The Goal of a Game
General forum
Posted on May 2, 2022, 6:41 p.m. by Niko9
So, I recently started playing with a new group and one thing I find interesting is that we're all sitting down to the same table with the same game, but everything else is very different sometimes. Not in a bad way, just in a, huh my other group didn't play this way, way. And that made me think, just as a quick question, but what do you all as players really want out of the game when you play it? Is it for the win, for the lols, for the story and flavor, or just for fun? I thought it would be maybe not a new topic to everyone, but one that's at least always interesting.
For me, I really put proof of concept above everything, I think. Does my idea actually work? Only one way to find that out. And I think that's why I find it useful to goldfish test my new decks against a few of the challenger decks that I picked up along the way. As they are tuned down versions of successful decks, if my brewed deck can keep up with them, that means the concept does work, because the challenger deck's concept works (heh, mostly!) And after that I just really like playing the deck I created, because it might have been a wonky idea, but a wonky idea that works.
But what about you fine people? Not necessarily what is your favorite part, but what do you want the most from a game of magic?
Nice one! I love Jinxed Choker It's one of those ones that the table thinks, pfft, that doesn't do much, and then later...oh my, I really should have tried to remove that. And I hadn't seen Razor Pendulum but that is so, so Poe : )
And great point on the "one more turn" games. It always feels great when everyone had a great game, no matter who wins.
May 2, 2022 7:37 p.m.
I can really relate to the "proof of concept" side of it.... one of the first "Brews" I constructed and bought singles for was a janky mill deck using Teferi's Puzzle Box and Sphinx's Tutelage.
My next passion is theme/tribal decks... love love love tribal decks and trying to be as "spikey" as possible within theme/flavor.
Unfortunately though nowadays... over the years as my collection has grown...and getting curb stomped repeatedly whether its at the kitchen table or online; I find myself turning more and more to the dark side and outright netdecking.... winning is fun sure... but I definitely noticed that I have become a completely different type of player/brewer then I used to.
May 2, 2022 8:16 p.m.
Squee_Spirit_Guide says... #6
Really good topic! Over the years, I've realised the games I enjoy most are the ones where the conversation is flowing and everyone is having a few laughs. Along the lines of what FormOverFunction said, I think it's most fun when everyone feels like they had some success in playing their deck and building up to its payoff, whether or not they win.
To me Magic is much less about winning as it is enjoying the atmosphere, the company, and the adventure a game can take you on. I don't need to win to have fun, but on the rare occasion that I do I want people to be surprised and/or entertained by the path to victory.
May 2, 2022 8:55 p.m.
I've always found games that allow for crazy interactions to be my favorite. The story, the memories are most important. Utilizing worst fears, then mindslaver, then emrakrul the promised end 3 turns in a row is just pure fun, using their own necropotence. Redirecting their own spells just for them to redirect it back at me!
One of my favorite moments against me was when I played a Thought Distortion against my friend with a smug/smirk on my face, cocky that his mono blue deck would crumble. He politely smiled, tapped his lands, to which I replied, it can't be countered to which he responds, i know and proceeds to cast Narset's Reversal against my creatureless mono black deck. BOY DID THAT MAKE ME LAUGH AND CRY! Such a found memory, being put in my place, IN STYLE.
May 2, 2022 10:14 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #8
I first realized this when playing against a good friend back in og Theros. I played RW heroic, he played GW heroic. Looking back, he definitely was the better player and I learned things even in that game.
We both combat tricked our way through the match until it finally reached topdeck mode. Who would draw the card(s) to decide the match? Who could use the one card per turn better?
I just love the adrenaline and the need to keep your calm in that kind of game. Until you reach the point where you topdeck that one card you need to take'em down, slamming it onto the table with a triumphant "yes".
I can't even remember who won that round, but the feeling still rings in my head nearly ten years later.
May 3, 2022 12:32 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #9
For me, it depends on the deck.
Did I build a dumb Timmy deck to churn out a bunch of 12/12 creatures with counters and tutor every single land out of my library and not even swing for lethal when I have 100+ power online because I'm having far too much fun and I want to watch everyone struggle to stop me?
