[Community Discussion]: Ever been in a slump?
General forum
Posted on May 13, 2014, 8:54 p.m. by Epochalyptik
Let's face it. As great as Magic is, most people eventually get tired of it. For some, this leads to a final separation from the game. For others, it means a short break is in order.
Have you ever been in a slump? How do you deal with it? Is there a way to revitalize interest in the game, or do you just let the break run its course before you try to return?
I invested too much time and money for me to even think the thought of stopping, even if i wanted to :P.. I think someone with a psychiatry degree could staple me with a dozen diagnoses because of magic. Cardboard crack it is :)
May 13, 2014 9:05 p.m.
KnightsBattlecry001 says... #4
When Innistrad came in, the local meta changed a lot. Delver was dominant. The deck I ran during Scars block wasn't doing it anymore. I wasn't placing for prize support anymore. I hated delver since it was the big thing at the time, and everyone and their brother was running it. It got boring facing the same thing every round. I refused to run Delver, because I was against netdecking. I stopped going to fnm for a few months until things started to change. I still bought packs and whatnot trying to come up with something that worked, and I still went to prereleases and drafts, but not fnm.
May 13, 2014 9:36 p.m.
When my playgroup members each quit, I also eventually quit because the game had always been multiplayer with that particular group for me.
Then, when another playgroup emerged amongst my brother's friends, I got back into the game.
Now I am hoping to plug into an LGS so that there is less of a dependency on any one particular group of players.
May 13, 2014 9:38 p.m.
I played with friends while I was in high school...in 1996-1997. I played a little after that as well. I had my whole collection stolen from me in 1998, and I stopped playing for a decade. I started back when my wife took an interest, and then stopped again. I then started again about a year ago, and I think it might really stick this time. I have always enjoyed the game, and I have a local gaming store that supports the game now, so that helps as well.
That is my sorta story.
May 13, 2014 10:04 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #7
My slumps tend to be format related. That being said, I'm in a slump currently.
Standard is pretty dead for me. I still have the CARDS for almost any standard deck I want to build but the format is pretty dead as a whole. When I get like this I end up making decks like God Damnit and Oops, I comboed again. which are just fun decks where I play to enjoy the company of others. (Essentially I'm a free win and I'm happy about that.)
When I get bored of a format I start to make creative projects in other formats. Since I'm a miser at heart they tend to be more budget formats. Modern and EDH are my go to formats.
May 13, 2014 10:26 p.m.
I only feel like quitting when I spend too much and feel guilty. The trick is to make many small purchases instead of one big one.
May 13, 2014 10:26 p.m.
Trandonstein says... #10
I'm going to take a break, by break I mean play strictly casual modern games with close friends, when Return to Ravnica rotates out. This is assuming the next set for standard involves Asian mythology, I ain't about that life.
May 13, 2014 10:58 p.m.
I stopped playing around last November and didn't really get back into weekly tournaments until the middle of March. You can blame MBD for that, though.
Whenever Standard's awful, I usually shift my attention to EDH.
May 13, 2014 10:59 p.m.
I've always just played with small groups at school, and now that I've graduated from college, I really don't have anyone to play with unless I go significantly out of my way. I still follow all the set releases but I haven't bothered to buy any cards since graduating since I know I'm not going to use them.
May 13, 2014 11:10 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #13
As an aggro modern player in a meta full of combo decks...well i'm in a huge slump. Heck I don't even have a full deck anymore but I find it fun to just peruse around and look at what others are doing and watching others play for now until I figure out what deck I feel good playing
May 13, 2014 11:22 p.m.
Dalektable says... #14
I'm with Ohthenoises In the fact that I get bored and get into a "slump" in a format. Shockingly, I as well have been not loving standard as of late. Unfortunately, standard is my local LGS's FNM, and they only have modern tournaments once a month. None the less I have been brewing up modern decks like crazy and having a blast.
Sidenote, I also do the thing where I build ridiculous standard decks that are just fun to play and not necessarily the best decks. Example, CHROMANTISTAR OF DOOM!.
May 13, 2014 11:55 p.m.
Right around gatecrash I got sick of standard, and right about that time my LGS started a modern night on thursdays, which I immediately got into. I've not bothered with standard ever since. But I don't think ever been in a true slump. I'm not opposed to standard, I just don't like prices or constantly updating it. I may get back into it someday.
