Dealing with Bad Plays at a Big Tournament
General forum
Posted on Sept. 15, 2014, 7:04 p.m. by Skulldrey
Over the weekend, I went to my first big tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a SCG Invitational Qualifier and I piloted Affinity in the Modern format. My friend and I got there 5 minutes before registration closed and I barely got my deck list turned in on time. My friend got a game loss for being late, as he was tasked with parking the car. Sorry, bro.
At any rate, I sat down across from my opponent still reeling from the three and a half hour drive and rushed sign-up process. We shook hands, shuffled up and started playing. I beat him once, he beat me and I was confident that I could win against R/G Tron on the play so long as I didn't get repeatedly pyroclasmed.
Then, I kept a hand with no mana in it. I saw two ornithopters, two springleaf drums, 1 cranial plating, an arcbound ravager and a signal pest.
It would be bad enough if I kept the hand because I gambled and lost on drawing mana. But I kept it because I thought I could create mana with Ornithopter and Springleaf Drum, not putting together the fact that I needed one mana to play springleaf drum.
I was now 0-1 and tilted big time.
My friend gave me some encouragement, and I won my next five games, all 2-0. Played against a tooth and nail combo deck, jund, two merfolk decks and 1 birthing pod deck that never quite got going fast enough to deal with my robots.
Man. If I hadn't made that bad play I might be 6-0 right now. At any rate, I was one win away from top eight-ing my FIRST tournament ever. I went into my seventh match confident but wary.
I sat across from my opponent, shook his hand and won the die roll. Affinity on the play, alright, this is good.
I kill him with cranial plating and inkmoth nexus in only three turns. However, all I had seen from him so far is a gemstone mine and two lotus blooms.
This is where I made another mistake. I sideboarded in Pithing Needle to combat Lotus Bloom.
Yep. A mana ability.
I kept a very slow hand in game two, and drew Pithing Needle the turn before he went off. I thought my Top 8 position was assured, as I played the Pithing Needle, naming his suspended Lotus Bloom. "Whatever combo he is going for, it's impossible for the next turn, at least. But that's all I will need to finish him."
After realizing my mistake, I was then Ad Nausemed to death the following turn, enabled by the extra Lotus Bloom mana that I fought so desperately to stop.
Game three, I sideboarded out the Needles and changed my deck to be a bit faster, but his hand was nutty. Pentad Prism accelerated him one turn faster than I could kill him, and I was forced to extend my hand.
I was still ranked 14 out of 139 players, though. If I won my last match, I could still make Top 8. The chance was extremely slim, though, so I decided to draw with my final opponent, thinking that his ranking of 17 would assure us both a place in the top 16. It didn't - it knocked us to 17 and 18, respectively.
The decision to draw turned out well for me in the end, as I got beaten 0-2 against infect when I played against him for fun. However, this doesn't change the fact that had I not made dumb players earlier in the day, I'd have avoided the infect player and perhaps made it top the top 8.
I'd like to hear your thoughts. Is 5-2-1 a good record? Are these mistakes that make me a terrible player? How do I not make these mistakes again?
theinfernumflame says... #3
5-2-1 is a good record, especially for your first big tournament. They key is this --- you know what you did wrong, you know why it was wrong. Remember that, and don't make these mistakes again. Use it as a learning process, because that's what will make you a good player. You know, for instance, of the logical hole that allowed you to keep the no-lander, so you know to avoid doing it again.
September 15, 2014 7:12 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #4
Yes that's a good record for your first IQ, be proud. Use the mistakes as motivation to tighten your game up. A large part of being a good MtG player is limiting your mistakes and knowing how to take advantage of your opponent's mistakes. Repetitions, repetitions, repetitions... Only way to get better. Any tournament you don't win was just for practice for the next one ;)
Now why did you draw last round? If you had no shot of T8 and were just angling for T16 prize I could maybe see it. You have to do the math and when in doubt play the games. I've seen people draw into 9th place before...
September 15, 2014 7:25 p.m.
quesobueno123 says... #5
Great job! My friend just went to his first large tournament, and went 1-5 then dropped. So you did better than him.
