I have been playing Magic for a few years. I first began with Lorwyn block, played all the way until Scars of Mirrodin block, and then took a break due to going away to school for a semester and ended up picking the game back up when Return to Ravnica hit shelves. I've always been a competitive standard (type II) player, and the mindset has adversely affected me.
During my senior year of high school, I dated a girl who played the Pokemon DS games. Having been a Magic player, I decided I was going to become as good at Pokemon video games as I could. I would grind on the Elite 4 for hours, EV train and IV breed my team, make it "perfect" and "competitive" in an online environment, instead of just enjoying the games for the sole fact that it was something my (now ex-) girlfriend and I enjoyed together. I play Magic with my friends, who are all very casual players, and get really upset about rule infringements and when I lose to "scrubs" just for the fact that I know I'm "better".
This is not fun. The only fun I derive from Magic any more is playing at the kitchen table with my father, who is also a competitive player. I enjoy playing board games and things with my friends and hanging out with my current girlfriend far more than attending Friday Night Magic. I have a deck that I could probably sell for a nice chunk of change, but I do not use it as often as someone who has invested that much money in a deck should.
tl;dr: Competitive Magic has ruined my mindset when playing any sort of game against anyone else to a "must win or no fun" mentality, I do not play more than once a month in any event and I have a deck worth around $300 (estimate). My only pro to playing Magic is fun times with Dad.
This isn't a problem with Magic, it's a problem with your mindset, as you have shown by pointing out that this competitiveness extends to Pokemon. Whether you quite Magic or not is up to you, but it won't necessarily help the underlying problem.
Remember: this is a game, and the point of a game is to have fun.
If you're shelling out large amounts of money for pieces of cardboard and not having fun, it's time to walk away. If you want to come back, it'll be there for you.
I've found overcompetitive people to have self-esteem problems they need to work out.
I would recommend examining why you need to win so badly. Does it give you a sense of fulfillment you don't find elsewhere? This one is problematic, as I have a friend who will literally sulk if he loses to someone he thinks is 'beneath' him and will insist on rematches until he wins.
Do you simply enjoy the challenge - are you okay with losing streaks as long as its against someone you feel challenged you? This one isn't so bad. It shows a sense of boredom with the game and with the lack of challenge.
In any case, I think you have some OCD personality traits (NOT A CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS). I do as well, I will literally obsess over cards some times and get annoyed when 'bad' decks beat my carefully crafted strategy. If you want to fight that impulse - fight it! Quitting magic isn't going to change your competitive nature, only learning to value your friend or opponent's victories can you really change it. I would recommend joining some sort of group activity where you all have to succeed or fail together (some sort of team).
There are all sorts of self-help guides on how to overcome an overcompetitive nature, I recommend you look them up and take some of the words to heart. Ultimately being too competitive could hurt you in the long run because you won't be good at group activities, something vital to most career fields (unless you go into a cut-throat job field, in that case it will serve you well).
I remember in the Scars-Innistrad standard cycle I would top 8 consistently because I would study the meta, play rogue cards, play a left field kind of anti-meta deck, and would usually walk out of the store with $15+ in store credit. I took the game seriously, and I was becoming an anally competitive player, calling out noobs, becoming a jerk to people in the later rounds, and I was the biggest downer if I didn't top 8.
It was then I realized that I needed to take a step back and not go to FNM for a month or two and enjoy the game of magic with some friends. I played casually, and then casual got out of hand (running casual storm or 4 sol rings haha), and thats where I understood that magic isn't ENTIRELY about winning per se, but moreso a reason for getting together with friends or strangers and enjoying a fair game. Which is why they call it "the Gathering," but don't quote me on that fact - just a simple assumption haha.
Moral of the story, if you aren't having fun playing magic casually, take a break from playing it competitively.
Regardless of whether or not you have a problem with being too competitive, it sounds like your interest in Magic simply isn't that great. You recognize that Magic is a money dump and that you're not having so much fun so I think it's time to come out ahead and quit.
There are two types of magic players. Those that play magic currently and those that don't currently play magic. You can quit, but you will get pulled back in. And when you do, you will hate yourself for selling your cards. I've been through this like 3 times already. Just put your cards away. Then one day months or years from now you'll find the cards again and your spark will be reignited.
Just take a break, I don't know a player that hasn't.
