So, MOCS Season 7 has come and gone. Today is maintenance day and there are no more Qualifier Points to be won. I finished with a close 31 QPs, but did not reach the 35 needed to qualify for the MOCS End-of-Season Championship. I did, however, reach enough points to play in two Preliminary tournaments. This gives me a double-shot at qualifying for the Championship. Huzzah!
For those that love graphics (like me), here is what the road to 31 QPs looks like:
Overall I’m not happy with how I finished, but I am not devastated either. I worked really hard on grinding out points all season long. Mistakes were made, bad beats were had, and my limited pools were all terrible. But I did learn a few things along the way.
Lesson 1 – Luck is a Huge Factor (for me)
“Luck” does not affect all people equally. Some people call it the great equalizer. I do not. I call it the great beating. Are there certain steps you can take to minimize the effects of luck? Yes. You can mulligan well, you can construct your deck in the best possible way, and you can avoid making play mistakes. What you cannot avoid, however, is your sealed pool.
Let me preface this description of sealed pools by first saying that I have *NEVER* ever opened a pool with multiple good uncommons/commons that work together. For instance, I have never had a good solid just Boros, just Gruul, just Dimir, etc, etc. I can’t remember the last time I was able to successfully go two-colors in sealed. Draft is a different story, but I’ll get to that later. Here are a few of my sample Sealed Deck rares:
Pool #1: Vraska(yay!), Enter the Infinite, Temple Garden, Thespian’s Stage, Trait Doctoring, Ready//Willing. (2 playable rares! But no support for Vraska or Ready/Willing. Also, no on-color mana fixing.)
Pool #2 (Modern Masters): Vedalken Shackles, Academy Ruins, Auriok Salvagers, Dragonstorm, Blood Moon, Skeletal Vampire. (These rares seem good until you realize that I had no spellbombs, no playable blue cards, and no good black cards. )
I am usually able to take these awful Sealed Pools to 2-2 or 3-1 finishes. But all I am really saying is that I would like to open the Aurelia/Smiter/Voice pool (as an example) just once. I played a Daily yesterday in which I lost to Aurelia the Warleader, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Boros Reckoner, and Mizzium Mortars in one match. That was my only loss. This would be all well and good if it happened every once in a while, but this is every tournament. The weird thing is that it happens over and over again. Despite my best efforts to build a good deck and work with what I have, I run into bombs and superior pools. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to overcome, but it happens every tournament.
Lesson 2 – Multiple Games at Once is Essential
In order to get the required QPs by the end of the season, unless you are a master (see Reid Duke, Brian Wong, etc), you have to play more than one tournament at a time. I generally double-queue, running a limited event and a constructed one. Triple-queuing is rather hectic for me, especially given the aggro nature of my kids. There were a few days during the season, however, when I chose not to double-queue and I likely missed out on points.
Lesson 3 – You Don’t Have to be a Jerk to Get There
I am not a jerk when I play. The only time I get salty in a match is when one of two things happens: 1. My opponent is a complete asshole. 2. My opponent lucks his way out of misplays or I flood out and they then proceed to lecture me on how many lands to play in a limited deck or some other such condescending talk. Anything other than that and I’m fairly tolerant.
Last night I was doing my final draft of the season, made it to the finals, and my opponent needed the QP. He was at 34. I rechecked my total and decided to give him the win. It made me feel a little bit better that even though I couldn’t get there, I could help someone else do it. (That stellar draft deck, by the way? It featured Goblin Rally, Gleam of Battle, Emmara Tandris, and Debtor’s Pulpit as my bombs).
To all you MODO crazies out there who act like jerks constantly, bitch about how your loss is going to affect your rating, and lose connection when you’re dead on board… CHILL OUT. Seriously. Take it down a notch.
Lesson 4 – There are More Important Things in Life
The season is over. I didn’t quite get there. It’s okay. Life will go on. I am focused on finishing graduate school, starting a new internship, and watching my kids grow up. I spent a lot of time and effort on Season 7 and I am highly doubtful that I will do it again.
I will play for future seasons, just without the hardcore commitment. I am going to rethink my Junk Rites deck in Standard and try to find something more fun to play. I like Junk Rites and all, but it’s fairly boring and has some difficult matchups. Time to spice up Standard a little!
I am also looking forward to playing/drafting with a more laid-back attitude. I have spent the last month debating every draft pick, questioning every inclusion in a sealed deck, and agonizing over Standard sideboarding choices. Time to relax and have some fun!
Don’t forget to have fun. It is really one of the most important things about Magic.
Force of Nature 