So I have this theory. Bear with me as I try and put it into words, because it's ... well, it's a little out there.
I think music affects my play.
This theory started out as kind of a funny joke to myself. I would go to Friday Night Magic, finish horribly one week and then make Top 4 the next week, and I tried to sit down and figure out WHY something was changing the way I finished.
Now, by no stretch of the imagination am I a good player. I'm about middle of the pack. I'm no danger to win a PTQ (although I am getting closer to Top 8). I'm also in no danger to 0-2-drop a PTQ any more. I'm comfortable with a wide range of decks -- I've played combo (TEPS), control (5CC Planeswalkers), and aggro (Vengeant Weenie) at the last three big events, and finished middle-of-the-pack, as would be expected.
A wide swing in variance for FNMs, therefore, should be suspect.
So I started trying to reduce the variables down. I played one specific deck for weeks without changing any of the cards -- and it wasn't some uberdeck designed to take out the world, it was regular old Warp World, complete with twelve sideboard cards against Faeries that still didn't win me the match. I would still have wild variance. First week 1-3, then 4-0-1 and winning the first round of the Top 8.
I made sure I had eaten something before the tournament. I always wore socks that matched. I always drove the Jeep and parked it facing west. I kissed the wife twice for good luck.
So there I was, two weeks before the FARM-TICK, heading down to FNM with Naya Planeswalkers in my bag, confident that I had made my deck choice for the event. I just wanted to get some reps in with it at the two FNMs beforehand just to make sure I remembered how to play it. After my Warp World experiment, I had switched over to Naya Walkers because ... well, I like Planeswalkers. They're exotic, cripplingly powerful in some matchups, and sometimes your opponent will just Not Know How to deal with them. The three-color version of the deck isn't tricksy or secretive, it's just balls-out control, using the raw power of the Planeswalkers to keep pressure on your opponent. I had been playing it for a couple of months, and had been doing consistently well with it.
Except for this particular FNM.
I went 1-4, immediately chucked the whole deck into the trash, and started recalculating my deck choice. I felt like Rick Ashby, only WITH suitable provocation for changing my deck.
I went back over the whole day. Went to work like always, had lunch with the missus like always, left work a little early to make sure I hit FNM on time -- like always. Got a snack on the way to the house to avoid playing hungry. Cranked up the Black iPod on the highway down to the store. Turned down Suicidal Tendencies as I parked facing west.
1-4.
I think it was probably the "throwing the deck in the trash" that caused me to realize that it might be the MUSIC that was changing how I finished. I was REALLY upset, angry even, at that stupid deck. I wanted to rip Garruk's head off. I wanted to chain Chandra in a closet under my steps and only feed her once a day.
It hit me when I got out to the Jeep, put the Black iPod into the player, and got hit again with Suicidal Tendencies. The little lightbulb went off.
I like having the Black iPod in Shuffle mode because I never know what specifically I want to listen to. Oftentimes I skip through a dozen songs before finding one that I want to listen to, but it's better than listening to single songs one at a time, and it's lazier than making playlists.
So this is my theory:
Aggressive music = aggressive play. Maybe if I was playing something like Kithkin or Blightning, that is going to attack every turn, this is OK, but in a control deck where you need to be able to take the appropriate risks, run your opponent out of threats or counters before landing the Planeswalker that hurts them most, it just ain't right. ST, Metallica, other things that are angry-ish. Or at least SOUND angry.
Softer music = control play. I'm not sure what that will be on the Black iPod, so let's see. I have some Spanish guitar stuff, maybe I'll try that out. John Butler Trio maybe.
Of course, I then have no idea what to play for combo decks.
So this experiment will be ongoing. Expect to see future articles updated with "suggested music for success."
On a FARM-TICK side note: I am prepared, at this point in time, to blame the Black iPod for my dismal 2-6 performance. I was prepared to test this theory on the ride up to Denver. Unfortunately, I don't think my passengers would have allowed me to live had I played Spanish guitar music for the entire hour drive up. Randy Tempelaar demanded something "rockin'" and, well, I don't have anything that lives up his high rockin' standards other than ... yeah, you guessed it, Suicidal Tendencies. I'm actually not sure that DOES live up to his standards, but it was better than Britney Spears*. I even told him when I put it on: "OK, we can listen to this, but we have to listen to something else when we get closer, because ST makes me play bad."
* Please note that I do NOT have Britney Spears on my iPod. I have standards. Nelly Furtado, sure, Hanson, sure, Ricky Martin, sure. But I'd never stoop Britney low.
