Shouldering Failure in cEDH

Niv-Mizzet, Parun | Illustrated by Svetlin Velinov

Some people hear ringing in their ears while others see red. The more expressive might swear while the stoic grow quiet. Friends may be sympathetic or congratulate you on your effort, but the result is the same. When the finals match hits the stream...you won't be there.

I've been playing cEDH for about two years. I went from protesting the uniformity of the format to finding my niche within it. While I bounced between a few lists in the beginning, I found my one-trick in Niv-Mizzet, Parun Control. The Izzet shell contains two-card win conditions that hide my lack of skill with Underworld Breach lines and stax evasion.

A few weeks ago, I played in Eminence Gaming's The Cookout. The 160-player tournament was full of talent, from the entire Eternal Glory team to Punt City winner Mike Saad. I ended the first day with a record of 4-0-1 and ended Swiss with a record of 4-0-3 due to intentional draws. Despite going first in my Top 16 match, I lost to Daniel Brown, currently top of the Mox Masters Invitational leaderboard and Wild Pile menace. Including this event, I have lost six Top 16 matches in the last two years. My first and most harrowing took place during the first Cash Cards Unlimited tournament where I punted my own Curiosity line and threw away a chance at a Black Lotus.

Whether it's because of your own misplays or your opponents', losing sucks. I have blamed others, snapped at my opponents, called my brother an idiot, and had to force myself to shake the winner's hand when they're just trying to be nice. I have behaved so embarrassingly that my close friends joke about my monumental capability to complain about my losses. While it's all good fun, the truth is that I've certainly hurt some people. I have probably offended some players so deeply that they don't really feel like playing in tournaments anymore. Alongside every one of my losses, that fact haunts me.

The cEDH community continues to grow and entice fresh players with every new deck tech and major tournament. As players who have experience in this atmosphere and are familiar with the frustration of losing, it is our responsibility to improve our ability to cope with failure just as much as we improve our play. I know this is easier said than done. After a big loss, there is little consolation. Nothing makes the flight home easier, and nothing will stop you from replaying every turn of that game in your head, but, as an experienced loser, I have found some things that make the weight of defeat a bit easier to carry.

The Truth of the Format

What makes cEDH so much more frustrating than 1v1 formats? Is it Rhystic Study? Mystic Remora? Dockside Extortionist? While these cards are annoying and are constantly called to be banned, I don't think they quite answer this question. Broken cards break every format. But what makes them so powerful is something that exists in cEDH alone: variance. With every additional player, the amount of variance per game increases tenfold. When switching from 1v1 to cEDH, a game with 50 decisions could become one with upwards of 2,000. In each of your games, you stare down a mountain of variance. Be proud of the times that you are able to climb to the top.

If that isn't enough to muddle your win rate, this variance gives birth to even more controversial concepts. Kingmaking. Spiteplay. Archenemy. As cEDH players, we've turned a game where you only have to beat one opponent into a game where you have to beat all three. It's for this reason, at least, that Wizards of the Coast has yet to solidify a rules list for cEDH. EDH is a multiplayer game...it just wasn't created to be competitive. Keep this in mind when you're facing your next big loss. We're all just trying our best in a format that wasn't meant to exist.

The Reasons For Your Loss

Now that we've established how difficult it is to continuously beat variance and that every win is a miracle, let's talk about why you lost. Take my Top 16 game from The Cookout, for example. In my approximately 3,000 mental replays of this game, I have identified the main factors that led to Dan's win.

For reference, the turn order is: Niv-Mizzet --> Tivit --> Yuriko --> Wild Pile Bruse/Thras (Dan)

• Yuriko goes to combat with a total of two damage. He deals one to Dan's Oko (which had two loyalty at the time) and one to Dan's face, leaving Oko alive with one loyalty.
  
• During Yuriko's turn, Tivit attempts to cast Path to Exile on my Displacer Kitten. I cast Mental Misstep and misplay by targeting my Mystic Remora with the Kitten trigger. Misstep is countered by Yuriko's Counterbalance, leading to me cast Misdirection (exiling Alchemist's Retrieval) to keep Kitten alive. If I had targeted Kitten with its first trigger, I would still have Misdirection and Alchemist's Retrieval in hand for Dan's turn.
  
• During Yuriko's turn, Tivit taps 5 mana to flash out Gandalf the White, leaving few resources open for Dan's turn.
  
• Yuriko passes the turn with the table feeling confident that Dan can't win due to an onboard Null Rod and Cursed Totem. I fail to recognize Oko as removal for one of these stax pieces. In the case where he (like our other two opponents) has the ability to copy Displacer Kitten, Oko is removal for both stax pieces.
  

There are four pivotal moments where Dan discernibly pulled ahead. However, with our newfound knowledge of variance's unpreventable effect on our games, we will narrow our focus. The reasons for my loss are simple. I misplayed with my first Kitten trigger and failed to recognize Oko as a method of stax removal. Do not waste your time dwelling on your opponents' actions. You will always have three opponents who will always have their best interests at heart. While mind controlling them is a useful skill in cEDH, it is not one we can afford to improve when we have our own misplays to correct. Analyze the reasons why you lost, not why the table lost. Channel all the frustration you feel into improving your play instead of blaming your opponents.

Set New Goals

The worst part of losing is the aftermath. What always hits close to home is when my friends and other players congratulate me on a great run/performance/Top 16. To me, it does not matter how well I did; when I lost the game that matters the most. But my reaction is wrong. Be gracious to those who congratulate you even when you feel undeserving. Identify the moments where you are lashing out because of your own anger. Never forget the feeling of packing up your cards, rolling up your playmat, and starting the journey home knowing that you did not make the finals. Turn your losses into a new goal whether that is making a Top 16 or winning one. Let them push you to practice when you are tired after work or too lazy to get out of bed. Seek to commit your misplays to memory so you will never have to revisit this feeling.

I know how hard you have worked. I know how many games you have played and how many times you've goldfished the same deck. I understand that it's infuriating when your losses are out of your control just as I know your self-hatred when they are not. Despite these feelings and frustrations, please protect your opponents' capacity to have fun. Let your negative thoughts excite you... because one day you will win.

And every loss will be worth it.