This is a bit of a poll, but it’s about a game, so CS it is. I noticed a thread today about Magic, and it made me wonder how competitively people play Magic here, and whether any of the competitive players would be interested in doing online deck testing (it’s been a while sine I busted out Apprentice or Netdraft, and I understand that MTG Workstation is big now) or discussion. I generally don’t like most Magic-centered online communities because they’re full of… well… jerks.
My own background. I play in the local 16K draft approximately weekly (SB has a decently competitive local player base). The local shop has just moved the 1.5 tourneys to Saturday, so hopefully I’ll make it to some of those. I played casually for years, but in the last year, have ramped up my play considerably. I make it to as many PTQs as I can, usually averaging 4-6/year. I made T2 at a PTQ for Tokyo last year, splitting with the guy in the finals for slightly more than half the money because, even if I won, a trip to Japan was just not in the budget. I got 9th on tiebreaks at another one. I am primarily a limited player, but I usually enjoy block constructed and I’m starting to like 1.5. It reminds me of what extended used to be like.
I play Magic Online some, always to draft, since I don’t play enough to have the cards for constructed, but have of late gotten frustrated by the fact that it’s hard to try out a new draft strategy because, if it doesn’t work, I’m out $15 for one round. At least at the local tournaments I get to try my deck for 4 rounds.
I’m considering testing for judge, and would do it if there were a L3 closer to me than Phoenix. I had planned to go do it at PTLA last year, but I had to move that weekend. Maybe next year.
I don’t play anymore (I quit around when the new card design came out, though not because of that), but when I did I never played competitively. I’m a girl and not sure enough of myself to handle being at a tournament full of smelly guy geeks. Also, I don’t think I was ever very good.
I was forced to play by a former roomie/friend of mine, who did a Mr Hyde number on me. They were his cards and he would torture me by making up two decks and badger me into play along. I gave it a few of tries, because he enjoyed it. I am still recovering from the experience. Said friend is totally obsessed with the game in ways that make me wince. Ask Jayjay. It isn’t him, but he has met the guy.
I used to play competitively and was a judge for awhile. I still think MtG might be the most amazing game ever created but the constant releases of new cards gets very old and very expensive fast, or you end up endlessly trading/selling cards to pay for your fix. (I owned a game store back when MtG was in its heyday) the complexity is amazing, to bad its such a royal pain in the ass to keep up on new cards.
I haven’t played since about 1996, and I never really played competitively. It was a fun diversion. I did get extrememely frustrated with Cheese decks and Counterspell decks, both of which were extremely popular in the crowd I played with.
Of course, I found the best way to deal with a Counterspell deck was with a mostly-green “small fast creatures” deck" with one or two really big creatures in there. And lots of those mana-producing elves. I’ll never forget that time I got a Force of Nature in play on my third turn and steamrolled all over that blue-deck-playing dork.
I stopped playing in about my junior year of high school… so, 2001ish. I played as competitively as was reasonably possible for a HS underclassman with no non-parental-transportation living in the middle of nowhere: I played a bunch of tournaments at my local card shop, after school whenever sports weren’t in season, and made it to a junior regional qualifier (type 2) in Boston where I came in, um, fifth maybe? I should note that I was the only one out of the final eight not using one of the “hot combo” decks of the time - I forget what the block was, exactly, but the two most common were based on infinite/free cycling and a blue counter/deck search/draw out combo. I played my Favorite Deck Ever, an extremely spunky red-green balance deck, and actually grabbed a bunch of games from the combo decks du jour before bowing out and getting more than amply rewarded for my quite enjoyable time.
Oh, I also used to play the pre-release sealed deck tournaments in Boston, probably 4-6 of them. My dad and I would go up for the day to see the new cards, beat who we could, and generally bond. I think the best I did in one of those was ~12th (though the field was MUCH larger there) in the Tempest pre-release, where I pulled a Cursed Scroll in one of my boosters and went to town.
I was in a comic shop a couple weeks back and people were playing in the back, and I felt some nostalgia… until I thought about the monetary investment that would be involved in getting back into it for real. Sigh.
Before I had a child I a fairly competitive limited player (~1800) with a few limited top 8s. I took a long break after 2001, and I just recently got back into Magic with Ravnica. MTGO has made me a much better technical player that I was then, but I definitely don’t play as much as I used to. And limited is all about repetition.
If you want to coordinate a draft on MTGO and play with the decks after I would definitely be interested in that…
I played competitively ever since getting back into the game. I’m not good at all, but I enjoyed going to tournaments and playing. I did pretty well at regionals going 3-0 before realizing I was doing well and losing the next 2 in a row. Since then my play has been horrible.
I’m actually giving up Magic and getting into another ccg from Wizards called Hecatomb.
I played a bit in high school against friends (the one local ‘tournament’ was on Friday nights, too far away to reasonably expect my parents to drive me to at that time, and probably way above my level. I never was all that good). I’ve gotten into it again slightly as another group of friends has gotten into it, but I usually just borrow their decks as I can’t afford to buy cards right now (and dont’ get to play enough for it to be worth it), and the selection among my old ones sucks for building a deck–lots of moderately useful cards, but few really good ones, and no way to make a ‘theme’ deck short of rebuilding one of the prebuilts I bought. I’ve never had a chance to play competitively though.
