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Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Right Play vs. Spectators

(the examples used here are not the best examples to use, but they are recent and these situations slowly led to me feeling really upset about behaviour of some people. prepare for wall of text, I've been holding this inside me for a really long time...I hope it is 'understadable and readable')

After today's tournament I'm really fed up with some people. The onlookers watching your game and saying that you should have done this or that or your opponent that says that the deck he plays is bad even though you can clearly see that he should have won the game you played at that time. Or that you missed that or that trigger over there even though you don't need the trigger to trigger in order to win. While it's MAY trigger you can just forget about it and that's what I sometimes do. I knew that I would win unless my opponent would have Boros Charm + 3 damage burn spell and I would kill him in 1 or 2 turns later. In this case 2 turns, but I drew a card that would make it one turn if I would have not missed the trigger. That wasn't relevant to me because any combination of 3 cards and 3 mana would not be able to finish me off and there was nothing that could wreck my board.

When I'm nervous or upset in some way (like when someone watches me and comments my game all the time or keeps insulting me) I rather try to stay alive and win and omit information that is not relevant to that or information that would make me mess the game up. This can produce a very bad play and I'm well aware of that. For example there was a game I played against Hermit combo and all I needed to do was remove Memory's Journey at correct time. I was afraid I would mess it up by concentrating on removing that card from the graveyard but I knew that my opponent would need one more green (or blue, not sure now) mana and one more CMC1 creature to kill me. And even if he would be able to produce that I would simply counter the creature and the win con card. Thus I did not do the right play but I won the game and was 100% certain I would win it.

I'm not the best player in the world and the definition of the best play is not clear and probably won't ever be but in situations like this who is there to judge? I rather win my own way even though it is a stupid way or not the best way there is.

Any play that seems completely wierd or is unusual can win a game or be the right play in a game. Sometimes such play is done as a mistake but sometimes it is calculated play and the player knows what he needs to do. Few days ago in a draft I needed to draw one single card dealing damage to my opponent. So I tried to survive while my creatures were dying and I was waiting for the card which I had quite high probability of drawing. After losing 3/4 of my life I drew a creature that makes my opponent lose life when it dies. I had removal in my hand so I killed the creature dealing the last damage I needed in order to win. This was pretty straightforward play but well...you don't usually play removal spells on your creatures right? Unless it is something like Path To Exile on your own creature to search for a land you desperately need or killing your creature in order to let your opponent not gain 3 life out off Lightning Helix. At today's tournament I won a game against burn because my opponent did not play Rift Bolt for 2R but suspended the card. He did not even think of it and did not consider this play bad. I on the other hand knew at that moment that I can win this game I was not supposed to win. During the game he complained that the deck is bad and that it can't win games. The deck can do it, but it needs to be piloted well. I didn't want to say that but it is the truth. For example I know that if I play Merfolk or Burn I'm most likely to lose quite high percentage of games I should win. If I play control or combo I'll probably do better than others.

What I really hate is when people consider my play bad not seeing what I want to achieve or tell me that this is completely useless etc. I'm most of the time aware of what can kill me, I can be wrong (as I did not expect Thassa to finish me off in Modern Merfolk deck. I had everything covered except this..and I lost. If I would have thought of it I would have won). In a sealed deck of Theros I played against one Czech pro player. He had a 4/4 flyer in play. He was attacking with it and I couldn't block it, my deck was light on flyers and especially 4/4 flyers. This was pretty bad for me. But I drew Celestial Archon that could possibly save me, in fact it was THE ONLY card that could save me. One person was watching the game and when I did not block the attacking 4/4 with the Archon he started to call me an idiot and other names. At this point I just couldn't block because it was HIGHLY probably that my opponent would play any pump spell and I would lose my only out and win condition. I had other plans. On my turn I played Hopeful Eidolon on the Archon and attacked to gain some life. This way I could actually win the game by dealing damage and gaining life. Unfornutaly my opponent's flyer also got enchanted with two enchantments later in the game and I was forced to block and use my tricks in order to keep my Archon alive. My opponent played a pump spell and killed my Archon. At that moment he told the onlooker that he had this card in his hand since the beginning of the game. I lost this game but I won this match 2:1. My play was certainly better than the one that was 'advised' and for which I was scolded.

