[Fedoras of Salvation] - White Knights ITT

[Dechs Kaison]

This isn't about changing my luck. It's about finding strategies for coping with bad luck, accepting it and moving on. I don't know how to play tight and not be emotionally invested / angry when I just lose to bad luck. I'm looking for advice on that. I remember Zem telling me "glory is fleeting, focus on improving over time" and I've tried to take that to heart. However, I feel I have plateaued and my bad luck / inability to accept it and not tilt are holding me back.

Taking a break after a rage inducing loss is one of the best things you can do. Go outside and get some fresh air and try to forget the last game. Don't talk to your friends about how shitty your luck is, because that will only make you tilt harder. You can't play your best if you're stressed out and angry, and you have to remind yourself that when you feel the tilt starting to creep in. You're going to end up on the wrong side of variance from time to time, and it happens to everyone. You have to come to terms with it or you'll never stop tilting.

Or your could realize that it's not at all due to variance. Your losses are precisely that: yours. They are nothing but a result of your failure to make the best choices. Accept each loss as the lesson it's supposed to be and move on.

Blaming your failures on luck or variance gives you an invisible boogeyman to be angry at because "variance fucked me and there's nothing I could do about it." Of course you're going to tilt with an attitude like that. That's not helpful at all and it's not even true. Putting the blame in the right place (your choices) makes it impossible to tilt because it puts the control back in your hands. Choose a better archetype. Build a tighter deck. Metagame better. Shuffle more thoroughly. Mulligan correctly. Then all the play decisions that come after that. Then sideboard better.

There's always something you could have done better. Each loss is a lesson in what you can be doing better. Find that thing and correct it. Then the loss becomes an achievement. The loss is a good thing. The loss makes you stronger.

And tilting goes away.

Unless the lesson was "don't fucking tilt you neckbeard fuck."

[nme]

"don't fucking tilt you neckbeard fuck."

[redthirst]

Sig worthy advice right there.

[redthirst]

Hey Dechs, played any Tiny Leaders yet?

[Khaospawn]

And no, I'm not playing burn.

And that...is why you fail.

[Jack]

This isn't about changing my luck. It's about finding strategies for coping with bad luck, accepting it and moving on. I don't know how to play tight and not be emotionally invested / angry when I just lose to bad luck. I'm looking for advice on that. I remember Zem telling me "glory is fleeting, focus on improving over time" and I've tried to take that to heart. However, I feel I have plateaued and my bad luck / inability to accept it and not tilt are holding me back.

Taking a break after a rage inducing loss is one of the best things you can do. Go outside and get some fresh air and try to forget the last game. Don't talk to your friends about how shitty your luck is, because that will only make you tilt harder. You can't play your best if you're stressed out and angry, and you have to remind yourself that when you feel the tilt starting to creep in. You're going to end up on the wrong side of variance from time to time, and it happens to everyone. You have to come to terms with it or you'll never stop tilting.

Or your could realize that it's not at all due to variance. Your losses are precisely that: yours. They are nothing but a result of your failure to make the best choices. Accept each loss as the lesson it's supposed to be and move on.

Blaming your failures on luck or variance gives you an invisible boogeyman to be angry at because "variance fucked me and there's nothing I could do about it." Of course you're going to tilt with an attitude like that. That's not helpful at all and it's not even true. Putting the blame in the right place (your choices) makes it impossible to tilt because it puts the control back in your hands. Choose a better archetype. Build a tighter deck. Metagame better. Shuffle more thoroughly. Mulligan correctly. Then all the play decisions that come after that. Then sideboard better.

There's always something you could have done better. Each loss is a lesson in what you can be doing better. Find that thing and correct it. Then the loss becomes an achievement. The loss is a good thing. The loss makes you stronger.

And tilting goes away.

Unless the lesson was "don't fucking tilt you neckbeard fuck."

I'm sorry, but this is so wrong.

[GoblinWarchief]

I really don't understand why people keep saying that variance doesn't exist in magic. It's not true that all losses are your fault and you could always have done better decisions. Sometimes you lose because your deck just implodes .
The real challenge is accepting variance and understanding that you can't do anything about it because you are playing a card game. Of course, a lot of people always whine because they got unlucky, but in fact most of the times (not ALWAYS), you made some mistakes and you need to focus on them rather than on your mulliganing to four if you want to improve as a player.

[Kaitscralt]

Dechs hates himself and looks at the first opportunity to belittle himself (the more meaningless and cardboard the reason, the better)

[Kaitscralt]

Dechs self-mutilates after dropping at FNM every week

[Valdarith]

That's not too far from burn

Somehow I knew you'd say that.

[Khaospawn]

Jack, I'm actually curious as to how he's just so wrong. I found a lot of right stuff in there. He's not 100% right, but there is some truth in what he wrote.

[Dechs Kaison]

Hey Dechs, played any Tiny Leaders yet?

I don't even remember the last time I played MtG.

[Dechs Kaison]

I really don't understand why people keep saying that variance doesn't exist in magic. It's not true that all losses are your fault and you could always have done better decisions. Sometimes you lose because your deck just implodes .
The real challenge is accepting variance and understanding that you can't do anything about it because you are playing a card game. Of course, a lot of people always whine because they got unlucky, but in fact most of the times (not ALWAYS), you made some mistakes and you need to focus on them rather than on your mulliganing to four if you want to improve as a player.

