My spark ignited about a year and a half ago, yet I seem to have confidence issue when I vs other players in magic. Espically in standard.
My old game was yugioh, and I played it ever since it came out. Too this day, no matter how threatening their field is or how many tournments theyve 1 (I've never been in one), I still know theres no way they can defeat me. Sure enough, I always top deck the card I need and proceed to win.
Yet no matter in magic, I lack the confidence in battling more experinced players. I reckon this is why I can't win. I love MTG more than yugioh now ever since my spark, but I want to know how do I get my confidence for magic?
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Play players who are better than you...and try to get
Them to discuss the game with you. Knowing what more experienced players
Think you should do helps a lot. As does knowing what they wanted to do.
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Current Decks
Standard BEtched Champion/InfectB WSoilders/knightsW WUVenser SplicerWU RRDWR GFeed the Pack comboG WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH GEzuri, Elf OverrunG BGeth, GraverobberB UThada Adel, ThiefU RUrabrask, Big RedR WElesh Norn, CrusadeW WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
If ability is your problem, playing more will fix that.
If confidence is your problem, that is more difficult to fix. Success helps confidence, unless it is not deserved. Playing well, and experiencing success because of that, will increase confidence.
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
I play well, no all the rules, no manystrategies. I can win in standard, but when I verse a more experienced player, my confidence goes right down. I find confidence helps me strategies.l, and because of this confidence issue that I doubt myself and my deck management skills, etc.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Generally when I play other people, I just play what I like to play and if I win, I win, if I lose, I lose. I've never had a good tournament track record (this didn't change at all after my 3~4 year break) so I'm never really down when I don't win any packs. I draft for cards, I play for fun and I just like having a good time. So what if their decks are more powerful than yours? Try your best and take them down if you can. Sometimes the struggle can actually make it more fun. The only way you can get better is by playing. No amount of game theory and netdecking can replace straight-up experience. Learn what works and what doesn't. My favorite decks to play are still the ones I made back before my break and they still work wonderfully when they draw well. You're still a young planeswalker. You have a lot of room to grow. Give it time and you'll get better.
You reckon you're not winning because of confidence? Confidence is a small factor in winning, the biggest factor is skill. Work on your technical skills, deck choices, and tailoring your sideboard to your local store metagame.
You reckon you're not winning because of confidence? Confidence is a small factor in winning, the biggest factor is skill. Work on your technical skills, deck choices, and tailoring your sideboard to your local store metagame.
Confidence is a large factor in skill. Early on in my magic career I had excellent play skill most of the time. But for a long time when I played people who I believed to be better at the game than me, I would feel extremely pressured and make really, really terrible play mistakes. I actually once used Slaughter Pact with two lands on the field. To my credit, it was turn 3 and I hadn't missed any land drops, but my opponent had returned one to my hand with ...I think Riftwing Cloudskate? I can't remember, this was years ago. anyway I somehow just forgot I didn't have the mana to not lose on my next turn. Being confidant and relaxed helps you make good decisions, feeling intimidated can really mess up your game.
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"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
Past 4 Prerelease events I have gone to included two redheads I could definitely imagine nude. So, not so much.
Confidence an issue? Slow down, and make sure you are examining board state before you make a move, especially ending your turn. Go over the steps of the turn in your mind, making sure you are thinking not only when the combat phase is, but reminding yourself you have a second main. I know, I know, it sounds like it should be common sense, but reminding yourself of the steps makes it less likely to miss something.
Don't let an opponent rush you. "You done?" and all that. If they ask, hold up one finger, suggesting "one moment" and take a quick look around. I have found a lot of cases when an opponent is hoping you will not do something, or will forget to do it. So, always look around, especially when they are asking. That is not stalling, it is making sure.
A lot of times, it is not so much the deck you are playing as it is the way you are playing. If you are significantly better than they are, then you can take a starter deck and win (I know, I have done it against people I had previously thought were pretty good). Don't let them pressure you to do anything. If they say "Are you gonna block that?", ask yourself "Why are they asking that? Are they trying to trigger Morbid? Do they have another reason for their creature to die? Are they trying to make my only creature die just because it could do something next turn?" All of it.
Good players tend to try to up tempo the game. A faster paced game does tend to cause less experienced players make more mistakes. Don't let them take it over that way. Make them actually make the plays that will win.
