Play Testing

[CAMDEX]

Zadok001 just described the people who I play with.

Me- The IV internet boy, but on a lesser scale. i'm into the metagame, and i used to run the netdecdks like there was no tomorrow. Then I built: a R/B/G flashback deck, a G/B/W beats, and your basic Goblin Sligh/Burn (yes, i Don't know the difference)
Now its learning how to play all over again... REALLY play, not just, "i attack, ur dead. next game."

PC- the combo/PLAYER player, you look at his decks, and they seem so random, with the most unkown combos... and then you get ur head beat in 10-15 THOUSAND TIMES (experience...) runs a dragon deck, a "no matter what u do u get hit" deck (not T2), mostly stuff to keep from doing what u want.

J- the control guy. blue-black discard is his thing. also runs a cheapie R/W/U land control deck (goblin gardener, limited resources) he's the guy who isn't doing his job when he's not pissing u off. Purveyor of the Megrim-Megrim-Urza's Guilt.

Joseph-IF PC ever, EVER gives up magic, this guy's No.1. he's got one of the nastier T2 legal decks around, and seems to topdeck everything he needs. runs one deck that everybody knows: R/G/B/W deck with Lightning angels, shivan wurms, etc. can be consideredd the turn 8 ur screwed player.

Fr. David- No he's not a priest. He...well... i can't explain him. Runs a cheesy B/U bounce deck, a R/G/W beatdown deck, and a 5-color Green deck (T2 too, go fig) He's my No. 1 candidate for the turn ur screwed player, especially with his 5-color, were he needs all 5 lands to really get going.

That is the group of guys i play with. no real playtesting, just working on strategy, etc., mostly just fun stuff.

 

[kinghink]

hehehe... thank you for taking the time to just explain the crew you play with. I find it amusing because everyone has a basic mindset/strategy and runs with it, and I see alot of similarities between those mentioned and my group. Everyone has their strong points. I sympathize with the huge creatures and mana curves.

Talking about my playgroup, I realize that sometimes things become so stagnant that they're frustrating as hell. It's important to switch it up every once in a while. It's very important or you never learn or expand your game. I think that's why I've got 4 decks and a 5th under construction. I'm trying not to get frustrated with the game so changing it up is a good thing for me. So I put the question out there, how do you guys NOT get frustrated with the game? Do you? If so, what the cure? And how long do you guys play when you have a magic-fest?


Mark

PS. For the record, not 24 hours after I described my group, the Piss off artist and the newbie with the disgusting deck that he almost always wins after 15 rounds... well it happened. POA (Pissoff artist) had something obscene like 103 life and I conceded in a multiplayer game (he just stole my Vampire Dragon). NWDD (Newbie With Disgusting Deck) was at 54 or something around that neck of the woods. Needless to say, I had my fill and withdrew. Well wouldn't you know, the POA LOST the game with the NWDD nailing him every round for 5-10 mana each go. It was just sick to watch.

 

[Spiderman]

So I put the question out there, how do you guys NOT get frustrated with the game? Do you? If so, what the cure? And how long do you guys play when you have a magic-fest?

Well, I only get frustrated (kind of) because we have a limited time to play, like around two hours really, which is only time for 1 or two games. I don't really get frustrated in general with Magic 'cause I'm not playing enough, so every time is good so far.

 

[Neil Rigby]

Playtesting depends a lot on what you are playtesting for (kinda obvious i know). You can be like JohnO, who sometimes shows his face around here, who playtest's with Ben Ronaldson who has a reputation of playtesting for something like 100 hours a week because he is constantly searching for the tech that is going to win the next pro-tour, or you can be like most casual players who probably playtest fr a couple of hours a week for a bit of fun before they go to FNM. Personally I playtest as often as I can because I play quite a few tournaments and quite simply just love the game so any excuse to play it will do.
When it comes to tournaments it all depends on your personal outlook on magic, Apollo said don't get too seriously into tourney's I would say the exact opposite getting into tourney's is what made magic a huge thing for me rather than something to do when we had finished playing football (soccer to you). He said have some fun, there is nothing more fun than watching your friends do well at a tourney for the first time, or in the case of the lucky few who get to go on pro-tours travelling the world with your friends to play magic in a foreign country. The tournament scene has also massively increased the number of people I know/can call friends. This next point wont be of any relevance until you start travelling quite a way for tournaments but getting to know people also cuts down on accomodation expenses

My playtest group consist's of about 5 people

Gizmo - often seen on these message boards trying his best to irritate people but to give him his dues he is a reasonably good deck builder (damn sight better than me) and not to shabby a player. Definately should have won more tournaments than he has.

