Pillow Talk MtG 9: How to Prepare for Your Next Tournament

Welcome to Pillow Talk, the official competitive Magic the Gathering podcast of Team Pillow Fort! This week, Jonathan and Austin explore how best to prepare for an event, covering a wide range of aspects including deck selection, how best to practice, and what kind of mindset will serve you well across a long weekend of playing Magic. Thank you as always for listening!

Team Pillow Fort's Twitter: https://x.com/TPillowFortMTG 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Welcome to Pillow Talk, the official podcast of Team Pillow4MTG. I'm your host, Jonathan Johnson, aka Tanuki JJ. And with me as always, Austin Walker. Alright, Austin. We have, I would call this a little bit of a slow period. We don't have a big event coming up here in the next few weeks. We've got late RCQ season. A lot of people on the team are already qualified or double qualified. So we thought we would talk about a little bit different topic, which is how do you prepare for a large event?

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah, it is going to be a minute before we've got our next big event. Um, but in May, we've got two RCs that are back to back. Um I'm not sure about when the uh other regions' RCs are, but if you're listening from, you know, somewhere else, whether that's in Europe or uh South America or you know one of those other areas, um, then you know obviously you can you can take this whenever your big events come up, but I I think this is good just general advice.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Definitely. And I think that there's some topics in here that I know a lot of people struggle with, some areas where you can I I think maybe fall into a trap in both directions. A lot of times there's not necessarily a black and white choice, but helping to think through the thought process of approaching a large event uh will hopefully give the listeners a little bit of something that they can utilize moving forward. Yeah, absolutely. So we'll start off with the first topic, which is choosing a deck. And we we talk about this a lot in the podcast, and Austin, you and I have gone back and forth before events and even RCQs about playing this or playing that. How do you go about choosing a deck?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Yeah, this is this is the hardest thing for me. Um deck selection, I I always find myself like postponing until the last minute before I choose a deck, which is really not great. Um, but the first thing that I I like to do is I just like to identify is there a clear best deck? And when I say a clear best deck, uh I'm not talking about, you know, it's it's like 12% of the meta and has a 52% win rate. I'm talking like days of the modern breach format or you know, V V standard. Like those are the types of formats where if there is a clear best deck, then it's almost always going to be correct to just try to find a way to play that deck.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

Yeah, there are times where there's a a best deck, and then sometimes there's the deck that beats the best deck. And you know, those metas, it really depends because those are typically not the healthiest environments. So usually if you do have a deck that's quote, you know, tier zero that's just busted, if there's a deck that beats it, a lot of times in those unhealthy environments it falls short in other matchups.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Right. And and I mean, even if you have a format where there's a ridiculous percentage of the meta, like, you know, 30 or 35% of the meta is on one deck, then like if you're only playing the deck to beat that one deck, then it I mean you might play against it two or three times in day one of a nine-round event. So I typically don't like trying to metagame against that deck. Um, I have seen players go to an RC when there is one clear, like, very, very good deck, and the person has just not played against that deck all day long, you know, and so they they bring a deck that's really good against that one deck and uh and then end up losing to everything else. So so yeah, I think I think typically in and I'm not gonna say this is true 100% of the time, but I think the majority of the time, if you have a format where you've got one of those decks that's just clearly the best deck, that it's it's typically correct to just jump on that deck, figure out how it works, and try to get good with it.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

So I think it's worth talking a little bit more about how you know when that is just the busted deck to be playing, or if it's something that can be tackled. So there are some examples, I think, where you've had a clear best deck. Uh think uh teamer energy, you know, back in what 2016, 2017, yeah, 2017. Yeah, there was also the Ram and App Red Deck, and both of them ended up eating a ban. That was an environment where Teamer Energy, you know, the mid-range deck of the format was clearly the best thing to be doing, but there were other versions of it. There was a Sol Tye Energy deck, there was um, you know, a couple things to do, but the that and the red deck were really the two because basically Teamer Energy beat the red deck, but it was good enough against it and good against most everything else that it was kind of a two-deck format, but you probably should be playing the one. So, how do you know when you've got something where it's, you know, because a lot of times magic players can lack creativity and they don't want to do the work to brew to figure out how to beat something. So everybody just says, Oh, the format's busted, we need bands, they cry about bands, or you know, they just jump on whatever the challenge winning list was. How do you know when it's no longer something that you can attack?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah, I think once you once you start looking at win percentages, once you're you're in that 60% area, I think that's really when when you want to start giving consideration. And and this is like high win percentages week after week after week. This is not just an outlying week. Um, you know, and then if you're looking at the challenge data from MTGO, you can usually get a lot of really good information from there. Um, you know, if if you've got if you've got like the the percentages of the top eight decks of the last you know two weeks or so are like over fifty percent or you know, climbing up towards sixty, seventy percent of one deck, then and and it's still holding those those high win percentages, then that's when I'm typically trying to trying to get on that deck.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

How much does this change by format? I think um from for me it definitely changes pretty materially. Obviously, you can get decks that are really broken in modern and standard, but a broken deck in standard could be 50% of a meta or 35, like we saw with Vivi at the spotlights. And then modern, you could have a busted deck and it's still only 15-20%.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah, I mean, you definitely have a lot more um uh a lot more variety in the older formats like modern and legacy, but again, if you're looking at those win percentages and you're still seeing those high win percentages, then then I I think that it's gonna be pretty clear when when the the right time is to jump on onto those decks.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

So what about a time where the archetype might be difficult or it's it's not something that's generally in your wheelhouse? How how do you take into account your sort of style or preference um and familiarity with an archetype to making that decision?

