Basic Tournament Strategy for Magic: The Gathering Tournaments.

FNM Strategy

Friday Night Magic (FNM) is the most popular form of tournament Magic: the Gathering in the country. It's also the hardest to win. People come from a very close area, and have typically created their own little microcosm of an environment, making it nearly impossible to tell what kinds of decks are going to show up. This means that you need to be prepared for anything.

In order to do well at these tournaments, I suggest playing a deck that is very straightforward. Any deck that is good based on the fact that other decks are popular is not something you want to be playing. Often times, this means reverting to one of the very first designs that your team created for the season, and typically this means running a very generic sideboard. This is the only time when I recommend running at least one color-hoser, because there's no telling what kind of nonsense your opponents will be playing, and you never know when it will beat you.

FNMs are not the time for you to debut any deck that you suspect might be a format breaker. There are a lot of people who are going to be playing in these events who might see your deck, and if your idea gets leaked, you win only $25 instead of $250 and an invite to the Pro Tour. Also, you don't want many of the local players to identify you with a certain deck and know sitting down what you're playing. Instead, use this opportunity to learn a deck you feel might be challenging for you to beat, and after the FNM, you'll have a better grasp of not only how that deck wants to win, but how to beat it. This experience is invaluable, and can be used as strong playtesting time.

FNMs also require a nearly flawless record to get the prize, so draws can basically be counted as losses. Play hard for the win, and if this means you need to run a highly offensive deck, do it. If you end up with a control-on-control mirror match, you'll be in trouble, and should consider playing the matchup very offensively.

I consider FNMs to be harder to win than PTQs, so don't be too discouraged by repeat losses. If something better comes up, play there instead.

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