Why do I suck at this game? Part 1: Building your circle

Introduction

Card games are often seen as games about individuals. This seems logical; you play alone, not with other people. At the end of a tournament or a Pro Ladder season, we see a single name at the top. We see players like Freddybabes or Kolemoen outplaying their opposition. While it is true that these players are where they are due to superior technical play¹, I would argue that to truly reach your potential, you need the right people around you. This is what today's article will be about.

1. The skill of making decisions during a game

Finding the right people

The narrative about the Gwent Challenger #4 was the tournament preparation of Team Aretuza. Bringing a lineup that was favored against the whole field, ultimately both Damorquis and Andywand made it into the finals, with Damorquis eventually taking home the Skellige Ring.

Now don't worry, you don't need a team like Aretuza behind you to improve yourself (although if you want to go pro joining a team at some point is highly recommended). It's enough to find a group of people to discuss and play the game with. Here are some tips to find the right people:

1. Find people that are at your level

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room"

We've all heard this saying before. There is no benefit for you in discussing the game on a regular basis with someone who is way less experienced than you are. If someone doesn't understand the foundation on which your discussion is based upon, there is no gain for you- conversely, if you're discussing with someone way more experienced than you are, chances are you might not be able to discuss at their level and just accept their opinion as correct. That is not the point.

Of course, taking advice from much more experienced players from time to time is not a bad thing, but try to find people to grow with together.

2. Find people who complement your skills

I see myself as a good deckbuilder. More specifically: I think I'm good at coming up with ideas, finding synergies. I know however that I'm not the type of guy who can put in the time in pro ladder and give the deck the finishing touch, optimise it. Someone who is exceptional at this stuff is my friend Shinmiri. This is why I like to contact him on that matter to ask for advice or discuss the last slots of the deck.

You don't have to be the best at everything. Having the right people around you allows you to be exceptional at certain things instead of trying to manage everything at once and ultimately be a master of none.

3. Find people with similar ambitions

If you want to improve together, it makes sense to thrive towards the same goal. This helps keeping everyone motivated on helping each other out, since everyone gains something out of it. Maybe someone want's to test a matchup that is also interesting for you? You're much more invested into doing this right than when doing someone a favor.

4. Hold each other accountable

If someone is wrong, you should call them out for it. At the same time, you should be okay with people calling you out. If you make mistakes, you want to know, and you want others to know if they're wrong. Having yes-sayers in your circles is dangerous and will severely harm your progress.

Dismissing critique and seeing it as malicious is just as dangerous (and will lead to your circle to consist more and more of yes-sayers). Improving means knowing what you do wrong.
Only knowing what you do right or even worse, being reinforced in bad habits, is a gateway to stagnation.

This is especially true for persons of authority, like streamers or pro players. Often people are too scared to tell them where they're wrong. This is somehow connected with 1. as these people often are more experienced.

Of course, as with all things, there is a balance. You do not want to constantly be criticising someone as it can have a negative impact on the morale. Try to develop a feel for when criticism is adequate and when to note it down and talk about it later.

5. Discussions are not a war

What I often see in discussions, especially in the age of the internet, is that when people discuss a topic, they both vehemently defend their standpoint and never give in on anything.

This is not the point of a discussion. A discussion should be a back-and-forth where you investigate a topic from different angles to come to a conclusion together. This conclusion ideally is an accurate representation of the how things really are, not the opinion of someone who managed to be the loudest, most popular or just the last person in the room. The truth is (almost) always somewhere in between.

Bonus: Friends don't always make good teammates

Your first instinct will probably be practicing the game with your friends. While friends often make good teammates because of similar interests and you getting along well together (and improving is much more effective when you're enjoying each others company), some friends might just not be cut out for that role. Your friends should probably be the first people to consider, but don't feel obligated to practicing with them. Try to look at the previously elaborated points first. On the other hand, someone might check all the boxes to be a good partner, but you might just not get along together (or maybe you will find a friend where you didn't consider to find them)

In the end, I can not make the decision for you and you will ultimately have to go with your own judgement here. Thanks for reading and hope to see you next time :)