Pro-tour Hagon - Rich is the Joey average of magic players, he is neither amazing nor atrocious, on his day he can win a tourney. In the words of Gizmo "he can apply a limited amount of brain activity to magical cards and so struggles to stay on top of things"

Mark - Mark is the newest member, he turned up a couple of weeks ago after a long absence from magic with a working deck that wasn't exactly tournament worthy, played it against ours a couple of times and decided he wanted to play tournament magic so just dismantled his deck. Again not amazing but a very quick learner

Me - I am a very good player, better than the rest of my playtest group anyway, but a crap deck builder, not a lot else to say about me really

Andy McNish - Andy invented countersliver, this is Andy's only idea ever he constantly refers to it and tries to recreate it whenever he can, Andy can also be the worst magic player in the world. 90% of everything that comes out of Andy's mouth is irrelevant

 

[Gizmo]

I`ll try to put a bit more depth on that:

Gizmo - often seen on these message boards trying his best to irritate people but to give him his dues he is a reasonably good deck builder (damn sight better than me) and not to shabby a player. Definately should have won more tournaments than he has.

Well, what to say about myself. I play to a perfectly competent level, making few mistakes but fewer amazing plays. My strength comes in design - being to able to read a decklist and tell pretty much instantly if its any good or not. My joy is finding cards that are considered bad and beating people over the head with them until they change their mind - although often this leads me to like cards that are actually bad and I`m just kidding myself. I dont 100% trust my own judgement any more when I go rogue. I almost NEVER innovate a new design from scratch, but I think there are very few players better than me at taking an existing idea and improving on it.

Richard "Pro-Tour" Hagon - Rich is the Joey average of magic players, he is neither amazing nor atrocious, on his day he can win a tourney. In the words of Gizmo "he can apply a limited amount of brain activity to magical cards and so struggles to stay on top of things"

Rich has a lot of other things in his life - hes a bona fide succesful musician and cabaret entertainer, so he`s got limited time he can spend on Magic. He probably only scores a 5/10 in terms of average playing skill, but that reflects a generally high level (about 6/7) that periodically disappears when he encounters a new or complicated situation, leaving him staring blankly at his hand as though he`s never seen a Magic card before. Does the simple things perfectly. Rich is a playtest monkey - if he isnt playing a piano while dangling upside down in a carpet wearing full dinner dress (its a niche market) then he`s playing Magic. Also Team Driver, if Rich isnt free we cant get to a tournament.

Mark - Mark is the newest member, he turned up a couple of weeks ago after a long absence from magic with a working deck that wasn't exactly tournament worthy, played it against ours a couple of times and decided he wanted to play tournament magic so just dismantled his deck. Again not amazing but a very quick learner

Mark is a phenomenon Ive never seen in Magic. Namely, a player who has been playing for a long time, but who has never been to a tournament. Usually if you are new to tournaments you are fairly new to Magic, and if you`ve gone a long time without playing tournaments its because you dont want to play tournaments. As such it`s been very satisfying watching just how rapidly he`s picked the tournament level play up. A month ago he was poor, now he`s distinctly above average and still improving.
Marks role in the team is to play Magic an AWFUL lot (he clocks up as many playtest hours as anyone), and because he`s new he`s still dredging up random deck ideas.

Neil - I am a very good player, better than the rest of my playtest group anyway, but a crap deck builder, not a lot else to say about me really

I remember, a good few years ago, sitting at Table 6 during the Swiss rounds in a tournament, and looking up at Neil on Table 2, and complaining "Since when were you better at Magic than me - when did THAT happen?". Im still not sure when it happened, but it did. I think right now every serious Magic player in the UK looks at Neil and wonders the exact same thing. Almost certainly the best natural Magic player in the country, the only limit is how seriously he chooses to take it, and how well he is supported.
In the team Neil makes sure that all decks are rigorously tested and that we arent missing out on good ideas simply because we are misplaying them. He also makes sure we get loads of cards coming into the team in prizes so we dont have to buy boxes.

Andy McNish - Andy invented countersliver, this is Andy's only idea ever he constantly refers to it and tries to recreate it whenever he can, Andy can also be the worst magic player in the world. 90% of everything that comes out of Andy's mouth is irrelevant

Being associated with Andy is kind of like having a dog that`s swallowed a rare and precious Emerald. Every day you have to sift through a huge pile of erm... you know.... but one day you KNOW theres going to be something very valuable in there somewhere. Deck innovator, and inventor of CounterSliver, CounterOath, OathLD, and lots of terrible decks in between. In his own words 'makes bad decks well'. Is famously godawful at actually playing, which is a shame because he used to be really good but he doesnt put any effort in any more. We really only keep him around because we are waiting for that Emerald...

Thats a bit more flesh on the bones. Except to add that I`m gorgeous and the others are all ugly.
We playtest in a bar, where we can watch the football on a big screen TV. That also tells you a lot about our approach to Magic.

 

[Spiderman]

Except to add that I`m gorgeous and the others are all ugly

Are we sure that Gizmo and Chaos Turtle are separate people?

 

[Zadok001]

You know, Spidey, the exact same thought went through my head when I read that. So, now all we're missing is John'O to come in and give us his perspective, righto?