Blowfish Invitational Report

By Nic Chrysochou:

Shuffle deck
Dice roll
Play/draw first
Phases
Steps
Early game
Mid game
Late game
End game

If you remove the finer details this is basically what the card game Magic the Gathering™ is all about.
Looks simple and should be but the process to get to the "end game" is much more complicated.
It is inevitable that if you lose (or win) at any anything your thoughts become intoxicated with the reasons for failure/success and the purpose of you competing in the first place.

Most people don’t take failure very easily and it takes real courage to reflect on what transpired and attempt to determine what to improve on.

When we are competing in some event it is human nature that the result should be reflective of the effort put in (what you put in is what you get out), this enables us to justify the reason for making the effort in the first place.

If one goes to the gym say at least four times a week for the next three months they would be expecting some amount of muscle growth or fat loss because they have put the time in and made an effort. After all we need visual confirmation that our efforts have not been in vain in order to motivate us to continue trying because we are yielding results.

This is a flaw that we all are susceptible to.

If we put our headphones on and zone-out while running on the treadmill we cannot really expect to see the same results as everyone else. When we do something, we should be motivated and preparing our minds for the influx of new information. In other words the quality of preparation/effort is much more important than the quantity.

Magic the Gathering™ is not a physical game (luckily for most players) but involves the same quality of concentration as any other activity. In order to improve and learn we actually need to reflect thoroughly on our experiences. Unfortunately/fortunately there is an unquantifiable force known as variance or luck that can interfere with our ambitions. If it was possible to learn how to minimise the negative effects of variance then we could all become better players.

I read an interview with Adam Katz earlier this year where he talked about how after matches he would always think about the plays he made and how the games went.

An Overview of the Standard Metagame

By Sanjay Roopnah:

I figured I'd write something for the SA magic community to contribute. This article is aimed primarily at the newbies to assist them in identifying their preferred archetype and choosing the deck that most suits them. I will give a very simplistic overview of each archetype and list the decks available in each, but I will not be posting deck lists for couple of reasons:

1. I believe that a Magic player needs to do some research by themselves.
2. Deck lists are supposed to be dynamic, and need to be tweaked on a weekly basis.
3. By the time they print this article, there will be some more deck lists that will be available.

The new player should therefore decide which archetype he/she most likes and pick a deck and play. If he/she wants some help with a deck list, I will gladly assist.

 With the release of Return to Ravnica, Standard has become very interesting again. The reprinting of the Ravnica Shocklands was the best thing that Wizards of the Coast could have done. The most important thing in Magic is having access to a stable mana base because it allows you to consistently cast all the spells in the deck. Moreover, there are some very interesting cards that were printed. I will put the decks in the following categories (archetypes) and the list of decks is not exhaustive by any means:

1. Aggro
2. Pure Control
3. Aggro-Control
4. Midrange / Fringe

Return to Ravnica Draft with Adam Katz: Draft 8 - Izzet

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Return to Ravnica Draft with Adam Katz: Draft 7 - Golgari

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

The 2012 Blowfish Invitational: Enrico Agostino Guarneri

Preparation:

My preparation for the Invitational really started before I left for Seattle to attend the Pro Tour, since Return to Ravnica Draft would form part of both events.

After my dismal performance on the Friday at the Pro Tour I wasn't really in the mood for Magic for the rest of the weekend.  On the Saturday I decided to take a downtown tour of Seattle on foot which resulted in me getting lost and having to ask some police officers for help getting back to my hotel.

On the Sunday morning I spoke to my fiancée Nicole (who had not come with) telephonically and she pointed out that if I was serious about doing well at the Invitational I should do some drafting at the Pro Tour side-events.  I took a walk to the neighbouring hotel (where registration for the Pro Tour had taken place on Thursday night) and found a couple of players who told me that free unsanctioned Drafts were being held at the Pro Tour.

I lost count of how many Drafts I did that Sunday.

On my return to South Africa, I felt quite confident about RTR Draft but was rather worried about what I would play in Standard.  I played in three tournaments the weekend before the Invitational.  I played BR Zombies at the FNM at THUG and AI Fest on the Saturday morning and concluded that the Thragtusk-deck match-ups were just too tough.  I tried BG Zombies on the Sunday Game-day at THUG and found it even worse.

By Sunday night the deck I liked most was WUR Midrange.  However with less than a week before the Invitational I felt that there would be too little time to become comfortable with the deck and the various match-ups.  I felt my only chance to do well would be to play Aggro.

It seemed like Selesnya Aggro was the best Aggro deck.  However I also knew that most of the top players would be prepared for it and decided to give Azorius Aggro a try at Warfare on Tuesday night.  I finished 4^th after losing a very close match against WUR Midrange.  I felt comfortable with the deck.  It was easy to play and had a lot of raw power.

Later that night I found a list by Tomoharu Saito.  For the next three days I tested the list against Jarcque, Damian, Robert and Nicole.  From the testing I knew that my Control match-ups would be tough but I would have a reasonable match-up against Midrange (especially Jund) and Frites (especially post boarding).  I knew that my Aggro match-ups would be close but I suspected that most of the top players would not be playing Aggro and I could therefore avoid these match-ups in the later rounds.

Stepping up from Regular to Competitive: Part 1

By Mark Young.

Hello to everyone again.

As promised in my previous article, I am now going to focus on the progression from regular
events to competitive ones.

This may take a few articles to cover all the information, but rather that, than flood you with
it all at once.

As I mentioned previously, the rules for Magic stay the same, regardless of the event you
are playing, only the Rules Enforcement Level (REL) changes. So when you step up to a
Competitive (Comp) event from your Regular (Reg) ones, you can expect a few changes as to
what happens.

First and foremost, there should always be a judge present at a Comp level event.
Judges cannot play in a Comp event, nor can players judge. In the same light the Tournament
Organiser (TO) cannot participate in the event either.
The one thing that I want to focus on this week, is deck lists as you will be required to submit
one for every Comp level event that you play, upon registering.

So, what is a deck list?
A deck list is a piece of paper, on which you will have written down all the cards in your
deck and sideboard that you are going to use for the event.
Normally, Comp events have substantial prizes for doing well or winning, and the elevation
of the REL is in an attempt to minimize cheating.

Return to Ravnica Draft with Savvas Themistocleous: Draft 1

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick: