How do you Playtest?
General forum
Posted on Oct. 3, 2020, 4:49 p.m. by JoJosMagic
Most agree it's important to do.I was just curious how others do it. I understand this can be format or strategy specific, I was meaning more in general. What is best practice? For example I when playtesting Assume 3 things. First that I will be receiving an average of 5 damage per turn starting turn 2. Second a Board wipe will be played between turns 4-6 so i better be prepared turn 5. Finally If I do not have a sure fire win strategy by turn 7 to be implemented by turn 8 I have lost. I was mostly curious how others Play Test their decks, or had any general advice about it.
VampDemigod says... #3
Recently, I mostly goldfish the deck, with a similar layout to the one that you described.
Here’s what I normally do (in normal times). I run my decks up against my playgroup. We share a pool of a few of the top decks, and two people man meta decks, switching between them between games. The other two play their brews, editing them between games. We would have a playtesting session each week, and it would last about 10 hours, fitting in as many games as possible during the session. Then, at the end, we roll dice. Top two get to play their own brews in the next session. Lower two will play the meta decks. We were getting pretty good work done before quarantine started. (For the record, this was 2 1v1 groups, playing standard or modern decks, usually standard. I mostly just goldfish EDH decks)
October 3, 2020 5:08 p.m.
JoJosMagic says... #4
Thanks for the feedback... I'm honestly new.. so not sure what goldfishing is but will Google... As for competitive.. my play group and access to more players is limited I agree actual play against another person is best.. I was as much curious how others are adapting to the times or testing brews... I am pretty familiar with the people I play with so it can be difficult not tuning for them.
October 3, 2020 6:16 p.m.
goldfishing is basically what you're already doing. you just play it out by yourself and see what the deck can do when there's no opposing interaction.
October 3, 2020 6:20 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #6
I goldfish until I get bored with the 0 interaction and then I quit and don't build what might have been a really good deck. That's not what I suggest doing though ;)
October 3, 2020 7:19 p.m.
defamagraphy1 says... #7
Before I bring it to a local FNM, I playtest the deck against myself with another deck. This is slightly flawed though as I'm naturally anticipating moves in seeing both hands. I typically misplay and use the "advantage" to treat the newly created deck as harshly as possible.
This is of course better if you have another friend to help you in building and testing.
Then I go to my local game store and test there. We'll discuss strategy, and different ways to improve, and then I may or may not play it at FNM's and tournaments.
October 5, 2020 7:39 a.m.
@defamagraphy1 I do the same thing. Just out of curiosity, does the new test deck go first or second?
October 5, 2020 noon
defamagraphy1 says... #9
Balaam_ I go off the roll so I can see how well it performs on the play or draw and what I may need to do different.
October 5, 2020 12:31 p.m.
fatalzintomyum says... #10
I totally agree with DeinoStinkus. it might seem foolish to play both sides of a game, but it can be very helpful for just the problem of "when will I die?" or "When will the boardwipe be?". This is also helpful for playing a control deck, which might usually be tricky to goldfish. Finally, the best way to playtest, especially in these times, is to try and play online. This doesn't even mean MTGO, for there are many free online alternatives. Just play game after game, and you will see more decks than you would think to build in even the largest personal collection.
October 5, 2020 1:58 p.m.
psionictemplar says... #11
I would have to say if you are goldfishing to test then primarily focus on which your deck would be better in. As aggro, I would focus on the play and control on the draw. Side note: if you are a discard focused deck, I would look to test from the play.
The big thing to remember when goldfishing though, is that it doesn't prepare you for player preferences and variance. For this reason you should always look to practice pvp and get feedback that way as well. What might seem like a good point of interaction for you might not matter to your opponent.
October 5, 2020 7:13 p.m.
defamagraphy1 says... #12
If you have the cards, go for the decks that would be your best and worst match ups, and take note of the bigger problem cards going against your deck.
October 6, 2020 5:26 a.m.
fatalzintomyum says... #13
the most annoying deck to goldfish, just saying, is mill.
October 6, 2020 8:52 a.m.
EleshNornsFs says... #14
I goldfish at the start to see if the deck even does the thing. Does it have enough lands? Are the hands okay? Is your combo even playable by a reasonable turn? Then I usually whip out one of the Theros Challenge Decks, like The Hydra or Defeat a God. Those really test a deck's ability to shut down an early lead, handle threats quickly, and dish out damage at an aggressive pace. They aren't good for every deck, like discard or mill, but for just about anything else, it helps to tune the deck to a little faster pace. After that, I run it against the hardest pillow fort, highest lifegain deck I have. That will show where the deck's power spikes are and where it falls off. It will show if the deck can do the thing it needs to do, through tremendous resistance. If my Bruna can punch through 400 life, it could definitely punch through a player with 40 or 50. After that, I start playing against as many real people as I can.
EleshNornsFs says... #2
It depends on the goal of the deck. If you want to fine tune it competitively, the best way is to play against lots of decks and people. Practical experience beats theory everytime.
October 3, 2020 4:53 p.m.