Playing Alone
General forum
Posted on July 31, 2013, 6:04 p.m. by ZarBluestar
When you are playing magic alone (come on, we've all been there), how do you do it. Do you just goldfish for hours on end, do you play two decks you own against each other, or do you do some sort of complicated solitare type game?
I just want to know, because my friends/family are rarely avalible to play, so the only time I can play someone else is at FNM.I've tried goldfishing... boring. I've played two decks against each other, but knowing both hands takes the fun out of it.
I'm looking for any/all ideas that'll give me a new way to play (I don't care if it is as simple as goldfishing, or if it is as complicated as string theory. I just want some change).
Dalektable says... #3
I play two decks i on against eachother, or one i own against one on this website. It does get old, i can't wait to see some other ideas on this forum. (Im in the same situation as you also)
July 31, 2013 6:15 p.m.
I usually just pick a netdeck, guess at what's likely floating through a pseudo-opponent's hand for the given deck, and play my physical decks normally. (Assume a creature gets bolt'd, unsummoned, milled for 8, etc)
It got so bad that I ended up teaching my 12-year-old sibling to play. He's got a fairly strong head for the stack, and corrects me occasionally.
Whenever I find myself not wanting to play (effectively) against myself, I lay out decks and figure them out from a statistical standpoint. It helps me make a quick deck selection when asked to play a match.
July 31, 2013 6:30 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #5
MTG FORGE ROCKS HOUSE.
If you want to play someone with your stasis deck at 2:30 in the morning while watching my little pony and eating a bowl of cereal and you don't want him to scoop out of anger, this is the program for you.
July 31, 2013 6:32 p.m.
I use Cockatrice; it's free, the player base is somewhat friendly, and you can test out any deck you want.
July 31, 2013 7:08 p.m.
ZarBluestar says... #8
Dallie I'd download cocatrice, but the whole site's down. The page mentioned some things about legal issues... Well so much for that plan.
July 31, 2013 7:16 p.m.
I use Tappedout's playtester in two tabs, usually using my deck vs. someone else's picked at random (or picked because I feel I might actually run into it). I'll then usually get 10-20 games in and leave a comment on the opposing deck with suggestions on how to possibly improve it (I'm not really one to often compliment a deck). Some days I'll get one of these sessions in, other days I could get 5-6 of these sessions in, I find it to really help maintain a decent playskill level and it helps me not be surprised when someone chooses to run an odd card.
July 31, 2013 7:38 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #10
user: MindAblaze!, not yet. Alizer313 has not succeeded in getting me to watch my little pony... yet.
ZarBluestar, actually I used it an hour or two ago. Go to woogerworks.com to download the cockatrice with the server.
July 31, 2013 7:56 p.m.
KnightsBattlecry001 says... #11
I normally just open tappedout in two tabs and play that way. Been plenty of times I'll spend 4-5 hours just testing on here. I think it really helps keep my game up and get use to certain decks and how they work.
July 31, 2013 8:09 p.m.
ZarBluestar Some other guys took over the client, see mstancea's link. Create a user and play from there :)
August 1, 2013 1:52 a.m.
ZarBluestar says... #13
mstancea I went on the website, but I'm not sure which to download, and what to do after that.
August 1, 2013 10:07 a.m.
wallshadow117 says... #14
I don't mind playing against myself with my own decks because even though I know what cards are in both of my hands that makes the game harder, not easier. If i'm playing my mono green against my mono blue and I decide to counter a big green play, that move is perfectly timed and is therefore harder for my green to recover (It could always be assumed that an opponent would make that move anyway). I learn worst case scenarios for both decks in play and can then experiment on how to either make the deck more versatile, side deck more efficiently, or change my game to make my overall strategy more effective and discover less efficient cards.
that said; im with Demarge as far as online play goes; way to play!
August 1, 2013 11:44 a.m.
Details on various things I've tried!
GOLDFISHING:
I've goldfished for hours before... then when I went to FNM, I realized how horrible of a comparison goldfishing is to a real game.
The more aggressive your deck is, the less reliable gold fishing is, as you have no feel for what even a single removal spell can do.
More controlling/combo decks with lots of removal makes gold fishing more reliable... but you don't necessarily "feel" like it's good, as you don't see what your removal is really doing to your opponents board state/tempo. - General rule of thumb is if you are consistently getting removal or a combo piece every turn after turn 2-3, and a board wipe by turn 5-6, you are probably doing okay... but it's still not that reliable.
Now I only goldfish a few times to get a quick feel for a deck (or really just a feel for the concept).
TAPPEDOUT: (dual windows/tab)
I've opened 2 TappedOut windows at the same time and played decks against each other... and there's so many decks here to choose from, you can essentially play against any Meta you may expect to face IRL. - The only downfall to it I can see is that you can choose to play a deck with alternate sideboard cards. You have to copy a deck and alter it to meet your needs.
Both of the above lack 1 key factor... an opponent. Someone to play against that does not know your deck, who doesn't see both players hands, and who knows their deck better than I do. Playing against yourself will sometimes make you play slightly differently without realizing your making decisions based on things you shouldn't be seeing.
COCKATRICE:
I have recently installed Cockatrice to try... made 2 decks, but haven't played with them yet. I want to play against my test account for a bit first, just to get used to the interface... I don't want to annoy other people by fumbling around with the cards because I don't know how it all works... 'spectating' is showing me a lot of things as well, including common courtesy things that people do during play.
MTGO / DOTP:
Personally, I've invested too much money into real cards to pay for virtual ones just for practice. MTGO and DotP aren't real options for me.
If I wanted to real "go-pro" it would make sense. but otherwise, not thanks!
August 1, 2013 12:12 p.m.
I just keep note mentally of top decks in meta or my FNM, then play mine as if i was playing those.
T1- young wolf, T2- strangleroot geist, T3- double rancor
T1-champion of the parish, T2-thalia, T3- silverblade paladin
T1- mana dork, T2- smiter, T3-huntmaster
T1- land, T2, land / farseek, T3- land / jace architect.... etc etc
T1- mana dork, T2- domri, T3- huntmaster, T4-thragtusk / thundermaw
August 1, 2013 2:14 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #17
ZarBluestar, Windows or Mac?
Rayenous, have you tried using mtg forge? It's a program where you can play against a computer opponent, so you don't have to worry about fumbling, courtesies, and stuff like that. Also, you can give it any deck you want or play multiplayer.
August 1, 2013 3:26 p.m.
ZarBluestar says... #18
mstancea, windows. Also, where can I download mtg forge? Thanks.
gufymike says... #2
duels of the planeswalkers (for little investment), mtgo (for a large investment), or cockatrice (for least investment).
July 31, 2013 6:05 p.m.