Other things in life happen and you don't want to play all the time. Build a legacy deck and you can play whenever you get into the mood. No need to keep up with rotation.
Take a break, and you still play magic (with your dad no less! Thats so cool)
If you do decide to quit, just be careful which parts of the deck you sell off. (You want to get rid of the parts that have no game in modern or legacy - I am assuming if you do quit you will be away fro a significant time, at least like "standard rotating" later).
The rest? They will be waiting for you when you come back
You don't appear to have a healthy mindset when it comes to competition - there are probably some underlying issues there that you may wish to examine so you can perhaps re-evaluate what's important to you.
Regarding quitting Magic - I started playing in Dissension and stopped playing in Lorwyn. If you just can't have fun unless you're winning, then you do really need to take a look at why that's so important to you. If you want to keep playing with your dad, I would personally take the "proxy up" advice if that's something you want to keep doing, even if you don't want to continue the hobby as a whole.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Quit the game if you aren't having fun, it's pretty simple. Games are meant to be fun. If you aren't, there isn't any point.
I started playing at Conflux, and quit just after Avacyn Restored came out. I haven't really played since. I just don't really have any interest in playing since that set came out. Nothing to do with the set, the game is still fine, but I just don't find the enjoyment I used to out of Magic.
In any case, I think you have some OCD personality traits (NOT A CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS). I do as well, I will literally obsess over cards some times and get annoyed when 'bad' decks beat my carefully crafted strategy. If you want to fight that impulse - fight it! Quitting magic isn't going to change your competitive nature, only learning to value your friend or opponent's victories can you really change it. I would recommend joining some sort of group activity where you all have to succeed or fail together (some sort of team).
That's funny, I have OCD, I have been diagnosed for most of my life and I take medications. It is not a light case of OCD. I am just curious if Magic is a good idea for someone with my condition.
I am just curious if Magic is a good idea for someone with my condition.
Wrong question.
If you have OCD and you enjoy playing this game competitively, I think the real question is: "How much disposable income do you have to blow on the secondary market?"
If you have OCD and you enjoy playing this game competitively, I think the real question is: "How much disposable income do you have to blow on the secondary market?"
Yeah, Morphling is right. OCD itself isn't a bad thing - as long as you are sticking to a budget and managing your time.
Sell your cards. Play with proxies or play on Cockatrice private servers/ MODO.
If you're competitive but concerned with money, try Pauper. You can build all the best decks for $10-$20. Turn 5 is the "big deal" turn, so it might appeal to your casual friends. If you make it popular enough at your LGS they might hold regular tourneys.
Its really up to you. If you don't want to play FNM/competitive for a while then do as others have said and play different proxy decks against your dad. It will help him be a better player and you will enjoy trying other decks. You can always play casual with your friends.
If you enjoy playing competitively at all and you can maintain your deck without too much of an investment, then play when you can.
Its not an all or nothing thing. You can play the deck you have and make slight adjustments when new cards come out for minimal investment.
Or you can just play for fun against your dad and friends with proxies and casual decks.
Like others have said, it should be fun. So do what is fun for you. The issue shouldn't be about funds its about FUN (I realize how cheesy that is).
There are two types of magic players. Those that play magic currently and those that don't currently play magic. You can quit, but you will get pulled back in. And when you do, you will hate yourself for selling your cards. I've been through this like 3 times already. Just put your cards away. Then one day months or years from now you'll find the cards again and your spark will be reignited.
Just take a break, I don't know a player that hasn't.
This. I quit Magic a couple times and sold my cards each time, and I regret selling them now. If you need to quit playing, just stop playing, but for the love of God do not sell your cards. You'll never know if you want to play again and if you need the cards you sold. Not to mention that the playerbase keeps expanding and cards are going up like crazy. If you sell your cards and buy them back later at a higher price, you are losing money. So it's safer to just keep your cards unless you really, really need the cash.
I quit and sold most of my cards and it worked out well. I started with my Extended and T2 staples that I knew would rotate before I ever came back (Chrome Mox, EE, Rav Duals, oh yeah that was in 2008). Then after EDH became huge I sold all my duals, fetchs, FOWs, etc etc etc... Then again I had over 2k in cards just sitting there doing nothing when I knew I wanted to buy a house and get married.
