Random thoughts

Skill with a stupid pool

"My pool was busted... but it actually took a lot of skill to play."

Someone got upset by this comment regarding the last PTQ. I mean, it's a kind of silly comment to make, but it has some merit. When you're deep in a Limited PTQ, you're going to play against really really stupid pools, pools as ridiculous as yours. So what becomes a factor? Being really bad at Magic. Sometimes the power of your pool will get you into the top 8, but it will happen less often if you suck.

Jedi Mind Tricks

I've also heard talk about Jedi Mind Tricks. LSV said it best in one of the clips from Worlds: it's not as valuable as playing correctly. Trying to "bluff" a combat trick when you're thinking ahead to attacks? Not that valuable if you ask me. You know what is valuable? Not giving away anything so he has no clue what you might have.

Looking weak when you've got a blowout trick? Poker Tells 101: if he's acting weak, he's strong; if he's acting strong, he's weak.

You know what's really more valuable than Jedi Mind Tricks? Learning to attack and block correctly. Or planning out your turns and pacing your spells appropriately. Or finding sideboard cards or unconventional plays that will give you an edge against an opponent's deck in Limited.

I certainly do not work on Jedi Mind Tricks at all. I make too many mistakes on the board that I would rather patch those up than make up for them with such a slight edge. I think you should too, you're hardly flawless. Those situations where it was your only out? Don't get in those situations in the first place!

Sideboarding

So I am an atrocious sideboarder in Constructed. Probably because I'm not very good at building my own decks. I mean, I guess I knew how to sideboard my "Bant Plus" deck since that was my baby for two months before the rotation, but any other net deck, I'm hopeless. I can guess what comes in, but can never figure out what comes out.

The problem lies in that you want a fully functional 60 cards for Games 2 and 3 and not just a pile. With aggro decks, if you're not just taking flat out dead cards, you could be messing with the consistency of the deck: less solid starts. This was the problem with sideboarding with Affinity; if you take out too many artifacts, you're not Affinity anymore.

So what's a player to do? I think you have to consider the role of the cards you bring in and leave in.

- If they're good in multiples or you will just dominate the game if this spell is cast, you want 4 in the deck. You'll start with the card in your seven in 40% if your games, 44% after your first draw, 48% after two, 52% after three, 56% after four, and 60% after turn 5.

- What about 3? 31% of the time you'll start with it in your 7, and by you're sixth draw you'll see it 53% of the time.

- Two copies? You'll start with it 22% of the time, and by your 11th draw, you'll see it 51% of the time.

- And the miser's copy? You'll see it by your 23rd draw half the time. Good luck with that.

Now there are things to be said for tutors and redundancy. Some analysis on mana curve is also probably warranted, so that you can actually cast spells and use your mana. Cascade probably throws things for a loop as well. I think these are the things to think about when you're considering what to take out in a matchup. When considering how to board, I like laying out the deck by mana curve to make sure that I still have a deck, and then thinking about how effective is having 1-2-3-4 copies of a sideboard or main deck card. Sideboarding is super hard for me, so I'm welcome to any other tips.