May 14, 2014 12:03 a.m.
I have never been in a slump. Ever.
I really don't understand how people end up disliking Standard. What do you expect from the second smallest available constructed format? Once the metagame is established, all you have to do build something you love that beats the meta.
The fact that I dabble in Modern and EDH as well as always enjoying Standard (yes, even this one) pretty much is a fail-safe that I won't be in a slump anytime soon. I think that is one of the best ways to prevent a slump: to diversify your format experience in order to achieve the greatest level of variety in your MTG experience.
I really want to hear more from people who have gotten into slumps that are not format-related. I think it would be more interesting to hear from people who lost interest in the game in general to hear what criticisms there are of MTG, because the perspective of someone who is or was outside of the game can help us find out how to improve the game as a whole.
May 14, 2014 12:29 a.m.
I think the biggest thing to remember about MTG is that it is a game at the heart of it. Sure, there are the professional or semi-proffestional players but what is the most important is that you find out the reason that you play.
For example, I started playing in High School in about grade 9 (which was 2004) and stopped playing in about grade 11. We still played from time to time but we had lost interest a bit. Then came uni and out of the blue one day I had found out a mate of mine played and we got back into it. This time though it wasn't schoolyard magic, it was competitive casual decks. I still remember the day he came into uni and threw me a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and said "I feel like we should be playing a certain level of deck, as such, here....". But then as we went furth into uni the focus moved onto graduating and became less about cards. We still had games from time to time but it was usually talking more about assignments or up and coming work.
Graduation came around and about the same time I fell out of a relationship in a really bad way. I had moved out of home as was hanging out with my sister when we walked past a local coffee shop one night and saw people playing magic. I still had all of my cards so after a few weeks of walking by I finally stopped in a played some games. Since then, not only the way I play magic but the caliber of the decks i play has drasically changed. I now play competitive EDH as my main format, have a few 60 card decks still as I just love it too much to give up.
I guess the point I am trying to make with all of this that I have found the best thing is not to force how you feel but just go with what your'e feeling atthe time. If you're getting sick of a format, try something new. Play competetive but are getting sick fo the knot that's formed in your gut? build a casual deck. And there is nothing wrong with taking a break from the game. Remember, life comes in waves and if the wave you're one doesn't currently contain magic, so be it.
But the important thing is to remember why you play and focus on that. For me being an engineer, I love the interactions between cards, it really fascinates me. But the most important thing is who I'm play cards with. I would rather lose in a fun game than win sitting down with a bunch of jerks (although it has its merits :P).
May 14, 2014 1:02 a.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #18
@Dalektable: My lgs is the same, modern once a month. specifically the second Friday of the month. I play standard, but since I have gotten more into modern and EDH, Standard just seems so boring. modern and EDH games are always fun and interesting. I play Grixis Control in Standard right now, and I have seen a considerable amount of success with it considering the fact that it isn't a tier one deck. still, though, who wants to play against the same things every game. Esper and U/W, Mono Black, The occasional Mono blue and Monsters. It is so boring. I am probably just going to sell off my standard cards and buy up some RTR staples before they rotate.
May 14, 2014 1:07 a.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #19
I would say I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment, as far as constructed play goes (although before JOU, I had little incentive to play anything aside from casual EDH. Limited is a better place now, so I draft). Standard is boring; my standard deck is a bunch of stuff I already had, and I just use it for games between rounds for fun. I can't justify springing the money for a modern deck, so I slowly work on trading my cards into better cards, and brew EDH decks.
I had to seriously examine what I was doing when Theros happened. Rather than dropping money on standard cards that I don't want, I decided I needed to break even or profit in terms of prizes against initial investment. So, I draft. The occasional money rare might pay for next week's draft, or I have to make do with prize packs. This stops me from dropping too much money into a game that I would love to get into competitively, but don't have the time available to do so. I can spend a boatload on a deck that would be great, but only be able to play maybe once or twice a month on average. Or, I can draft as it becomes available, and trade cards for my slew of EDH decks. I choose the latter. At least, until a healthy standard comes along...