And as useless goes...There are many times when you do something and you don't use it and thus it becomes 'useless'. Adam Koska is the person who taught me that doing such seemingly useless or improbable things can lead to victory. Years ago while playing limited I always lost to him and I knew that any kind of resistence wouldn't help. That is the reason why I stopped using some of the cards I had in play as they wouldn't change the result of the game. In these matches it was completely useless. But sometimes it can make difference and I see that now (for years already but well). When I played against Adam this Sunday I could have done something to help me in one way or other. He played Inquisition of Kozilek. My only card was Intuition. I played the card but I wasn't really sure what to do. I had 2 possibilities. I wasn't really thinking that the second but the right one possibility could possibly lead to victory because it would mean that I would have to draw certain creature + a card that would let me discard it. And all this would have to happen in one turn in which I would also reanimate that. I decided that this is the most unlikely scenario and decided to search for three cards that I don't need at all and that I'd rather keep 3 good cards in a deck and not ending up with one big creature in my hand and 2 in the yard where they weren't really safe (possibility one). This way I had slightly higher possibility to draw something better. And you know what happened? My top deck was Careful Study. And you know what I drew of the Study? The only two cards I would have won the game with if only I would have pursued the second possibility I deemed almost impossible. I lost the match because of my decision. Was it a bad play? Yes, because by searching for three cards that Inquisition of Kozilek cannot discard I would gain bigger advantage than in what I actually did. I've made another wierd decision during that tournament. I had the possibility of winning the game by reanimating a combo. But in order to have the possibility to win I had to discard the 2 of my removal cards (there were only 2 other removal spells in my deck). Not having the possibility to win, I would have to use the removal spells and draw a tutor once again and hope that my opponent wouldn't play anything in the meantime. Due to my tutor not ending up well I died to a creature that landed there that turn that I couldn't deal with. Was this a bad decision? You tell me. If I would have kept the removal spell I would give time to both of us, but I was in top deck mode and my opponent had a hand full of cards.

Another situation from few days ago. My opponent killed all my mana dorks during the combat phase. I produced all the mana I could and was rewarded with a silly look. It was clear for him that it is useless for me to do such a thing and that there's possibly nothing that I could play at that time. But he was wrong and it was clear that he did not even think that something could kill him right there in the combat phase. My opponent was down to 2 life. I had Chord of Calling in my hand, 4 lands in play untapped and 3 mana floating from my Hierarchs. I could search for a card with CMC4 and deal 2 damage to him in the process. I don't like situations like this, I'm mocked for a play like this even though it is the right play for me and usually leads to victory. Fortunately the player sitting next to me was well aware of this actually happening and that calmed me down a bit.

Today I also played against a player who was piloting BG Rock (for the first time so he was kinda lost). In the first game he had Courser of Kruphix and Taqrmogoyf that was 5/6. Also had 2 Treetop Villages and bunch of removal spells in his hand. He could have killed me in 2 or at most 3 turns but he didn't do it. He didn't know how to pilot the deck or simply couldn't count the damage I would take or he did not consider the fact that alpha strike would actually force me to block with everything and the next turn I would have a sole blocker for the Tarmogoyf and possible one more for the second attacker (survivor from the last attack). Yes, half of his board would be gone but it would lead to victory. The only blocker that would stay in play in my case was Thrun. But in order to survive I would have to play another creature that would certainly not have hexproof and would die to removal and I would lose anyway. Seeing this I continued playing and I knew that my chances of winning are not high but that I could still win. After 35 minutes we were still playing and people started to gather around us. I was ok with this game going awry and several times I considered scooping up. But I could win the game if I pursued certain way. When my opponent played his second Confidant the 'awesome' comments started. Like that it was silly to play a second Confidant, that it will cause him to lose the game etc. But with 2 Coursers in play, 16 life and one card from victory it wasn't silly at all. At this moment I knew that I won't win but still had one possible draw after I managed to get to the 'position' I needed. My only chance of winning was hitting a Pod or Chord of Calling and in the meantime I needed to get rid of Dismember, Slaughter Pact and Abrupt Decay from his hand. To do this I always forced a block that would threaten his Tarmogoyf - Goyf being my only 'attacking' threat. This forced my opponent to use the removal spells. I even attacked with Shriekmaw threatening to kill Liliana of the Veil but to my surprise my opponent used the removal spell and killed the creature (even though Liliana of the Veil was doomed to die or not be of use anyway). My opponent got good cards from the Confidant and mainly got Maelstrom Pulse that killed three of my creatures. I used Scavenging Ooze's ability to gain some life even though I knew this would be irrelevant and scried to see that a win condition is on top of my library (so I did not scry for the rest of the turn). In order to win I needed to be able to block, survive and still have relevant creatures in play. After doing the math I realized that it is not possible possible. At this point players next to me started saying things like that I should have used more mana feeding the Ooze because I would have survived or that I should have used the Seer's ability to look for something etc (probably did not notice that I actually knew what is on top of my library). They were 'convinced' that if I would make a better play I could survive or win. If I would have used the Ooze ability I would actually survive with 1 life but I would lose everything on the board. With not using the Ooze I would still be left with 2 more creatures. Unfortunately not those creatures I needed for the combo and blocking Treetop Village with 0/1 creature does not really work well when the difference of one life matters (I needed to block with a combo piece). I lost the game after 40 minutes but should have lost like 10 minutes after the game started. The whole time I had a plan how to win and I almost got there. I needed one more turn to win on the spot but (un)fortunately for me the game ended in my opponent drawing the card he needed to quicken the game (Pulse). All the comments that I heard during the game were actually completely wrong considering my plan. Did any of them or even my opponent know what was going on in my case? I was always one card away from vitory but there was a window for it the turn I died and the turn before it (in which I drew blindly something completely irrelevant - Razorverge Thicket, when I scried last time I put a land on the bottom of my library). And for that the players just shake their heads because what I did was no RIGHT.