September 15, 2014 7:55 p.m.
Reiterating what everyone else said, recognizing your mistakes is the single most importan thing to take away from a big tournament, no matter your record. But 5-2-1 is frankly awesome, though I honestly would have played out the last game. Even if you lost on paper, there is no guarantee the games would have been the same if it wasn't casual. And you got knocked out of any prizes anyways, so just remember that for next time.
September 15, 2014 7:57 p.m.
blackmarker90 says... #7
Good job and keep up the good work. My only problem was that you drew the last round. There are many time where an x-2 will sneak into a top 8 spot, and playing would have knocked only one of you out of prizes instead of both. It's a feel bad situation either way, but if you win at least you know you fought for and earned every last prize pack that you received.
September 15, 2014 8:29 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #8
I'm impressed with your performance, I really am. Don't excuse yourself from doing dumb things just because of things outside of the game next time. When you're playing, all you should be doing is playing.
The only thing I want to know is why the hell you were playing Pithing Needle in your Affinity sideboard. I don't think there are enough things that you really want to stop that wouldn't be stopped by a more versatile card. Both the Twin combo creatures die to removal spells, Pod dies to your Ancient Grudge s if you have them, and the mirror loses to Ancient Grudge as well. What's the reasoning behind that card?
Once again, I am amazed that you were able to pilot such an incredibly difficult deck to such a strong finish in your first tournament. This gives me hope for my first tournament coming in October, and I'll be playing Scapeshift . :)
September 15, 2014 10:20 p.m.
slovakattack says... #9
To be fair, you sound like a great player. I'm sure I'd have a lot to learn from you =)
(coming from a nub)
September 15, 2014 10:57 p.m.
"I was still ranked 14 out of 139 players, though. If I won my last match, I could still make Top 8. The chance was extremely slim, though, so I decided to draw with my final opponent, thinking that his ranking of 17 would assure us both a place in the top 16. It didn't - it knocked us to 17 and 18, respectively."
If you want to continue to play Magic competitively learning tiebreaker math is critically important, almost as important as playing well consistently. Crunch those number to see who can catch you. Know when to ID and the difference between a big/small X round events. And take a look at the prize structure. For instance, it was likely if you both looked at it that the best outcome was to concede and split, not draw.
A decent crash course on tie breaker math - Mathemagics: Breaking Ties
September 16, 2014 12:07 a.m.
I appreciate the positive feedback and advice, everyone. I wasn't expecting such a response!
I can't in any way respond to everyone, but there are a couple of questions, so I'll address those:
Why Pithing Needle? Well, I don't really have a ton of really effective sideboard stuff, to be honest. It seemed like something that could get me out of a jam, and it's an artifact. So I went with it. I really rode on the back of my Mainboard and the 4x Whipflare in my sideboard. Whipflare destroyed Merfolk.
To those of you asking why I split, the guy I was paired up against in the finals said he was a judge and that he was positive neither of us could make Top 8 with a win. True, if we had played and I had taken the match more seriously, I might have won. But he was an extremely nice guy and I don't think he was trying to sneak his way into the Top 16 on my back. He even apologized when we were in line to pick up our rank 17-32 $50 prize. (Though, he did make the somewhat snobbish comment of "Not to be a dick, but when we played for fun, you DID lose.) Whether it was meant to show his dismay at not playing the match out or if he just didn't notice his abrasiveness, the point is moot.
It appears that everyone is confirming the fact that I should just look at this as a learning experience. I don't feel like anyone made any crazy plays to beat me or anything, rather, I beat myself. Next time, I'll make sure to play a bit slower, as my matches never lasted more than fifteen minutes - except against the Jund player, who stayed in the tank for long periods of time trying to figure out how to stop my assault.
September 16, 2014 1:12 a.m.
That's a great record for your first tourney! Would you mind posting your deck? I'm going to my first tournament soon and it would be neat to see your deck =D
bigv54 says... #2
The fact that you realize what you did wrong says it all. Too many times i see players make mistakes and try to excuse it instead of realizing it was a dumb move. You'll be fine bro, and congrats on the very good finish!
September 15, 2014 7:11 p.m.