Magic in my area is in a rebuilding era right now. Over the last few years, a lot of the best players finished college and left town, started families, or have otherwise drifted away from Magic. As a result, the quality of play just isn't at the same level it was a few years ago. Right now, I am by far the most experienced tournament player that I play with, and I don't get to go to every tournament anymore. In the past six months, though, things have started to turn around. My playgroup has been focusing on becoming better, and as a result we've sent several people to Pro Tours. The people I play with are getting more skilled and confident, and as they do, everyone has gotten much better. It won't be long until we start collecting multiple blue envelopes a season. We've done this by working together for the good of the order, and not just for ourselves. I'm going to talk about how we are doing it, and encourage you to do the same.

It is important to build up relationships with people that go beyond Magic

Individual accomplishments are important in Magic, but they are not everything. If you want to get better, it is important to build up a playgroup who genuinely like each other and can work in each other's best interests. It is important to build up relationships with people that go beyond Magic so that even when you are required to test a boring or outright bad format, you can still have fun. It helps drive the group as a whole, and makes it so that playing doesn't feel like a chore. If it does, people will find excuses not to play, and you will be back at square one with nobody to test with. You need to build a playgroup that is better than the accomplishments of its best player, and that can continue to improve and evolve on its own. You will be spending a lot of time with these people, and you need to have good relationships and to be constantly rooting for each other to succeed.

The ideal playgroup would be one that has a few people on the PT Gravy Train, has a few people who go to one or two PTs a year, a few people who are regularly top8ing PTQs, and a few people who are just below that level. If your group isn't there yet, that is fine –very few that are at that level. That is your goal, though, and while it would be nice if you were one of the people on the gravy train, that shouldn't be your only concern. If you can improve the skill of your group as a whole, you will slowly level up until you at least have your shot at the big game. The people who do go to Pro Tours will come back with improved skills and connections that the group as a whole can use, and little by little your group will become a force to be reckoned with.

One thing you will need to find is a location. Although not every playgroup has a store they frequent, it is usually the most convenient place to have a base of operations. Good game stores usually stay open late, have ample lighting and clean surfaces to play on, and have cross-traffic of new players looking to improve. This is going to become important over time. People dedicate their time to Magic when they can, and there is always something around the corner that risks taking over your focus. School, work, family, romance – all of these will bring up situations where you can't put in your full attention and you'll have to rely on others to keep the group going. If you are not constantly adding new people, the group will eventually fall apart.

As you start to get better, never belittle or push people away from your playgroup just because they aren't as good as you. Pros often say that to get better, you need to play with people who are better than you, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play with people who are worse. If that were the case, then you would have no way to ever get better, as the better players wouldn't take you in either. People often say "I can't learn anything from playing this person," which may be true now, but not for long. Playing Magic is a skill that can be learned quite easily. Determination, optimism, and the will to learn are far rarer traits to come by.

The best recruiting tool is to talk to people at tournaments. These are people who have already taken enough of a step to go from the kitchen table to the event site. Even if they aren't in your area, it's always good to meet new players, and create relationships with them. You never know when you will need a place to crash in another city, or a roommate for a PT/Grand Prix. On the flip side, if you are new to events, talk to the people who consistently do well in your area. Some of them may seem aloof, but most of them will be willing to let you play with them, as long as you take the game seriously. And if a group is willing to bring you on, make sure to bring something to the table. It doesn't have to be a collection, or experience, it could just be the willingness to playtest. Make sure that you are adding something.

...[E]ncourage them to become students of the game.

A lot of the people you will be bringing in to your group will be young and inexperienced. Take them to tournaments, let them borrow cards, and encourage them to become students of the game. Someday you may be asking them for cards, desklists, or taking advantage of their connections. Getting into tournament Magic is not easy, and people need this helping hand up if they are going to find their potential.

On that subject, I've always found it is better to be polite and nice to my opponents whenever possible. You never know when the person you are yelling at for being awful is going to break through, and people have very long memories. Competitive Magic is a very small world. These people may be your opponents, but they can also be your allies. These are the people who will help you get the last few cards you need, give you scouting reports, or scoop you into top8 if you have a better record. If you start making the PTQ rounds, you will see that maybe 20-30 people are regulars at every event, but over time those people change. If you are only nice to the current regulars, you will end up getting a bad reputation with the next group, and you will be shut out. You should treat everyone with respect. They will remember it.

As an example, there was one kid who I just couldn't beat during the Mirrodin season. I'd been playing PTQs in the Ohio Valley for about seven years at that point, and I knew all of the regulars. I was the kind of person who was always at the top tables, and often made Top 8, even if I didn't win. This kid, who I'd never seen before, quickly beat me in two events. Then in a PTQ, when I played him in round 3, I forgot to sacrifice an artifact during my upkeep to my Molder Slug. He noticed it. I noticed it. Already knowing how this would end, I shook my head and called the judge. I don't yell or complain, I just took the hit for my mistake. I ended up with a game loss, and lost the match. When we played again in Top 4, he knocked me out yet again. After that, when I saw him at tournaments we would talk in between rounds, joke about how he was my kryptonite, and eventually we became friends. It wasn't long after that that Ervin Tormos won his first PTQ and top8'd his first PT.

From that point on, it was clear that he was much better than me. Because of that existing friendship, we teamed up for the Two Headed Giant PTQ season, and played together on the Pro Tour. I met a lot of people, and learned a whole lot from playing with him. I could have easily started a grudge because I couldn't beat him, or treated him like an idiot because at the very beginning I was better than him (or at least felt I was), but I didn't. I treated him with respect, and as a result I was rewarded later. Now, there is a good chance that most people you play will never become great Magic players, but it's worth it to be nice to all of them.

Several of the people I play with now can tell me stories about how I talked to them about their deck, helped them with tiebreakers, or otherwise didn't act like the stuck-up jerk they assumed most good Magic players were (and in fairness, some are). I don't remember a lot of these individual experiences because it wasn't a big deal to me, but it was important to them. Most of them were people who had just started playing competitively, and for a regular to treat them like that helped to inspire them to keep playing.

This is going to be far from the last time I bring up playgroups. While I think that you can learn a lot from reading articles on the internet, playing MODO, or watching better players, all of that really pales in comparison to the experience of a good group of friends to play paper Magic with. Everyone once and a while, you will see someone do well at the local level who is a real jerk and is able to win a few tournament. These players just don't last. They can't keep up with the demands of playing at that level, or the financial resources required. Most every great player has only been able to reach the top levels by having a group of people he could rely on to always have his back, and to give him the support he needed. And usually quite a few of them became great players in their own right. If there was just one tip I could give everyone who wants to get better, it would be to improve the people around them. That will naturally bring up their own level, and make them more competitive in the future.