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With the Alberta Provincials coming up on November 10th, if your planning to play in them you've been preparing for over a month now. What! You say you have a real life, no that's not it. Oh! someone is handing you a deck that morning that you hope to make Top 8 with. In that case, skip down to what to do the day before the tournament. General stuff. It's a good idea to know where the tournament is and what time registration starts. It's also handy to know what the REL (rules enforcement level) is. It's a good indicator of how serious people will be at the tournament. If you know how many people were at last years tournament you can guess as well the larger the event, the larger the quota of rules lawyers and disgruntled office workers. The location might require some pre-planning if you don't live close. Prepare a deck. You can make a deck from scratch, borrow your friends deck and agree to split half your winnings with him, or use a net deck. If you’re building a deck from scratch, be prepared to invest at least a whole evening, maybe making 2 or 3 decks at the same time. Don't worry about testing the deck yet. Just make it, focusing on either a theme or around your favorite broken card. A theme is usually card advantage, direct damage, or control. Stuff that kills the other guy is NOT a theme. This method requires a lot of work but gives you the advantage of surprise, the label of having a "rogue" deck and a general warm fuzzy feeling if you do well with it. Borrowing a deck from a friend is pretty straightforward. If he's giving you a different deck that he's playing you might want to ask him why. (I thought this deck was good, but now I'm not sure... here ya go buddy) All you have to do is show up and play. It might also be a backup plan if you find out the morning of the event everyone is playing that one deck that just smashes yours. (Everyone is running a black deck with Plague Spitter and your running a deck with 16 one-toughness creatures) Using a Netdeck. Netdecks work. That's why they're posted, they have won tournaments or have done well in play testing, if they haven’t you’ll also that all over the net. They are easy to construct as long as you have all the rares they ask for or can trade, buy, beg or borrow them. It might be hard to find some of the cards, as other people WILL be using the same deck, or at least the same rares. If you use a Netdeck you might want to change some cards after play testing. If you use a Netdeck other players will know how to play against you as most can figure out which deck your using within a couple of cards. They will also have practiced against Netdecks, running their own decks through a gauntlet of Netdecks. Test the deck. Play, play, and then play some more. It's the only way to know your deck inside and out and know what it's capable of. You'll want to test it against the most popular net decks to see how it does. This years gauntlet probably consists of about 4 different deck types you should be able to beat. I won’t list them here so you can do the research and maybe run into a few ideas that you haven’t considered yet. If you do this you will also learn how you can play your deck differently against the top decks, often referred to as Tier 1. When testing, play against someone with the same level or better play skills than you have. Beating your 12-year-old brother into submission with your 5 color 80 card deck is not going to tell you much. (Other than you play better than a 12 year old, congratulations) Have your playtest partner play with the deck you plan to use so you can see it from a different point of view. He may try some tricks you've never thought of. If your using a Netdeck it will also come in handy when you end up in a mirror match. Practice sideboarding. There is usually going to be one or 2 decks you have a tough time beating. Practice against these decks using your sideboarded version of the deck. The easier match ups shouldn't be practiced as much. They don't provide you much of a challenge and can give you a bulletproof feeling that will be made in to Swiss cheese on the day of the tournament. If you find that you just need that extra card that isn't in your sideboard, or when your sideboarding some cards never come out of the sideboard, adjust your deck. Adjust your deck. One of the reasons your testing is so that you have a deck you can win with. Don't change your deck every time you lose (or win for that matter) Change it after about 5 matches, when you can see a trend. Everyone gets mana screwed sometimes, it doesn't mean you run 35 lands maindeck. It's the trends that matter. The closer the tournament your getting the smaller your changes should be as you are now refining your deck, and hopefully your game. Know the metagame. The metagame is basically what the people in your area, or more specifically at the next tournament will be playing. The metagame changes constantly, but if you can figure it out it will pay great rewards. At last year’s states over half the field played Fires. There are decks that beat Fires consistently, if you had made a deck that beat Fires or used a Netdeck that consistently beat Fires you would have done well at that tournament. So how do you figure out what the metagame is? You become a judge, look at all the decklists, then minutes before the tournament decide your not judging and build a deck to beat the field. Ok, that won't work. The best place to check is your local store that hosts DCI sanctioned tournaments. People will test some of their ideas, if not their actual decks at these tournaments. Take a look at what cards are for sale and how much they’re going for. Before last states you couldn't find an Urza's rage for under $20.00 and you couldn't find Birds of Paradise at all. The guys at the store might even tell you what everyone has been asking for. Check out the Internet. The one deck that’s on every web page and everyone is telling you is unstoppable might not convince you, but it will convince others, be prepared to play against it. The Night before. You've been told this your whole life. Get a good night’s sleep. If you’re going to be using the logic and strategic parts of your brain they work better with proper rest. But then maybe it's just me and your mind works better in a perpetual dazed and confused state. Prepare a backpack or bag with everything you need. The following list is a suggestion and can be added to or ignored all together. 1. Your deck, sleeved in sleeves already checked for markings 2. extra sleeves 3. life tracker / markers 4. a decklist already filled out and ready to go (this makes life so much easier and less stressful) 5. some munchies or drinks in the fridge 6. the money for the entry fee, and some extra cash The day of. Wake up with enough time to shower and have something to eat. Showering should wake you up and make you feel better, if it doesn't, do it anyways, as it will make me and everyone else at the tournament feel better. Don't gorge yourself with a 7-course breakfast if you usually have a coffee, just have something to get you metabolism going. (Yes, metabolism affects your brain as well as your body, look at the hyperactive 15 year old that can't stop babbling). Take the munchies and drinks out of the fridge pack them (preferable not in the same bag as your cards, you don't want to tempt fate do you?) grab your stuff and head out to the tournament. It's always good to show up a little early as you won't feel rushed and you might even get some last minute tips or information from some of the other players. Good luck at the States Mark
Comey mark@MagicCan.com
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