Wednesday 20 November 2013

Intrinsic benefits of fast proactive decks

Hey Guys,

Such a relief to start typing with an informal greeting. I'm applying for jobs at the moment; choosing appropriate words and not using bad grammar who is bad all of this time.

(By the way, if you're an employer looking for a graduate mechanical engineer, message me :P)

Had a small magic revelation the other day, it was a pretty obvious one but I'd never really thought about it; Basically, if I'm choosing which deck to play for a tournament and all my options are similar in strength, I will play the deck which will have the shortest games.
To elaborate:

(I like lists)

1. You expend less energy:
If your games are shorter, you're in that state of intense concentration for less time. Everyone is tired in round 8 of a Grand Prix. If your games were shorter throughout the day, you'll have more energy to play well.

2. Shorter games = more time to get food = less time spent hungry.

3. Towards the end of the tournament there may only be a handful of players in your bracket. If your games are shorter, you'll have a higher chance of being able to go scout their decks. Also, they'll have less chance of being able to scout yours.

4. Shorter games = less chance the round will go to a draw. This is huge, draws can be effectively loses and it stings so much when you know you were going to win that last game.

5. "no wrong questions, only wrong answers". There are rogue deck builders out there. It's very rare that there's a reactionary deck with answers to all the threats in the format. If your deck is proactive, you can score free wins against those rogue decks which need time to draw their combo/interaction.

6. More time to socialise with friends.

Those are the main points I came up with. I must throw a disclaimer in here though; If fast decks aren't your style then don't play fast decks. I find I'm exhausted after doing anything I didn't want to do. The extra energy spent going against your urges will outweigh the benefits of having fast rounds.

I can use this blog as a way of procrastinating from applying for jobs! I have heaps of time to burn so expect more bloggyboo in the near future. Just a short entry this time to build some momentum.

Chars,

Luke