Keep in mind that at this early stage of the game, many of the most active meetup attenders would love to help you become more awesome, and they ask nothing more in return than an open mind of above-average intelligence and a willingness to try hard. Being awesome is the goal-state, not the prerequisite for hanging out with people. The prereq is wanting to be awesome, which it sounds like you have.
I’d certainly like to be Awesome, but there are a lot of ways of becoming Awesome that take far more work than I’m willing to do. (Per Scott Adams, “work” is defined as “anything you’d rather not be doing right now.”)
I did have a plan that I’d been working on for becoming Sufficiently Awesome, but I’ve hit a setback. If I were to qualify for the Magic Pro Tour, I’d consider myself Sufficiently Awesome. (Zvi said he’s not particularly interested letting me work with him on Magic unless I actually managed to qualify.) When I heard that the next Pro Tour Qualifier format was going to be Modern, I was very happy, because I had a really good deck for that format. Had being the operative word, because a very important card in that deck just got banned. :(
I have had a long affair with magic the gathering. I too had the goal of joining the pro-tour for many years, and failed to do so. That being said, I think I learned enough to be helpful.
First, as a rationalist, you have to abandon attachment to a specific deck. The basic skills of magic are the basic skills of a rationalist- understanding the probabilities of a given situation, understanding that biases you have that are going to try and sway you to incorrect action, and taking the action that allows you to win, even if that action doesn’t “feel” right. Play the deck that has the best chance of winning. Even if it is crazy popular. Your goal isn’t to be the player who has the crazy innovative deck that no one is ready for- there is a time and place for that, but not at the beginning of the journey. Your goal is to be the player that takes the best deck, and consistently wins the mirror match because your play skill is very high. Play the deck that beats the majority of the field, and focus on learning the skills that allow you to win the hard matches. The format will change, the decks will change- you get to keep the investment you make in your skill set.
Second, understand you will lose. You will lose to people with inferior skill, playing inferior decks. You will lose when it “feels” like you should win. The best players, when they play other plays of equal skill, win only slightly more than they lose. It follows then, that in order to improve, you must not allow losing to become a bar to growth. This is not to say you should be resigned to losing- obviously, the goal is to win as much as possible. It is instead to say that the emotional attachment to losing can become so great, that it makes you “feel” like you are inferior. You must find methods that allow you to evaluate each match- to learn from your mistakes, but not “feel” like your loses indicate an inability for future success.
Third, play constantly. Play past the point you are tired of playing. Play in as many tournaments as you can, where there is actually something on the line. Tournament jitters are only beaten by making the situation normal. The situation only becomes normal after repetition. When you have played 500 tournament matches, you have a natural advantage over the players that play 1 or 2 tournaments a month. This also gives you first hand knowledge of the meta-game.
Fourth- Document everything. Never play a game without pen and paper. Don’t just keep life totals, make notes about the plays. Schedule times to review them- this allows you to create probabilities not just about what deck beats what, but about what plays are generally effective. When you finish a match at a tournament, scout. Find out what decks are out there, in what numbers. As you get to know the regulars, track what decks they play, and how well the do with those decks. All of that information is priceless- it gives you the ability to know not only what your local metagame is, but whats decks are performing well in it.
I realize this is way off the topic, but I want to encourage you to keep at it. I discovered less wrong after I had stopped playing competitively (lets face it, no one leaves magic forever), but the lessons I learned in magic are echoed all over this site. PM me if there is any way I can help.
First, as a rationalist, you have to abandon attachment to a specific deck. The basic skills of magic are the basic skills of a rationalist- understanding the probabilities of a given situation, understanding that biases you have that are going to try and sway you to incorrect action, and taking the action that allows you to win, even if that action doesn’t “feel” right. Play the deck that has the best chance of winning. Even if it is crazy popular. Your goal isn’t to be the player who has the crazy innovative deck that no one is ready for- there is a time and place for that, but not at the beginning of the journey. Your goal is to be the player that takes the best deck, and consistently wins the mirror match because your play skill is very high. Play the deck that beats the majority of the field, and focus on learning the skills that allow you to win the hard matches. The format will change, the decks will change- you get to keep the investment you make in your skill set.
The deck I had, Zoo, was the awesome deck everyone was playing (or should have been). Which is why there was a banning in the first place. Now I’ve gone from “I’m gonna kick everyone’s ass with the best version of the best deck” to “I have to figure out what the best version of the best deck is so I can play it.”
And I don’t know how relevant this is, but there have indeed been times when I’ve made the rogue deck and kicked lots of ass. This, this, this, and this are four examples of decks of varying levels of originality that I’ve done very well with. I’d say that, in general, I’m actually better at deckbuilding than at technical play; I find it easier to get an edge through deck tweaking than through outplaying opponents. I’ve been wishing that I could find someone better at technical play to coach me, but I don’t know how to find someone who would be willing to do that.
