To be competitive.

[corey]

To start things off, I don't intend for this post to be about me, or the decks that I play. I want this post to be purely on habits, big and small that I think are important to all players looking to take their game to the next level. I've been to a LOT of different stores and picked up a LOT of good ideas that I'd like to see our members start and take advantage of.

#1: Come Prepared.
I don't know how many of you have seen the inside of my bag, but I try my best to come prepared for whatever event I'm going to:
I ALWAYS bring my binder for trade. If there's a lost minute addition to my deck that I don't have, and I need to trade for it, all hope is lost without trade value.
I ALWAYS have extra sleeves on me if I happen to rip / tear a sleeve.
I ALWAYS have extra dice.
I ALWAYS have a collection of tokens if my deck happens to generate them.

#2: Metagaming / Research.
Metagaming is one of the hardest parts about playing competitive Magic. If you're deck can't beat what 60% of the rest of the people in the tournament are playing, you're probably not going to do very well, even if you have had tons of practice with it. Metagames are different by region, and even at a store to store level.
I try to make it a habit of scouting around the tables before the tournament starts and getting a feel for who's playing what deck, and what threats I need to save my answers for. If I know that somebody's whole game plan is to Polymorph into Iona, then I'll value a bolt in my starting hand a lot higher than I normally would.

#3 Know Your Own Deck.
It's important for you to know what your deck has in it. It may seem obvious, but knowing EXACTLY what is left in your deck in the late game has saved me on more than one occasion. Knowing your odds of whether or not you should block and kill a threat or save your guys and draw in to removal is extremely helpful.
You should know the abilities of your cards forwards and backwards. Whether it's the fact that Omnath's floating mana doesn't drain between turns, or that a card revealed through cascade resolves before the card with cascade, you need to know it.

#4 Take notes.
When I play against somebody who's playing a deck that I think is really good, I try and either make a mental note, or physically write it down so I don't forget. If the deck catches on (Allies), then I may want to put some designated sideboard hate towards it for the next week, or possibly even the main deck itself. At the end of the day, pro players shuffle up 60 just like the rest of us, the latest and greatest tech could come straight from one of our deck boxes.

I think that if everybody starts making these small habits a routine, then we'll all be better for it. Nobody gets better on their own, and as a store, we're only as good as our worst players. I'd like to see the skill level rise up and bring in some healthy competition. I know there are multiple people at the store who don't mind mentoring new players, myself included, so if anybody has any questions or comments, post them here, or hit me up next time you see me at the store.

[GTAmaster]

i think the not taking is a pretty good idea

[alecyler]

There is an interesting note about netdecking. Just because a deck won at nationals doesn't mean that deck will perform the same against your local metagame. It all goes to show you need to do your research.

Knowing your enemy is the key to knowing how to effectively play. If you know everyone in the area plays a certain deck, it'll pay off to have a deck that is effective against it, even if that deck hasn't done well elsewhere.

In a similar vein, if your deck did awesome, that means people know about it. That also means that people might be building decks to counter it. So you'll find that your very expensive deck doesn't perform nearly as well locally.

Just goes to show. Know your opponent. Know what they're playing, and how they play. Every region has a different metagame, every metagame has different nuances. Learn those and you can leverage a 'subpar' deck into a tournament winner. Fail to do your research and your 'tier' deck will make you look like a noob.

[loki]

Also, making small changes here and there can change the way your deck plays out and even surprise many people who already anticipate the way your deck runs. At the same time it gives you the chance to try different mixtures to find what best suits your play style. Which leads me to another point I'd like to make. Play a deck that suits your play style. You can sleeve up an aggro deck, but if you usually like the feel of a control deck then that's probably what you should play. Another point I'd like to add is always look at all the cards available, go over them back and forth. As new sets are released new cards are added to a player's arsenal and these new cards can have tremendous interactions with cards that were once thought to be crap or mediocre. Take Devastating Summons. At first glance people didn't like it, but once people saw it played with Goblin Bushwacker from a set that was released around 6 months ago it became staple in Red deck wins lists. If you see and interaction, combo or decent synergy between a few cards don't be afraid to at least try to build a deck around it to see if it works. There are always people willing to help you test out your deck as well as put their deck up to the test and see how it fairs.