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, I I typically the way that I approach it is if I identify that there is a deck that is clearly the best, then I'll run it through a handful of leagues just to try to figure out what the deck is trying to do, uh, get a little bit of familiarity with it, and then I'll, you know, try to try to do a little bit of focus testing with it as well. Um, you know, ask some people like, hey, what are my good matchups, what are my bad matchups? Uh talking to people who are like really um uh really experienced with the deck usually will give you a little bit more insight as to how you're supposed to attack with the deck, when you're supposed to change to plan B or whatever that situation might be. Um and then after after I've got in a few reps, if I still don't feel like I am putting in the the numbers that the deck deserves, then I'll I'll try to switch on to something else. Um but I I really like to make sure that I've got uh a ton of reps under my skin uh just to make sure that like I I if if I do decide that I'm not gonna play the deck, that I've really done my due diligence.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Yeah, in insert amulet Titan copypasta here, where you know it might be the best thing to be doing, but uh people think it's difficult to play. And sometimes I I I think the deck is difficult to play, but I think it's sometimes overstated. If you want to take the time to learn it, you can learn it.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah, and and speaking of Titan, you know, I I've often thought that Titan is obviously a very, very good deck, tier one for sure. Um, and you know, it's often been the best deck in the format and modern for you know the last couple years or so. Uh but I don't know that it ever really reached like the breach levels of busted or like the VV levels of busted. Um and and you know, all of this is subjective too, so it's hard to say exactly how busted a deck really is or is not. Um but when I'm when I'm thinking of like these these clear best decks, you know, I'm not I'm not thinking about like the titans that are, you know, usually in that tier one, often the best deck uh but still attackable. I'm thinking about like the the VV that we had last year. I'm thinking about Breach from a couple years ago, uh that it was just so hard to attack, and you really just couldn't go wrong by registering the deck, you know. That's fair.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

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SPEAKER_00 9:37

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SPEAKER_03 9:58

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SPEAKER_00 10:04

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SPEAKER_00 10:16

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SPEAKER_03 10:24

So one of the things that comes up frequently is sort of you go to a major event or you go to a Pro Tour Worlds and there's a breakout deck. There's something that it wasn't on normal people's radar. And it sometimes it catches the pros off guard, but then other times, like, oh, we all knew this deck was going to be here, but nobody's really seen it out in the wild at your LGS or even in challenges. And there's there's a lot to be said for trying to take some time to be creative, but finding a way to attack a meta or finding a way to brew something. So something we do on the team that's a little bit unique, and this might be hard for some people who maybe aren't as well resourced, is what we call our meta gauntlet or our meta challenge. And if someone thinks that there's a deck that might have some promise or people aren't respecting it enough or they don't appreciate it enough, we actually have a process to effectively have somebody play that deck against good players of all the top archetypes to try to get an idea at whether it has legs. When would you decide, Austin, to make a challenge like that to say I I really think that this deck has legs and we need to test it?

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Um those those are really difficult because typically when when those happen, people are trying to keep those results under wraps. So, you know, you might see like a league of 5-0, um, if if that's something that somebody's, you know, been been testing just on their own in in leagues. Um, but typically, you know, like I said, those people are are trying to keep those decks under wraps. So if if I see something that 5-0 is a league that I just think has raw power, um, then you know, I'm I'm gonna be a little bit more interested and try to look into it a little bit. Um But the the big thing is just seeing something that is like really unique and creative that the that attacks the format in a different angle or or in a different way than I'm not used to, um, then I'm I'm gonna try to give uh a little bit more um a little bit more of a look into what those decks are trying to achieve.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

