A GenericBadSummary: New Year Edition

Hello my fellow Planeswalkers,

Mathew here from GenericBadMagic to talk to you about the year I’ve had, how I feel about what I’ve achieved and what I hope to achieve within content creation and Magic in general throughout 2018.

Since I set up a WordPress account on the 18th of June 2017 and posted my first article it has been a great six months writing up decks and sharing my experience of GP Birmingham 2017 (where I achieved a record of 3-6-0) with you all. I couldn’t be more grateful for the support I’ve received online and at my LGS. Without the decks supplied by my fellow paper players and one or two other sources I would have roughly half the writing to do and this would be so much harder, so thank you all for everything.

GenericBadMagic has been growing nicely on Twitter with 236 followers at the time of writing, more people than I had hoped to ever reach. I hope to continue this growth by continuing to create articles and incorporate some streaming on Twitch in the near future. This will allow me to add another dimension to my content, showcase my thoughts and feelings on the decks I write up whilst providing a real record of performance (or failing in the most hilarious of manners). Another thing I’m excited to get my hands dirty with is recording and editing my gameplay after the fact for YouTube to be enjoyed whenever you fancy some generic bad magic (misplays sold separately).

In terms of paper play I’ve actively tried to get to more tournaments in my local area (I’ve still to play in a Constructed PPTQ) and ill continue this into the new year becoming more accomplished and competitive as the weeks roll by. It’s unlikely that I will find myself in a position to go to more than one GP per year at this time but I have my sights set firmly on a return to Birmingham in May to have a crack at the Standard field. Back to the subject of PPTQ’s and I have a very clear goal in mind for 2018, make at least one top 8. This might not seem like a big goal but to me it’s something I’ve come so close to, an obstacle to overcome and something to push on from to better things.

The main aim, which is far more difficult to quantify, is to improve as a player. I hope to achieve this through regular practice and streaming/creating for an audience to get feedback and exchange ideas. This is the best way to improve as a collective and I hope you’ll all join me on the journey!

That’s all I’ve got today, you can catch me on Twitter @GenericBadMtg in the meantime and don’t forget to show some love to the small content creators of the community this New Year.

Draw well, respect one another and have a Happy New Year.

Yours,

GenericBadMagic

GenericBadInsights Part 1: Misplays

Hello My Fellow Planeswalkers!

Mathew here from GenericBadMagic with a subject we can all relate to. Whether it’s on the kitchen table, your local FNM or PPTQ we have all had a misplay that lingers in memory long after the fact. Something you find yourself thinking about months later, wondering why? Why? Why didn’t I play that differently.

Here’s mine:

Picture the scene, round one of GP Birmingham 2017, the format is Modern, I’m playing Burn and I’m tied at 1-1 against a Scapeshift deck, I have an empty hand, four land plus a fetchland in play, on 9 life facing down an angry Thragtusk while my opponent is on 3 life.

Seeing this raging Thragtusk I made the rookie mistake of trying to preserve my life total, choosing not to fetch and find a land. Two turns in a row I fail to topdeck that all important burn Spell or creature to apply pressure, two turns in a row I neglect to fetch, reluctant to spend that seemingly precious one life.

I should truly have fetched at the earliest opportunity, thinned out my deck and gave myself the best possible chance of finding what I needed, a Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, anything. The simple truth of it was that I was on a two turn clock, whether I fetched or not Thragtusk had to hit me twice to kill me and I failed to appreciate that.

I finished 3-6 for that tournament and while I wasn’t expecting anything special from my first run at a major event I didn’t see any other top tier decks that I knew I had a decent matchup against from my very underwhelming testing experience. I only naturally feel that I could have don much better if I’d only won that game but it would be a mistake to beat myself up about it, to decide that I definitely would have went 7-2 or 8-1 or otherwise made day two and excelled if I had just made the correct play. That would be too easy an excuse to hide behind.

The right thing to do now is to learn from it, apply my knowledge of using life totals as a resource in future games, reading the boardstate and understanding the clock my opponent puts me on and use that to make more optimal gameplay choices going forward.

So just remember, whatever the mistake, learn from it. Do yourself a service and work to understand what you did wrong, don’t hide behind it. Make better choices, informed by the errors of games gone by. Be mindful of this and you will improve as a player, certain things will become second nature, you’ll miss less of the nuances of the game and over time become a better player. Keep in mind though, it’s virtually impossible to catch everything and you will make errors in judgement. Think of these as lessons and every day becomes a school day!

I’d love to hear from everyone else, catch me on Twitter @GenericBadMtg or in the comments here with the plays you wish had gone differently, let’s learn together as a community and work to truly better our understanding of the game.

Until next time, enjoy yourself, draw well and respect each other.

Yours,

GenericBadMagic