Finding Casual Play: Part 2
Hey guys!
Yesterday, I started talking about how Reese’s candy and Magic were related. You’ll want to catch that article first before going into this one.
Check it out here: Finding Casual Play: Part 1
The point that I am getting at with this whole crazy idea is that we should approach Magic the same way that we’re eating candy. Simply eating the candy and being present in the moment of joy it brings can result in a number of things- namely a bunch of fun ways to eat peanut butter cups (I swear, I’m going to buy a box of these things after writing this. I really want them now, haha).
What if we went into every game knowing that it’s going to end, and we approached it as explorers- searching for the way that the ending comes. Not needing any specific ending, but knowing that certain things you do along the way will take the game in different directions. Sometimes, your move will guarantee that your opponent will win, and sometimes the opposite.
In my experience, this sort of detached observing can lead to some really awesome discoveries and card interactions. Not to mention that my blood pressure isn’t going through the roof as I panic over whether or not I’m making “the right move.”
You see, whenever we seek out “the right move,” we naturally create a “wrong move” in the process, and our brains punish us for having done something wrong. Think about it this way:
A right move -> A wrong move -> stress
Now, nobody wants to play Magic to get stressed. I don’t care who you are, you’re looking for the same thing you find in a Reese’s candy. Finding that space in your head where you can enjoy every game of Magic is going to go really far in extending your career as a casual player.
Approach magic as an explorer searching through an unknown world, and you will not only have more fun, you’ll become WAY better than you ever thought you would be.
Remember that time you did “the wrong move” and just started tilting? Tilt is a poker term that some magic players have borrowed, bee tee dub. It means that you’re focused on something that happened in the past, and are no longer playing as well as a result.
You don’t tilt when you play as an explorer. That’s because there’s nothing to tilt over. Only learn.