I think that you also have to come into it with the understanding that most of the time those decks are going to be bad. Yeah. It's almost like the you're your scientific testing methods, right? You're you're trying to prove the hypothesis wrong. You're not trying to prove it right, which is, hey, I think this deck might be really good, so let's go try to be biased and find ways to prove that I'm right. It's more of a let's just put it to the test. And I think that's hard to do when in leagues at times. I think you can do it more easily in smaller formats like standard. Uh a modern league is uh a kind of a nightmare. Um, you just play against, and our team has come across as this week we were talking about it because people are playing against decks that are lists from you know that you would have seen on Goldfish seven or eight years ago, and just something that hasn't been viable for a long time. So you go through a league and three of your five matches are against some random garbage pile that people want to incinerate some tickets or some play points.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah. So so there's there's definitely times when I am going to look at those types of lists, but it's it's not often, and like you said, you you really have to go into it uh with with a critical eye and make sure that you're not um you know you're not bringing your own bias of I really like this card or I really like this strategy, so I'm just gonna play it until I win and then use my win to justify it being good. Um But yeah, I th I think that like when when you're when you're looking at choosing a deck, then you know, like we've talked about, we want to look at if there's a clear best deck. Uh if there is, then that's a really good idea to to try to jump onto that deck. Um take a look at any breakout decks that there might be, and if if there is something that you want to try out, then give it a shot, but don't take a whole lot of stock in some of those five O's. Uh it's it's really easy to get caught up in that. Um but oftentimes you'll be a lot more rewarded by just choosing something that is a lot more um uh a lot more it's it's been around for a lot longer, you know. Uh but if if there really isn't like any clear best deck or any breakout deck, then I think the next thing that I'm doing is I'm looking at archetypes that I'm comfortable with. And so, so I don't know if you've had this experience. Uh actually I I do know that you've had this experience um in legacy, especially, uh, but oftentimes, you know, that there will be a deck that you've just played into the ground, and even if it might not be putting up the best numbers right now, um it it still is a viable option for you just because you know the deck so well, and there's a lot to be said for that.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Oh, absolutely. Uh there's there's times where it there's not something so I guess when you have a meta where it's not a clearly defined best deck, it starts to become something where that deck familiarity or archetype familiarity becomes significantly more important. Because if there are you know three or four decks that you would identify as tier one and then a handful of decks that you would identify as tier two, but you know every matchup backwards and forwards, and you understand how to sideboard with the deck, how to tune the deck, and how to approach each matchup, you can have a lot of success that way. And we've had teammates uh qualify for the Pro Tour doing that, that they they played a deck that they knew was not objectively tier one, but they had all of the plans, all of the reps, and knew that deck backwards and forwards. And it put them in a position to where they felt like they were advantaged going in, even if they were in a matchup that was maybe not favored, they they would be able to skill diff the other players. Which I I think you do have to be a little bit careful to do that because you might get away with that in the first five rounds at a r at an RC. It's gonna be much harder to do in day two when you're playing against players who are prepared and are you know competing at a high level to try to get that pro tour invite. You shouldn't just assume that you're gonna skill diff everybody.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Right, right. And you know, if if you are picking a deck that you have a lot of experience with, then you do already have that leg up of getting you know, getting all of your reps in and you know knowing how to attack different strategies and knowing what your deck can do and what it can't do. Uh, but if you're preparing for an event and you've selected your deck, you know, you've selected maybe um an archetype that you haven't been super comfortable with, um, but it's you know putting up good results, and um, you know, you think that it's well positioned into the meta, then you gotta really make sure that you do get in the appropriate number of reps in order to get comfortable with the deck. Uh so one thing that I like to do is I like to just play a handful of leagues on MTGO or just some some generic um ladder games on arena, uh, if if it's in standard, just so I can kind of figure out what the deck is doing. And and I definitely don't want to stop my my preparation there. Uh I think that if you stop your preparation there, that's really where you're gonna fall into some traps. Uh, you're gonna get some false confidence in you know certain matchups because you don't know who your opponents are. Um but once I have gotten kind of an idea of what my deck is doing and I know a little bit more about uh how to approach some of the matchups, then I'm looking at talking to some of my teammates. Uh or if you don't have teammates, you know, just finding somebody at your at your LGS, you know, bring bring your deck with you, try to find somebody who um who specializes in a certain archetype or whatever, and just say, hey, can can we get some games in? You know, I I talked about this a little bit when we were uh going over my my results from the RC, uh, but you know, if if you find somebody who is able to just kind of kick your teeth in for a little bit, I think that that helps a lot and it and it really solidifies your role in certain matchups.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

I mean, we've had this conversation before with with regards to not having a team. I I think it's really important not to let that be an excuse. I I don't think that you and I 12 months ago were necessarily more well connected than everybody else. You could start your own team. It and I would say that just based on recent interactions with people in terms of applications and folks wanting to join Team Pillow for it, there are a lot of people out there looking for a team enough to where we can't we can't realistically have all of them on ours. So there's probably some room that if you don't feel like you have enough people to test with, you could probably start your own thing, whether that's small in in person, you know, from your LGS or you know, just reaching out and starting to network with a few people to get that going.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah, that's a really good point. And I think that it's something that um that we'll start seeing a little bit more of over the next couple years, um, where these smaller teams are going to start uh popping up here and there and and just really trying to connect with local people or you know, people that are kind of in the same wheelhouse as them that are just looking for solid testing. Um but yeah, I I mean take the initiative, you know, if if that's something that you need, something that you're looking for, then then just reach out to people and and say, hey, I'm I'm looking for testing. Uh I'm free one night a week. Are are you available? And you know, it just grow it like that.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Yeah, I think that there's there's a lot to be said for it, and trying to play against players who are better than you is important. But you know, back to the whole deck selection process, I think that there's sort of a multi-step process that one, you have to be objective. And you know, sometimes people get married to the idea that they want to play a certain thing or play a certain archetype, or they think they can beat the deck, but the deck is just busted. So try to approach it as much as you can, being honest with yourself and looking to be as objective as possible. You can identify the meta, how you're going to attack it, if there's not a best deck, you can default to some comfort levels or familiarity. So you'd mentioned, you know, me and Legacy. If I don't know what to play and Delver is a reasonable deck, I should probably just play Delver because I've played a million matches with it and know how to navigate different situations. Um so with the deck familiarity, when does a specialist get off of a deck? So there are some people that I know who do really well when there's a good mono red deck, or there's a ramp, good ramp deck, or there's a good, you know, control deck. When when should a player say, Hey, I I really need to step outside of my typical familiar zone, because it's putting you at a big disadvantage. When when do you make that choice?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yeah, I think there's gotta be some type of line between data and personal experience. Um and so if you're looking at data and your the win rate of your deck is falling below that 45% mark, I think. Um, or if you are playing a lot of games and and focus testing a lot of games with people that you know and trust, uh, not just you know playing against random stuff on on leagues or on arena, uh, but if if you're if you're really getting in like good quality reps and you're just finding That you are losing more than you're winning, then it's time to start looking for a new deck, I think.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Yeah, there's definitely a point where you just kind of have to step away from the deck and do something else. And uh it's a hard thing to do, but you will probably have more fun going and playing a deck that you've identified that's reasonable and you would enjoy maybe less than your favorite deck. But if you do better, you're probably going to enjoy it more than slamming your head into the wall and just getting beat up with a deck that you normally like, but you know, go 04 drop is is not a lot of fun for many people.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah. And and uh again, getting back to what you were saying before, like objectivity is really, really important here. Um, because I know people that will just play a deck into the ground and they they do so many mental gymnastics to try to convince themselves that this deck is actually good when the data and their own testing is saying otherwise, you know, but they just don't want to see it through that lens. And so it is really important to make sure that you are staying objective in those types of situations. Like you you uh like you said, objectivity is is just really, really important.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