May 14, 2014 2:29 a.m.
mowservision says... #20
My friends and I have been slowly getting more and more bored with our games, as they usually end with someone mercing the entire table quickly, or a stale 30-turn game. We only play EDH now, having been bored with casual 60's that are too consistent and quick. I've been thinking about getting into competitive EDH with my Derevi deck, but my friends are only casual players. I feel like I'm the only one investing into MtG while the others are seeing it as a way to waste time and have a bit of messing around. Perhaps it's just that we only play with each other, with no change of scenery or the decks we play against. On occasion we will switch things up and play variations of two-headed giant games with either teams of 2v2, 3v3, or 2v2v2. Planechase usually takes too long and is rarely enjoyed. I certainly don't feel the same excitement I did when I first started playing Magic, but at the same time I know there's so much more for me to learn. I feel like going against different people with different playstyles and decks is important for any Magic player. Maybe that's why competitive games can still be fun. I've been in a slump for the past few weeks and I don't know if the same can be said for my friends, but we play at a house and not a card shop, so new opponents can't be a bad thing.
Another thing that comes to mind is drafting. With the new Conspiracy set on the horizon, having a draft with friends and strangers at a card shop sounds like a great way to revitalize the old passion of what Magic is really about.
I feel like taking a break from Magic every once in a while is important. Coming back to the game after a small break is refreshing, when new ideas and cards are presented.
May 14, 2014 7:01 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #21
I haven't been to a FNM for ages, but not because I didn't want to. My LGS has reduced their standard fnm's to once a month! And I always seem to be busy on that particular evening.
May 14, 2014 7:31 a.m.
SwiftDeath says... #22
I started playing MTG in Odyssey and Played for 1 and a half Months. I Left the magic scene after my best deck and only playable one was stolen. It was $50 when I built it and it had a lot of cards that were sleeper cards that made the overall deck over $400 when it was stolen, so it was to expensive to replace. That was in Middle School for me. After a very long hietus I decided to jump back in with the help of my friend. He wanted me to go to drafts with him and did so returning at the end of WorldWake. I quickly discovered that drafting wasn't my thing and I did not enjoy it either. I began making concept decks that got stomped on because the people I played with at my College played Tourney Legacy decks so it was really frustrating. I stuck with it because all my friends would still play so I would play against their bad decks. thanks to those Legacy decks I quickly had to up my game. I found cheap ways to vastly improve my decks and even did well in tourneys with Junk Reanimator when it was pre-rotation. I have gotten into slumps because I can't afford to go to tourneys on a regular basis and I have played against everyone in my playgroup so many times so I know everyone's decks (I also built most of them). It is still a lot of fun and I still play regularly but now I have to play other games to distract me so I really only play 1-3 times a week depending on what days Im chilling with friends. I essentially make myself magic deprived in order to crave playing it so I don't over play it to the point where it becomes boring.
Some of the decks I would play against that were Legacy tourney and even unformat were ANT, Elves, Goblins, Imperial Painter, Charbelcher, Death & Taxes, Smoke Stack, Land Tax, Enchantress, Merfolk and Flash Hulk.
May 14, 2014 10:05 a.m.
MindAblaze says... #23
I have found the increasing financial barrier to entry a major slump producer for me. As the Checklands rotated I found that keeping up with a Standard mana base to be more and more cost-heavy. That being said my current location doesn't have a lgs, and the only way I can get the cards I need are through ripping boosters and trading, or ordering online...which can definitely get out of hand.
I've found as my disenchantment with Standard has grown, I've resorted to building new decks with my old cards or rebuilding old decks. Unfortunately, that has become somewhat tired so I often find myself just playing the same old decks tweaking them here and there as our meta requires. I still quite enjoy brewing and I do it regularly, but again, nothing Standard based since I just don't possess the card pool to legitimately build the decks.
I've been playing consistently since 2008 and these last two years have been the most strenuous for my love of the game. I changed communities, had to find a new playgroup and totally change my approach to the game. I went from an increasingly competitive FNM nature, building to beat my buddy who just finished 15th at a PTQ in Edmonton, to building casual multiplayer decks so I don't get hated out first...it's been a lot to adjust to and when you combine that with a general disinterest in the current block (aside from some of the obvious staples) it leads to fewer new builds.
