Hi all, I'm really excited to be writing this. Not only is this my first published MTG article, but I have the pleasure of writing it about a competitive Magic league that I'm very excited about: the Venus and Mercury League (VML)! The fifth and most recent season just wrapped up, and by some sorcerous combination of hard work, good meta calls and, remarkable luck against very skilled competition, I managed to claw my way to the championship this time around. I've been invited to share my experiences playing in the VML.

A quick introduction: I'm an aspiring competitive Magic player in Toronto and I spent the last 5 years on the west coast of the U.S. I've been playing kitchen table Magic since Odyssey block and Modern since the early 2010s. After taking a break, I decided to engage with Magic more competitively when I first moved to Seattle in 2019. Because I've moved between various cities fairly often in my adult life, I've had the opportunity to experience different Magic communities as a woman Magic player. Unfortunately, not all of my experiences and interactions have been entirely positive and this demotivated me from playing competitively. I attended my first Magic event in Seattle at Phoenix Games (@phoenix_comics on Twitter) toward the end of my first week living there. Though I was excited to return to the game and jam some Modern, I was initially apprehensive due to my past experiences. However, upon my arrival, I was delighted to find a diverse and welcoming community of passionate and talented Magic players, who made me feel immediately at home. Having a supportive and accepting environment is crucial to keeping competitive players motivated.

I first heard about the VML during their 3rd season. The VML is a 10-week long Standard league for marginalised genders within the Magic community. The focus of the league around providing a competitive and positive environment for marginalised players creates opportunities that have traditionally been lacking. The demotivation and apprehension I've experienced in the past is not unique and likely resonates with many others, disrupting their ability to develop as competitive Magic players. The VML provides a space with highly competitive stakes where players can trust their community, allowing them to focus on showcasing their best play. It was founded in 2019 and one of the most impressive aspects of the league is the amazing growth they've experienced since then. Season 1 and 2 started with 32 or less players, all friends of friends. Starting Season 2, Carolyn Kavanagh and Haiyue Yu joined the organising team as co-chairs and have since cultivated the VML into an officially recognised tournament organiser (TO) and competitive league with sponsors (including Wizards) and a Set Championship invitation for the winner. Season 4 and 5 capped at 64 participants in record time (under 24 hrs!). I started tuning into their coverage during Season 3 and participated for the first time in Season 4. I experimented with playing the same deck each week (Rogues, except one week) but didn't manage a playoff showing. However, I really enjoyed my experience learning about Standard, so I wanted to give it another try.

Coming into Season 5, while I was not particularly unhappy about my performance in Season 4, I wanted to do better, so I set some goals. I set up a testing schedule with a close and long-time friend, Shayne Coutinho, with the high-level objective of "picking the best deck" each week. We both worked full-time during the day, and set our practice schedule accordingly:

• Friday evening/Saturday/Sunday would be our research days. I would compile some candidate decklists based on tournament results and extrapolations from my opponent's history. We would review them together, test some potential matchups, and submit the one that we felt was best positioned given our metagame predictions on Sunday night.
• When decklists were released Monday morning, I would test the matchup for the week with Shayne in the evening.
• Once the match for the week had been played, we started the research phase again. I also recorded every match each week and reviewed all my games, taking notes on how to improve my play.

Going into this season, I made it a goal for myself to become a more adaptable player. I've traditionally been the type of player who focused on playing the same deck to the best of my ability, and I wasn't very comfortable switching things up. However, I recognised that in order to take full advantage of the weekly format and open decklists, switching decks gave me the advantage of being less predictable and the chance to find favourable matchups. It seems that making this my focus this season paid off!!

I think the main takeaways here are:

1. Community is essential for staying motivated and engaged in competitive Magic
2. Having a goal to work toward keeps you on course to improve your game

If you're looking for more information on the VML, the organizers are super responsive and fantastic. I cannot emphasize enough what a wonderful community they've built. The VML is also excited to announce that they will be hosting a 2-day MTG Arena Tournament:

• Dates: July 17-18.
• Format: Historic
• Structure: Day 1 - Swiss (max 256 players) Day 2 - Double Elim Top 8
• Open to players of marginalized genders . Check out @VMLMTG on Twitter for registration link Monday, July 5
• Winner qualifies for the next set championship/esports event

The VML showcases and provides a positive and welcoming environment to incredibly talented players, the coverage team is fantastic, and I strongly encourage everyone to tune in next season! I know I'm already looking forward to it!