Hey there readers, I'm back with my first official post! This is going to be done in a stream of thought style of writing so I apologize ahead of time for the choppy style! Anyways, one thing that I have been known for around the MN area isn't being creative like some players, or playing a perfect game like others. My biggest reputation has come from my tech picks, I have been known to make some very obscure and precise tech picks that end up pushing me farther than the competition. Examples of this would be back in TeleDAD format I sided 1 Caius, 1 Raiza, 2 Mobius, 2 Soul Exhange, 2 Royal Oppression, and 2 Divine wrath along side the normal side deck cards of the time. Doing so allowed me to have a huge advantage in the mirror match and the Lightsworn match up which were the most common match ups at the time. That was one example from back then, a more recent example would be teching Royal Oppression in pretty much anything I play right now. Its very good right now because most of the top decks in the game set up early and slowly lean on the opponet afterwards allowing cards like Oppression to be played without clashing with the main strategy too much. This is just one example of a stellar tech card this format!
So how do we get to the point of tech like that? Well it is a simple process really, but first we need to look at what makes a card a "good" tech pick as opposed to a "bad" pick. Typically, any card (barring normal monsters) can be a good pick given the right metagame, player mind set, etc. So how do we sort the "good' picks from the great ones? Usually, I will ask myself the following questions:
1. What are the decks being played in the given area?
2. Of those decks, which are winning the most? Why is this?
3. Of the decks played, what does my deck have a good match up against? Which decks are bad match ups? Why?
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the decks? Why?
5. What cards can improve my match up against a given deck? Why?
If you ask yourself these questions, you may be surprised at the amount of knowladge you'll have. One thing you may want to do is to write these questions down at first, and think aloud. I personally have found that thinking aloud can help with the flow of ideas. Now that you have that written down, you can see how much tech you may need to get ahead of the game. If the deck you have a weak match up against is very popular in your area (something I am very familiar with), then you will need to dedicate main deck slots to defeating that deck, but if the deck is only used by say, 1 or 2 people out of 10 or 12, you can feel safe not forcing in room in the main deck.
But what do you do if the bad match up is common? Well, don't worry! It's not hard to accomidate for a poor match up, just follow these steps that I have followed for years. Literally!
1. Write down your deck list
2. Grab the card/cards you want to make room for and put them beside the deck
3. Ask yourself aloud questions such as:
*What is the main goal/goals of my deck?
*Does the card/cards I want to make room for negitively affect the goal/goals? If so, how?
(*If yes, can I still accomplish my goals despite the negitive effect on my goal/goals?)
*What cards do I need to accomplish the goal/goals? How many copies can I consistently access with little or no trouble? Which cards don't I need?
After doing the above steps you are ready to decide on the amount of room you'll need to make for tech! The more common the bad match up, the more room you'll need. With a little practice you could be as good at this as me, maybe even better! Well thats it for now! Have fun, and remember you're only as good as the work you put in!
(Just to save myself from the endless barrage of hate mail, I know I didn't fully explain everything. I did that on purpose, I want you to fill in the blanks for yourself and come up with a method that works for you! )
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