My Artifacts; an EDH Report

MY ARTIFACTS!

Last Sunday, our local store held an EDH tournament. While EDH is not a sanctioned format, we decided to play an unsanctioned tournament anyway. I brought a deck with the general being Thada Adel, the Acquisitor. Thada’s ability allows you to search your opponent’s library for an artifact and exile/play it when Thada deals damage to an opposing player. So I brought my mediocre list to the tournament and hoped for the best.

Round 1: Luis

I had played against Luis’ EDH deck before an I knew there are a boatload of artifacts I can target with Thada Adel. Game 1 was long and gruelling, just like EDH should be. I eventually got to beat him to death with a boatload of Merfolk that were pumped by a Lord of Atlantis (sounds like legacy fish huh?). Game 2 went by fast as he had Power Artifact with Grim Monoliths for infinite mana, it was game. We didn’t have time for game 3 and drew.

1-1-1, 0-0-1 in rounds.

Round 2: Rahill.

I knew that Rahill wasn’t playing his own deck, which made me quite happy as his EDH kills on turn 3. Game 1 went by fast as he had no land and by turn 5 I had 9 Merfolk in play. Game 2 also went by fast as he locked the game by getting his general that counters spells in play on turn 2 (I don’t remember the name of the general, mind telling me Rahill?). Game three was identical to game one.

Round 3: Adrian

The first two games were a blur, both of us won them super quick while the other guy had no lands, game three got tricky when he has 28 tokens along with a land tax, survival of the fittest, and another amazing enchantment which would win him the game. I draw and play Knowledge Exploitation and select his Austere Command, blowing up his tokens AND enchantments. Next turn he plays the card that gives him X 1/1 flying tokens, where X is his life total. That card met my Commandeer (AKA my pet card, it allows you to steal a noncreature spell). To this, my opponent scooped and I was declared winner.

While I acknowledge that my list won’t be winning any big events, I love playing it because it’s inexpensive and you get to steal their money cards. I found a similar list to this online and made my own twist on his list. Just before I end this I want to mention a funny play this deck can make. My friend plays his general for 6 to cast. I counter it with scattering stroke and win the clash, meaning I get 6 mana in my pool next turn with a Lullmage Mentor in play as well as 2 Merfolk tokens from countering spells. Next turn I use the 6 and 2 blue to kick a rite of replication on the mentor, meaning I have enough fish to counter a spell, and I get 6 tokens every time a spell is countered. It is SO MUCH FUN! Until next time, keep being mediocre!

Confidence is the Key

Hi, I’m Jake Meszaros and this is my first MTG article.

                The average Magic player who attends the local FNMs every week and the occasional PTQ/1k event are the players who are the most subject to this lack of confidence. Usually, these players are guided by the bigger and better players from their store, usually 1800+ rated players who have top 8 experience in a large event. In the case of my local store, players like Kar Yung Tom and Nicholis Rahill are always available to comment on a deck choice, playtesting, and card options for decks. I am sure that these two men both deal with a great many number of players who seek guidance from them would both agree that confidence is a huge part of playing Magic well. However, many of the players that seek guidance from these players are often lacking in such confidence, which is something no other person can fix. Allow me to use the example of Kar Yung Tom, one of Quebec most dominant plays in terms of top 8s as of late.

“I was always confident in MTG, but would become easily intimidated by who people considered the best players in Quebec.” Were Tom’s thoughts before heading into the 1k Champs event help in February. Piloting the weekend’s latest deck, Boss Naya, Tom raged through the Swiss, finishing second after the Swiss, but unfortunately losing in the top 8. A few months later, he top 8ted again, playing Mike Flores’ UWR control, placing first after Swiss and solidifying his rating to be among the top 100 in Canada (98^th to be exact). Clearly Kar Yung Tom’s confidence level has increased in those last few weeks.   “I feel confident about my game. Now that I’ve proved I can play at a high level, I’m more confident going into games against better players.”

                Another player that I have been in touch with for quite a while is Nicholis Rahill, After turning his game around to become a serious contender in Montreal, He explains why self-confidence is so important when it comes to Magic.

 “Confidence is key when it comes to playing MTG, being under confident for a particular match can lead to misplays or keeping a bad hand / making a mad attack, only once you are calm and confident, you can begin to analyze the game state properly. Overconfidence is also an issue, as it can lead to making bad plays, or under estimating certain cards or even players, the key to success in magic is to find that perfect harmony where you are not only calm and confident about your ability to play , but also attentive to the game state and all its secrets.”

                After discussing with Rahill, I realised that I was the perfect example of both a lack of confidence and overconfidence. At the recent PTQ Amsterdam, I came in playing a similar list to Patrick Chapin’s devastating Red. Originally I wasn’t confident in my matchups at all, Mythic being the matchup I disliked the most, until I started the day 2-0, beating both Mythic and Boss Naya, despite significant lifegain in both decks. In the third round I played U/W control, a matchup I thought I could win considering I had beaten both Mythic and Boss Naya, although getting through Wall of Omens and eventual Kor Firewalker would be difficult. Game 1 I stomped my opponent, getting out a turn 5 Summons with double Bushwhacker. However, games two and three I lost to 6 Wall of Omens and 3 Firewalkers in 2 games. I was overconfident in the matchup, which led me to make stupid plays like burning an omens late game, when I was sure he had a Baneslayer in hand. A clear sign of negligence caused by overconfidence that I could end the game even if he had a Baneslayer in play (also a pure sign of stupidity). I also underestimated my opponent as just before I had heard him talking about being unsure how to play U/W control, which led me to believe I had the upper hand, even though my matchup against control is very difficult.

                To conclude, I believe that there are too many Magic players out there who are unaware of just how important confidence is to a player. Whether it’s not having the confidence needed to play a certain deck, feeling like you’re worth a million bucks, or feeling so down that you’re going to quit competitive magic, confidence plays a bigger role in magic than most people tend to realise.

Hello world!

Hello to everyone, my name ia Jake Meszaros and I am a mediocre magic player.

Now that the introduction has been made, I’ll explain a bit about MediocreMagic.com. The main goal of this site is to help both other players, as well as myself to progress and to become better Magic: the Gathering players. I will try to post articles as often as I can but there may be other guest writers posting for this site. While we may not be the most experienced group out there, we are committed to writing as much as possible.

Cheers,

Jake Meszaros