I still have a massive pile of crap that wasnt worth selling and I even had fun with it building a peasant cube to play with some friends. The main thing though was I filled my time with other stuff so I was never tempted to come back into tournament play. College parties, girlfriends, getting a real job after college and getting married all took up time I used to use on magic.
If you're not having fun now and dont see yourself wanting to get back into it in 5 years... I'd just sell it.
If you're not having fun now and dont see yourself wanting to get back into it in 5 years... I'd just sell it.
This is true - even if you do come back a few years from now, having no collection or a much, much smaller one will mentally help you keep to a smaller budget. Magic spending tends to snowball so keeping a tight restriction can be good.
Find someone who is better at Magic than you, lose to them, laugh at yourself for taking a game so seriously, then reassess the situation.
As humorous and sarcastic this may sound, it's a very relevant solution. I very frequently fall under the whole 'must win to have fun' spell along with my brother (both VERY competitive at the games we play - from Pokemon TCG to Super Smash Bros, to Magic, to Halo, to LoL............), but we've learned to catch ourselves and reassess the fundamental reasons as to why we play what we play.
Generally, the quickest solution is to realize that you are NOT the best, never WERE the best, and never WILL be the best. No matter what you think, no matter what rankings you have, there is ALWAYS going to be someone somewhere that can outplay you. I like to build 'for-fun' decks, decks that create weird board states, and take them to FNMs. I know I'm not gonna do "the best", I may not even win any games for that matter. I'm just going to have the most fun I possibly can. This ALWAYS revitalizes my core interest in Magic.
During my senior year of high school, I dated a girl who played the Pokemon DS games. Having been a Magic player, I decided I was going to become as good at Pokemon video games as I could. I would grind on the Elite 4 for hours, EV train and IV breed my team, make it "perfect" and "competitive" in an online environment, instead of just enjoying the games for the sole fact that it was something my (now ex-) girlfriend and I enjoyed together. I play Magic with my friends, who are all very casual players, and get really upset about rule infringements and when I lose to "scrubs" just for the fact that I know I'm "better".
This is not fun. The only fun I derive from Magic any more is playing at the kitchen table with my father, who is also a competitive player. I enjoy playing board games and things with my friends and hanging out with my current girlfriend far more than attending Friday Night Magic. I have a deck that I could probably sell for a nice chunk of change, but I do not use it as often as someone who has invested that much money in a deck should.
tl;dr: Competitive Magic has ruined my mindset when playing any sort of game against anyone else to a "must win or no fun" mentality, I do not play more than once a month in any event and I have a deck worth around $300 (estimate). My only pro to playing Magic is fun times with Dad.
To quit, or not to quit? That is the question.
If you're shelling out large amounts of money for pieces of cardboard and not having fun, it's time to walk away. If you want to come back, it'll be there for you.
I would recommend examining why you need to win so badly. Does it give you a sense of fulfillment you don't find elsewhere? This one is problematic, as I have a friend who will literally sulk if he loses to someone he thinks is 'beneath' him and will insist on rematches until he wins.
Do you simply enjoy the challenge - are you okay with losing streaks as long as its against someone you feel challenged you? This one isn't so bad. It shows a sense of boredom with the game and with the lack of challenge.
In any case, I think you have some OCD personality traits (NOT A CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS). I do as well, I will literally obsess over cards some times and get annoyed when 'bad' decks beat my carefully crafted strategy. If you want to fight that impulse - fight it! Quitting magic isn't going to change your competitive nature, only learning to value your friend or opponent's victories can you really change it. I would recommend joining some sort of group activity where you all have to succeed or fail together (some sort of team).
There are all sorts of self-help guides on how to overcome an overcompetitive nature, I recommend you look them up and take some of the words to heart. Ultimately being too competitive could hurt you in the long run because you won't be good at group activities, something vital to most career fields (unless you go into a cut-throat job field, in that case it will serve you well).
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
It was then I realized that I needed to take a step back and not go to FNM for a month or two and enjoy the game of magic with some friends. I played casually, and then casual got out of hand (running casual storm or 4 sol rings haha), and thats where I understood that magic isn't ENTIRELY about winning per se, but moreso a reason for getting together with friends or strangers and enjoying a fair game. Which is why they call it "the Gathering," but don't quote me on that fact - just a simple assumption haha.
Moral of the story, if you aren't having fun playing magic casually, take a break from playing it competitively.
You can try quitting, but you'll be back.
Just take a break, I don't know a player that hasn't.