May 14, 2014 11:02 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #24
My interest and involvement in constructed formats (Standard, Modern, Legacy) regularly goes up and down as time passes. If I have a cool original deck idea or see an existing deck that looks exciting in a special way, then I'll play constructed whenever I get the chance. If not, then I don't. These past few years have been the most prolific for me in terms of making decks for Standard and Modern and going around to play in events other than FNM, simply because I've had a lot of interesting ideas of my own (not always successful, but still fun) and there have been a few exciting existing (but still rogue) decks to fill in the spaces. Still, if I get bored of my most recent Standard deck and nothing else comes along to pique my interest then I'll just stick to drafts, prereleases/launches, and other limited format events. There have been a couple times when a particularly discouraging experience left me like "why do I even bother?", but those feelings never last long.
The only times I've ever been in a slump with my casual play are when circumstances left me with no other choice. It usually happened when I had just moved to a new town and didn't have anyone I knew around to play with. However, it wouldn't be too long before I'd be able to either find a local card shop or meet new people through mutual friends and get something regular going. Right now the core group of guys I play casually with are often too busy with kids, jobs, etc. to get together more than once a month or so, but we make time when we can. Duels of the Planeswalkers helps, too.
May 14, 2014 11:43 a.m.
First, when I hear the 'slump' I think of a losing streak. What I think I am in when I'm in a similar place as O.P.'s description is a rut. I'll share what I do with both.
First when I'm in a slump, I really try to think positive and go back to the basics and only worry about the current turn. Not worry about playing a turn or two ahead and work my through it, till I start feeling it again and winning more than losing.
When I'm in a rut, I do change pace and do other things. My LGS has a lot of games and people willing to play them. The owner is a supporter of D&D (they have sanctioned adventures and so on) and table top games. Which he has a lot available to play. So we don't just have magic, though a lot of us only play magic. But I might stop for a bit and then go back to it with a fresher mind and perspective. But if it's the same decks and players, it does get boring and having the other stuff is nice. But luckily my EDH playgroup has a lot of deck innovators and players, so we constantly have different decks floating around instead of the same old-same old.
May 14, 2014 12:30 p.m.
I started playing MTG in Onslaught (2002) witht he [ass of some months, playing i can say now i was by then at some point of addiction to this game, to the point i didnt even noticed i was skipping my meals and playing evening-night-sunrise through also i noticed i really enjoy home brew decks than netdecks, i also found a fascination with RED color, i guess that by that time, everyone had a different color and tribal deck side, and mine were Goblins!, i kept playing until start of Ravnica (2005), then i moved and went hiatus...
i got a job then got married and got kids but i always kept follow up on magic at least checking the cards until Gatecrash arrived i saw the Gruul clan and the Bloodrush mechanic and i really loved it, to the point it made me start buying cards again, but no i dont have that much time to go to the LGS so i decided to stop playing MTG with paper cards and only play virtually (MTGO) untill now
May 14, 2014 1:57 p.m.
I started playing way back when MTG first came out. We always played at the pizza place by the house. I had a blast! I do miss the days when guys would play a FoW with dirty hands and no sleeves. You wipper snappers would have shit a brick.
Then when it gained popularity we all went to FNM's (drafts and such at the LGS) in like 2000 or 2003... something like that. I had a blast with that and drafting. However as most things do, our days of FNM came to an end when folks got heavy in to rare drafting and what you all call nerd smug. I remember what made me leave magic in 2003/4 and not come back till theros. STORY TIME:
I was at a FNM in Modesto Ca at Mavericks. As I was playing I noticed an older guy maybe about 30's or so playing a kid about 12 or so. As the older guy would play stuff he would rip into the kid about his misplays, card choices, etc. Any who the older guy won and stood up and said (I will never forget this): "IN YOUR FACE BITCH! YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME WITH MOMMY AND DADDY!" I was in shock that this was even happening so I told the guy that it's a GAME and that his opponent is only a kid, really?!? He then proceeded to try to tell me off. That didn't go well, I cursed him out talked to the store owner which did nothing then my friends and I (all 10 of us) left and never returned to that store or a LGS event again.
Seeing what the game had become kind of killed it for us all. We played casual at the pizza place for another couple of months till I left the state and joined the Navy. Some of the guys still have their collections but never play and some sold off their stuff. I gave all my stuff to my little bro who still has it.
Fast forward to today. I got back in right before Theros because my little bro was coming down to New Orleans to visit so I went on the list of Craig lol (craigslist) and bought a cheap collection. I decided to check out the LGS and to my disappointment nothing has really changed. People are condescending, have holier than thou attitudes, or are just all around dickish (For those of you that go to the LGS's in NOLA I know it's not everyone but enough for me to not be a part of it). It's quite sad. So I play in a casual group that feels the same about the current MTG environment as I do. If it wasn't for the casual group I would probably quit playing again.