Confidence is a large factor in skill. Early on in my magic career I had excellent play skill most of the time. But for a long time when I played people who I believed to be better at the game than me, I would feel extremely pressured and make really, really terrible play mistakes. I actually once used Slaughter Pact with two lands on the field. To my credit, it was turn 3 and I hadn't missed any land drops, but my opponent had returned one to my hand with ...I think Riftwing Cloudskate? I can't remember, this was years ago. anyway I somehow just forgot I didn't have the mana to not lose on my next turn. Being confidant and relaxed helps you make good decisions, feeling intimidated can really mess up your game.
First of all, technical skill gives you confidence. Secondly, people are under the incorrect assumption that because confidant people win more, that being confidant helps you win. When the reality is, people who are confident are people who are winning, and they win because of their skill.
You are not going to be a professional athlete or chess player regardless off how confident you are and how depressed they are feeling.
First of all, technical skill gives you confidence. Secondly, people are under the incorrect assumption that because confidant people win more, that being confidant helps you win. When the reality is, people who are confident are people who are winning, and they win because of their skill.
You are not going to be a professional athlete or chess player regardless off how confident you are and how depressed they are feeling.
Obviously with skill comes more confidence, and skill is what wins and loses games. But lack of confidence can undermine an otherwise good player's skill.
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"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
I've never played Yu-Gi-Oh, but one of the biggest things about Magic is that it is a game of resource management. If you just dump all your creatures on the board, or you just throw all your counterspells at anything that gets cast... you're going to lose pretty often. Learning which threats to play, which of your opponents threats to stop, and how to lose your life total as a resource are key things to taking that 'next step.' All of those things come with experience.
The life total part, especially, was hard for me to get down. You just have to ask the question; how much life do you need to win? The answer is "One." That's it. You've got 19 life points to play with, to buy you time. If you have the option to kill your opponents random dude, or take two damage and maybe kill a bigger dude they play post-combat, it is (usually) worth taking the two damage to see if there's something better to kill. I'd much rather Searing Spear my opponent's Huntmaster of the Fells than his Runeclaw Bear, and I'm willing to essentially "pay" two life letting the bear hit me so I can hopefully take out the Huntmaster.
Confidence is a large factor in skill. Early on in my magic career I had excellent play skill most of the time. But for a long time when I played people who I believed to be better at the game than me, I would feel extremely pressured and make really, really terrible play mistakes. I actually once used Slaughter Pact with two lands on the field. To my credit, it was turn 3 and I hadn't missed any land drops, but my opponent had returned one to my hand with ...I think Riftwing Cloudskate? I can't remember, this was years ago. anyway I somehow just forgot I didn't have the mana to not lose on my next turn. Being confidant and relaxed helps you make good decisions, feeling intimidated can really mess up your game.
Thank you Devil. This is exactly what I'm like. When I'm more experienced more than another player, I can pull what I want, when I want, and pull off amazing feats...but when I versus a more experienced player, I can't get my strategy right, and always make mistakes.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
1) Netdeck. It really helps if you already have a deck thats good. no amount of "skill" in the world is going to make your defender deck able to stand up to American Control or G/B aggro zombie.
2)Get more pro points. Youl notice that players with hi amounts of pro points never get mana screwed, mana flooded, never top deck dead cards, never draw there dead cards game one, and always blind flip there delver,win the dice roll,t3-4 bonfire ext. Its all about the pro points.
3)shuffle your hand. constantly. again. pro players.
4)Play B/x something. its all about the blue.
5)Never ever let up the illusion that the game isnt one hundred percent skill, always. If you top deck a bonfire at just the right time and steal the win with it, be sure to remind your opponent that it was your superior skill that won you the game.
6)Constantly remind your opponent of how bad some of the cards there playing are, refer to there deck as a "joke" deck, or a "non serious" deck. Act scared of everything they play sarcastically. (example) "Oh no, not a desecration demon!".
Follow these tips, and youl become a better player yet.
The more you play, the more comfortable you will become with your deck. I'd advise to get a bunch of practice matches in with the deck you plan to use and that will help you learn common lines of play and alleviate some of the stress.
If your already doing that then I don't know xD. I'd say don't focus very much on exactly who your playing against and just worry about yourself and the gamestate.
Thank you Devil. This is exactly what I'm like. When I'm more experienced more than another player, I can pull what I want, when I want, and pull off amazing feats...but when I versus a more experienced player, I can't get my strategy right, and always make mistakes.