So we've picked a deck now and we're we're getting ready for an event. And I say, I want to take XYZ archetype to my next big tournament. How do you go about tweaking stock lists? So obviously, a lot of people will just copy whatever did well in the challenge recently, which is not a terrible approach, at least to start your testing, but to just blindly keep that list and make no changes is often incorrect. How do you go about starting to make some some changes? I know you like to to throw in a couple of weird cards here and there. When do you decide to do that?

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Yeah, so um so I what I like to do is I like to look at the meta. Uh context is really important, so figure out why certain cards are included to begin with. Um, you know, if if archetype A is really, really popular, and I'm playing archetype B, and I have three cards that are, you know, specifically for archetype A, but I find over the next week that actually archetype A is down 10% and archetype C is actually up 10%, then I'm gonna start looking at those cards for archetype A and say, no, I I actually think that I can trim on some of these. I really want more cards to be hedging for the archetype C matchup, if that all makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

It does. I mean, a good example recently would probably be Boros Energy in Modern. Uh, you know, playing Ranger Captain of Eos with storm decks picking up considerably. So having a sort of silence effect to also go and get your best creature is a pretty powerful effect, and you saw the deck adapt that into their main deck. Uh, I don't know when that started to happen, but it it was um an innovation over previous lists, and I think it was specifically to address some of those combo decks and the combo matchups that were hard.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Right, right. And and uh another example that comes to mind was during the Breach meta, with I think it was Team Odyssey, right? Where they were playing Breach, but they were playing Karn in the main deck. Um, you know, and and you look at Breach being such a popular deck, and you say, okay, well, if I have a toolbox card that allows me to play the mid-range game better, it allows me to shut off my opponent's combo, and it also gives me an extra combo piece myself, then then that seems like a really reasonable thing to try to be testing.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

Yeah, that was Michael Plummer, uh later became Pro Tour champion and has been on one of the most insane runs uh ever. But uh he I believe he was the first one doing that in the Discord, putting Karn into the main deck. And uh, you know, there are some players like that who just play so much that they come up with these ideas to try to beat the mirror, um, which is probably another interesting topic that when you're looking at the main deck, I identifying the meta, but also if there is the best deck, right? So you think of a standard format where you might have 30% plus of one matchup, you do want to make sure that your main deck is positioned to possibly beat the mirror match. That's a really common thing in standard. So whether that means that your deck is going over the top of the stock lists or it's going under the stock lists, you might find and try to identify what are some cards that people are using, either in the sideboard or otherwise, to win the mirror match or to win this particular matchup. You could actually find space to just shove that stuff in the main deck like a Karn, which is a really weird thing to do, but a one-sided null rod, pretty darn effective when you're expecting a whole bunch of breech mirrors, uh, especially at the top tables.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

I I think along these same lines, one of the pitfalls that people fall into a lot is that they will identify a really poor matchup, like you know, a 30% matchup, and they'll try to overcorrect by you know taking out so many cards that are good in other matchups and to try to fix the 30% matchup. I think it's also really important to identify when you need to just give up your matches, you know. Um, if if there's a deck that you just can't beat and it is not a huge percentage, it's you know 5% of the meta, maybe, then you know, accept that like you're gonna have bad matchups. You can't you can't make every matchup a good one.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

That's true. I I think it's really a trap that people fall into where they're trying to fix the bad matchups to where they make all their other matchups worse. And there there really is a point where the correct response in terms of what's your plan for XYZ matchup is to just dodge. Dodge the matchup. So, you know, if I'm playing modern right now and somebody's like, Well, how's your infect matchup? Well, who cares? It's it's not a matchup I expect to play against. And if I do play against the infect player, well, I got caught.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

Now, if it is the breach meta and they say, Well, what's your plan for breach? I can't realistically say, well, my plan is to dodge the the best broken deck that you know most of the top grinders are going to be playing. That's just not a realistic strategy.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yeah, and and if and if you're looking at a deck that you think is you know going to be that is that is going to be well positioned for the weekend, but you have a bad matchup into the 30% deck, uh I've got news for you. It's not a good deck, it's not a good deck, it's not a good choice. Probably not a good choice.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

You know, pick something different. Yeah, maybe you're gonna be the one guy who gets so lucky that you dodge that matchup all day long and then happen to beat everything else. Um, but you're probably not that guy. So just just don't play, don't play that deck.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

So one thing I also notice there are some differences in terms of sideboard strategies and approaches. And this is probably in and of itself an entire episode. So, you know, we'll kind of try to dive into this for you know broad purposes, but likely something to approach later. How do you go about building your initial sideboard or maybe you're copying it, versus adapting it over time? And then also, if you don't mind giving some thoughts on things like actually, you know what, give me answer the first that first part, and then we'll come back to it. So how do you go about getting your initial sideboard and then when are you tweaking it?

