Meta Making

[G. Moto]

  Hello ladies and gentlemen of the multi-verse, this is your favorite planeswalking Vamp G. Moto here. I've been doing a lot of reading on other forums, reading articles and listening to the voices of you other planeswalkers out there and a conundrum had come to my attention; How do you beat a meta that we make? If this confuses you then let me explain it in this way....
   A) deck A is a hard control deck that says no to everything you do and pluses on every play.
   B) deck B is hexproof and counter proof and makes your opponent pay extra costs for every card they play.
   C) deck C is in your face powerful and strikes hard and fast like lightening and punishes your slower opponent.

If the dominating deck is Deck A and we all know this then why don't we play deck B? If deck B is strong on the scene then why not shift gears to deck C? My main concern is that like other TCGs, there usually are strong decks that dominate the competitive scene. The problem is that people generally only play the "deck that wins" rather than building their own brew for fun or even something that opposes the status quo. My fellow planeswalkers I want to hear from you, how are YOU going to shake up the meta? Let me know your plans and I will be sure to encourage and support you.

[CardAgain Sweater]

  Hello ladies and gentlemen of the multi-verse, this is your favorite planeswalking Vamp G. Moto here. I've been doing a lot of reading on other forums, reading articles and listening to the voices of you other planeswalkers out there and a conundrum had come to my attention; How do you beat a meta that we make? If this confuses you then let me explain it in this way....
   A) deck A is a hard control deck that says no to everything you do and pluses on every play.
   B) deck B is hexproof and counter proof and makes your opponent pay extra costs for every card they play.
   C) deck C is in your face powerful and strikes hard and fast like lightening and punishes your slower opponent.

If the dominating deck is Deck A and we all know this then why don't we play deck B? If deck B is strong on the scene then why not shift gears to deck C? My main concern is that like other TCGs, there usually are strong decks that dominate the competitive scene. The problem is that people generally only play the "deck that wins" rather than building their own brew for fun or even something that opposes the status quo. My fellow planeswalkers I want to hear from you, how are YOU going to shake up the meta? Let me know your plans and I will be sure to encourage and support you.

When you say 'the' meta, I assume you are referring to the global meta for a particular format. If that's the case, I don't attempt to shake it up. 'The' global meta is set by content creators who all need to post something - anything - everyday to keep up the clicks. Even if the content producers are not earning mad ducats every click, those clicks lend credibility and set the stage for money making, so they all gotta get clicks.

This results in an echo chamber where the loudest and most frequently repeated 'truths' about formats, decklists, and individual cards are given unshakable gravitas or disdain.

If you don't have a social media platform - or cannot win/place well in a few large events - i fear any shaking up of 'The' meta is out of anyone's reach.

If everyone is screaming "THERE ARE NO GOOD ANSWERS IN STANDARD! ONLY GOOD THREATS!", players internalize that and stop looking. (Google search forum posts from mtg websites from 2013-2014 - those same webpage pundits were shouting: "THERE ARE NO GOOD THREATS IN STANDARD! ONLY GOOD ANSWERS!")

I don't mean to be super negative, I just dont see how it can be done, outside of one's 'local' meta.

[G. Moto]

  Doesn't doing well consistently at your locals have any effect on that? Playing at local pre-release or FNM tournaments then going to Grand Prix events could certainty be a good way of getting the word out about a particular deck's success. I mean look at the last pro tournament where Mono-B Zombies took the win and ran with it. Stuff that is simple, strong and straightforward like that I don't see why a Sultai deck with good responses and removal or a Naya deck with strong creature buffs and protection can't take home some wins. Sometimes its puzzling to me how the media shapes our perception on things. But I guess that's just the society we live in, is it not? 

[Soren841]

Social media is dead to me

[CardAgain Sweater]

Social media is dead to me

Says the poster on an internet forum created to share and discuss ideas for playing Magic: the Gathering.

so·cial me·di·a
noun
websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking

[Soren841]

social media as in Facebook twitter etc. don't try to start a fight, be mature please

[CardAgain Sweater]

  Doesn't doing well consistently at your locals have any effect on that? Playing at local pre-release or FNM tournaments then going to Grand Prix events could certainty be a good way of getting the word out about a particular deck's success. I mean look at the last pro tournament where Mono-B Zombies took the win and ran with it. Stuff that is simple, strong and straightforward like that I don't see why a Sultai deck with good responses and removal or a Naya deck with strong creature buffs and protection can't take home some wins. Sometimes its puzzling to me how the media shapes our perception on things. But I guess that's just the society we live in, is it not?

Like I said, I think you can only shake up your own personal meta, be it FNM at your LGS or just your friends around the kitchen table every Tuesday. I know I won't be competing in a GP, so that's all I can do; results may vary for others.

As to the social media shaping perceptions, yes - it very much is human nature. It is easier and more comfortable to defend a position that has 'experts' touting the merits, and it thus becomes a spiral of ever more numerous vo7ces confirming each other; if you do venture outside the confines of accepted judgment on a certain card or deck, you become the outsider who is most likely wrong in the eyes of your playgroup, or crowd at the LGS talking about cards, or even in the dreaded social media. Who wants that burden? I can see most people maybe thinking about their own opinions that cut against 'accepted knowledge', but many many fewer see any reward in voicing that opinion.

This happens in all facets of life, us humans being glorious catastrophes.

[CardAgain Sweater]

social media as in Facebook twitter etc. don't try to start a fight, be mature please

I should have included a  to show I thought it was funny. My bad. You gotta admit, posting on an internet forum that you dont post to or read internet forums is funny.

I don't want to squash anything relevent to the topic you wanna say. I thought you were making a post that had nothing to add to the conversation, therefore it was a joke, so i could joke back. Sorry for forgetting the 

Now, feel free to contribute to the discussion G Moto was trying to start, and don't take it personally.

[G. Moto]

 So from your perspective, the general meta for the game cannot be shaken, stirred or altered because of the general people that make the game and form their own opinions about how it plays and the effects that it'd have on the large pro-scene and grand prix stages?

[CardAgain Sweater]

So from your perspective, the general meta for the game cannot be shaken, stirred or altered because of the general people that make the game and form their own opinions about how it plays and the effects that it'd have on the large pro-scene and grand prix stages?

Yep. The question was "what would YOU do to shake up the meta?" In my opinion, for the reasons outlined above, I can't. It won't stop me from trying new decks, though.    But, no one is paying attention to what I'm doing (and that's just fine with me), so I'm not holding my breath even if I somehow come up with a game changer.

GatheringMagic.com has an article about brewing for meta that I feel is appropriate for this topic: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/aliaintrazi-06302017-the-art-of-brewing/

[G. Moto]

 So after reading the article link I see some things from a different perspective. And from this shift in perspective I have a new question; Should competitive and pro-players be the only ones concerned with "the Meta"? It seems like a silly question but if you think about it, we play magic to have fun and to have a good time. If I'm tired f my friends always using the same B/G Graveyard recursion deck I'm not going to build a U/R or W/B deck and go to a pro-tournament and try to win JUST to prove that his deck is not worth playing. It would be counter productive to the game because then I'd be hate drafting just to destroy an idea that may not even linger months later. Just like other TCGs, the meta is ALWAYS changing. I just feel that sometimes people get so caught up in the most popular thing that it can corrupt and pollute the gaming community and atmosphere. That's one of the main reasons that I wanted to ask this question.