I've also got to figure out how certain categories of music that I have a lot of fit into the architecture of this theory. Where, for instance, does "dance rock" like Franz Ferdinand fit? What about my selection of emo teenage girl music like Paramore? How do you even classify Gogol Bordello enough to fit it in somewhere?
Rick and Kevin: The "80's Rap Song of the Day" for this particular event was "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. If you were friends with me on Facebook, you'd know this, as I was updating it all day. Get into the freakin' 21st century.
Or as my friend Mike would say: "And the rest can go and play."
(can't touch this)
Pretty much all the SMSes I received this week were directly related to the FARM-TICK. Most of those were altering the structure of my team in some way, shape, or form. The Springs B-Team wasn't set in stone until about 7am Saturday morning, and I think even then we were still unsure about whether Uriah "Sweet Hair!" Oxford would be willing to sub in at the last minute.
So yeah, it was a scramble, to say the least.
I think we could have possibly put together two teams from the people that either were "in" at one time, or who went to the event, had everyone been available. No, I don't think that would have changed my personal enjoyment of the day (or my personal record -- we know that's the music's fault). But it might have been nice to represent the Springs in a number bigger than 9.
At the very least, it would have been nice to give some support to Snax, who was guy number nine. I felt kinda bad leaving him out.
On a related note, if you would like to be featured in a future episode of "Dave's SMS of the Week," drop me a PM and I'll happily give out my phone number.
Ladies, make sure you call during the day. *wink*
They just came out and announced the name of the big fall set: Zanzibar or Zentarim or something. Zendikar. Oddly enough, someone named Zendikar just started following me on Twitter. Weird. Anyways, the tagline is "Deadly Perils, Priceless Treasures." That, coupled with the ancient-ruiny-look of the logo, has me excited.
I mean, I almost forgot we have an all-gold set (Reborn) plus a base set revamp (M10) in between!
That's some good marketing.
So I started scouring my brain trying to figure out which of the Future Sight futureshifted cards might be Zendikarian in nature.
White: Imperial Mask sounds (and looks) like an awesome piece of treasure. That's it, Zendikar will be multiplayer based! Oh man the Pros would riot. Hrm. None of the Rebel ones, I think it's too soon for that -- plus that doesn't fit. Patrician's Scorn has flavor text that talks about how ghostly lady in the art despises junk that poses as treasure.
Blue: The Delve mechanic has a treasure-hunting sound to it, which would be appropriate if Zendikar is about some ruined society and the treasure they left tucked in catacombs and hidden chambers. Second Wind has flavor text that might apply if it's more of a pirate "sail the seas" type of treasure-hunting.
Black: More Delve cards like Death Rattle, plus Snake Cult Initiation sure sounds like something a bunch of angry natives would go through. I would be OK with a Snake Cult. It would be an interesting way to (almost) make the Black characters the "good guys" as they try and protect their treasure. Ah, who are we kidding.
Red: Shah of Naar Isle is from an awful specific place, and the Efreet would go well with the whole "ancient civilization" idea. It would mean we'd be doing Echo again though; is it too soon? Or maybe Wizards decided it could be an evergreen mechanic like Cycling? I think I'm pulling for Thunderblade Charge, although I have no idea why.
Green: Someone in the Internetz already has mentioned Muraganda Petroglyphs and Imperiosaur, but I dunno. They seem like the most likely candidates. In related news, Centaur Omenreader is a Snow Creature? Bizarre.
So, you heard it here first. Zendikar is about a snowy land with indigenous tribes and open seas, where haughty nobles try and collect the hidden riches of a Arabian-style world from the dinosaurs. Oh yeah, and there's some snake people.
I wonder how Wizards chooses the numbers for the 'multiverseid' for Gatherer. I only ask because, after looking up about a hundred cards by now, I thought I had figured out their numbering scheme, but half of the Future Sight cards I picked for this article start with '136' and the other half start with '130'. For comparison's sake, Tarmogoyf, which we know ain't getting reprinted any time soon, starts with a '136'; Phosphorescent Feast, which they've already reprinted, starts with a '126'.
OMG I BROKE GATHERER! No time for article, gotta go through all the other cards!
I think I've speculated enough. Music suggestions (especially "what to listen to while playing TEPS"), SMS requests, and rampant speculation of all manners go into the forums. See you next week where I'll have the whole Future Sight card numbering thing laid out!