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Yeah, so um I I think that if you're looking at at challenge lists, then you know, they've got a sideboard that they've probably done some thinking about. So if you are not particularly skilled at building a sideboard, it's okay to start with a challenge list or you know something like that and and you know, c kind of revisit it as you need to. Um but I think that the big thing is just identifying what the meta is. You know, if if you again, if if the the meta has changed significantly between the challenge that you're getting your list from and the event that you're preparing for, then you you really should be looking at uh trying to find out how many slots you should need for each of the major uh contributors to the meta.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

There's also a lot to be said for trying to be really critical about card choices. So I can remember a tournament to where I thought that artifact decks were going to be popular, and I also thought that there was a small creature deck that was going to be popular. So rather than playing two meltdowns in my sideboard, which I had been doing for some time, I played one meltdown and one Brotherhood's end as a way to say that that card is less effective against the artifact decks, but still valid. But it also gives me some overlap where I could use that card to help another more difficult matchup with a go-wide strategy. So try to identify, you know, why was this card in here and say, well, this seems like a weird choice, like a brotherhood's end. Yes, it's a a sort of anger of the gods at home, but it also has you know other text on it, where sometimes you might be able to take one card that might not be perfect in either matchup, but is still quite serviceable and hits more of those potential, potentially problematic matchups uh to try to shore those up.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah, I mean, flexibility in magic cards is really like uh I mean, it's it's what makes cards good, right? That's why we've seen so many charms be playable, that's why we've seen so many commands be playable across Magic's history. Uh so if if you bring that same mentality into your sideboarding, then I think that that really helps out, you know, and and even even cards that don't necessarily have two modes, but cards that are good against two separate uh uh archetypes or matchups or whatever, i the the card can serve two different purposes. Um you know, I I think I think that that's that's something that's really important to consider. Um if you have something that is super super focused, um, then you know, you you might you might uh struggle to uh uh to f find uh fifteen cards that you can put in your sideboard, right? So it's like rest in peace versus Soul Guide Lantern, you know, like Soul Guide Lantern is a lot worse at doing the rest in peace effect, but uh it might do enough and also give you the option to cantrip when you need it to. So so things things like that, cards like that are are really important to consider and like you said, be really critical about uh just to make sure that like when you are making a decision about putting in a card in your sideboard for a specific archetype, you know, if if you have the the option between two different cards, one that's specifically for that archetype and one that can help across a variety of matchups, then a lot of times it's correct to go with a more flexible option.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

So one thing that actually came up with the team this week, uh Maw's five-o'ed with the list, and he was talking about the sideboard, and some some people were you know talking about, oh, you need some more one-ofs in here. There are definitely some decks where I've done this, and I see a lot of people do it, where you've got 15 one-ofs, you know, and I'm not talking about a carn wishboard, but you've got a one here, one here, one here, two here, and then you've got other sideboards that you'll see. You know, I think Aspiring Spike does these kinds of sideboards sometimes where you've got you know three four of and a three of. Um how do you decide? I when when is one approach better than another? Or is it just stylistic in terms of how you approach it?

SPEAKER_00 33:29

I I think there's a little bit of a stylistic approach there, uh, but I think that more importantly, the the correct answer is number one, when you have a very limited meta, uh, where you only have three reasonable options for a deck. You know, I'm kind of thinking back to like the Theros uh and RTR standard back when you know you really could only play mono-blue, mono black, or blue-white control. Uh, you know, those types of formats, it's a lot more acceptable to have a lot more um specific cards for, you know, specific matchups. Uh you can fill up with four ofs, three ofs, whatever. Um but if you are going into a format that's wide, wide open, like modern is right now, it's a lot harder to get away with having a bunch of four ofs when you could play against nine different decks across nine rounds. Uh I think the other correct answer to when it's appropriate to determine um which direction to go with that is when you are playing a very linear proactive deck versus a very reactive deck. If you're if you're you know really only concerned about doing your thing specifically and you don't really care about what your opponent's doing, then you know you might have a couple matchups that you just can't beat. You know, that those are your like rest in peace type m type cards for you know the the graveyard decks or or whatever it may be.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

Your ley line of the void in the you know non-black decks.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Yeah, yeah. Um so so yeah, I I think I think that if if you are if you are trying to react to your opponent, then you really need to be prepared for a variety of different decks. If you don't care about what your opponent's doing, then just jam some four ofs in your board and call it a day.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

I think that another factor is also how many cards you see with your deck. So think of the uh pioneer phoenix deck, the is it phoenix deck? You can trip so much, you're drawing so many cards, you're seeing so much of your deck, that a one of is actually a very high probability that you see that card within a reasonable amount of time if you need it. A two of, yeah, you know, in the in a deck like that is like almost certain you're gonna see a copy of this. Um so the type of deck that you're playing matters to, to where if you're playing a deck like uh Tron in Modern, that's a little more it it you're not seeing as many cards now. Uh I don't think they're playing ancient stirrings anymore.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

So it's not like you're unless unless you're casting K Command.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Yeah. Oh, yeah, K Command's pretty good, but you don't have a ton of ways to just dig through your deck.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:05

