1:40 Mistake 1 - Not Communicating 4:43 Mistake 2 - Using Hyperbole 8:58 Mistake 3 - Not Doing Things With Purpose 12:36 Mistake 4 - Taking Things to Personal 14:15 "You can't take it as an attack on you, because it is not an attack on you, it's an attack on the deck, and the deck is not you, even if you built it." - PVDDR
That last point is super important, I'm extremely susceptible to this, and I often have to remind myself that to be good you don't need EVERY idea you have to be good, you just have to have ONE good idea, and most importantly to be really able to recognize which ideas are good, and which are bad.
Coming from the flip side of your second point: it can be incredibly frustrating when you put in the work, have an excessive amount of data to back up your conclusions, and teammates completely discount all of that with their 2-3 matches. This happened to me with several different testing teams back in the day, and it probably wasn't completely unrelated to them valuing my opinion less bc of my gender. Of course, frequently I would end up doing much better as a result of using the large data sets to inform my opinions on things, so there was some karmic justice included. But my point is that the communication element is important in both directions, both communicating your confidence level on something and the data to back it up, but also on trusting your teammate's data. (Note: I've also been on plenty of other testing teams where this stuff wasn't an issue, so I'm not trying to say it was always a thing, but just giving the perspective of how frustrating and upsetting it can be to have data and it to be completely ignored without any significant amount of opposing data)
Paulo, speaking of talking to your teammates about which cards / strategies are good, I have a question: Have you ever had a situation where you fell in love with a certain card or deck and that clouded a more analytical view of that card's/deck's power, or were you as a pro player always able to separate your preferences and deliver a realistic unbiased appraisal of those cards / decks / strategies? (Edit) - Follow-up question: How would you advise a player on how to reach that mindset?
I believe I'm in general very good at not "falling in love with certain cards or decks for no reason" - I just have a very analytical mind and I usually do a good job of separating what is true and what I want to be true. I am a victim of the reverse process sometimes though, where I dislike a deck for certain reasons and that blinds me to its strengths (so for example there were powerful decks that I didn't play because of a flaw, and though the flaw was real, the deck was still powerful). As for how to not be a victim of that, well, it's mostly just training yourself to distance yourself from things emotionally, I think. You need to understand your goal is to find the truth, and not to reaffirm a previous belief. In the end it doesn't matter if you were right or wrong, it only matters if you find what is right.
Hi PV! One thing I learned many years ago about how to say things so it was less likely to be taken personally was to use "you" less and say "I/me" more. For example, rather than "Why are you playing this bad card?", perhaps something like "I don't see how this card is good in this deck." People have a habit of hearing "you" and thinking it's about themselves rather than a situation, and using "I" or "me" takes less pressure off the situation, and it's less likely to become internalized. Good video and good series! :)
Great speech Paulo! I think that those 4 points could be applied to every job, if you work in a team. It's about communication, transparency and open mind! I'm sure that working and play with you should be amazing!🚀
The mattress is actually Book of Exalted Deeds in disguise. “As long as mattress remains in battlefield, player cannot lose in world championships. ” Appreciate your content, legend. Please do more for Std 22!
You could basically replace "deck" with "opinion" and the video is now a very thoughtfull insight in human interaction. "People criticising your opinion isn't and attack on you, it's an attack on your opinion" is something more people should try to understand
The greatest task a team can undertake is to come up with a team name so awesome that it strikes fear into the hearts of the competition and renders all their preparation useless as they cower underneath your savage, creative intensity and sweet, well-made team uniforms.
Very well spoken. It's a necessary skill to separate work from self when it comes to criticism in competitive environments, especially when talking with a casual-mindset player.
“this list is awful” “why are you playing this” “you’re wasting your time here” “why are you taking this so personally” Definitely another way to communicate that information that doesn’t put people on the defensive.
Yeah, I agree. I hate being a critic, but all of these statements imply that the creator really missed the mark and should have known better. I deal with a lot of alpha personalities and they all believe that they should not be hindered by needing to think about how these things can make a person feel, but I disagree. In my opinion, the person who is helping will be better motivated and less inclined to waste your time defending themselves if the following statements were used instead: "In my opinion this list won't work" or "I don't want to spend anymore time going in that direction".