I also used to play Yu-Gi-Oh, but I played waaaaaaaaaay back before GX. I think I stopped around the time Invasion Of Chaos came out. Anyway, I'm sure the game is very very different now - I went to an advanced format torunament a few months back just to see if anyone had old school cards and wanted to play some games for fun, and discovered that Synchros and XYZ's pretty much changed the whole game...
Anyway, the point of this story is, the way I remember Yu-Gi-Oh, luck was a huge factor, games were won and lost on who got the better topdecks. From what I saw at the tournament, this isn't as much the case any more but it's still a big part of the game, and your comments such as "I can pull what I want when I want" sounds like you may still be in the mindset of playing a game where luck is really important. It might help to break away from this mindset, because in Magic, skills like evaluating the board state, resource management, and developing a strategy based on known information (cards in hand, cards on the field, cards you've seen due to Duress effects, etc.) and re-evaluating that strategy every step of the way, are all far more important than topdecking what you need.
That said, it sounds like you've got a pretty good grasp of game play, but what you need is tricks to help calm your nerves when you're up against veteran players, so you don't get intimidated and make easily avoidable mistakes due to nervousness. My advice would be to remember that you're good at this game. Your opponent may have more experience, but at the end of the day he's just another player. If you play like you would against someone of your own skill level or lower, you'll have a much easier time keeping calm than if you're worried about how good they are.
I don't know about you, but 90% of those really big mistakes I used to make, wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been stressing myself out trying not to make any mistakes. Remember, even world champion players make play mistakes. Rather than worrying about whether or not you're going to mess up against this better player, just take a breath, evaluate the game state, not your opponent. Then just do what you would do in the same situation if it was your best friend, or some less experienced player you were up against.
One more thing: don't fall victim to "clever play syndrome". I used to have this problem a lot too. Sometimes you'll notice some really clever interaction between the cards and it can be tempting to do it, especially if you're against a player you feel is better than you (probably a subconscious attempt to prove that you can play smart too) when if you just take a second and think about it, you'll realize a simple play is often much more effective. Sometimes the clever plays are right, so don't dismiss them offhand, but before making the play stop and think "is this really efficient? Or would I do better just to make a simple, efficient play instead?"
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"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
1) Netdeck. It really helps if you already have a deck thats good. no amount of "skill" in the world is going to make your defender deck able to stand up to American Control or G/B aggro zombie.
This is actually not a bad suggestion. At the very least, awareness of what kind of decks are out there will help the player improve his own decks, and help him plan responses to certain decks. It can also suggest card interactions that the player had not expected, allowing for teaks of his own decks. Not all "netdecking" is merely copying deck lists, some of it is using the information to be prepared for event meta.
2)Get more pro points. Youl notice that players with hi amounts of pro points never get mana screwed, mana flooded, never top deck dead cards, never draw there dead cards game one, and always blind flip there delver,win the dice roll,t3-4 bonfire ext. Its all about the pro points.
3)shuffle your hand. constantly. again. pro players.
4)Play B/x something. its all about the blue.
5)Never ever let up the illusion that the game isnt one hundred percent skill, always. If you top deck a bonfire at just the right time and steal the win with it, be sure to remind your opponent that it was your superior skill that won you the game.
6)Constantly remind your opponent of how bad some of the cards there playing are, refer to there deck as a "joke" deck, or a "non serious" deck. Act scared of everything they play sarcastically. (example) "Oh no, not a desecration demon!".
Follow these tips, and youl become a better player yet.
The rest of this is pretty much trollerific. Including the obvious error in "Play B/x something, it's all about the blue." when everyone who knows anything about Magic knows that B is black, U is blue.
Seriously, let the player play their own game, but at the same time be able to adapt to the current meta in events, at their store, whatever. As I said in an earlier post, success makes you more confident, and confidence can lead to more success. Play more, make a concerted effort to get better, and do well!
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
Just study the game, the current decks etc. You should be able to figure out most of the deck within a few turns and rationalize a reasonable series of plays for any turn. You can simply know this and find a good tell your opponent shows to read him or her and see what COULD happen and play around those detrimental scenarios.
Also, study probability. Math knows all. At some point you should be able to know whether or not a play is good based on your probability of drawing x for your y.
For me, it was kind of a catch 22 thing. I needed confidence when I first started playing competitively, but I know I wasn't going to get the confidence until I saw I could beat some of the better players. But I couldn't beat the better players because I had no confidence.