This weekend I was at Animaritime, and was thinking about maybe entering the sealed deck tournament there, just to see how I would fare–at the very least my lack of cards wouldn’t have hindered me. However lunch took longer than expected, so I didn’t enter. I also kinda wish I’d had my Yu-Gi-Oh deck there to try my hand at that, but that’s also probably a good thing, as my deck hails from the time before banned cards.
We used to keep all our cards in a shoebox ay my friend Amitai’s house, and before every game we’d deal them out randomly and make decks on the spot. So no, not very competitively.
Back in college I would play it quite competitively. My friends and I would travel around to pro tour qualifiers and make them on occassion. One friend actually went all the way, won the whole shebang.
We’d spend freetime not only designing and testing decks but designing how to design the decks. We marked up basic land cards with numbers or letters and had a grid to determine what that particular card was. That way, it was easy to test what cards worked and in what proportions quickly without having to actually procure the cards until they were needed in competition.
I tested for judge and became a level II. At times I actually liked that more than the competition itself.
It was a fun time. And then, after college, I just…stopped. It wasn’t as much fun to play without a network of people who are all creative and competitive in the game. I went to a few more tournaments but that petered out quickly. A couple of years ago I found another group I played with for fun, but that’s all it was. They didn’t see or want to see the strategy in the game. It was always these massive group games, never competition and never one-on-one. They’d create somewhat restricting rules and I’d create decks to flaunt those rules and rather than adapt to my strategy, they’d make new rules to limit what could be done.
So that lasted a year and while I had a good time, it just wasn’t the same. I haven’t actually played ANY magic in almost two years, though occassionally I keep up with new developments in the game.
I play in local tournaments about once or twice a month. I prefer draft, but it’s scarce around here. for constructed, I’m limited by my reluctance to netdeck. I like to make my own decks, that’s a lot of the fun of the game for me, so while I’m not awful and can sometimes hold my own, I can’t compete for the top spots. but I do love just playing casual constructed.
I’ve played since 1995. When my son was born in 2004, I switched to Magic Online. I draft several times a week. I do maybe 2 or 3 constructed tourneys a month. Several of my online testing friends are at PT: Honolulu right now. (Go Cymbros!)
However, I still love playing casually, and MTGO makes it sooo easy. You can a hundred different decks built, all using the same cards. You can build 5–card decks, and they’re still easy to shuffle.
If you feel like a game, pick the format and look me up. (That goes for any Doper, too.) Same screenname on MTGO. If I don’t respond, though, don’t be insulted. I’m logged on nearly 24/7, but I may be at work or asleep.
My boyfriend played for a long time, even went on the pro tour for a while (went to London and Vancouver among others). But then he started playing Magic Online more and more. Ever since he got a girlfriend (me :)) he almost never goes to tourneys. However, he’s going to the one in Sacramento tomorrow. I guess you can take the boy out of Magic but you can’t take Magic out of the boy. (He still maintains that his dream job would be working for Wizards of the Coast or whatever that company is called.) I’ve been trying to get him to teach me but for some reason he is very resistant to the idea. Maybe he’s afraid I’ll beat him.
the game is horribly complex, easy to learn the basics but at the higher levels you have trouble explaining what you are doing to the newer players.
and not to break his bubble but W.o.t.C. doesnt do much hiring. ( I live nearby, have a few friends that work their and go there once in awhile for gaming, they rarely see a new employee)
I play as competitively as it’s possible to play, given that I only play limited. I draft 4 to 10 times a week, live and on MTGO. I’ve played in 5? individual pro tours and 2 team pro tours, making top 64 twice. I also made top 16 at a Grand Prix.
I’ve also been a sanctioned judge, invented new draft formats, bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of cards, and all sorts of other magic experiences.
I’ve been playing constantly since before Ice Age.
Oh, and I’m ranked in the top 20 or so in limited rating on MTGO right now. My screen name there is Afterlife, although I also frequently play on the account IanS which my roommates and I share. (Jsexton: I’ve seen you on and wondered if you were the same one from the SDMB… now I know.)
For people who find constructed magic frustrating with the netdecks and constant new card releases, you should try limited. I think it ironically feels much more like magic than constructed magic does, if you cast your mind back to when you first started playing and creature combat was interesting and intricate, and opening up a big dragon was a huge thrill.
I’ll definitely look you guys up on MTGO. My screen name there is Iamthewalrus (they wouldn’t allow the (: or = in names). I’d especially be interested if you want to play some draft decks outside of the tournament. I drafted (what seemed like) a fantastic UR deck in RRR that lost in the first round, so I want to see how it does with some more play.
Ha! Yes, I recognize that name. You wrecked me not that long ago, I think, in a dimir mill mirror match, if I recall correctly. Don’t you also play Prismatic?
And I completely agree with you. Limited takes the budget aspect out of the game. Yes, it requires an ongoing investment if you aren’t winning at all, but if you sell the cards you draft, and can win just a few more matches than you lose, you should be be able to draft indefinitely at a pretty low cost. Get better than that, and it won’t cost you a dime, although it’s harder now than it used to be, due the changes in the prize structure.
And if you don’t sell the cards, you can acquire a good collection for playing Constructed, and the small Constructed tournaments are very good for turning enough of a profit to support your habit. There, you can go 50% win/loss and still come out ahead.
That’s an excellent way to improve your deckbuilding skills. Play some draft decks casually, then make some tweaks and see how it changes to deck. Also gives you some more bang for the buck.