So you you might see, you know, if you didn't have a carn board, you know, more four of or more, you know, multiple copies where a deck like Delver or Phoenix, where you do have a lot of cantrips and card draw and card selection, you're more likely to see those one or two of, and then you've got decks like uh uh I could I'm trying to think of a time where you've got a graveyard deck and your deck just cannot beat dredge, so you just throw four ley line of the voids in the sideboard because the your deck is popular and you need to be able to beat it. So that it does matter how many cards you're gonna see. Uh is it something you have to have in your opener? You know, that that matters a lot, or is it something you're gonna have some time to get to? So that those are the factors that sometimes I see a 15-1-s and I think it's the most beautiful, well-thought-out thing in the world. And other times I think you know, this person can't make a decision. Uh they're just head hedging everything, you know. Uh right. Jack of all trades, master of done.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I I think for that reason, uh you see you typically see blue-white decks, um, like the the control decks with a lot more one-ofs or a lot fewer of each card. Um, just because like, you know, right now we've got stock up that's uh been uh an uh an all-star for you know, I guess since it was printed. Um and then you know, previously you had cards like Dig Through Time, you had uh Memory Deluge not too long ago. You know, these cards allow you to just see so many cards, and you know, if if you don't if you don't care about uh what your opponent's doing for the first few turns, you know, if if if you're able to buy some time with your couple counter spells or whatever until you are able to land your your significant impact sideboard card, then you know you can you can make do with that.

SPEAKER_03 37:51

Until the combo player thought seizes your answer and then laughs and kills you anyway.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

Um so Austin, very briefly, should we tell people to drink water? That's the uh you know big big tournament. You gotta drink water, bring some snacks. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Has anybody ever heard that before? Has anybody ever told you that you need to drink water?

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Uh I think it's uh generically good advice.

SPEAKER_03 38:13

Um there are some physical wellness things that I think do matter, which is ironic because Austin, you and I have literally been guilty of staying at my house and sipping on whiskey until two in the morning before an event and then proceeding to do really well.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

So it's yeah, I'd never take that advice, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Yeah, never follow it, right? Do as I say, not as I do. Um right.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

But I I do think that there's some reality that you you have to understand how you react to things, um, taking care of yourself in a way where you can get some adequate rest. Even in the preparation process, I think not burning yourself out is a really important key. And yeah, I know right now where we've got things sort of at a lull, I know for me personally, I've been less active in grinding magic right now because I do understand that when we start to get into pro tour testing for our team and we start getting into the RC testing, that we're probably going to be spending a ton of time grinding magic.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

So it's gonna be a lot of magic.

SPEAKER_03 39:18

Right. So the next few weeks before we've got RCs, before we've got any spoilers and things that we can work on, I'm kind of okay saying I'm gonna try some fun stuff, and if I really just am not feeling the league that night, I'm just not going to play it. So yeah, find those moments to where you have some balance in life and you can do some other things. You know, put the top down in a nice car and you know, go drive around in the sunshine or something. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

Yeah. Do you know anything about putting the top down in a nice car?

SPEAKER_03 39:45

Oh, you know, I uh not yet, actually. Uh I did just buy a nice car, but uh I I'll hopefully get to do that this weekend. It's supposed to be 80, so we'll uh we'll have to go around. Oh, just so you guys know, I did buy a nice car because it turns out if you start a podcast and get, I don't know, eight or nine episodes, you become rich and then you get to buy something cool.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Where's my car?

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Uh I don't have one of those yet. You should you should try podcasting. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Um but yeah, but back to back to what you were saying about you know taking the break. Even even like when I've gone to big events, uh I I think recently I was at an event where we were talking about you know getting a handful of people together and and we we go out to dinner on Friday night, you know, you're all you've all been at the convention center or whatever, and and you you get to dinner and people are like wanting to talk about magic, and I'm like, I I don't want to talk about magic. Like tell tell me about your life, you know. Tell me about what's what makes you you, you know, tell me about cool things that you did over the summer, or like I I don't care anything. Just I I wanna I wanna take a break from magic the night before, you know, and and just not have to think about sideboarding or matchups or you know card choices or whatever. Like the that that time for me, I don't know about you, but for me especially, like that time is my magic free time. Like, give me just a night of rest before I have to think about magic for an entire day.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

I think that's really a mix. It's really knowing yourself. Um, I do know a lot of people who just you know they that's when they want to get all those last minute things out. I I think a good rule of thumb is that once the deck submission has passed, your testing should have been done. And you know, by the time you submitted your deck list for a regional championship or a a major event like that, it's time to just chill out, enjoy the time and relax a little bit, and you know, have your team dinner, spend some time together, and probably not sit there and grind your face in. Now, I know some people who've been successful doing that. If that's how you roll, by all means, I'm not gonna stop you. But just know that once 630 hits, that deckless is in, I'm much more interested in you know going and getting some chips and salsa at the Mexican restaurant than I am, you know, talking to you about grinding Tron mirrors or something. Yeah. So last piece that I wanted to talk about with this is mindset going into a tournament. And I think this is really critical because you've picked your deck, you're going in, mindset's really important because it does change how you interact with people, it changes how you perform. How do you approach an event with a good mindset?

SPEAKER_00 42:21

So the the first thing that I that I want to say, and I think that it's probably the most important thing in the mindset section, is to just make sure that you're being kind and courteous to all of your opponents. This is something that we really take pride in uh with our team, is that you know, we we want to make sure that everybody who plays against Team Pillow Fort has a good experience, right? And and we've we've had people that have that have complimented us on that, and and that makes me feel really good, but it just it it makes the matchup a lot more enjoyable and a lot less stressful. Um I think we can all think of examples of times when we had an opponent that was just like tilting off, and you know, I I I can think of times, especially when I was a newer player, when like my opponent was getting super tilted and super salty, and I I didn't want to like, you know, like uh win more, you know, if if that makes sense. I I I didn't want to make the play that like really solidified my win because I just didn't want to deal with the drama of them flipping out. Uh and then, you know, you those those are the times when you can lose from a winning position, and and it just makes everybody feel uncomfortable. Nobody likes that. You don't like that, I don't like that. Um, you know, so when when you start the matchup off with just there being a sign, a friendly sign of mutual respect, then I think it just makes the matchup for both people go way smoother. And and I think that over the last few years with RCs, uh I've noticed that that's by and large been the case for everybody. Um I'll I'll have a couple people here and there uh that that will not be a pleasant opponent, but I think it's pretty rare now. Uh I remember when I was Going to GPs a lot before COVID, um, that I was having a lot more of those like aggressive, tilted players, like those types of experiences during the GP system. But since the RC system, it seems like people have chilled out a little bit more.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