So all in all I guess it was a slump kinda but not really. Hope you all enjoyed story time.
May 14, 2014 2:38 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #28
Economic barriers to entry can really become a stumbling block for those who would love to play more, especially in the competitive side of Magic. I get into "involuntary" slumps sometimes because I know that it's fiscally irresponsible for me to make more Magic purchases. That's just a reality of adult life, for some of us.
As Standard gets more and more pricy to play, especially when your goal is to be competitive at FNM, it grows easier to become disillusioned and decide to quit, or to retire to a more casual approach to the game.
Either way, it's not a great sin at all to evaluate your enjoyment of MTG and decide to quit...at least temporarily.
That being said, I've been playing since Dragon's Maze and I still like the game.
May 14, 2014 2:55 p.m.
I have been playing off and on since Ravnica City of Guilds.... Sometimes I "slumped" do to school, sometimes due to a big martial arts tourny or Rank testing I needed to prep for, or outta boredom.... I love the game... and could (sadly) see myself being 50- something still building decks and teaching my kids how to play the game. But who knows...
I don't play at FNM's currently as I am at work during the game nights.... but I have yet to be disappointed by building budget friendly decks.... using standard pieces.
My suggestion is to find something magic related to do whilst in a slump... that way you can keep up on the game so you can be on the lookout for that one thing that resparks your interest. For me that is just looking at older/ new cards on Gatherer. and recently, I slumped during RtR for a week or two... but I kept checking out Tappedout to see what others were building and I made bdget decks... so yea... that's my 2 cents.
May 14, 2014 3:40 p.m.
Stygiandreams says... #30
My LGS doesn't even hold Standard tournaments anymore except for FNM - and even then that's a maybe. What's taken its place? Drafting. Enough people who frequent my LGS love to draft. Drafting occurs every night of the week focused around MtG. It's great business for the shop but it's not something I'm that fond of participating in.
Now I play casual games with a few friends or go to pre-releases.
May 14, 2014 5:20 p.m.
Jace the Firebrand says... #31
I'm kindof in a slump at the moment. I love Commander/EDH, but the local meta I'm in has become so combo ridden and money-invested that my budget EDH decks just aren't doing it. I lose often, but get dirty looks when I win with a combo. So it really takes the fun out of the game. I'm waiting right now for summer to change the meta. I'm also going to be building 60-card casual decks, but haven't yet because I dislike standard at the moment and 4-of's cost a lot for certain cards I want.
May 14, 2014 5:38 p.m.
Dalektable says... #32
gwhetzler That really sucks, man. I've had no such experiences like that, on the contrary everyone I've played at an FNM has been incredibly friendly and helpful, and if not they just didn't speak much which is fine as well. The worst I ever saw was a newer player (in his twenties) being sexist to this girl he was playing who had just handily kicked his ass. (She happens to be one of the best players at our shop, she's kind of awesome) So that happened, but more to the point of my shop being great about 10 people ganged up on him, and the store owner told him he would disqualify him for unsportsmanlike conduct if he continued. So that was a thing.
May 14, 2014 5:39 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #33
Jace the Firebrand My suggestion to you is make something silly and fun. I recently made a maelstrom wanderer chaos EDH. It's pretty fun and invigorating.
May 14, 2014 5:40 p.m.
the5ervant says... #34
I understand that this a community revolving around MTG, but still I think occasional slumps are healthy. You start exploring other interests for a bit, become slightly more well-rounded, and maybe even be reminded (as others have said) of why you enjoyed MTG in the first place.
MTG can be very fun and engaging, but it doesn't demand our loyalty. We'd probably be better off if every so often we spent time seeing what else in this huge world interests us and helps us grow as people.
May 14, 2014 5:40 p.m.
Jimhawk If Standard has the second-lowest card count of any format, what has the lowest? Just wondering
May 14, 2014 6:08 p.m.
Dalektable says... #36
OpenFire Block Constructed, I'm assuming is what he is referencing.
May 14, 2014 6:14 p.m.
