TEN HABITS :: "The Ten Playing Habits That Will Improve Your Game"
	by Dave Matteson

The following list is intended for most players.  If you've placed in the top 64
at a Pro Tour, this is not for you.  Everybody else, read on..

1.) SHUFFLE WELL - When you are shuffling your deck, how do you do it?  A few riffles
and you're ready to go?  If your answer is yes, that is not good.  Vary your methods
a lot, and do it very thoroughly.  I know a lot of people who are new to the game
and always say "Why do I always get mana screwed!?" It is usually because they do
not shuffle enough.  I personally do half a dozen riffles, a pile shuffle (into 7
piles, always 7) then another few riffle shuffles with scattered side-shuffling mixed
about.  (NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with these types of shuffling, I will have to
explain it later because i don't have room here.)  If you shuffle more thoroughly,
it will improve your game and reduce the amount of mana screw you see.  Want a
logical explanation of this?  When you play, all you are doing as far as the cards
are concerned is sorting.  When you are done, your land is clumped unless it has
been a very, very short game.  Your permanents are clumped and so are your spells
(probably with a good sprinkling of permanents as well.)

2.) ORGANIZE YOUR HAND AND PLAYING AREA - When you watch someone play, you can
generally get a good feel for the competency of the player by looking at the way
their side of the playing field is laid out.  Now i know some very good players
who always have a pile of shit in front of them, but that's their personalities and
it is also because they have been playing for a god-damned long time.  For most of
you out there, having an organized hand and playing area will help your game
immensely.  Let me give you an example of how I do it, and maybe it will help you
a little.  If i draw Sengir, Swamp, Ophidian, Island, Swamp, Sol Ring, Edict my
hand will look like this:  Sengir, Edict, Swamp, Swamp, Ophidian, Island, Sol Ring.
I have a very complicated sorting method, but the basis of it is this; Put the cards
with the highest casting cost on the left, sorted by colour with their colour of
lands seperating them from the next colour.  I also organize the colours
alphabetically (Black, Blue, Green, Red, White.)  Gold cards go inbetween colours
they share (if possible) or with the first colour that appears in the casting cost.
Artifacts will generally go on the far left.  This is broken by a few exceptions;
when i realize what i am going to want to play next, or want to remind myself that
something is available, i will move it to the far right of my hand (in front) so
that it is most prominent.  Thus the Sol Ring being on the far right.  I could go
on for ages about organizing your playing area, but the most important part is to
keep your lands, creatures, artifacts and enchantments seperated.  Come up with
some sort of layout which can be adjusted to fit any sized playing area.  This will
help you keep things so you can tell what you have at a glance.  If you turn your
stalking stones into a creature, move him up into the creature (or artifact) area
of the table.

3.) DO NOT SMILE, LAUGH OR COMMENT - Keep a straight face at all times, with few
exceptions.  Bluffing is important, but that should be worried about after you get
this part down.  Do not giggle about what you draw, do not comment about how bad
your draw is and do not groan when you don't get what you want.  It is very important
that you deny your opponent as much as possible; this includes information about
what you plan to do and your situation in the game.  When you take damage, tally it
unemotionally.  Act as though it does not matter, even if it does matter to you.  If
you are playing against another newbie, this will probably throw them off.  The same
is true of when you damage the opponent, or destroy one of their permanents, or make
them discard, etc.  Act apathetic to the situation, and eventually you will become
apathetic to it, and this will improve your game as well.  Emotions will throw you
off and force you to lose concentration.  If you can stay unconnected, you will be
able to observe and act with more thought.  Worrying, smiling, laughing, commenting
and whatnot all take energy and thought which would be better spent on actually
watching what your opponent is doing, and figuring out what his or her next best play
is, and what your best play will be in response to that.

4.) CONSIDER EACH PLAY CAREFULLY - Every single card you play should be thought out
before you play it.  This includes even things as simple as land.  If you have
cantrips in your hand, or other things you want to play this turn that will allow
you to draw one or more cards, wait to play the land until you either need it or it
is the end of your main phase because you may draw another land that you would have
rather played this turn.  Sometimes, it may not even be apparent why until you have
already drawn the land and accidentally played another.  This ties in with the next
habit.

5.) SAVE YOUR OPTIONS - Always save anything you can do until the last possible time
to use them.  Wait until your opponent's discard phase to ping them with the Tim.
Why?  Because she might play a ball lightning otherwise, that's why.  Do not play
non-celerity creatures before your attack (with VERY few exceptions.)  They will not
have an effect on the attack, and you will have more mana available to you incase
there is an emergency during the attack.  This is probably the most important habit
to adopt.  Wait to play all instants and fast effects that are not absolutely
necessary until your opponent's discard phase.  Whispers, Impulse, Shock, etc.  As
I said, there are very few exceptions to this rule.

6.) READ THE DOJO - Keep up to date on new deck archetypes.  See what's making noise.
A lot of the time, people will be saying stupid things.  Or a really idiotic deck
will be making big waves (read: Hermit) and you should be prepared for these things
at your next tourney.  The Dojo is your best source of metagame information.  You
will also find helpful (Flores' deck histories) and not so helpful (my crap like
this) information that may help you understand things better.

7.) DO NOT SCRUB OUT - Until you are very good, do not drop from tourneys.  Even after
you go 0-2, finish it out if possible.  In Swiss, as you lose, you will start playing
against complete and utter scrubs.  Beating the molasses out of these people will do
several things for you; a) boost your confidence, b) give you some practise with
your deck against people who aren't your goldfish and c) remind you to bathe tonight.
Go at least x-4 before scrubbing out in a 7-round swiss, that way you have either
played as much as you can, or lost so much that you probably won't beat anyone at all
that day and you might as well go home.

8.) ALWAYS GO WITH THE MINIMUM CARD COUNT - 40 in limited, 60 in constructed.  You
absolutely, positively, must obey this rule.  I get so incredibly sick of trying to
stress how important this is.  "It won't hurt if i just throw in an extra 10 cards."
You can ALWAYS cut something.  More obvious, but almost as often ignored, is the
rule of 16-18 land in limited, 22-25 in constructed.  In limited, you should always
go with 16-18 (depending on how high your casting costs go.)  In constructed it is
a little harder to give a rule-of-thumb because it is subjective to the deck type.
In constructed you should play test with your deck enough that you should know if the
land ratio is good or not.  A good way to test in limited is to shuffle really well
and try doing a few test-draws.  See if you get enough land.  Make sure to shuffle
a lot, and do at least 4 or 5 draws to get a good sample.

9.) STUDY GAME MECHANICS - So many players do not understand the mechanics of how the
game works.  I am not telling everyone to become a judge, just to understand why
you can't respond to their disenchant with a drain life.  A better understanding of
the game will open up a world of better playing.  It's like trying to drive a car
when you don't know what the brake and accellerator do differently from the steering
wheel.  Sure, they all affect HOW you move...

10.) PLAY A LOT - Playtesting is the best way to improve game play.  With enough
playing, anyone of moderate intelligence should realize everything that i have
listed here.  Hopefully, this list will expedite your learning process and allow you
to give better competition at your next tournament.  Plan ahead for your next tourney
and playtest in that format a lot beforehand.  This can get expensive for draft and
sealed but that's why you get a bunch of friends to help pay for the loot.

I will follow this up with a (probably very long) list of exceptions to some of the
rules.  Don't bother reading that until you fully grasp and have adopted all the
habits listed here.  If you have questions/comments/flames please direct them to
my home e-mail; ebbv@mindspring.com as my Harbinger one will be dying soon.

have fun,
...dave