You are: Home
-> Articles -> Feature
Article | 
Editor:Staff 18th February 2008
Releasing the Good from the Pre-release
By Tom Haddy Greetings to you all. This last week a thread was posted on the Paradise forums suggesting that there should be an outlet for “seasoned” players at the pre-release events. I was quite intrigued by this post, and the fact that it implied that pre-releases did not offer enough challenge for players that may be looking for a higher level of competition. Something about this implication struck home with me enough that I wanted to share my thoughts on what I think players can achieve out of pre-releases besides getting a look at new cards. In the following article, I am going to attempt to show people how to better themselves as magic players using the pre-release as a tool. So without further preamble I give you: One man’s guide to pre-releases: Advanced Whenever I rock up to a pre-release event, I always feel relaxed. Why? Because there is very little on the line. That trait makes the pre-release unique in itself. However, even though there are no outlined goals for the day, I always try to have an expectation of myself. This is something I like to refer to as keeping myself to a higher standard. Sounds pretty stuck up, doesn’t it? I’m not talking about treating people I see as “lesser” players, whatever that conception may be, in a rude manner, or even limiting my social interactions to those players I do regard to be in a higher bracket. What I mean when I say this is that I want to make sure that I play and use the day to the highest potential I possibly can. I think this can be achieved in a number of ways. 1. Concentrate on building the best deck/s you can If you are looking to give yourself a leg up in competitive play, or even trying to stay at a high level, then treat the build as though you were building a sealed deck for a Grand Prix-styled event. Evaluate your card pool as you would any higher competitive level event, and try and build the best deck you can. There will never be any card pool exactly like this one again, so it is a unique challenge even if it is at a pre-release. Furthermore, keep to the deck you build in the build time, and don’t change your deck from your original build. This added restriction will give you insight into where your deck building skills may be falling short, as well as showing you whether you are in fact focussing on the right things when you are constructing a sealed deck. Also, use the build time to think about what style of deck you are creating. Is your deck highly aggressive or is it more controlling? Will your deck necessarily want to play first in its matches, or will it be more beneficial for you to have an extra card? What are the weaknesses in your deck’s strategy, and what thinking will you adopt to overcome those weaknesses. Are certain cards stronger in your deck because of your deck’s nature, and should you necessarily be playing other cards that are individually better, but not as good collectively in your deck? Familiarise yourself with cards that may be relevant when certain threats come up in game one of your matches, so that you can be ready to sideboard those cards into your deck. Being a quality limited player is all about paying attention to these very things, and a lot of players at limited events rule themselves out of contention to win by hobbling themselves with poorly built decks before they have even played a spell. Later, after you have built, or even after you have finished your flight, take your card pool, shuffle it up and give it to someone else to build, and ask them if you can have a go at building theirs. It’s hard to create dummy card pools without buying new sets of cards, and you have a room full of perfectly good ones at your disposal. Gain insight into what other people are thinking when they build their decks, and talk to other people about how you build yours. Ask all sorts of people their opinion on your card choices, and try and articulate why you did or didn’t play certain cards. Structuring your thought processes concerning the deck building process will allow you to make better building decisions, and allow you to make the right choices next time you have to build a deck. You may even discover a new way of looking at a sealed format that you hadn’t considered. 2. Play your game at a competitive level. What does this mean? Simply put, when you are playing, don’t treat the day like a knock around match, but play with the same concentration level that you would play a higher level event. Additionally, accept the consequences of your actions just as you would in a higher level event. For yourself, there should be no take backs and you should not ask for them, there is an adherence to game structure, there is sharpness to your plays, and you keep concentrating throughout the day. I find that the pre-release is a fantastic place to practice staying focussed in matches, as a lot of players start playing sloppily when their opponents start playing sloppily. There is nothing more disorientating than playing an opponent that draws a card, untaps his land then plays his upkeep effect. It becomes difficult to keep track of what has happened in the turn, and can cause you to miss finer points of the game. However, the upside of this is it can force you to really concentrate on game state and keeping track of your opponent’s turn, which can be an incredibly useful skill. I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve seen players or heard them talk about missing a chance to play a spell or effect at a certain time in their opponent’s turn that would have won them the game. Playing the whole day in this way will also increase your mental stamina,
as a lot of players tend to get looser in their play as they get tired
towards the end of a long day’s play. You want to be able to rely
on yourself in big tournaments, and the worst thing that can happen is
to make a mistake just because you are unable to last the full journey
of the event. Being a long day, the pre-release is a good time to learn
what you need in a day to keep yourself alert and focussed so that you
won’t make tired misplays, and so that you can capitalise on others