Or am I playing a Turn 3 deck who's goal is to go infinite?
Or am I playing a highly interactive deck where I don't care about winning or losing, I want to play politics and spot removal?
Or am I trying to pull off the dumbest 5 or 7 card combo nobody will see coming?
For me, the experience is in playing the game. Winning or losing comes second. Can I get salty if I've lost like 4 or 5 times in a row? Sure, I think anyone would. But will I be mad if my deck loses to something on par or superior? No.
What bothers me the most is when a deck I built "doesn't work" because I have the wrong percentages and so I keep getting hands and cards I can not use. That's what bothers me. But that's more so a testament to poor deck construction, and not toward losing to an opponent.
Losing to a superior player or deck is not the same as losing to poor deck construction.
Losing to an opponent simply means they had a better advantage and that is respectable.
Losing to poor deck construction means I failed as a brewer and it makes me feel sad because all of my time and energy and money went into nothing.
May 3, 2022 11:42 a.m.
Grubbernaut says... #10
Interaction and competition. I strongly prefer interaction on the stack, and I abhor games that go long. I'll forever be salty that cEDH's meta is now stax-heavy. I miss all turbo.
May 3, 2022 12:28 p.m.
TypicalTimmy I definitely hear you on the "deck not working" point : ) I've made a few that just never panned out no matter how I tried, and that was always a bit of a let down. But then it feels really good when you do one, and it's your idea, and it just works. I do kind of think that the only way we can make good decks is to make a few bad ones along the way too : )
And yep, it's fun that there is also a place like this where we can share the ideas that work. I stumbled on tappedout one day because I was brewing a weird deck (it was ventures, but strange ventures) and I wanted to see if anyone else was doing something similar. A lot of the time I figure, sure someone else is brewing this, but that was the one where I thought, heh, it might just be me. And then I see a lot of decks on here that I never would have thought of. So, I hear you, it's so lame when decks just don't pan out, but it's also so awesome when they do and we get a chance to share them.
May 3, 2022 4:37 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi It's always exciting when you have a really memorable game, isn't it? For me it was some of those old ones where I was playing against affinity. Me and my friend both had creature decks and we'd play against my buddy who had an optimized affinity deck, and it was the two of us racing to try to get him. We didn't win a lot, but it was really memorable on those ones where he was down to a few life and we were scrambling to try to poke him one last time. I could lose a million games if they were good games like that : )
May 3, 2022 4:45 p.m.
hiddengibbons says... #13
My friends and I used to play cheap crappy decks at the kitchen table before EDH, commanders, or singleton formats were a thing. One guy had a sliver deck and he really cleaned our clocks. I went and got a play set of Extinction just for him (we weren’t playing singleton). That was fun wiping out all his slivers. I think the arms race we had and trying to take down whoever had the most powerful deck was the most fun.
May 4, 2022 12:12 a.m.
Icbrgr I mean, I know you say it's janky mill, but I look at that combo like, yep that could work : ) As someone who never gets mill quite right, I like it!
And just to throw props where they are do, I totally stole the phrase "proof of concept" from StrictlyBetterMtg. When Dev mentioned it in a vid I was like, yep, that's what I do. He's got such an awesome channel. Definitely one of my favorites along with Prof and Meryn.
But yeah, I hear you about spicing up decks, especially to play online. I quit Mtgo after a little while just because the power level you run into is so high and the experience of losing is so much worse than cardboard magic. I'm just fine with losing to friends and trying to play some jank, but online there is no input (or there's negative input) from your opponents and it can feel like a lot more like you are losing rather than they are winning.
FormOverFunction says... #2
A perfect game for me lasts just long enough for each of the players to get whatever pieces they were hoping for into play and be “just, like, one more turn” away from winning (or at least successfully peacock-ing their theme/stunt deck) ... all the while with my deck slowly dragging everyone down within Razor Pendulum range with something like a Jinxed Choker that everyone is having fun arguing over and passing around. Maybe about 20 minutes.
May 2, 2022 6:58 p.m.