Why do we play the way we play? Some are hardcore control players, dedicated to locking down opponents until they can secure the win; others want to chain cards together until they draw the perfect combo; while yet others swarm the board with tokens or have a single champion and win through combat. People look up deck and build them card-for-card; others start with a single idea and loot their collection and never talk to others. We Magic players are an incredible mix of personalities, playstyles, and ideas. Yet for all that amazing talent, people sometimes never tap into it and prefer to stick to what they know best.

Imagine a world where ideas are never shared. Actually, don’t; you’ll end up curled up in a ball in some corner, crying. Imagine, then, that someone had a party that everyone was invited to and you decided not to go because…well, because. That’s what not opening yourself to new ideas is like. It’s frustrating for me to hear someone say “I don’t like (insert card/playstyle here) because (reason A/B/C). I’m guilty of it, too; Thragtusk, Siege Rhino, Collected Company, and Sylvan Advocate are among my most hated cards even though I rarely played against them. I couldn’t stand hearing about them constantly. Over time I came around (sort of) on them. It was largely dependent on my putting Thragtusk in my Sigarda EDH deck and watching how it played. Had I kept my dislike of the card, 1) I wouldn’t have gotten over my hatred of it as fast and 2) this article would be very different.

A notable example of this is Josh Lee Kwai of The Command Zone podcast. He built a Thrasios, Triton Hero/Vial Smasher the Fierce EDH deck for an episode of Game Knights (The Command Zone video series) in a big mana/aggo style he’s never done before. After playing it on the show, it quickly became one of his most favorite decks and eople still talk and ask about it to this day. He learned that he loves playing that style and learned something about himself.

When Kaladesh was in Standard I found a red/green Energy list that looked like a lot of fun. I had most of the cards and the ones I didn’t have were easily obtainable. Excited, I threw the deck together and took it to a few FNMs…and hated it. The deck ran well, better than my usual record, but I had no fun while playing it. Not that I hate aggro, I just didn’t like that deck. The concept, though… After a while I took the deck apart and built a blue/black/green version of it. Same strategy, different cards. I loved it. It was a much more controlling version, and I learned I love control more than aggro. (It’s still a toss-up where combo is in the order.)

You learn new things by trying new things. Reach out to people who play different decks and ask to borrow them. Look up deck lists and build new ones. Play against different styles of decks; I found that I love playing against Stax decks (I know, I’m insane) because I view them as puzzles to solve, and I love puzzles. Try new things, and you’ll find more than just what’s in front of you.