I think we've done a better job as a community of just canceling those people for being jerks, which is, you know, I I'm not all about canceling everybody for everything, but there are instances where it's like, hey, this guy's a known jerk. We should we should publicly say this guy's a jerk and you need to act right. Yeah. Now, person personally, when someone's, you know, that the whole win more play, I don't care if you're being salty. You can go ahead and be salty, but you will ruin the fun for me to a degree. And I think that that's just something that we have to remember is it is a game, we're we're doing it for fun. And I can also confirm that we had several teammates at the Hunter Burton Memorial open, and none of our players were arrested.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

So that was uh can't can't say that that's true of everybody that was at the event, but uh fortunately none of our players were involved.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

So no members of Team Bill of Wort were harmed during the making of this Hunter Burton memorial charity event. It's a charity event, y'all. You need to chill, seriously. Uh so another thing is just taking one round and one match at a time. I think sometimes it's really easy to look past and say, Oh, I'm 3-0. I just got to get three, you know, three more wins. It's like, well, you first thing you have to do is win your next round. And you don't want to have the last round in your view of view mirror where it affects your play. So if you say you messed up round two, you made a mistake and lost because of it, don't let that carry into round three. And don't let what you're thinking about for your next round, if it's a you know a win and in or something like that, ruin how you play. Just take it one round at a time, make the next right play. And I think that just slowing down and trying to recognize in the moment, absent everything else, what am I supposed to be doing here? How am I focusing? And I think just one round at a time, one game at a time, is a really critical way to keep you sort of grounded.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

Yeah, and and this is something that I've heard a lot, like a lot, a lot, but it every time I hear it, it's just such a good reminder to get me back in that headspace. Um, and and so you know, whenever I start off uh a tournament, you know, 0-2 or you know, one and three or whatever, like one and three isn't dead, you know, and so so you you gotta make sure that you you are still playing like you're four-and-o. You know, every every match is is the same, regardless of what your record is. You you are still sitting across from an opponent who has earned a spot in the event that they're playing in, and they're gonna be playing to the best of the ability, they're gonna be playing to win. So, regardless of whether you're 4-0 or 1-3, it doesn't matter. You still just have to play your game of magic. Absolutely. Um, and so uh again, like I I hear this all the time, and it's it's a great reminder every single time I do.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

So, one thing that we have with the team, and some of our uh people we've played against have mentioned this or even asked about them, is we have a um a life pad that we use that has a detailed section for notes, and I I take copious notes while I'm playing my matches, and sometimes I'll write stuff to myself, or after game one, I might write down, oh, this this and this happened, and this this was the card or combo that that got me, or I think I misplayed on this, and I'll write notes to myself later. And I do go back after large tournaments in particular and try to look at, oh, who was the opponent, what were the circumstances, what were the matchups, because we have a section to write down what they were playing, who mulliganed how many times, who was on the play, who was on the draw. But going back and being able to reference those notes for later is a way to try to keep your mindset intact because even if you mess up, just take everything again, one round at a time, but as a learning opportunity, and say, Oh, okay, I'm gonna talk to Austin about this one later because I think I messed up here. So I'll write down the circumstances and I'll come and say, hey, what would you have done in this situation?

SPEAKER_00 48:11

Yeah, and and the ability to put it down on paper means that you've relieved your mind of having to reflect on that match after match so that you remember to talk about it later. You can just let it go and and you know have the discussion later when you've got those notes in front of you.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

Definitely. And you're human, you're gonna mess up, particularly in long events. I think it's just something you have to be able to get past. And this is a game where it I don't know that anybody's ever gone, actually, I I'm pretty sure that nobody has, gone a whole nine-round tournament and not made a mistake. So you're not gonna play perfect magic, you're going to make mistakes. So I think that's just something you have to get comfortable with. Yeah. Anything else you want to add on mindset?

SPEAKER_00 48:54

Yeah, um, so I read this article a long time ago. I think it was a TCG player article, and it was just talking about like how sometimes you will make a bad play worse by trying to cover the fact that it was a mistake. Um, and so uh an example that I came up with uh that kind of uses some more recent cards would be like, let's say that your opponent has a badger mole cub, and you've got a removal spell. Let's say you're playing Is It Prowess, right? You've got the burst lightning in hand, it's your turn, and you know that you need to kill it on your turn, but for whatever reason, uh you pass the turn and you you realize, oh okay, my opponent uh uh still has their badger mole cub, right? So they cast a nature's rhythm for two, and you guess that they're probably getting another cub. Um they're gonna use some mana for from you know some more dorks to be able to, you know, make a boatload of mana that turn. Uh and so you think to yourself, well, I don't want to hide the fact that I have the burst lightning. I'm just gonna save it, and then and then if they get the cub, then I'll burst lightning it with on with you know the the trigger on the stack or whatever, or or I'll just wait until the end step. You know, I I just don't want to make my opponent think that I'm dumb for not having cast the card at the appropriate time. Uh so your opponent resolves their nature's rhythm, they get another cub, and then now they just have enough mana to cast a crater hoof behemoth and kill you. Whereas if you had just cast the the burst lightning with the nature's rhythm on the stack, you know, you let your opponent know, like, hey, I messed up, but you don't die. You know, you don't lose the game. And so I think that that's just like one example. And and you know, we could come up with a million examples if if we looked at enough tournament data or enough games or whatever. Uh, but but you know, there there are just so many examples when, and I I've been guilty of this myself, where I make a bad play worse by just not wanting to look dumb, you know. And and I I mean I I've I I don't think that I have a huge ego, but you know, there there's definitely a little bit there that that makes me say, like, no, I want my my opponent to respect me. I don't want my opponent to think that I'm a bad player, so I'm just going to hide this information from them. You know, I'm gonna hide the fact that I misplayed or or that I didn't do a thing when I was supposed to, or, or whatever, um, you know, just to just to make sure that I don't look bad.