One day, I beat one of the top ranked players in our state. I didn't even know who he was at the time but after the match, when I told some of my other friends, the one looked at me like I had just conquered the Romans.
After that, my confidence increased and I began to win more. Naturally, I think my play also improved if for no other reason than I was playing more than I had ever played in my life AND ... I did have a few really good players sit down and help me with deck construction and play tactics. THAT made a HUGE difference.
Today, I fear playing against nobody. I'm not saying I can beat anybody because I know there are tons of players much better than I am, but I have enough confidence in my play skill and deck choices (I used to play some really crappy decks) that I know if I get a good opening hand, I have a shot.
In August, I won two FNMs. This is something I hadn't done in 18 years of playing this game prior. I also missed top 8 at a GP Trial by 4 percentage points in the tiebreaker.
Just keep playing. Learn as much as you can from people better than you. Take their advice to heart. Some people can be so stubborn and think that THEY'RE way is the ONLY way. I used to be like that. Don't do it. If somebody tells you your deck sucks and explains why, listen to them. I don't remember the last time I put an aura in any of my decks. Getting 2 for 1'd is bad Magic.
Once you start winning, it feeds on itself. These days, when I lose, I'm surprised, especially when I'm playing somebody who I know isn't as good a player. And as a result, I don't lose a lot. At least not like I used to where, if I won ONE match during a night, I was happy.
Just like positive thinking feeds on itself, so does negativity. It's a big hole to try to get out of. But you've got to find a way to break the negative thoughts or you're never going to get any better.
Remember, there is a degree of variance in this game so it IS possible to eek out a win if for no other reason than you got a nut draw and your opponent got mana screwed/flooded. Take those wins. Don't do what I used to do and say stupid things like "Oh, I only won because he got no land." It doesn't help build confidence. A win is a win. Build on it.
Anyway, don't know if any of this helped but I hope so.
Good luck!
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My old game was yugioh, and I played it ever since it came out. Too this day, no matter how threatening their field is or how many tournments theyve 1 (I've never been in one), I still know theres no way they can defeat me. Sure enough, I always top deck the card I need and proceed to win.
Yet no matter in magic, I lack the confidence in battling more experinced players. I reckon this is why I can't win. I love MTG more than yugioh now ever since my spark, but I want to know how do I get my confidence for magic?
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U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
Them to discuss the game with you. Knowing what more experienced players
Think you should do helps a lot. As does knowing what they wanted to do.
BEtched Champion/InfectB
WSoilders/knightsW
WUVenser SplicerWU
RRDWR
GFeed the Pack comboG
WUPool of ExhaustionWU
EDH
GEzuri, Elf OverrunG
BGeth, GraverobberB
UThada Adel, ThiefU
RUrabrask, Big RedR
WElesh Norn, CrusadeW
WUGAngus Makenzie, Bant ControlWUG
Extended
WGElvesWG
Legacy
RGoblinsR
UBGFariesUBG
UBGRaffinityUBG
If confidence is your problem, that is more difficult to fix. Success helps confidence, unless it is not deserved. Playing well, and experiencing success because of that, will increase confidence.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
Posted from MTGsalvation.com App for Android
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
Posted from MTGsalvation.com App for Android
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
And yeah, just have fun.
Casual Player, Hobbyist Designer.
Percussionist, Composer, Banjo Player
Current Decks:
BG RockStars (Enchantress Midrange)
Modern:
GWU Enduring Ideal
EDH/Commander -
GW Krond, Enchanter
UB Vela, of Doomsday
RG Angry Barbie
WUG Friendly Hugs on Hippo Wings
WBR Oros, the Experiment
Also, Lady Luck favors the confident... I have found..
540 Peasant cube- Gold EditionSomething SpicyStandard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
So never?
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Confidence is a large factor in skill. Early on in my magic career I had excellent play skill most of the time. But for a long time when I played people who I believed to be better at the game than me, I would feel extremely pressured and make really, really terrible play mistakes. I actually once used Slaughter Pact with two lands on the field. To my credit, it was turn 3 and I hadn't missed any land drops, but my opponent had returned one to my hand with ...I think Riftwing Cloudskate? I can't remember, this was years ago. anyway I somehow just forgot I didn't have the mana to not lose on my next turn. Being confidant and relaxed helps you make good decisions, feeling intimidated can really mess up your game.