I might have exaggerated for effect here :P obviously it's important to always remain polite and considerate. But still, I need to feel like I am able to say something like "I believe we should not spend any more time on this deck because it's not gonna get to where we need it to, its core game plan is just too weak" without you feeling personally offended about it (or something like "this card just isn't getting the job done and we need to cut it"). So while the tone I used in the example wasn't the best, the main point is that feedback (assuming reasonably given) should not be taken personally and it very often is, regardless of how polite the person giving it is
PV, its quite frequent to find the 4th mistake around any social network today, some people really find a new "broken" deck every single day... Im really curious to know if someone believe them. LOL
1:40 Tip 1: Communicate with each other, share information. Write down the outcome of testing cards. 4:44 Tip 2: Don't LIE! Be honest and don't exaggerate about matchups. 8:57 Tip 3: Don't play to play. Play to get an answer to a question. Skip game one to test sideboarding. 12:35 Tip 4: Don't take things personal. Some cards/decks make no sense, take an opinion without being a b*tch about it. You can't win with testing! Editors note Tip 5: Put a mattress behind you as background.
One point is missing: Access finances, not everyone on your team can afford everything, this has to be on your mind while testing as well! It's worthless to test something you cannot afford.
Can't disagree with any of this and the points about purposeful training and do not take things personally is vital to success. When it comes to play testing you have that limited amount of time to get as much exploration and practice in as possible. Hanging on to pet cards or decks, skewing deck results so it looks good to the team or not communicating helps no one in the end. Finding like minded people that understand how everyone operates and how you all best get along is massive.
When someone says my deck can't beat Mono White, I take it personally. Basically, they're saying I can't beat Mono White, which hurts my feelings somehow.
The other flaw of attaching your self worth to a deck you build is that you may not show a deck you’re not 100% to the team for fear of it not being effective and being a poor reflection on your ability. Seems you wanna throw a ton of stuff or there quick and see what fails so you can move onto the next idea.
Yes that is definitely true as well, I've seen it happen where people had a great deck but just didn't show other people because they thought they were going to be laughed at :/
Some of the points made here have clearly been misunderstood. Without knowing how you and your team communicate, the advice can only be general. It is and it makes sense. If my team tells me Werewolf Pack Leader is a bad card, I'd say, I know, its green. 😆 seriously.? No. I'd want the data and I wouldn't have to ask for it because I wouldn't be on a team that didn't know to elaborate. And if you feel your teammates talk down to you or have less respect for you than you deserve, I suggest you find another team.
I think this is the first time ive ever disagreed with you PV. Not in total theory, just in one part. Its something I see alot of now and its because of the internet. My opinion on this is that NOTHING, and i do mean NOTHING, replaces your own personal experience of something occurring. Taking other peoples work, instead of doing you own is never a better option. For so many obvious reasons. Its slowly becoming the norm and alot of people are losing out on how to actually PLAY magic in favor taking some one elses work. We NEED to play all those games ourselves so OUR memory has all that data. You cannot get that data from someone else. Teams or no team do you own work your self. It will have value far beyond copying someone else work. Same with deck building. I love the online communities but if you have noticed a significant amount of creativity is gone from magic. I actually stopped watching any pro matches because you all played ultimatum and it got soooooo repetitive and boring. And I know you all think that was the best card, it wasnt. It got beat alot. It did well in tourneys because you all just played the same thing. In fear of trying something else. I understand you will disagree and I understand why you will. I still stand by what I say. WE have all changed Magic and NOT for the better.
Your assumptions are good if you have unlimited time, but a lot of the times that's not the case Probably the skill to train is just the capability to take advantage from the work of the others
@@PierGiorgioVolpato Completely disagree with you. There is nothing BUT time. You just have built an illusion that you are always running out of it or there isnt enough. Im not here to argue with you, id check my own set of beliefs before you attempt to break down mine.
@@emotionalcontentmediaunltd2267 I don't think it's arguable the fact that the modality PVDDR is suggesting is more time efficient Also in a situation of competition, like the tournament preparation for example, even assuming you are comparing professional players who use all their time and energy to test, the time is still limited
The fact that you need to play yourself to get a better understanding by your own is quite reasonable althought its not always possible because of time. You will either believe in someones work or just accept your impressions even not having time to test for yourself. In short, i believe that what you said is right BUT it doesnt mean that PVs point is not right too in most situations.
1:40 Mistake 1 - Not Communicating
4:43 Mistake 2 - Using Hyperbole
8:58 Mistake 3 - Not Doing Things With Purpose
12:36 Mistake 4 - Taking Things to Personal 14:15 "You can't take it as an attack on you, because it is not an attack on you, it's an attack on the deck, and the deck is not you, even if you built it." - PVDDR
That last point is super important, I'm extremely susceptible to this, and I often have to remind myself that to be good you don't need EVERY idea you have to be good, you just have to have ONE good idea, and most importantly to be really able to recognize which ideas are good, and which are bad.
Coming from the flip side of your second point: it can be incredibly frustrating when you put in the work, have an excessive amount of data to back up your conclusions, and teammates completely discount all of that with their 2-3 matches. This happened to me with several different testing teams back in the day, and it probably wasn't completely unrelated to them valuing my opinion less bc of my gender. Of course, frequently I would end up doing much better as a result of using the large data sets to inform my opinions on things, so there was some karmic justice included. But my point is that the communication element is important in both directions, both communicating your confidence level on something and the data to back it up, but also on trusting your teammate's data.
