Hello and welcome back. It was just Turkey day, at least here in the USA, with shopping sprees going to be advertised probably all the way until the week of Christmas, blaring at you with all the supposed shiny deals and whatnot. Trying to get a handle on everything you’re “supposed” to do, buy or get done can be a troublesome ideal during this time of the year.
When things like this happen, it’s important to prioritize when enough is enough and you’ve done what you can. I like to call this way of thinking “victory enough”, and I apply it to most things I try and do. Of course you always work towards the outcomes you want to achieve, but sometimes, when a deadline passes, you miss a sale or lose a commander game, you can still be satisfied with the outcome.
In casual Commander, everyone wants to win but generally it's secondary to a number of other things. Deciding what the primary objective is for any single game can change. I’m going to discuss some of them here today because having a chill batch of games over the holiday period is a good way to relax as a Magic player and blow off some steam.
MENTAL PREPAREDNESS
Mental Journey - Jim Pavelec
The biggest thing you can do for yourself to help enjoy a Commander game, and the season in general, is preparing to accept different outcomes. Now this of course has its limits and is individual, but being ready to lose a Commander game or having a plan if you slightly overcooked the turkey are in the same vein of thought; just be ready for it in case. It relieves a lot of stress from the situations that arise, sometimes even keeping it totally at bay. Don’t dwell on the possible outcomes, just accept that it could happen.
This helps a lot specifically in my Commander games. I like all the decks I have currently on my roster, but I have to go into games with different mind sets for each. With Rosheen I need to push damage and go as big as I can no matter what, but with Valki, my theft and goad deck, I have to be accepting of not being able to draw cards because they’d be coming from other peoples decks most of the time. Victory for each is different, with Rosheen being getting X spells to function and push damage and creatures, and Valki being able to connect and steal cards to build a win.
A lot of stressful things in life can be somewhat mitigated with a change of thought and can cover many different aspects of life.
ALLOWANCE FOR YOURSELF
Quiet Contemplation - Magali Villeneuve
This isn’t to say that everything must be accounted for, thought out to the absolute extreme and planned for. Not at all. Helping yourself deal with problems itself shouldn’t make more stress. It’s a lot like deck building. No matter how many things you try to account for, you can’t account for everything and there is only so much space for that in a Commander deck anyway. Make room for yourself to be willing to also have things go unplanned.
It also comes into play during events where you expect something to go a certain way. It takes some practice to either or both be prepared to accept an outcome or allow yourself to not be okay with it if you aren’t wanting that particular one, like a sudden switch of momentum in a Commander game, or in real life.
As a person with autism myself, I put a lot of effort into making sure I don’t overreact to things that might be surprising, helping with mental preparedness. However, sometimes things catch me off guard and I just have a worse than I’d like reaction. A specific example about me, but there are many people who have similar situations with a same or different mechanism or catalyst. Having a mental place where being yourself is okay also can do a lot to relieve stressors. It is victory enough to be your pure self in those moments too.
THE CROSSOVER
In Too Deep - José Parodi
I’m sure comparing general life to a Command deck and the format is a little odd. I’ve found in life that things kind of overlap in general. You could apply it from any hobby or project. It’s just contained in a microcosm. Life can be complicated and heavy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pack some of it away and deal with it in pieces and metaphors.
In summary, take time for yourself to relax. Until next time, enjoy the holiday in the US! If not, enjoy whatever you’re up to and take some time for yourself!
