Determinants of being effective player, part 1

The human mind has the ability to tell us that something is impossible or unviable long before we even make a try. We mentally surrender. Thinking pessimisticly lead us to inevitable failure. How to convince our mind not to resist in the way of dreams? The real secret to success is what lies beneath the surface: all the time put in practicing before you sit down at the tournament. I have prepared a list of 7 habits that mark a good player, a few features fit to good botter as well.

1. Read a lot. Nowadays, there is unprecedented access to information, and that applies to Magic just like everything else. Actually, we are flooded with all the news reaching us from every media source. The first great step you can make in preparing for a tournament is to learn about the format that you are going to be playing. It is essential to know possible threats and interaction between cards. If you are participating in format that you don't play regulary with the aid may come the large number of magic strategy sites where you can read articles (many of them free) about every subject in magic written by the top players in the game today. It is vital to get your finger on the pulse of the metagame. Find out what are the prevailing decks? What is the speed of the format? Is the metagame stable or is it still developing? Reading as much as you can about a format is the first step someone should take when they are looking to get results at the next tourney. This is as true for player as it is for botters. Reading is highly indicated for being a good botter too. You need to know what is going around. Which cards are played widely? Which ones only in one kind of deck? How many staples etc. It will definitely help you to maximize your profits or to manage with your stocks.

In next parts of this article series I'm going to present other habits. Stay tuned.