in 4 copies of Magus of the Moon... you'll need an answer for it.

6. You must not just practice... you must get quality practice. Playing competitive decks against casual players doesn't count, since they aren't playing for the same goal as you. Also while you're practicing, you need to be mindful of your mistakes. One thing I do when I'm mentoring younger players is I watch their match, and write down every single mistake that they make and every questionable play. Even for decent players, I can easily count 10 mistakes a game. These 10 mistakes are part of the difference between decent and extremely good.

7. You must take the viewpoint that when building a deck money is no object! If your deck needs 4x Bitterblossom, 4x Mutavault and 4x Thoughtseize... be prepared to shell out the $350 to get them. I know this sucks, but the best decks have the best cards, and the best rares can be expensive. Replacing the expensive cards with cheaper counterparts WILL reduce your chances of winning, and if you aren't going to give yourself the best possible chance... why show up?

8. The last thing you need is the right attitude. During the match, you're there to win, not make friends. You must act professionally during your matches. Your attitude towards mistakes has to be "avoid them, but if you do make one... forget it". Post game you have to realize that if you lost, you most likely lost as a result of a choice you made. The difference between a pro and a pretender is that pretenders tend to attribute all of their losses to things outside their control, like mana s***w, not being able to topdeck etc. After the match is over, act however you want with your friends.