The MTG Community - Giving Up [Edward Eng - Battlemage, Level 42]

So my last article was about quitting Magic, and this week I'll be talking about giving up. But, of course, I'm not talking about giving up Magic. Rather, I'll be discussing the topic of giving up while playing Magic.

I felt like back in the 90s I'd often come across people giving up in the middle of a game when he or she shouldn't have. But maybe that was because the game was quite a bit younger then. However, I still come across people giving up when he or she still has a shot at winning the game.

A few weeks ago, I played Burn at Grand Prix Los Angeles and towards the later rounds of Day 1 I got paired up against Death and Taxes. I can't remember if it was game 2 or 3, but I started the game against a Leyline of Sanctity in play. I've beaten this situation multiple times before, but this game turned out to be even a bit tougher as my opponent also casted a Leonin Arbiter and Spellskite in the early turns. Miraculously, I was able to kill both creatures with the help of Grim Lavamancer and some burn spells since they couldn't target my opponent with Leyline in play. I was able to win the game by attacking with my creatures and Atarka's Command. My opponent also ended up drawing a bunch of lands that game. Never give up too early.

On the flip side, I got paired up against Affinity in the middle of Day 2. I lost game 1 pretty quickly, but I didn't give up. I casted an early Stony Silence in game 2 and my opponent gave up and conceded shortly after, moving on to game 3. In the final game, I also casted Stony Silence pretty early and my opponent quickly conceded again. However, I think he still had a chance at winning the game and match if he didn't give up so easily. He could've at least made an effort to add a few more creatures to the board and swarm me with them. But he just gave up. And I didn't. So I won.

Sometimes Magic is like life. And life is like Magic. Sometimes you shouldn't give up too quickly.

I'd love to hear some awesome stories about how you didn't give up and fought your way through some tough battles. Hit me up in the comments below or on my social media channels. The Facebook Comments Plugin doesn't usually work too well, so it's probably better to hit me up on my personal channels.

Peace, love, and have fun…
Eddie

Additional Reading

1. The MTG Community - Quitting Magic [Edward Eng - Battlemage, Level 42]

2. The MTG Community - When & How You Learned Magic [Edward Eng - Battlemage, Level 42]

3. Brewer's Paradise - Dredge Swarm in Modern [Edward Eng - Battlemage, Level 42]

A Little Bit about Eddie

He started playing Magic around December of 1994, then hit the sanctioned competitive tournament scene in 1997. He played till about 2000 and was on the cusp of making the Pro Tour but stopped to focus on school. He found his old teammate on Facebook in 2009 and got back into the game in 2010. Since then he's played in two Nationals, top 16ed an SCG Invitational, and day 2ed multiple Grand Prix.

Archive of Eddie's Articles

Edward Eng

      

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