There's nothing wrong with playing to satisfy a competitive drive. At this point, I'd argue that it is silly to be upset at any level for someone acting the way you know they act for an extended period of time. You want to do "cool stuff" that you find interesting. He is trying to solve a puzzle of efficiency. Nothing wrong with either, but if you are just playing for fun it isn't going to work. Try playing commander, or start a cube, or start a regular draft group. Or, just stop playing with him and continue your friendship without this game. It definitely isn't a necessity.
As someone who plays to win and builds decks accordingly, I know that a lot of people look down on it as some sort of toxic behavior. You sorta indicate that too, claiming he "points the finger back at you" by saying your decks are good. That is a bit silly in my opinion. You are a bit salty about losing, and blaming him for building more efficient decks. Nobody is required to play differently to let you win.
Thanks for the answer! Since you seem to have the same mentality as my friend, I think discussing with you is perfect. The main problem is actually that my friend isnt very good at analyzing and discussing it, for him it becomes personal and so his response is usually just "git good". I am very much into feedback so I would love to hear your opinion!
My questions to you are;
(1): What limitations do you set for yourself when deckbuilding? I have argued that if one strives to push the efficiency limits, then eventually one will reach the only barricade that is in the game and that is the format defining framework. E.g if we play casual modern and he keeps pushing the boundary, eventually we will just be playing tier 1 modern.
(2): Does it bother you that, by pushing the limitations of the game and solving the efficiency puzzle, you effectively eliminate more than 90% of all magic cards and end up with a much more predictable pool of cards? Only a select few cards in each new set are modern playable.
(3): I have argued that when the efficiency curve has been pushed as far as possible, the first turn advantage becomes much more apparent. Our statistics show this as well. Is this something you have seen as well, and if so does it bother you at all?
(4): What is your opinion on meta-picking cards versus your friends? My friend has already commented that there are cards he thought about putting in his decks but that they would rarely have an effect versus me specifically and then he put in direct counters instead.
This might seem like a weird topic but I need some others opinions by now to discuss the matter on how to solve it.
Basically I have a best friend whom I play MTG with regularly. We have been good friends for quite som time and we meet once a week to throw cards and have a chat. It used to be fine, but there is a clear difference in MTG philosophy between us and now it is starting to show. The problem is that while I build decks as thematic engines, he plays MTG to "beat the resource limit". In practice this means that most my decks spend turn 1-2 on investing in value while he spends the first 3 turns investing heavily in screwing me and up and beating my ass. You know, like a typical modern tournament player.
The problem is I have been trying to talk with him and he is very good at closing the argument before we go anywhere or just pointing the finger back at me saying "well your decks are good too!" but in practice, and we have done the math, he usually wins 75% of the games and sometimes more. And the wins I get are not good wins because he just scoops if he didnt win the first 3-4 turns and thats the point where I finally got my engine going.
So the issue is I feel like he is forcing me to play magic a way that really doesnt suit me. It is weird because some of the most fun matches we have had are with decks he had that were more grindy and down to earth but he seems to want to push the boundaries as much as possible and it usually doesnt take more than a couple of months and then his fun deck has turned into a deck where by turn four he has disrupted my plan, killed my board and gotten me down to 10 health.
I know this is unusual because I have several playgroups and this person he is the only one who leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth when playing MTG.
My question to you guys are, have you experienced anything similar and what was the solution for you? What do you think would be the best?
Thanks for the answer! Since you seem to have the same mentality as my friend, I think discussing with you is perfect. The main problem is actually that my friend isnt very good at analyzing and discussing it, for him it becomes personal and so his response is usually just "git good". I am very much into feedback so I would love to hear your opinion!
My questions to you are;
(1): What limitations do you set for yourself when deckbuilding? I have argued that if one strives to push the efficiency limits, then eventually one will reach the only barricade that is in the game and that is the format defining framework. E.g if we play casual modern and he keeps pushing the boundary, eventually we will just be playing tier 1 modern.
(2): Does it bother you that, by pushing the limitations of the game and solving the efficiency puzzle, you effectively eliminate more than 90% of all magic cards and end up with a much more predictable pool of cards? Only a select few cards in each new set are modern playable.
(3): I have argued that when the efficiency curve has been pushed as far as possible, the first turn advantage becomes much more apparent. Our statistics show this as well. Is this something you have seen as well, and if so does it bother you at all?
(4): What is your opinion on meta-picking cards versus your friends? My friend has already commented that there are cards he thought about putting in his decks but that they would rarely have an effect versus me specifically and then he put in direct counters instead.
This might seem like a weird topic but I need some others opinions by now to discuss the matter on how to solve it.
Basically I have a best friend whom I play MTG with regularly. We have been good friends for quite som time and we meet once a week to throw cards and have a chat. It used to be fine, but there is a clear difference in MTG philosophy between us and now it is starting to show. The problem is that while I build decks as thematic engines, he plays MTG to "beat the resource limit". In practice this means that most my decks spend turn 1-2 on investing in value while he spends the first 3 turns investing heavily in screwing me and up and beating my ass. You know, like a typical modern tournament player.
The problem is I have been trying to talk with him and he is very good at closing the argument before we go anywhere or just pointing the finger back at me saying "well your decks are good too!" but in practice, and we have done the math, he usually wins 75% of the games and sometimes more. And the wins I get are not good wins because he just scoops if he didnt win the first 3-4 turns and thats the point where I finally got my engine going.
So the issue is I feel like he is forcing me to play magic a way that really doesnt suit me. It is weird because some of the most fun matches we have had are with decks he had that were more grindy and down to earth but he seems to want to push the boundaries as much as possible and it usually doesnt take more than a couple of months and then his fun deck has turned into a deck where by turn four he has disrupted my plan, killed my board and gotten me down to 10 health.
I know this is unusual because I have several playgroups and this person he is the only one who leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth when playing MTG.
My question to you guys are, have you experienced anything similar and what was the solution for you? What do you think would be the best?