(Note: I've also been on plenty of other testing teams where this stuff wasn't an issue, so I'm not trying to say it was always a thing, but just giving the perspective of how frustrating and upsetting it can be to have data and it to be completely ignored without any significant amount of opposing data)
Yeah, that is definitely true as well, and can be very frustrating
Paulo, speaking of talking to your teammates about which cards / strategies are good, I have a question:
Have you ever had a situation where you fell in love with a certain card or deck and that clouded a more analytical view of that card's/deck's power, or were you as a pro player always able to separate your preferences and deliver a realistic unbiased appraisal of those cards / decks / strategies?
(Edit) - Follow-up question: How would you advise a player on how to reach that mindset?
I believe I'm in general very good at not "falling in love with certain cards or decks for no reason" - I just have a very analytical mind and I usually do a good job of separating what is true and what I want to be true. I am a victim of the reverse process sometimes though, where I dislike a deck for certain reasons and that blinds me to its strengths (so for example there were powerful decks that I didn't play because of a flaw, and though the flaw was real, the deck was still powerful).
As for how to not be a victim of that, well, it's mostly just training yourself to distance yourself from things emotionally, I think. You need to understand your goal is to find the truth, and not to reaffirm a previous belief. In the end it doesn't matter if you were right or wrong, it only matters if you find what is right.
The thick book behind it's his "Notes from the last Match". Great content and thanks.
They are my wife's work books :)
Hi PV!
One thing I learned many years ago about how to say things so it was less likely to be taken personally was to use "you" less and say "I/me" more. For example, rather than "Why are you playing this bad card?", perhaps something like "I don't see how this card is good in this deck." People have a habit of hearing "you" and thinking it's about themselves rather than a situation, and using "I" or "me" takes less pressure off the situation, and it's less likely to become internalized.
Good video and good series! :)
Great speech Paulo! I think that those 4 points could be applied to every job, if you work in a team. It's about communication, transparency and open mind! I'm sure that working and play with you should be amazing!🚀
Honestly, when its time ends, I'm going to miss that mattress.
When the quality of content is so high that it really doesn’t matter what is on screen. Legend.
Spoiler alert it's gone now :O
The mattress is actually Book of Exalted Deeds in disguise. “As long as mattress remains in battlefield, player cannot lose in world championships. ”
Appreciate your content, legend. Please do more for Std 22!
Scientific method: form a hypothesis, test the null hypothesis, form conclusions and new hypotheses, repeat.
You could basically replace "deck" with "opinion" and the video is now a very thoughtfull insight in human interaction.
"People criticising your opinion isn't and attack on you, it's an attack on your opinion" is something more people should try to understand
The greatest task a team can undertake is to come up with a team name so awesome that it strikes fear into the hearts of the competition and renders all their preparation useless as they cower underneath your savage, creative intensity and sweet, well-made team uniforms.
Amazing video PV! You are one of the best people at explaining concepts and ideas, keep up the good work
Thanks!
Very well spoken. It's a necessary skill to separate work from self when it comes to criticism in competitive environments, especially when talking with a casual-mindset player.
“this list is awful”
“why are you playing this”
“you’re wasting your time here”
“why are you taking this so personally”
Definitely another way to communicate that information that doesn’t put people on the defensive.
Yeah, I agree. I hate being a critic, but all of these statements imply that the creator really missed the mark and should have known better. I deal with a lot of alpha personalities and they all believe that they should not be hindered by needing to think about how these things can make a person feel, but I disagree. In my opinion, the person who is helping will be better motivated and less inclined to waste your time defending themselves if the following statements were used instead: "In my opinion this list won't work" or "I don't want to spend anymore time going in that direction".
I might have exaggerated for effect here :P obviously it's important to always remain polite and considerate. But still, I need to feel like I am able to say something like "I believe we should not spend any more time on this deck because it's not gonna get to where we need it to, its core game plan is just too weak" without you feeling personally offended about it (or something like "this card just isn't getting the job done and we need to cut it"). So while the tone I used in the example wasn't the best, the main point is that feedback (assuming reasonably given) should not be taken personally and it very often is, regardless of how polite the person giving it is
@@PVDDRMTG In that case I completely agree with you. BTW thanks again for the great content.
I've been meaning to ask you this for a while: How did you learn English? Your English is amazing dude. Congrats! Great video as always!
Thanks! I studied English for a couple years but it was mostly traveling, reading and watching tv shows
Elite spellbinder is one of my fav cards from strix! thanks PVDDR! I used it a lot with Eerie Ultimatum :D
Fantastic points! Keep going, amazing content!