Variance exists, but it's not the reason you lost.

You're the reason you lost.

You didn't draft the right cards. You didn't build the right deck. You didn't sideboard the right cards. You didn't even have the right cards in your sideboard. You didn't shuffle adequately, and that's why your lands ended up in a clump. You didn't chose to keep the right hand. You didn't remember your upkeep trigger. You didn't account for what the opponent could have in his hand. You didn't lots of things. That's ok. None of us are perfect and shouldn't expect to be. Noticing these things is what will make you get better.

If you blame your loss on variance, you failed to see your own mistakes. This will only result in you getting worse.

[Khaospawn]

Dechs, just to play devil's advocate ( ), what about true variance losses such as drawing numerous lands in a row or multiple mulligans due to no land?

[Kaitscralt]

If you fail to accept luck as part of the child's card game and cannot point out and laugh at bad luck then you've failed. Dechs has failed and his advice, while admirable, is very bad.

[Kaitscralt]

That's not trolling, just very obvious

[Khaospawn]

You have failed this city!

[Khaospawn]

Hell, even poker has variance. All card games do. That's what makes it so different than something like chess, a game based entirely on skill and no luck.

Variance let's you gamble.

[Dechs Kaison]

Dechs, just to play devil's advocate ( ), what about true variance losses such as drawing numerous lands in a row or multiple mulligans due to no land?

Addressed that already. Most commonly that's failure to shuffle properly.

Here's the thing: You can mulligan. Even with proper shuffling, it is possible to mulligan multiple times and not draw land. That's true, but it's still not the reason you lost because the chance of it happening for two out of your three games is negligible.

[Kaitscralt]

lol...

[Dechs Kaison]

Hell, even poker has variance. All card games do. That's what makes it so different than something like chess, a game based entirely on skill and no luck.

Variance let's you gamble.

Poker's my favorite card game and yeah, while it has plenty of variance, you can still see the difference between good players and bad ones. I've seen people win tables with a two seven off suit.

None of us here on this site are so good that we're losing because of variance. It's because we make mistakes.

[Khaospawn]

Alright, what about MTGO? That takes shuffling out of the equation.

[Khaospawn]

If you're not first, you're last!

[Dechs Kaison]

If variance wasn't part of the game, then you'd always see the same pros in the top 8 of every open tournament, instead of seeing them frequently lose to no name local players.

You can't look at #1 as winning, #2 - #8 as "doing okay," and #9 - #500 as " scrubbing out."

In a game that is constantly evolving, adding new cards and strategies and constantly upsetting the meta, no one can be that consistent. There's always room for a local with some innovative talent surprise a pro.

[Dechs Kaison]

Further, I haven't said variance isn't part of the game.

I'm saying it's not why you lost.

[Kaitscralt]

I'm beginning to think Dechs is masterfully trolling or has never followed Magic beyond the kitchen table

[Kaitscralt]

Further, I haven't said variance isn't part of the game.

I'm saying it's not why you lost.

lol...

[Dechs Kaison]

Alright, what about MTGO? That takes shuffling out of the equation.

This assumes that MTGO employs a proper RNG and shuffling algorithm.

[Mcdonalds]

Gamble

[Valdarith]

While I think what Dechs is saying is factually wrong, the message is good. A lot of players blame losses on mana flood or screw and fail to assess other factors in the game that contributed to the loss because they literally throw out the result of the game due to the bad luck. As such, they squander learning opportunities by picking and choosing the games they feel are worthy of assessment.

[zemanjaski]

Just keep playing and getting better. Beyond improving, there is nothing.

[Kaitscralt]

You could stop playing

[Khaospawn]

Alright, what about MTGO? That takes shuffling out of the equation.

This assumes that MTGO employs a proper RNG and shuffling algorithm.

As far as i know it does.

[rcwraspy]

or just develop a little will power and don't tilt like you were owed something.

[rcwraspy]

i don't mean that to be insulting, but i really have come to see tilting as a lack of will power.

[rcwraspy]

re: Dechs's argument. Variance exists, and will be a part of every game. Unless you've scryed or stacked your deck you don't know your top deck. But until you know you played perfectly, variance shouldn't be an excuse. Take ownership of all the things that are within your control and you'll be better prepared for the things not in your control.

[Kaitscralt]

[hamfactorial]

When I lose because of play mistakes or am defeated by superior strategy, I feel OK about it. I hate losing in the abstract, and I'm a competitive person, but I can recognize superior skill in opponents or inferior skill in myself.

When I play chess, there's no need to worry about variance because my pieces are always the same, they always start in the same position, and they never move without my direction. When I lose, I can usually find a sequence of moves or a bad position that lost me the game. It helps to have something I can look at and learn from, and to avoid that mistake in the future.

I didn't know why variance in Magic frustrated me so much until I started playing chess. I'm not sure the percentage of games that are won/lost due to variance, but I have very difference reactions to losing a chess game than to losing after a mull to 5 with no land.

Perhaps you just need to play a different game with less variance? Sirlin talked about this in a recent podcast.

A low variance game is more brutal for your ego, though. I'll never beat a grandmaster unless I practice and compete for years. I might, if variance is on my side, win against a better Magic player.

Maybe too many variance-assisted victories have caused you to overrate your play skill?

[Kaitscralt]

I've never lost at Magic or chess

[hamfactorial]