SPEAKER_03 51:12

So I actually had this come up at the spotlight in Atlanta. I was 7-0 on coverage, playing against Jim Davis, and you could sack a hopeless nightmare, and it was uh scry two, I think, for two and a black. And I had done this, I was sort of running a little bit low on resources, I scried, and I I believe I topped one and then bottomed one. And or it might have been a top top. But either way, the next turn I had I had another one, I scried again, and the card that I had previously left on top, I bottomed. And Jim, you know, being a smart player and knowing the game really well, he's like, didn't you just top that? And I just looked at him, you know, very I just looked at him, I said, Yep, I changed my mind. The game states changed. Yep. I said the game states changed. In the reality, no, it didn't change. I was just stupid, and I realized after I did it, oh, I should not have left that on top. So it in that moment, it was a mistake, but I could have compounded it so I could look smart playing against a well-known player and then lose by making the mistake and making it worse, or I could just say, okay, this is not a very efficient use of my resources, but taking this draw step with this card is going to be detrimental to my winning this match. So um, you know, I I just looked at him, said it's changed, and that was the truth, and I'm sure he knew I was full of it too. But I think the correct thing to do there is to make the next right play, regardless of whether your last one was correct. Um, you know, ended up winning that match and then proceeding to absolutely melt down in day two. But uh that's how it goes.

SPEAKER_00 52:48

Yeah. But yeah, I mean, uh, people make mistakes all the time, you know, and and uh I mean Jim Davis surely has made a mistake once or twice in his life, and so you know, it it's okay. People understand, you know, and and to be frank, it really doesn't matter what your opponent thinks of you. If your opponent thinks less of you, then you know, maybe maybe that makes them play worse or whatever, you know. Um so so all the more reason to just, you know, like like you did, make the correct play with the information that you have, regardless of whatever happened before.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

Absolutely. Alright, Austin. We're coming to a close, and uh it's closing time. So we gotta take someone home. It's time for some pillow talk. We'll do modern and standard today. So standard first. Austin, who are you taking home?

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Alright, so standard. I think that I think that I'm gonna go back to Is It Prowess. Uh, I think that Is It Prowess has just been putting up some really good numbers. It's a deck that I feel really comfortable with because I've put a ton of reps in with different iterations of the deck over the last six months or so. Um so yeah, I think I think I'm on Is It Prowess.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

Yeah, I think that's a pretty reasonable choice. Um it's it's kind of funny because we we joked about it in uh in here before that we I didn't pick prowess and picked Momo because Elijah's like, well, I think it's gonna be overrated. And we Elijah was uh very self-deprecating about that earlier. Uh I I think Prowess is a great choice. I also think that the Landfall deck is still really good. It's one that I've been talking about for a while. It's just like a very objectively powerful deck. It got some new tools. Um I think I would play Landfall, and you know, realistically I'd probably play Prowess, but since you pick Prowess, I think Landfall would be my next choice uh in standard.

SPEAKER_00 54:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:30

Still very good.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

Yep. What about modern? Um, so I I I'm hesitant to say this deck because I've had poor results overall with the deck, but I've been having so much fun with it. Uh I've actually been playing a lot of Living End online recently, and I'm not typically a Living End gamer, but it's been really cool. With the the addition of the uh the new evoke elementals has been really, really interesting. Um having deceit be a thought seize that comes back as a threat, or um, you know, a pseudo-removal spell, uh having wistfulness be able to take care of an Urza saga and then come back and you know do its thing or whatever. Uh it also just gets rid of a lot of the hate in games two and three. Um so yeah, I'm I'm gonna say I'm gonna say Living In, just just because it's been a lot of fun to play.

SPEAKER_03 55:19

That's fair. So I'm gonna give uh a sort of a hybrid answer because I did say that I was focusing a lot on just fun stuff right now. So if I'm playing something for fun, I'm taking home mono black Necro. Uh I played Necro in Charlotte last year. I love the deck, I think it's super fun. So I would I would pick that. And because I want to give a shout out to my boy Tristan, who I know listens to this show, uh, he recently top-aided a challenge with the deck and he likes to innovate on these things. So I would pick uh Necro. If I was really trying to win and wanted to be spiky, I would still play Affinity, which I've been talking about for a while. Uh I think that it's got just a lot of tools and probably one of the best nut draws uh in the format. So that deck is extremely powerful and would would definitely treat you well.

SPEAKER_00 56:07

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 56:08

Great. Well, that wraps us up for for this episode, and we just want to say thank you for coming to our Pillow Talk.