The problem with Limited writing.

In my opinion, there's a huge problem with the type of Limited discourse going on today, both on the prominent Magic strategy websites (StarCityGames.com, Brainburst.com, etc.) and in real life. This is a specific problem that I've been aware of for a while now, and radiates from what I believe are low expectations and an even lower level of understanding of Limited play.

For a moment, take one website -- StarCity, for example -- and compare the Limited and Constructed articles delivered weekly on that site.

Every day there are four to six new Constructed articles, aimed at both casual and competitive players and covering a wide range of formats. Every WEEK, there's ONE dedicated Limited article. While the one Limited article a week -- written faithfully by classic Night-at-the-O attendee Nick Eisel -- does cover the expected range of topics, mostly involving draft pick orders, X/Y archetype analysis, and the occasional Sealed Pool construction, it alone can simply not be as comprehensive as the salvo of articles written on Constructed.

So why doesn't StarCity get some more Limited writers? Why the massive disparity between the two formats? Is there some inherent problem with Limited that makes it simpler than Constructed and therefore unworthy of the same level of analysis and attention?

Of course not. I believe that the current state of Limited strategy is a result of two things -- the normalization of knowledge of the average Magic player, and Wizards' continuing lack of support for Limited.

There is no question that the average PTQ player is much, much better today than they were ten or even five years ago. The propogation of Magic strategy through websites like The Dojo was only the beginning of player normalization -- now, it seems the only time that you see players bad enough to include "unplayable" cards in Sealed Pools and first-pick the worst common in a color is at Prereleases. As such, the level of competition is much higher now than ever before, and will almost certainly continue to rise -- due to, in no small part, the presence of articles like Nick's.

Pick orders and archetype analysis allow everyone to understand the general gist of what's going on in a draft. While the average PTQ player may still not understand many of the subtleties and nuances of drafting, they aren't nearly as clueless as before.

They know what cards are good.
They know what decks are good.
What else is there to know about Limited, anyway?

I believe there is SO much more to Limited than pick orders and archetype analysis. Limited is a fantastic game of hidden knowledge, strategic guessing, and careful outmaneuvering of the other seven people in your draft. Not only that, but Limited challenges our ability to actually play the game -- to attack, block, mulligan, and plan ahead -- by presenting dynamic scenarios to which we have to constantly adjust and by challenging the cognitive structures we develop and become far too comfortable with in Constructed.

I am not saying that Limited is necessarily better or worse than Constructed, just that it tests a completely different skillset that is highly underdeveloped in most players, even extremely competent Constructed players. Nor am I saying that pick order and archetype analysis articles are bad or unnecessary -- only that they merely scratch the surface of a much deeper (and extremely interesting, I think) realm of Magic theory and strategy.

Have you ever thought about *how* you draft? Not what cards you value over others, or what color combinations you like, but the your own intrinsic drafting style? Do you signal heavily, go with the flow, or draft greedy? Do you value "control" cards over agressive cards? Risky cards over dependable staples?

There are tons of other questions to be asked, and each one is a careful deliberation to be made about your Limited game. Most people just instinctively fall into a camp and never change, precisely because no one is writing about how such things affect your game, or how to even go about making such changes!

As a corollary, I believe that many of those considered the "best" Limited players are not, in fact, particularly skilled at Limited. I think they are just absolutely excellent players and use this to overcome others in the more-or-less even playing field resulting from player normalization and a lack of deeper inquiry into the format. Of course, there are those that excel in both understanding Limited and playing tightly, and those are the ones that seem almost impossible to beat in Limited -- or, at least, in draft.

The other problem that arises with Limited is Wizards' continuning emphasis on the Sealed Deck format as a PTQ format. This is, without a doubt, insane and absolutely detrimental to the continued development of Limited. The disparity of power in Sealed pools is only part of the problem, too, as many drafts can be more or less decided by the cards opened.

The problem is the complete lack of self-determination in such a process.

Even when the cards break poorly in a draft, skilled Limited players can quickly figure out what's going on and either manipulate the draft to their advantage or at least minimize the damage these anomalies can cause.

When you're handed a shitty pool, that's it. You can do everything right -- build perfectly, play perfectly -- but because of the nature of the game, you're mostly banking on either the poor skill level of your opponents or said players getting extremely unlucky. There's just nothing else that can be done because of the lack of any control over the quality of your cards.

This is not a format that begs to be analyzed. This is a format most want to dismiss as a necessary annoyance and cross their fingers to get through -- which, honestly, isn't that bad a plan. Of course there is a great deal of skill involved in building a Sealed Deck correctly, but the issue is that the effect of such skill is nowhere near the impact it has in Draft, or, of course, the impact preparation, playtesting and metagaming can have in Constructed.

I am, however, not saying Sealed Deck is a useless format. In fact, it can be quite fun in lower-stakes tournaments such as Prereleases, local store tournaments, and tournaments far too large to be realistically done in a Draft format (although I do believe that Draft can be configured in such a way as to handle the average PTQ -- I am speaking here of huge events like GPs and such). I just do not believe it should be the primary competitive format, as it inherently dissuades people from pursuing competitive play.

I find Limited to be fascinating. While I have had some mild success with the format, I have a great deal to improve upon. It is precisely because of this desire to improve that I want to see a deeper and more involved discourse on Limited. Perhaps it is far too presumptuous a goal for someone with no presence in the community and nothing more than this blog as a vehicle to express myself, but I really do hope to contribute to improving the nature of Limited writing, and perhaps eventually be able to present to Wizards the issues I (and, I believe, many others) have with their current configuration of Limited tournaments.

I think expectations are too low for Limited, which is why Starcity and other websites feel no need for more (and different) Limited writing. I think the current structure of Limited tournaments is a hindrance to the format's development, and more than anything else I believe that the average Magic player knows FAR less about the way Limited works than he think he does.

For the moment, all I can do is provide this type of analysis in this blog -- everything from in-depth pick analysis to comparing and constrasting the most basic schools of Limited thought and structure. In addition, I encourage anyone reading this to demand more of the websites that claim to bring the "best" Limited information on the web. Remember, however, that there is no one to truly blame for the current state of Limited. The sites and the writers they employ are simply meeting the (very low) demands of the general Magic populace, while at the same time overloading them on so much Constructed information that it feels like they truly are getting all the Magic information they need.

Demand more. Only by making the sites realize that there is much more to Limited than they realize -- and that people actually want to hear about it -- will things change.

I hope to bring some of this type of deeper Limited writing to this blog soon. I'm finishing up finals in the next few days and heading back to the United States, so I may not have time in the near future to write, but I do very much intend to make good on these promises.

~Andres