This actually reminds me why I picked up Birthing Pod. There is one player that always insults me during the game. He played Pod during those tournaments and I played Zoo. I won most of the games and yes I was lucky in some games but I knew this could possibly happen and I also knew that I'm Chord of Calling away from death. But no matter what I'm called names I wouldn't say myself and my draw considered godly (thus also meaning that I don't need to use my brain to play the game). Oh yeah, I was saving removal for the combo pieces as the deck could kill me out of nowhere. That is the reason why I had 'everything' when the time came and was called names once again. I managed to mess up the very first game a lot but not because I didn't know how Birthing Pod deck works but because my deck was working in a completely different way than it used to work while it was legal at Extended/Legacy. I was taken aback by finding this out and found it hard to believe. That is the reason why I managed to mess up completely a game I should have clearly won. By messing up I prolonged the game and could easily lose. But that doesn't mean I'm stupid and that I should be scolded for it and then being told that I did not deserve to win the game. I did not deserve it in my opinion but I tried to survive and still win as there was still chance that I would actually win and I won. The reason why I continued was also that I knew that I play against someone who does not play that well and also I was fed up with his talk. (If I would have played against a reasonable player I would most probably scoop after my fiasco play.) This kind of behaviour during the game (not only during the game) should not be tolerated. But for some reason it is very common here and happens all the time and even if I ask a TO to do something about it he usually does nothing. Me saying something to the players does not work either. Anyway after several games against this player I decided to play Pod myself because I knew that I can pilot it and that I can win games with it fairly easily. Not to mention that it is better deck than Zoo. I hoped we would be paired against each other once again and 2-3 games should show that I actually know what I'm doing. Anyway going 4:0 at a tournament doesn't really matter either. It does not prove anything. Anything can happen by accident, that's what some people think and they are right to some extent. Luck helps but there are games I had to win the hard way. Majority of them actually. Luck only won't help (see above). And it is not because my deck (or whoever build the deck) is better, but because my skill is better or because I have more experience than my opponent. (not going to discuss the things like bad match up etc. it's just to show the point.)

During my lifetime I went through a lot while playing Magic at tournaments. From my opponent calling a judge to count the number of my cards or checking my decklist because I'm a little silly girl to someone yelling at me that I girls should go home and never play a game of Magic because girls don't have the brains for that (hopefully this guy was actually kicked out of the LGS). Many players underestimated me or said that it was just pure luck that I've won. I was capable of overcoming this and sometimes have some fun even. But I'm already fed up with this. Guys I play Magic since the Dark. I'm not the best player out there but I use my brain when I play. And no matter what if I do a silly play I just do it and it is ok. Everyone does that. We are humans. We should be allowed to learn from our mistakes not mocked because of them. By realizing our mistakes we learn. By taunting someone you don't help him. I'm aware that most of you just don't like the idea of helping someone but well you should at least show some respect. Someone starts to play and you taunt himn for every play you don't consider right? If you would have known in how many cases you are the one actually wrong would you stop? I apologize for addressing everyone, it's meant to target only those who do it.

I hate spectators and it makes me nervous. It makes me lose a game that should end in my favor. I could deal with people watching me and being silent. But when someone starts to tell someone else how one of the players is silly because he didn't do this or that. Or that there was a missed trigger (that was optional) or even says something about a card one of the players have in their hands and then it becomes obvious to the other player I just find it outrageous. One thing is to look at the game and be silent which is fine (even though I can't take that either) and the other one is literally ruining one's game. If the comments are completely off it is even worse. I was watching a game of Jund vs Junk Reanimator. The Junk player in order to win just needed to flashback Unburial Rites. The Jund player was in no situation to win. The spectators were commenting the game and commenting each card drawn, how this or that would be good and they expected the Jund player to win etc. But the Jund played couldn't do anything just hope for a miracle. The Junk player was utterly lost. Later he drew Angel of Serenity that won him the game but even at that time when looking in his yard he did not realize that Rites were there all the time waiting. I just couldn't listen to those comments. The game was fine and anyone can forget about his Cabal Therapy, Unburial Rites or whatever. it happens. But when there are 2 people out of 10 that know what's actually going on in the game they watch it's not good. The worst is that these people don't find out later that they were wrong all the time and all that mocking and even scolding was misplaced. Many times these people should just facepalm themselves.

That's about it...I just can't type anymore. I just can't stand it. I'm glad that there is something like Tournament Rules but sometimes I would be glad if people would behave accordingly. And I don't speak about cheating. I've given up on this already, if someone cheats I let him because I had too much of cheating accidents in the past and some were simply not resolve because the judge did not want to and appealing didn't work either (rather not talk about that or I'll be even more angry). But this should NOT BE HAPPENING. So I hope at least some new Judges and TOs together with the 'old' ones will make things right.

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