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Sorry folks, no podcast this week because Jens decided to "be with his family", or some hippie crap like that. Instead, I would like to bring to your attention a very important, if concise article brought to you by none other than Reid Duke. You can find the piece here.
The crux of the article is that fundamentals are, well... fundamental. The word's own definition makes its importance clear. You simply can't master anything by starting with the most complicated elements. You wouldn't start your toddler off with string theory and you wouldn't teach somebody how to play Magic by telling them the important aspects of Brainstorming correctly.
You can win plenty of games even when you Brainstorm poorly, but you'll really struggle if you have a poor ratio of mana sources to spells in your deck. You'll also want to teach somebody early on the importance of knowing Who's the Beatdown.
If you've ever played against Reid, then you might have picked up on the fact that he will often recite the textbox of cards that you play against him as you play them. For example, if you play a Flying Man he will say, "1/1 Flying?". It's very likely that this confirmation of fundamental knowledge helps Reid grok more complicated board states as they develop.
Vince Lombardi would famously start the season off by explaining to players what a football is, breaking down the markings on the field and other fundamental aspects of the game. Good fundamentals lead to better understanding of more complex ideas.
If you're interested in reading a great book on mastery through understanding fundamentals, then I cannot recommend Joshua Waitzkin's The Art of Learning enough. The book borrows some ideas from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (another title that I strongly recommend) and illustrates how Waitzkin went from being the world's youngest Chess Grandmaster to becoming a Tai Chi Chuan World Champion.
If you want to win the next Grand Prix or SCG Open, you might be inclined to find the best decklist and/or sideboarding guide that you can. Before you do, you might want to take a look at this.
This is a Magic card.
I love Josh Waitzkin. Brilliant man.
Chapin also has some great advice on mastering the fundamentals in Magic in his book Next Level Magic, where he insists on the importance of fundamentals as opposed to flashy plays or Jedi Mind Tricks…
I’ve always been interested in reading NLM but never in paying what they charge for it.
I continually read it when i have nothing else to read. it really helps hammer in fundementals in a clear and concise way.
Isn’t that an Alternate 4th magic card? Or is that just how the scan looks…
Your fundamentals are strong.