ColdHeartedSith says... #37
I am 35 and currently contemplating a way to combo everything I own into a cash deal of my whole collection at 30% of value but they gotta take it all. I'm ready dear rich guy buy my stuff, I got Champion mats, MTG art mats and deck boxes and sleeves coming out my eyes. I will include em. I'm going digital lol thought I was going to quit did ya, ha. I will keep 1 deck and build it a shrine for all its won me.
May 14, 2014 9:30 p.m.
I get in slumps every now and then, and there are a couple reasons for these "slumps."
For instance, the first time I took a break was right around when Theros was being released, I just couldn't find the time to research cards and build decks or even make it to FNMs, so I stopped going for a few months. Then, as soon as I got back in, I built my own super fun combo deck that has been winning a lot and magic became too fun to stop playing because of time constraints. Then, in March, my carpool buddy stopped going for some reason (no money? im not entirely sure), and then I couldn't bring myself to go recently because, lets face it, sometimes decks get boring once they've been mastered, like my combo deck. I want to build something new, something exciting, and something that will get me first place while still being fun to play. But cards are so expensive! And I don't want to trade away my playsets of Archangel of Thune s or Temple of Mystery s! So you could say I'm in a slump right now... I haven't played since the prerelease of Journey Into Nyx, and I didn't play for about a month before that. :(
May 14, 2014 9:49 p.m.
I've been in and out of the games so many times my head spins. I started playing just as 3rd came out back when I was in High School. Played for a few years until my friends all started getting tournament preppy. All they wanted to do was play in the bigger Cons and test for those. I'm a strictly casual player so I dropped. Then I started to try and collect just for the fun of it, but too many a$$hat store owners stopped that. A few years later I tried to use Magic to connect with my step-son. That failed because of various reasons.So I dropped again. Now I'm back, but I pretty much just build decks on here and self play because I really have no time to drive 20 miles to a store to play. Eventually I do plan on opening a shop where MTG will be a part of my store, but not a large part. I want a place where people can play casually and not be distracted by the tourny players. They have other stores they can go to.
May 14, 2014 10:48 p.m.
My shop does only one FNM Standard each month, the rest is occupied with drafting. And since I hate the draft rules my shop enforces, Im only there once a month. Unless something big, like a pre-release or launch is happening of course.
I also haven't paid much attention to magic past the last three weeks, but thats because I'm so busy with Dark Souls 2.
May 15, 2014 7:59 a.m.
Magic is currently my only form of paycheck; I love it too much to quit or get tired anyway.
May 15, 2014 8:59 a.m.
Stygian333 says... #42
I agree with a lot of the comments already in this thread. I had played Magic with High school friends and took a break when I went to college. In my senior year of college before graduation I got back into magic again which was the release of the Return to Ravnica block, which I remembered from my high school days. I've been playing consistently and even going to bigger events around Atlanta, but I've stopped playing since early March of this year. It started off with just being really busy which resulted in missing many FNM's. I gave up on going for a bit because I was frustrated with missing out on my opportunities to play magic and the few times I could make it I would just scrub out after doing really terribly. So I haven't played Magic for a while, but I changed my GR Monsters deck to Jund Monsters because I have all the cards on hand, and I'll try FNM this Friday, so here goes nothin.
May 15, 2014 12:54 p.m.
i drop competitive magic for a bit when i hit a slump, i trade all the standard staples i have accumulated into block staples or eternal staples then play edh or another game altogether IE. LoL/WoW/Hearthstone
May 15, 2014 1:04 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #44
My favorite thing to do is to brew a deck and then spend time lovingly tweaking it to be as good as it can be. I built a G/B Sliver deck before Theros dropped and then changed it slowly to be G/B midrange, and my results were not amazing. After going to a PTQ for the first time and getting wrecked left and right, as well as my colors not getting much love from Born of the Gods, I set magic aside for a few months and just focused on school and such. Now that Journey has hit, I've rebrewed up a dredge list and am loving it all over again.
May 15, 2014 2:31 p.m.
I feel like I am and always will be in a slump. I can't afford fetchlands, and modern is my favourite format. I'm not a fan of rotation, so standard isn't my thing. I haven't even been to a proper tourney. My girlfriend is the one who got me back into the game, I stopped around 10th edition up until a year or two ago. She was kicking my ass, so I decided to come on here to work on a dream-deck that I could eventually get revenge with. I eventually build something that I could win consistently with.
