Pony Up! But… Why?

What’s good, Spirit Squad!

A few weeks ago we talked about a few different types of players (in our Brewer, Tuner, or Player? article) and how some people want to approach their Magic: the Gathering experience. Today we’re going to delve even deeper into a player archetype that happens to be exactly where I fit, but gets a lot of negative stigma: the One-Trick Pony.

For anyone who hasn’t heard this term, a one-trick pony is a player who actively chooses to play exactly one style of deck. I absolutely file under this archetype (technically I’m a Spirits “Main”, but I’ll explain that later), as I’ll always play a creature-based tempo deck whenever that’s an available option.

This isn’t a term that’s new to Magic: the Gathering, though: in chess, it can be a player who will only play one opening or style; in fighting games like Street Fighter, it can be someone who only plays one character regardless of the opponent’s playstyle; or in a game like Pokémon it can be a player who only plays with one team or always includes a specific Pokémon in each of their teams.

♪ Your one-trick pony better work, horse ♫

OK, so why in the world would I wanna limit myself like that?

Normally, you wouldn’t. Being a one-trick pony is almost always seen as a negative thing, but especially so in the world of competitive gaming, where you typically want to be as strong as possible. In order to be as strong as possible in your game of choice, you’d normally want to have as complete of an understanding as possible of every facet of the game, and this means that you’d also want to be practicing with as many different things as possible.

There are, however, a few upsides to choosing to play one style and hone that rather than being a more well-rounded player:

• There’s a famous saying by Bruce Lee, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” There’s a lot of truth in that. The person who’s played the same deck in 1,000 matches is going to know their deck much better than even a Hall of Fame player who’s played the same deck only 5 times.
• If you’re a parent or another person who just doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands, choosing one style of play and learning that to a T means you don’t need to keep up with everything that exists in your game of choice. You can just adjust your one style of play to whatever the rest of the game’s doing, without having to spend hours you don’t have learning a whole new thing each time something happens.
• Specific to games like Magic: the Gathering and other games that have collectible pieces, being a one-trick means that you don’t have to spend a bunch of money each time something new happens in your game of choice. For example: I play my one Azorius Spirits deck in Pioneer and, rather than having to buy new cards every time a new set or even a new archetype comes out, I can get away with only buying a few specific cards to adjust my existing deck to what the rest of the game’s doing at that time.

OK, so you mentioned a “Main”, what even is that?

(It’s a main, man. Not the Main Man.)

A “main” is someone who chooses to favor one style of play, but has enough range in their game of choice to be able to play other styles when it’s a better call than the thing they prefer to be doing. This is pretty different from a one-trick, who generally can’t play more than their one chosen style or character. I absolutely identify as a Spirits main, since I’ll play it or an adjacent deck whenever possible, but I’ve won tournaments with decks like Mono-Red Aggro, Azorius Control, and even combo decks like Dredge.

Now that we know what a One-Trick Pony is and we know some of the positives and negatives that come along with choosing this style of play, it’s important to understand that there’s a type of gaming out there for everyone. Relish your game of choice in whatever way gives you the most joy in this holiday season!

Speaking of which: don’t forget that Fusion Gaming Online is hosting a giveaway! Make sure to enter the Foundations December Giveaway for your chance at a pre-release kit and and Liliana Alcove deck box! Best of luck, and I’ll see y’all on the next one!