Other things in life happen and you don't want to play all the time. Build a legacy deck and you can play whenever you get into the mood. No need to keep up with rotation.
Trade your standard for Legacy
If you do decide to quit, just be careful which parts of the deck you sell off. (You want to get rid of the parts that have no game in modern or legacy - I am assuming if you do quit you will be away fro a significant time, at least like "standard rotating" later).
The rest? They will be waiting for you when you come back
Reality is but a perception of your being --
Visit my blog!!! - http://huffalump-magic.blogspot.com/
"The brain is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side,
The one the other will include
With ease, and you beside."
—Emily Dickinson
For sales or trade, visit my blog or visit my ebay blog for my listings :http://myworld.ebay.com/arcane7828
881
Oooh Dicey:
[dice=1]100[/dice]
Regarding quitting Magic - I started playing in Dissension and stopped playing in Lorwyn. If you just can't have fun unless you're winning, then you do really need to take a look at why that's so important to you. If you want to keep playing with your dad, I would personally take the "proxy up" advice if that's something you want to keep doing, even if you don't want to continue the hobby as a whole.
That's my take on the situation, anyway.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
I started playing at Conflux, and quit just after Avacyn Restored came out. I haven't really played since. I just don't really have any interest in playing since that set came out. Nothing to do with the set, the game is still fine, but I just don't find the enjoyment I used to out of Magic.
My Mafia Stats - My Helpdesk
G Omnath, Locus of Mana U Arcum Dagsson BUG The Mimeoplasm GW Gaddock Teeg X Karn, Silver Golem
That's funny, I have OCD, I have been diagnosed for most of my life and I take medications. It is not a light case of OCD. I am just curious if Magic is a good idea for someone with my condition.
Wrong question.
If you have OCD and you enjoy playing this game competitively, I think the real question is: "How much disposable income do you have to blow on the secondary market?"
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
Yeah, Morphling is right. OCD itself isn't a bad thing - as long as you are sticking to a budget and managing your time.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
If you're competitive but concerned with money, try Pauper. You can build all the best decks for $10-$20. Turn 5 is the "big deal" turn, so it might appeal to your casual friends. If you make it popular enough at your LGS they might hold regular tourneys.
If you enjoy playing competitively at all and you can maintain your deck without too much of an investment, then play when you can.
Its not an all or nothing thing. You can play the deck you have and make slight adjustments when new cards come out for minimal investment.
Or you can just play for fun against your dad and friends with proxies and casual decks.
Like others have said, it should be fun. So do what is fun for you. The issue shouldn't be about funds its about FUN (I realize how cheesy that is).
This. I quit Magic a couple times and sold my cards each time, and I regret selling them now. If you need to quit playing, just stop playing, but for the love of God do not sell your cards. You'll never know if you want to play again and if you need the cards you sold. Not to mention that the playerbase keeps expanding and cards are going up like crazy. If you sell your cards and buy them back later at a higher price, you are losing money. So it's safer to just keep your cards unless you really, really need the cash.
I still have a massive pile of crap that wasnt worth selling and I even had fun with it building a peasant cube to play with some friends. The main thing though was I filled my time with other stuff so I was never tempted to come back into tournament play. College parties, girlfriends, getting a real job after college and getting married all took up time I used to use on magic.
If you're not having fun now and dont see yourself wanting to get back into it in 5 years... I'd just sell it.
This is true - even if you do come back a few years from now, having no collection or a much, much smaller one will mentally help you keep to a smaller budget. Magic spending tends to snowball so keeping a tight restriction can be good.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
As humorous and sarcastic this may sound, it's a very relevant solution. I very frequently fall under the whole 'must win to have fun' spell along with my brother (both VERY competitive at the games we play - from Pokemon TCG to Super Smash Bros, to Magic, to Halo, to LoL............), but we've learned to catch ourselves and reassess the fundamental reasons as to why we play what we play.
Generally, the quickest solution is to realize that you are NOT the best, never WERE the best, and never WILL be the best. No matter what you think, no matter what rankings you have, there is ALWAYS going to be someone somewhere that can outplay you. I like to build 'for-fun' decks, decks that create weird board states, and take them to FNMs. I know I'm not gonna do "the best", I may not even win any games for that matter. I'm just going to have the most fun I possibly can. This ALWAYS revitalizes my core interest in Magic.