I'm a fan of Sam Stoddard. While he is just one of many voices in the Magic community I haven't yet met in person he is someone whose writing has given me new perspectives to explore. Perhaps the most powerful thing he has written isn't one of his more recent pieces but something a bit older: Creating a Fearless Magical Inventory.

If you're looking to improve your play and hone your club into the stone blade, creating your own fearless inventory is an incredibly powerful tool at your disposal.

What. You were expecting more?

The Casual Side

Becoming a sharper player, in both technical and tournament senses, is something that many of us just aren't that interested in. We don't roll into town on a tear, our cards equipped and minds readied for battle. We don't lay it all out on the line, playing for the chance to travel, or for money and value, or for the glory of the highest victory.

We just want to sling some cardboard and have a little fun.

However, the more I play Magic and talk with fellow players the more it becomes clear that I'm constantly making mistakes. Not necessarily technical play mistakes (though I'm certainly making my own share of those) but mistakes in terms of addressing other players and the games I'm in.

The idea of a mistake in casual Magic is a funny premise: the world of take-backs and do-overs seems very lenient to the various and assorted sorts of errors that come up in games. Setting aside technical play – something that intense focus and practice can only provide – the errors that crop up in casual games are often issues of social disorder.

What I mean is that while we can all agree to sit down and play a multiplayer game, how we go about that and what we mean when we say that is a little unclear. There isn't any way to resolve the issue of using social contracts other than to define our contract literally. But there is a way to clarify some of the issues that crop up: take a closer look at how you're playing with others.

Do you know anything you do that annoys or confuses other players? Do you have any idea how many times you miss identifying the players who's actually going to take you out? Looking at the game through the prism of improving the social aspects of the experience is one thing that every player can do.

And I've done just that for myself.

Some of the things I share below may not be "problems" in how your define Magic. Some of these may actually be "good" things for you. My list isn't judgmental or accusatory, simply a listing of things that I feel I am doing wrong for casual play. Your list will reflect the things you feel about casual Magic and, thus, may vary considerably.

My goal, however, is to highlight that casual play is something that should be taken into consideration in some of the same ways that more competitive play already is: deliberate and intentional actions should be weighed, with best practices becoming the norm rather than exception.

1. I complain about board sweeping effects even as I run many of my own.
2. I complain about land destruction but will attack a player's mana to cut a color off.
3. I complain about countersmagic knocking down my stuff down but gleefully look forward to the same for others.
4. I point out who I feel is the strongest threat but avoid admitting when that person is me.
5. I shuffle too much, exceeding sufficient randomization and eating up too much time.
6. I shuffle other players decks after they themselves shuffled, eating up too much time.
7. I get flustered in situations where my strong move was countered and everyone at the table turns on me.
8. I keep hands that are too loose, leaving me far behind board development.
9. I play too slow, sometimes taking far too long to make a simple decision (like to chump block or not).
10. I make aggressive attacks into boards that I have not read clearly, losing creatures I otherwise shouldn't.
11. I tap my mana wrong consistently, leaving me without the mana needed to reactive spells.
12. I play as many land-fetching effects as possible instead of simpler and less time intensive artifact mana.
13. I don't block until my life total gets very close to zero, forcing myself to block consistently in awkward situations.
14. I undervalue removal and countermagic in multiplayer Limited.
15. I do not pay enough attention to my opponent's boards, missing clever and interesting interactions that impact my decisions.
16. I complain about combo decks but run high-powered "synergy" in most of my decks.
17. I run too many tutor effects, creating unnatural consistency and power in decks, especially Commander.
18. I overvalue protection effects, assuming my indestructible/pro-X creatures will not die far more often than they do.
19. I trade, hold conversations, and greet players in the middle of games, even on my own turn.
20. I take phone calls in the middle of games, even on my own turn.
21. I take pride in victories without properly congratulating the winners in my losses.
22. I assume that players who don't have tuned, consistent decks aren't aware of the principles that create said decks.
23. I will avoid playing with players simple because I don't like something about them.
24. I spend more time picking apart board states than I do simply finding the win and executing on it.
25. I put Sensei's Divining Top and Sol Ring into every Commander deck, whether it makes sense or not.
26. I overextend into board clearing effects but "compensate" by adding as much card draw as possible into every day.
27. I sometimes play for the loss to get out of a game without actually scooping.
28. I will point out other's "play errors" when I don't have perfect information (that is, know their hand and other pertinent normally concealed information).
29. I advocate including new players but play formats that aren't conducive to inclusion.

I don't believe this list is the complete whole of things I feel I'm doing wrong: it's merely the list of obvious and subtle things that I've noticed and can recall. The list isn't exact, either. I'm positive that some of the wording and perception of what I am seeing can be clarified further.

But what I can use this list to do is to create some order to the madness of becoming a better player. I'm not out to tin games but to win friends, and playing friendlier will do just that. Based on my own list above there are three main focus points I should work on.

I need to be a better loser.

While I may not find perfect consensus on what strategies are correct and "acceptable" for social gaming, taking what others do in stride is the better way to play. It shouldn't matter if Sinkhole or Counterspell is ruining my day, or I'm taking the beating for making a failed move to win, sitting tall and simply playing the game as it happens is just.

Moreover, while I can encourage others to play the way I feel the community at large would like to see, each player is still an individual with different tastes, preferences, and experiences of fun. Land destruction and countermagic may not be at the top of my list, it certainly can be for others. Every time I complain about the things I don't like I'm not just voicing my opinion, I may also be attacking other players indirectly.

There isn't an easier way to sum this up than the overly blunt "Be the bigger person." It's something that I've had to work on before but it's also something that can always be better. Don't you like to play with a genuinely pleasant player?

I need to take more shortcuts.

Recently, I've been working hard to "tighten up" my technical play. While I truly enjoy the miscellaneous shenanigans that happen all around casual games I often find my free time playing against judges, competitive players between rounds, and even just plain talented and clean players. I, too, want to play clearer and not miss as many opportunities as I have before.

It's this regimented tightness that has crept too far into my casual plays. Yes, shuffling more thoroughly, including opponent's decks, is good competitive sense. Yes, making fetches one at a time is correct sequencing and provides opportunities for opponents to respond. But every moment I take to do something is time taken from other players.

There's a lot to be said to playing correctly. There's a lot more gaming to be said to playing smoother and taking the appropriate shortcuts. Don't you like to play with players who don't take all the time?

I need to build more decks that aren't stacked.

I don't cheat. It's just not my bag. What I mean by "stacked" is that I try to tune the deck over and over, seeking that "perfect" structure where it's so consistent I almost know exactly what I'm getting. The problem with this is just that: the invariable experience it creates.

I love consistency, especially that which is through redundancy. But I take it too far and push my decks to always deliver. It isn't that decks shouldn't be somewhat consistent, but that all-too-often my decks carry the win off of other player's inconsistencies. My decks simply don't leave wiggle room for opponents to recover at all.

There are times and places for consistency taken to the edge but those times and places aren't always around a table of friendly faces. Don't you want a chance to make a mistake and not have it be the end?

The Process

Changing all these little things won't happen all at once. Fighting my natural, but detrimental urges isn't easy. Breaking bad habits is always a challenge. But, in the open air of the community I'll be held more accountable to my true intentions – playing as the bigger, not "better", player – rather than continue to be the player I am today.

I sincerely hope that, at the very least, you'll take some time to consider what Magic means to you and how those interactions you create around Magic are experiences by others. While I can certainly work to change myself it is my greatest hope that you too will seek to make your own improvements as well. There are great things happening in Magic today, and if we all work to be the bigger players they will continue to grow to be even better things.