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
Past 4 Prerelease events I have gone to included two redheads I could definitely imagine nude. So, not so much.
Confidence an issue? Slow down, and make sure you are examining board state before you make a move, especially ending your turn. Go over the steps of the turn in your mind, making sure you are thinking not only when the combat phase is, but reminding yourself you have a second main. I know, I know, it sounds like it should be common sense, but reminding yourself of the steps makes it less likely to miss something.
Don't let an opponent rush you. "You done?" and all that. If they ask, hold up one finger, suggesting "one moment" and take a quick look around. I have found a lot of cases when an opponent is hoping you will not do something, or will forget to do it. So, always look around, especially when they are asking. That is not stalling, it is making sure.
A lot of times, it is not so much the deck you are playing as it is the way you are playing. If you are significantly better than they are, then you can take a starter deck and win (I know, I have done it against people I had previously thought were pretty good). Don't let them pressure you to do anything. If they say "Are you gonna block that?", ask yourself "Why are they asking that? Are they trying to trigger Morbid? Do they have another reason for their creature to die? Are they trying to make my only creature die just because it could do something next turn?" All of it.
Good players tend to try to up tempo the game. A faster paced game does tend to cause less experienced players make more mistakes. Don't let them take it over that way. Make them actually make the plays that will win.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
Damn I just get neckbeards.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
First of all, technical skill gives you confidence. Secondly, people are under the incorrect assumption that because confidant people win more, that being confidant helps you win. When the reality is, people who are confident are people who are winning, and they win because of their skill.
You are not going to be a professional athlete or chess player regardless off how confident you are and how depressed they are feeling.
Obviously with skill comes more confidence, and skill is what wins and loses games. But lack of confidence can undermine an otherwise good player's skill.
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
The life total part, especially, was hard for me to get down. You just have to ask the question; how much life do you need to win? The answer is "One." That's it. You've got 19 life points to play with, to buy you time. If you have the option to kill your opponents random dude, or take two damage and maybe kill a bigger dude they play post-combat, it is (usually) worth taking the two damage to see if there's something better to kill. I'd much rather Searing Spear my opponent's Huntmaster of the Fells than his Runeclaw Bear, and I'm willing to essentially "pay" two life letting the bear hit me so I can hopefully take out the Huntmaster.
Thank you Devil. This is exactly what I'm like. When I'm more experienced more than another player, I can pull what I want, when I want, and pull off amazing feats...but when I versus a more experienced player, I can't get my strategy right, and always make mistakes.
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
2)Get more pro points. Youl notice that players with hi amounts of pro points never get mana screwed, mana flooded, never top deck dead cards, never draw there dead cards game one, and always blind flip there delver,win the dice roll,t3-4 bonfire ext. Its all about the pro points.
3)shuffle your hand. constantly. again. pro players.
4)Play B/x something. its all about the blue.
5)Never ever let up the illusion that the game isnt one hundred percent skill, always. If you top deck a bonfire at just the right time and steal the win with it, be sure to remind your opponent that it was your superior skill that won you the game.
6)Constantly remind your opponent of how bad some of the cards there playing are, refer to there deck as a "joke" deck, or a "non serious" deck. Act scared of everything they play sarcastically. (example) "Oh no, not a desecration demon!".
Follow these tips, and youl become a better player yet.
We will rebuild.
If your already doing that then I don't know xD. I'd say don't focus very much on exactly who your playing against and just worry about yourself and the gamestate.
Lots of cards listed, Interested in EDH and Your List!
I also used to play Yu-Gi-Oh, but I played waaaaaaaaaay back before GX. I think I stopped around the time Invasion Of Chaos came out. Anyway, I'm sure the game is very very different now - I went to an advanced format torunament a few months back just to see if anyone had old school cards and wanted to play some games for fun, and discovered that Synchros and XYZ's pretty much changed the whole game...
Anyway, the point of this story is, the way I remember Yu-Gi-Oh, luck was a huge factor, games were won and lost on who got the better topdecks. From what I saw at the tournament, this isn't as much the case any more but it's still a big part of the game, and your comments such as "I can pull what I want when I want" sounds like you may still be in the mindset of playing a game where luck is really important. It might help to break away from this mindset, because in Magic, skills like evaluating the board state, resource management, and developing a strategy based on known information (cards in hand, cards on the field, cards you've seen due to Duress effects, etc.) and re-evaluating that strategy every step of the way, are all far more important than topdecking what you need.