Second, understand you will lose. You will lose to people with inferior skill, playing inferior decks. You will lose when it “feels” like you should win. The best players, when they play other plays of equal skill, win only slightly more than they lose. It follows then, that in order to improve, you must not allow losing to become a bar to growth. This is not to say you should be resigned to losing- obviously, the goal is to win as much as possible. It is instead to say that the emotional attachment to losing can become so great, that it makes you “feel” like you are inferior. You must find methods that allow you to evaluate each match- to learn from your mistakes, but not “feel” like your loses indicate an inability for future success.
Yeah, I’m familiar with this. I don’t have to like losing, but it will (and does) happen. It’s really only losing streaks that start getting to me...
Third, play constantly. Play past the point you are tired of playing. Play in as many tournaments as you can, where there is actually something on the line. Tournament jitters are only beaten by making the situation normal. The situation only becomes normal after repetition. When you have played 500 tournament matches, you have a natural advantage over the players that play 1 or 2 tournaments a month. This also gives you first hand knowledge of the meta-game.
I’m almost exclusively a Magic Online player, and I play in a lot of queues.
I’m almost exclusively a Magic Online player, and I play in a lot of queues.
MTGO is a strange beast. It gives you access to almost unlimited testing matches- this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it also trains you in ways that will trip you up in IRL tournament play. First- it actively reminds you of all triggers- learning to never forget to use a triggered ability is key, when many of your games will come down to one or two points of damage. Second- MTGO games are played in silence. IRL, there is mental warfare going on. I know players who never sit down to a tournament game without some evidence that they have attended a pro-tour- for many, that knowledge is intimidating enough that they start playing badly. MTGO can help you figure out what the correct plays for a given deck are, but it will not give you the complete set of skills you need.
I’ve been wishing that I could find someone better at technical play to coach me, but I don’t know how to find someone who would be willing to do that.
Somewhere in your area, there are weekly tournaments that are being attended by the people who go to every ptq and gpt in your area. You need to be at those tournaments. After a month or so, you will know the regulars, and you will have played most of them. The best way to gain the help of someone with better skill is to join their community of players. To improve, surround yourself with people better than you are.
The deck I had, Zoo, was the awesome deck everyone was playing (or should have been).
I spent the evening reviewing modern, and the decks that are available. It seems very clear that this is a format that until recently has had very little activity- which means the best deck is very undefined. I would expect to see this format flux for quite a while- from past experience, I would expect an early surge of burn and fast creature decks. I would also expect that control decks will be under represented in numbers, but over represented in top 8 play. As the season progresses, I would not be surprised if a combo deck or high synergy deck comes out of no where, while control decks evolve and refine. Were I you, I would find a solid control deck, and play it. Personally, I think Martyr decks look strong, but choose what you like.
I spent the first half of the year trying to be awesome in a way that required willpower and hard work that I didn’t want to do. I spent the second half of the year trying to be awesome in a way that I totally enjoyed the entire time, never had to force myself into, and involved loads of hard work that I loved every minute of.
My not-so-humble opinion is that it worked out pretty well.
It’s not as simple as I just made it sound, and no I won’t expound here right now, but I am planning to do a “year one of rationality, in review” a little later. The specific applications won’t generalize for most people but hopefully some of the underlying thought processes will be useful.
Keep in mind that at this early stage of the game, many of the most active meetup attenders would love to help you become more awesome, and they ask nothing more in return than an open mind of above-average intelligence and a willingness to try hard. Being awesome is the goal-state, not the prerequisite for hanging out with people. The prereq is wanting to be awesome, which it sounds like you have.
I’d certainly like to be Awesome, but there are a lot of ways of becoming Awesome that take far more work than I’m willing to do. (Per Scott Adams, “work” is defined as “anything you’d rather not be doing right now.”)
I did have a plan that I’d been working on for becoming Sufficiently Awesome, but I’ve hit a setback. If I were to qualify for the Magic Pro Tour, I’d consider myself Sufficiently Awesome. (Zvi said he’s not particularly interested letting me work with him on Magic unless I actually managed to qualify.) When I heard that the next Pro Tour Qualifier format was going to be Modern, I was very happy, because I had a really good deck for that format. Had being the operative word, because a very important card in that deck just got banned. :(
I have had a long affair with magic the gathering. I too had the goal of joining the pro-tour for many years, and failed to do so. That being said, I think I learned enough to be helpful.
