My Sideboard is useless! (or, this place has one crazy metagame!)

In the beginning there was Magic and it was good.  There was a limited card pool and a competent player knew what every card did and could adapt to them.  The Internet was a fledgling; with only college students for the most part having web access and message boards dedicated to Magic The Gathering were sparse. 99% of the decks you would face were original builds.  Before the Internet became superfluous and netdecks came out of the woodwork, preparing for a tournament meant scrambling and making the best sideboard you could against the CARDS, not the decks that gave you the biggest trouble.  What shuts my deck down?  OK, What counters that?  OK.  I’m good.  Let’s play. 

Fast forward to the present.  You go to a Standard tournament and 60% of the field is playing a specific deck build.  Now I’m not accusing people of copying decks off the Internet, there are only so many permutations of cards and certain combinations tend to flow together.  This can be discovered through play against many other people or by research, the latter is otherwise defined as netdecking. Eventually, what works will more prevalent than what doesn’t work, and foundations for deck archetypes will be formed creating a metagame.  You either prepare for this or you fall to this, primarily based on the metagame that has developed in the venue you play at.  The cards in your sideboard allow you to adapt to that metagame and you will live or die by that sideboard.  Forget to put in Ratchet Bomb at a venue that many players use tokens and you are sure to lose to that deck archetype. 

Another ingredient to a web influenced metagame is that the same people tend to win again and again and again at the venues they frequent the most.  This can breed an un-fun atmosphere for some.  Why play FNM at a certain location when a clown car full of the same people wins every week?  I know I wouldn’t play in that venue. It facilitates a negative reaction to the game.  Continuing to play at a venue where the same people win all the time is insanity – doing the same thing and getting the same result expecting a different outcome is the mark of a lunatic.  And I’m not talking about playing the same deck, oh no.  I’m driving home the point that when you are losing to these decks even after you have adapted to them will lead you screaming and unloading your collection.  An apparent out to this that can really drive you nuttier than squirrel poop is copying the decks that beat you.  And you continue to lose.  I’m a firm believer that you have to learn how to beat a deck before you play the deck.  This way you know it’s weaknesses and are prepared to defend against them. 

Go to different venues in Central New York and you will see a different metagame at each location.  Play The Game / Read the Story, Legacy Gaming LLC and Cloud City’s metagame are reflections of the decks you will see at larger events like a TCG $5K or a Star City Open.  This means you will see a Delver of Secrets in more than half the decks you play against.  By contrast, Larger Than Life and Lilac House, their metagames are completely off the map.  Agro decks featuring humans, goblins, zombies and vampires are the big deal with these venues and not preparing for Goblins means you lose on turn 4 or 5 to them every time. 

Recently, an observant person playing a “netdeck” variant at Lilac House commented, (and I paraphrase!): “I’m glad I played here because I never knew my deck was susceptible to Vampires.  I never see them at the other venues I play in.” 

Take into account my deck “Sigfried & Roy,” a WB Tokens/Planeswalkers/Miracle deck I’ve been playing at Lilac House since March.  There are ZERO WB builds like this listed as “Top 8ing” online, as far as I’ve seen.  Most every deck that the regulars of Lilac House play is NOT a standard metagame deck.  Mono Black Mid-Range, UB Zombies, RB Vampires, UW Spirits, Goblins and Infect are the metagame at Lilac House – a strong agro presence to be sure.  Because of this, Terminus and Gideon Jura win me games and the deck pretty much rules the roost at that venue.  

Or does it?   

I believe I am quite successful with the deck there; I’ve won a few SAM and FAM events and took second on M13 Gameday with it.  Now, this past weekend my deck puked on me.  In fact, the top 2 decks from the previous week, mine being one of them, both fell in early rounds to make them non-factors in the general scheme of things at both FAM and SAM. So much for proclaiming, “I’M KING OF THE WORLD!” 

To further destroy my self-esteem, I go to PTG/RTS with the deck and I scrub out every time 1-2 or 0-2 drop.  I play it at Larger Than Life and I have mixed results as well, although they are more in my favor than at PTG/RTS. I played the deck once at Cloud City and I scrubbed out round 1, dropping from frustration. 

I’ve adapted my sideboard – incorporating cards such as Stony Silence, to deal with Ratchet Bomb; and Grafdigger’s Cage, to stop Snapcaster Mage and Birthing Pod.   

And yet I still lose at these venues. 

It comes down to one thing:  

Your metagame is more than cards or netdecks.  A non-Magic player and NFL super-fan once said to me, “If everyone can have the same team, what makes it fun? It must be all about the coach then.”  Forget the metagame of cards or decks played.  It’s the people you face. 

Alex Artese came to Lilac House on Saturday and quietly cleaned house his first time playing at the venue.  He didn’t brag; it’s not his way.  He just came down; played the best Magic he could and whooped everyone’s ass. Alex is one of those players that not only can adapt to the cards, he can ADAPT TO THE PEOPLE.  What separates an Alex Artese or a Bryant Cook or a Dan Brown or a Carl Dillahay from any other player?  They are cordial, quiet, friendly and casually PROFESSIONAL and even, dare I say it – HUMBLE! - in their approach to you when playing Magic.  They have (GASP!) a sense of humor, too. You won’t hear them bitch about anything.  Even after drawing 17 mulligans in a row at a recent Star City Open, Alex SMILED when telling me about it.  “Shit happens,” he said.  A player of this caliber can lose to variance and randomness and not give a shit.  

How do you sideboard against a player?  Easily.  Aaron G from Cloud City once said he “looks at a match like he’s playing against a computer.”  That’s a good way to be about it.  Aaron is cordial and actually very funny when you play against him, but he’s a honey badger when it comes to outside influences and distractions.  It shows in his success as a Grinder. Here are 4 suggestions on how to mentally sideboard for your opponent:  

1.)         Don’t let them get in your head.  I let Rich Bourque get in my head at M13 Gameday.  I lost to him.  TWICE IN ONE DAY!  Someone tells me that Aaron Webster made their deck I suddenly lose to them. They could be lying, but I’ve only beat Aaron’s builds a handful of times in the 3 years since I started playing competitive Magic again.   

2.)         Don’t let your opponent distract you. If your opponent talks too much or is constantly moving and a sedative is not readily available; the best thing to do here is re-read the above paragraph on Aaron G and remember the Honey Badger don’t give a fuck, err, care. 

3.)         Poker Face!  This game is no different than Texas Hold ‘em in most cases when it comes to body language clues.  Try to keep ticks and tells at bay when facing anyone.  If I see an opponent’s hands shake, I know I have them.  

4.)         Time is on your side.  You have 50 minutes to play a match.  Take advantage of it – to a point.  If your opponent seems to be a time masturbator, motivate them to play faster.  This can throw off their game and force mistakes.  

Nothing can insure a win at any Magic venue.  But preparing for all aspects of the metagame there can assist you in succeeding.  Just remember that a metagame is more than a netdeck or sideboard and you should do just fine.  Until the next time I throw a deck in frustration . . .

. . . PEACE!