To net deck or not to net deck? That is the question

So a while ago, I went on to defend net decking (sort of).  So this week, I’m here to say if you’re going to net deck, for the love of god, know how to play the deck you choose for your FNM or weekend tourney.  With that said, in this week’s Act of Reason, I’m going to discuss how to play a net deck and what you can learn from your mistakes.

The first and most important thing for you to know is your meta.  Please do not bring a net deck to your FNM because it won X Tournament; this means nothing! I have casually brought decks to friends’ houses and was ceremoniously beaten down so badly I questioned how the deck even managed to Top 8 let alone win.  I’ve said it before, but with Net Decking, you must know your meta!  Study not only your matches each week but other players as well.  Did you sweep your first match in a matter of minutes?  Go observe the other matches.  Pay attention to other decks that are sweeping the tournament scene.  Read up on things at places like www.starcitygames.com and www.tcgplayer.com. Know the people you play against. Know their tendencies.  Do they bring the same deck week in and week out? Do they switch things up?  Are they a perpetual home brew dude (that’s not necessarily a bad thing either folks)?  Are they likely to be swayed to play the latest tournament winning deck?  Every single one of these factors needs to be taken into account each week whether you choose to play a net deck or a home brew deck.  I’m going to keep harping on this because I am a firm believer that knowing your meta is 75% of the battle on topping your FNM.

Ok, you know your meta, great, what next?  Next comes the research.  Take a long look at the decks that you think you want to play.  Now pick two or three of them.  Refer to “Time Stretching” and base this decision on how much testing you can get in during the week.  Now the other half of this is having a keen memory.  Do your best to create the decks that you saw last week at FNM.  I use Magic Workstation to create and test decks.  It is a fantastic tool albeit simple.  It can be found here:  http://www.magicworkstation.com/downloads.php.  Testing a net deck is just as important as testing a home brew.  How will you know how the deck will perform in your meta if you don’t test things out?  By test out I mean give it a good 5-10 games against the competitive decks at your store.  Don’t play a best out of three and decide “ZOMG THIS DECK IS AWSOME!!!11one.”  Really run it through the gauntlet.  Learn its weakness at your store.  The other half of this is to look at the net deck and ask yourself, “Do I need this deck to look exactly like this?”  Are there cards that you can add or take away that fit better with your meta?  For example:  For a while I was running UW control at our store.  Our store was swing with big critters that would punch through cards like Wall of Omens with ease.  I decided to step things up and go with Wall of Denial in place of some other cards.  With an 0/8 Flying Shrouded wall, I was able to even stop RDW flat in its tracks.  Was that in the original net deck, no. But for our meta, Shroud and 0/8 was nearly unstoppable while I set up with Sphinx of Jwar Isle—which is what I subbed in for Baneslayer Angel.  Some things just work and testing is a huge part of that. Don’t be a Clone. Try new things in net decks. Not a single one of them is perfect and I don’t think any pros claim them to be.

With most net decks I take their sideboards with a grain of salt.  A sideboard is specific to what they expect to see.  A good sideboard plan is important as well.  DO NOT copy the sideboard of a net deck unless you know for sure it is THE sideboard for your meta.  I almost always ignore net deck sideboards based on the fact that they have to plan for a gigantic tournament crowd.  Most shops only have turnouts in the 20’s, unless it’s a super shop.  You know what you’re going to face, you know the people you play against and therefore should know what to sideboard.

Ok, you have your deck picked out for the week.  You have it sleeved up and ready to play.  You have your perfect sideboard picked out.  You are ready to go right? Wrong!  How comfortable are you with playing this deck?  Do you know what hands to keep?  How comfortable are you with straying from your normal game plan?  Does the deck have a single weakness that you have to protect?  How tight of a player are you?  Not everybody is the best player out there (myself included).  Having the cards only gets you half of the way there.

**Begin Mini Rant**

If you read my “Losing Sucks” article, you’ll note that I ran a Mythic Conscription deck…miserably.  That deck pooped on me because I didn’t do any of the stuff I just suggested early in this post.  I didn’t test, I didn’t learn how to play the deck properly and I didn’t know what a good opening hand was.  I tapped poorly and did EVERYTHING wrong.  For this I was handed a 1-3 night at FNM and walked away miserable.  I don’t want you to walk away miserable and I haven’t either since I changed my ways.  I learned the hard way that just by playing a net deck you aren’t guaranteed a victory.

** End Mini Rant**

So, this Friday when you sleeve up your deck, think about what you’re doing. I mean really sit back and think about what you’re doing.  Just as much love needs to go into a net deck as it does a home brew.  After playing UGR Titan Force last Friday, I learned a couple of things about the deck even post testing.  It was the tournament that really taught me what I can change in this deck.  I plan on changing things up for this week in hopes of making it even better.  Don’t get discouraged if your deck doesn’t work for you just like any other deck. Sit back and re-evaluate.  Remember that Mythic Conscription deck that pooped on me?  I fixed it, learned it and piloted it to a 4-0 night.  I’ll say it again, constantly evaluate your meta,   I can’t stress this enough!  You too can net deck. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s cheating or cheap or an unfair advantage.  If they want to bitch at you, tell them to make something to beat it.  Otherwise they don’t have any ground to stand on. Better yet, YOU come up with something to beat it!  That way you’ll have a step up on everybody else.  The trick here is being a step ahead of everybody at your shop.  I’m likely going to play the same net deck I ran last week with some minor tweaks to make up for the weaknesses I discovered, but will I run it again next week, and the week after that?  Not likely. People are smart. They will find a way around it. So, as you test your net decks, find some you like, learn your meta and know when to switch things up.

When people say that net decking is a cop out, I ask them why?  When they throw the typical “There’s no innovation in it,” or “It’s not fair,” I tell them that there is much more to playing these decks than simply slapping them into sleeves and tapping cards.  There is just as much preparation in these decks as there is a good home brew.  Let them whine at you, but you now know that you’re on the winning end—not because you net decked, but because you prepared.