First, as a rationalist, you have to abandon attachment to a specific deck. The basic skills of magic are the basic skills of a rationalist- understanding the probabilities of a given situation, understanding that biases you have that are going to try and sway you to incorrect action, and taking the action that allows you to win, even if that action doesn’t “feel” right. Play the deck that has the best chance of winning. Even if it is crazy popular. Your goal isn’t to be the player who has the crazy innovative deck that no one is ready for- there is a time and place for that, but not at the beginning of the journey. Your goal is to be the player that takes the best deck, and consistently wins the mirror match because your play skill is very high. Play the deck that beats the majority of the field, and focus on learning the skills that allow you to win the hard matches. The format will change, the decks will change- you get to keep the investment you make in your skill set.
Second, understand you will lose. You will lose to people with inferior skill, playing inferior decks. You will lose when it “feels” like you should win. The best players, when they play other plays of equal skill, win only slightly more than they lose. It follows then, that in order to improve, you must not allow losing to become a bar to growth. This is not to say you should be resigned to losing- obviously, the goal is to win as much as possible. It is instead to say that the emotional attachment to losing can become so great, that it makes you “feel” like you are inferior. You must find methods that allow you to evaluate each match- to learn from your mistakes, but not “feel” like your loses indicate an inability for future success.
Third, play constantly. Play past the point you are tired of playing. Play in as many tournaments as you can, where there is actually something on the line. Tournament jitters are only beaten by making the situation normal. The situation only becomes normal after repetition. When you have played 500 tournament matches, you have a natural advantage over the players that play 1 or 2 tournaments a month. This also gives you first hand knowledge of the meta-game.
Fourth- Document everything. Never play a game without pen and paper. Don’t just keep life totals, make notes about the plays. Schedule times to review them- this allows you to create probabilities not just about what deck beats what, but about what plays are generally effective. When you finish a match at a tournament, scout. Find out what decks are out there, in what numbers. As you get to know the regulars, track what decks they play, and how well the do with those decks. All of that information is priceless- it gives you the ability to know not only what your local metagame is, but whats decks are performing well in it.
I realize this is way off the topic, but I want to encourage you to keep at it. I discovered less wrong after I had stopped playing competitively (lets face it, no one leaves magic forever), but the lessons I learned in magic are echoed all over this site. PM me if there is any way I can help.
The deck I had, Zoo, was the awesome deck everyone was playing (or should have been). Which is why there was a banning in the first place. Now I’ve gone from “I’m gonna kick everyone’s ass with the best version of the best deck” to “I have to figure out what the best version of the best deck is so I can play it.”
And I don’t know how relevant this is, but there have indeed been times when I’ve made the rogue deck and kicked lots of ass. This, this, this, and this are four examples of decks of varying levels of originality that I’ve done very well with. I’d say that, in general, I’m actually better at deckbuilding than at technical play; I find it easier to get an edge through deck tweaking than through outplaying opponents. I’ve been wishing that I could find someone better at technical play to coach me, but I don’t know how to find someone who would be willing to do that.
Yeah, I’m familiar with this. I don’t have to like losing, but it will (and does) happen. It’s really only losing streaks that start getting to me...
I’m almost exclusively a Magic Online player, and I play in a lot of queues.
MTGO is a strange beast. It gives you access to almost unlimited testing matches- this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it also trains you in ways that will trip you up in IRL tournament play. First- it actively reminds you of all triggers- learning to never forget to use a triggered ability is key, when many of your games will come down to one or two points of damage. Second- MTGO games are played in silence. IRL, there is mental warfare going on. I know players who never sit down to a tournament game without some evidence that they have attended a pro-tour- for many, that knowledge is intimidating enough that they start playing badly. MTGO can help you figure out what the correct plays for a given deck are, but it will not give you the complete set of skills you need.
Somewhere in your area, there are weekly tournaments that are being attended by the people who go to every ptq and gpt in your area. You need to be at those tournaments. After a month or so, you will know the regulars, and you will have played most of them. The best way to gain the help of someone with better skill is to join their community of players. To improve, surround yourself with people better than you are.
I spent the evening reviewing modern, and the decks that are available. It seems very clear that this is a format that until recently has had very little activity- which means the best deck is very undefined. I would expect to see this format flux for quite a while- from past experience, I would expect an early surge of burn and fast creature decks. I would also expect that control decks will be under represented in numbers, but over represented in top 8 play. As the season progresses, I would not be surprised if a combo deck or high synergy deck comes out of no where, while control decks evolve and refine. Were I you, I would find a solid control deck, and play it. Personally, I think Martyr decks look strong, but choose what you like.
I spent the first half of the year trying to be awesome in a way that required willpower and hard work that I didn’t want to do. I spent the second half of the year trying to be awesome in a way that I totally enjoyed the entire time, never had to force myself into, and involved loads of hard work that I loved every minute of.
My not-so-humble opinion is that it worked out pretty well.
.
It’s not as simple as I just made it sound, and no I won’t expound here right now, but I am planning to do a “year one of rationality, in review” a little later. The specific applications won’t generalize for most people but hopefully some of the underlying thought processes will be useful.
.
Probably because it was very important!