who do. 3. Use the tournament resources Things happen at pre-releases that aren’t as frequent at higher level events. Firstly, there are a lot of mistakes made by players due to the cards being new and unfamiliar. This presents an opportunity for players to become more accustomed to calling judges and more importantly, to gain experience at interacting with judges. Don’t try and resolve issues that come up yourself; it’s a bad habit and will only get you in trouble at other events. When you call the judge over, you will get a chance to gain knowledge about the rulings process and how to relate your side of situations in a credible way. I see people get the short end of the stick in tournaments all the time because they were either confused about whether they should have called a judge in the first place, or unable to relate their questions to a judge in such a way to get the information or ruling that they needed. If you are playing in your normal tournament area, calling a judge can have the additional bonus of giving the judge experience in answering questions, which means that if they happen to be judging the next PTQ in your area, you will be more likely to receive a correct and fair ruling from them. The other players at the event are also incredibly valuable resources. For me, the best thing other players do is play cards I wouldn’t have necessarily played, and let you play the new cards against them. You can’t necessarily tell which cards are going to be quality limited cards just by looking at them, and other players let you see them in action. A classic case was when I went to the Champions of Kamigawa pre-release and thought little of Kabuto Moth, as its 1 power and 2 toughness stats were relatively unimpressive for a three cost creature in my mind. History will show that Kabuto Moth was in the top tier of limited cards for that set, and the pre-release showed me that. A few weeks later, I went to Grand Prix Brisbane, and I was overjoyed to receive a card pool containing three Kabuto Moths. You also get to see which cards are not quite as powerful as you first thought, and that all leads to better card pool evaluations in the future. Sometimes even the worst player at the tournament will play a card that gives you more trouble than you would have thought it would, and that will give you information about that card that you can take to other events. You also gain insight on how to play around certain cards, and which ones you do need to play around. Players will also show you card interactions you may not have necessarily thought of, but that can be quite powerful. I was on the receiving end of an elemental deck that surprised me with Ceaseless Searblades and Soulbright Flamekin at the Lorwyn pre-release, and I have since used that combination to great effect in drafts online and in real life. Take note of cards your opponents play, and remember how well they played against you. As an extra, you can use pre-release tournaments to learn common player habits that can give you information. You are never going to learn how to read people if you don’t sit and play with a whole range of them, so keep in mind what info players give away to you by their habits and learn what to look out for. Being able to gauge players can allow you to play more effectively against them, and in an environment that has little risk, you can try and push these advantages harder. Also, the pre-release is one of the largest gatherings of people who are interested in playing Magic. That probably means that you have something to talk to them about. Make connections with people. The Magic life is easier when you know people from all over the place, and who knows when knowing someone will be a benefit to you. 4. Don’t feel sorry for, and don’t underestimate your opponents Many people who know me will have heard me tell the story of my first six months of magic. I was still at school and didn’t have a lot of money, but every afternoon I would go to a shop in Melbourne city and play my extremely average decks against the people who were there. The shop no longer exists, but it was the hang out of probably the best players in the state, if not the country, at the time. Needless to say, I was triumphant on very few occasions. However, to this day, I still believe I learnt more about playing magic in those first six months than I have for the rest of time I have played. There will always be players who have no interest in playing at a competitive level, and I have found that those people generally aren’t upset about losing matches, so long as they get to play with new cards and have a good day out. There will also be players who are starting out and want to advance their skills, and playing against people with more experience is a fantastic way to gain experience yourself and see good play habits that you can utilise. Magic is an extremely hard game to master, and losing is part of the learning curve. I remember a time when I used to beat up this young kid every week, so much so that he would drop out of drafts that I was signed up for. His name was David Zhao, and I think most Australian players would agree that he turned out ok. The point of this is that as long as you aren’t derogatory towards your opponents, losing doesn’t have to be a negative experience for them, and can even allow them to better their magic careers. And if they choose not to take anything out of losing, or winning, then you should not blame yourself for their folly. I would also like to say that the most dangerous thing any person can do in a competitive environment is underestimate an opponent. How often do you see the best team in a sporting league lose to the bottom team, and mostly it boils down to overconfidence and understatement of the opposition. Magic is a cruel game, and the minute you take your foot off the accelerator, you leave yourself open to people drawing exactly what they need, or surprising you at the wrong time. Always play every match as tightly as you can, whether it be at home on the kitchen table, at the pre-release or at a higher level event, because when you get into pressure situations, the ingrained habits you possess will be a valuable asset if they are geared correctly. 5. Don’t think you can’t improve All through this article there will have been people who will have been saying that they always do all these things, and this article is only for people who are trying to become a seasoned player instead of people who believe they already are. Firstly, I would like to ask what exactly constitutes a seasoned player, or an experienced player, or a good player? I’m not entirely sure of the answer to that question, but I’m sure that it isn’t someone who doesn’t play in a wide range of events. Secondly, there is no-one out there who is perfect and who can’t improve. Even Don Bradman went to nets training, and surely an event with nothing on the line but with tournament structure is about as close to a training session as you can get? Thirdly, humility is vital to all players, whatever their experience level is. If you think you are too good, then you aren’t, plain and simple. 6. Remind yourself that you enjoy playing magic. This is the most important rule of them all. Since there is virtually nothing on the line, a player who always plays hard and cutthroat magic can remind themselves that Magic is fun, and that’s why they play it. I know I remind myself that every time I go to pre-releases and exclaim over cards just as much as a first time tournament player. If you can’t let yourself have fun, then I would suggest that Magic isn’t for you. All in all, I think all tournaments will give back to what you put into them. Instead of wondering what a tournament can provide you straight up, take some time to ask yourself how you can use these more casual situations to benefit your individual needs as a player. Thanks for reading. I hope that even if you don’t agree with all that I have said, I have at least given you something to think about. Cheers Gaddy Email me at thaddy(at)hotmail.com, or PM Gaddych on the paradise forums |