That said, it sounds like you've got a pretty good grasp of game play, but what you need is tricks to help calm your nerves when you're up against veteran players, so you don't get intimidated and make easily avoidable mistakes due to nervousness. My advice would be to remember that you're good at this game. Your opponent may have more experience, but at the end of the day he's just another player. If you play like you would against someone of your own skill level or lower, you'll have a much easier time keeping calm than if you're worried about how good they are.
I don't know about you, but 90% of those really big mistakes I used to make, wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been stressing myself out trying not to make any mistakes. Remember, even world champion players make play mistakes. Rather than worrying about whether or not you're going to mess up against this better player, just take a breath, evaluate the game state, not your opponent. Then just do what you would do in the same situation if it was your best friend, or some less experienced player you were up against.
One more thing: don't fall victim to "clever play syndrome". I used to have this problem a lot too. Sometimes you'll notice some really clever interaction between the cards and it can be tempting to do it, especially if you're against a player you feel is better than you (probably a subconscious attempt to prove that you can play smart too) when if you just take a second and think about it, you'll realize a simple play is often much more effective. Sometimes the clever plays are right, so don't dismiss them offhand, but before making the play stop and think "is this really efficient? Or would I do better just to make a simple, efficient play instead?"
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
This is actually not a bad suggestion. At the very least, awareness of what kind of decks are out there will help the player improve his own decks, and help him plan responses to certain decks. It can also suggest card interactions that the player had not expected, allowing for teaks of his own decks. Not all "netdecking" is merely copying deck lists, some of it is using the information to be prepared for event meta.
The rest of this is pretty much trollerific. Including the obvious error in "Play B/x something, it's all about the blue." when everyone who knows anything about Magic knows that B is black, U is blue.
Seriously, let the player play their own game, but at the same time be able to adapt to the current meta in events, at their store, whatever. As I said in an earlier post, success makes you more confident, and confidence can lead to more success. Play more, make a concerted effort to get better, and do well!
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
Also, study probability. Math knows all. At some point you should be able to know whether or not a play is good based on your probability of drawing x for your y.
Rules Advisor: 9/5/11
Old, sparsely updated because of above: Trade with me!
Weirdly, standard has been BAD since JTMS was banned, it hasn't been fun, nor healthy since.
You need to play in my meta Z.
More seriously. I think keeping a notebook and pencil handy helps. Scratching down a few numbers to make as you think something through helps calm me.
Hoping for a cure, or at least an outbreak.
Level 1 Judge (yay)
One day, I beat one of the top ranked players in our state. I didn't even know who he was at the time but after the match, when I told some of my other friends, the one looked at me like I had just conquered the Romans.
After that, my confidence increased and I began to win more. Naturally, I think my play also improved if for no other reason than I was playing more than I had ever played in my life AND ... I did have a few really good players sit down and help me with deck construction and play tactics. THAT made a HUGE difference.
Today, I fear playing against nobody. I'm not saying I can beat anybody because I know there are tons of players much better than I am, but I have enough confidence in my play skill and deck choices (I used to play some really crappy decks) that I know if I get a good opening hand, I have a shot.
In August, I won two FNMs. This is something I hadn't done in 18 years of playing this game prior. I also missed top 8 at a GP Trial by 4 percentage points in the tiebreaker.
Just keep playing. Learn as much as you can from people better than you. Take their advice to heart. Some people can be so stubborn and think that THEY'RE way is the ONLY way. I used to be like that. Don't do it. If somebody tells you your deck sucks and explains why, listen to them. I don't remember the last time I put an aura in any of my decks. Getting 2 for 1'd is bad Magic.
Once you start winning, it feeds on itself. These days, when I lose, I'm surprised, especially when I'm playing somebody who I know isn't as good a player. And as a result, I don't lose a lot. At least not like I used to where, if I won ONE match during a night, I was happy.
Just like positive thinking feeds on itself, so does negativity. It's a big hole to try to get out of. But you've got to find a way to break the negative thoughts or you're never going to get any better.
Remember, there is a degree of variance in this game so it IS possible to eek out a win if for no other reason than you got a nut draw and your opponent got mana screwed/flooded. Take those wins. Don't do what I used to do and say stupid things like "Oh, I only won because he got no land." It doesn't help build confidence. A win is a win. Build on it.
Anyway, don't know if any of this helped but I hope so.
Good luck!