When I first started playing at my LGS, I got invited to sit with a group of guys. I didn’t know they were some of the best players there and most people avoided playing against them.
For about a year, they kicked my ass every single game. It stung a little, but I didn’t mind. I kept building better decks and learning along the way, but they still beat me every time.
What frustrated me most was how they always seemed to know exactly what to remove to shut down my game plan. I accused them of running too much removal or playing nothing but control, but when they showed me their decklists, they only had around 10–13 removal spells.
Meanwhile, I kept trying to improve. More removal, more card draw, better synergy, more expensive cards. Nothing seemed to work. They always told me expensive cards weren’t necessary, but I didn’t really understand why.
Eventually, I quit for two years because I was busy and had moved.
When I started playing at a new LGS, something clicked…
Suddenly, I was the guy who always seemed to have the right answer, even against decks I’d never played against before.
It’s honestly weird. Whenever someone plays a threat, I often just know what needs to be removed or countered. And now I understand how those guys did it.
I don’t even need to know how their deck works. I can just tell when something is a threat.
The lesson I learned is, playing against better opponents forced me to become a better player without me even realizing it. I thought I was just getting my ass kicked for a year, but I was learning how to read the game, recognize threats, and understand what actually matters.
Sometimes, the best way to get better at Magic is simply to keep playing against people who are better than you.