There was a time when all I cared about was winning. It made me edgy, even nervous during play. I’d make mistakes because of it. Losses would cause me to tilt. I’m great at math and can calculate probabilities on the spot. I remember one situation in a GP where my opponent had to draw 5 consecutive bolt spells from the top of his deck to beat me and he did. 5 of 5 left in the deck. I felt bad at the time, because it felt like a ridiculous beat. But he was shuffling and I was cutting his deck, it happened perfectly randomly. Now I feel bad for the guy because he should have used that luck on a lotto ticket (nearly the same odds!) instead of beating me in a single match of competitive magic.
Now my approach is to go out and have the most fun I can. Learn as much as I can, and evaluate my decision making process after the match. I still make plenty of mistakes, and they still mean the same to me because I am a competitive person at heart, but overall my experience is so much better.
Honestly, people should have goals at EW like playing all 9 rounds without going tilted. Or a goal like if you make a mistake in a match and you play through it without being upset at yourself - whether you win or lose.
Maybe your opponent hasn’t put in the same amount of time you have in preparation, maybe they didn’t travel as far as you did to get there, but they still love the game as much as you do and spent their time and money investing in the same tournament you did. Always show respect to your opponent, in victory and defeat.
last edited by gkraigher