PV, its quite frequent to find the 4th mistake around any social network today, some people really find a new "broken" deck every single day... Im really curious to know if someone believe them. LOL
Valuable advice as always, thanks!
Great content man
1:40 Tip 1: Communicate with each other, share information. Write down the outcome of testing cards.
4:44 Tip 2: Don't LIE! Be honest and don't exaggerate about matchups.
8:57 Tip 3: Don't play to play. Play to get an answer to a question. Skip game one to test sideboarding.
12:35 Tip 4: Don't take things personal. Some cards/decks make no sense, take an opinion without being a b*tch about it. You can't win with testing!
Editors note Tip 5: Put a mattress behind you as background.
One point is missing: Access finances, not everyone on your team can afford everything, this has to be on your mind while testing as well! It's worthless to test something you cannot afford.
Great video 👍
Can't disagree with any of this and the points about purposeful training and do not take things personally is vital to success. When it comes to play testing you have that limited amount of time to get as much exploration and practice in as possible. Hanging on to pet cards or decks, skewing deck results so it looks good to the team or not communicating helps no one in the end.
Finding like minded people that understand how everyone operates and how you all best get along is massive.
When someone says my deck can't beat Mono White, I take it personally. Basically, they're saying I can't beat Mono White, which hurts my feelings somehow.
To be fair, Mono-White is really busted nowadays
These cheap “class” enchantments from AFR are really rough to play against
The other flaw of attaching your self worth to a deck you build is that you may not show a deck you’re not 100% to the team for fear of it not being effective and being a poor reflection on your ability. Seems you wanna throw a ton of stuff or there quick and see what fails so you can move onto the next idea.
Yes that is definitely true as well, I've seen it happen where people had a great deck but just didn't show other people because they thought they were going to be laughed at :/
I tried to join your Discord but the link doesn't seem to be working.
Crazy what some people are willing to cheat for.
#keepthematress
Some of the points made here have clearly been misunderstood. Without knowing how you and your team communicate, the advice can only be general. It is and it makes sense. If my team tells me Werewolf Pack Leader is a bad card, I'd say, I know, its green. 😆 seriously.? No. I'd want the data and I wouldn't have to ask for it because I wouldn't be on a team that didn't know to elaborate. And if you feel your teammates talk down to you or have less respect for you than you deserve, I suggest you find another team.
be more constructive with your feedback please!
Cheating on testing.... LOL! Why don't they kick them out of the group?
"Man I don't want to be rude but you're terrible at drawing, put some scry in your deck at least, do something!"
PVDDR has a hoarding problem, it's ok man, you won't need it one day, just throw it out :D
I think this is the first time ive ever disagreed with you PV. Not in total theory, just in one part. Its something I see alot of now and its because of the internet. My opinion on this is that NOTHING, and i do mean NOTHING, replaces your own personal experience of something occurring. Taking other peoples work, instead of doing you own is never a better option. For so many obvious reasons. Its slowly becoming the norm and alot of people are losing out on how to actually PLAY magic in favor taking some one elses work. We NEED to play all those games ourselves so OUR memory has all that data. You cannot get that data from someone else. Teams or no team do you own work your self. It will have value far beyond copying someone else work. Same with deck building. I love the online communities but if you have noticed a significant amount of creativity is gone from magic. I actually stopped watching any pro matches because you all played ultimatum and it got soooooo repetitive and boring. And I know you all think that was the best card, it wasnt. It got beat alot. It did well in tourneys because you all just played the same thing. In fear of trying something else. I understand you will disagree and I understand why you will. I still stand by what I say. WE have all changed Magic and NOT for the better.
Your assumptions are good if you have unlimited time, but a lot of the times that's not the case
Probably the skill to train is just the capability to take advantage from the work of the others
@@PierGiorgioVolpato Completely disagree with you. There is nothing BUT time. You just have built an illusion that you are always running out of it or there isnt enough. Im not here to argue with you, id check my own set of beliefs before you attempt to break down mine.
Your entire post can summarized as nothing more than an ignorant, niaive, ego driven rant about 'netdecking'.
Unfortunate.
@@emotionalcontentmediaunltd2267 I don't think it's arguable the fact that the modality PVDDR is suggesting is more time efficient
Also in a situation of competition, like the tournament preparation for example, even assuming you are comparing professional players who use all their time and energy to test, the time is still limited
The fact that you need to play yourself to get a better understanding by your own is quite reasonable althought its not always possible because of time. You will either believe in someones work or just accept your impressions even not having time to test for yourself. In short, i believe that what you said is right BUT it doesnt mean that PVs point is not right too in most situations.