Now I just sit and look at the modern decks that are winning GPs, load up a playtester and play solo games with my dream-brews. Fun times.
May 15, 2014 3:15 p.m.
This is horribly well-timed, as I am in a big slump right now. While what I am about to throw out may be like several of the earlier comments, I still wanna pitch in my two cents. When I am in a slump, it is usually for these three reasons:
The prices. Building decks isn't cheap, keeping up with the new stuff and fluctuating demands can be tiring. New things I like are not cheap... and sadly, I hardly have the funds to keep up with this game as it is.
The lack of other players. This happens to me a lot. There are players in my area, but I don't have many people I can play with sometimes. I've been kicked out of one play group, and the other one comes and goes as people get into their own slumps as well.
Gamed out. Sometimes I just get tired of this game. Plain and simple. Sometimes building decks, playtesting, playing, and all that can get boring.
All that being said, I still go to my LGS's and try to met new people. I still keep up with news, spoilers, and trading trends. I'm hoping that when I go to Momo-Con, a nearby gaming convention, next weekend, I'll feel a little more lively for the game. At the very least, I'll get some trading done.
May 15, 2014 3:42 p.m.
I went on a several year hiatus from around the original ravnica and came back at the release of rtr. The big thing for me was that I stopped hanging out with my playgroup. I was listening to Mark Rosewater's podcast the other day and he said that the number 1 reason people quit magic is because they leave that social circle or the social circle stops playing.
May 15, 2014 7:29 p.m.
I started playing back in 2000 I guess, during Invasion-Cycle. I was playing mostly in school with my friends, we had not the best cards and every rare was super awesome. I tried to get into more competitve magic during the madness-time of Skullclamp . After it's banning in June 2004 and dismantling of my deck (B/G Deathcloud) I quit. I sold all my cards shortly after (huge mistake, I had playsets of all the Onslaught fetches and sold them for 5$ a piece). I tried to get back into it during Bitterblossom s reign, but I only got drawn into it for about 2 months.
My final relaunch was the duel-deck Sorin vs. Tibalt and release of DGM (roughly a year ago). I bought the duel-deck to get my girlfriend into Magic, she liked it quite a lot, however I've become completely addicted to it. I started playing constructed immediately and was first drawn into Standard. However with rotation coming I didn't want to invest too heavily in ISD/M13 cards. So my first real deck was B/G-Devotion with the release of THS.
Long story short: I got sick of it 10 years back. I don't think I will ever get sick of it again. However I transferred my focus from Standard to Modern where the format isn't even close to being solved and really interactive and interesting. Also my LGS offers Modern Tournaments each Saturday and Tuesday - most of the time at least 35 people are attending. It's a very competitive environment, so I've gathered quite some skill over the course of just 1 year.
May 16, 2014 4:26 a.m.
Jarrod_0067 says... #49
Slumps happen when the meta boils down to variations on the same 3 decks, each costing upwards of what I make in a week
May 16, 2014 4:29 a.m.
shortly after innistrad rotated out of standard was when i decided to stop doing FNM, mostly now i just play EDH and the rare occasional modern tournament...and of course i always try and do pre-release events
Servo_Token says... #2
I've only been playing for 3 years, and the game is still the best way to spend my time. I haven't necessarily gotten bored of the game, and I really don't intend to for the foreseeable future. However, recently (as of BNG pre-release), I have gotten extremely bored of standard. Its just so stagnant and awful. Looking back on it, Theros block was really bad. Journey was a slight boost to my morale, but it wasn't enough to make me interested in standard. At heart, I am a strict Johnny Spike. I like to win, but I refuse to pilot a netdeck. It just feels so inorganic to me. Theros block has basically forced me to play a handful of select archetypes, and i'm really tired of it.
To get out of this little logjam of unoriginality and sameness, I've taken a deep interest in the Modern format. Its so diverse, and the fact that any well-made deck can win any game is really something that gets me going. Sure, a lot of people happen to play Pod and Twin strategies right now, but even so, there's a ton of variance between those players playstyles and lists. There's just so many options.
If I ever get bored of the modern format, i'm sure that i'll find legacy or EDH to be my new pet, but I really don't see myself getting bored of modern. Unfortunately, the only format around my area is standard, so I have to put up with it, but just brewing and building modern decks is enough to satisfy my itch.
May 13, 2014 9:03 p.m.