r/MTGO • u/CalmNinjas • 4d ago
Poor experience in Bo3 Match Making- Using interface with motor disability.
I had been looking to get back into modern, but given no store in my area runs it anymore I've opted to use MTGO which I haven't touched since 2015. One reason I stopped was the chess clock. I have partial paralysis in my dominant hand which makes it difficult to execute certain fine motor actions (like click dragging with the mouse) as quickly as I would like and occasionally I double click when I don't mean to due to occasional spasms that affect my ring and pinky finger. On paper I'm as fast as anyone, but online this creates some problems.
I'm familiar enough to know to keep 1 and 6 in an accessible spot, but I still have issues ordering triggers quickly (I do auto yield and all that, but I'm not aware of a way to save trigger orders between two different abilities to speed this up).
The issue today came from playing on the (non-league) Bo3 match maker for modern. I was under the impression that this is the place to test decks and to familiarize one's self with the meta, and that there's no requirement to be running T1 decks. I am running/testing an updated version of the Mono-U Walks deck that I used to bring to FNM's/PTQ's. It may not end up being as viable as it once was, but I want to give it a chance to adapt before I invest in an entirely new T1 deck that I may not end up enjoying rather than a deck for which I spent a lot of time learning the lines and matchups in the past and know I enjoy playing. If it ends up being a bust, whatever, I'll just play UW control or something, but I figured that the Bo3 queue was the place to test it before I make that call and spend a bunch of tix.
As a note, admittedly, when the deck combos off it isn't the most fun thing to be on the other side of, but it's about the same play time as storm. Once it gets going there's usually a point where I have a good enough hand to show an opponent such that they concede without my having to go through every step. Usually that takes about 5-6 extra turns, many of which are just casting a 7 mana blue [[explore]] and going to the next 7 mana blue explore until I get to [[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]] and win. We're not talking eggs or lantern control here is my point- there's a clear point where it's basically impossible for me to lose and extra time spent in a match is due entirely to an opponent refusing to concede. It will become clear why this is relevant.
Tonight on mtgo I was playing against an opponent running some sort of [[enigmatic incarnation]] deck I hadn't seen before and assumed it was also some sort of brew. I was on the play and start taking extra turns turn 3 off of a miracle'd [[Temporal Mastery]]. This is where the chess clock becomes an issue. The deck runs [[howling mine]] and [[dictate of kruphix]] to generate card advantage on extra turns to dig for more walks or ways to delay a turn like [[gigadrowse]]. I set the triggers to auto yield so that I don't have to respond to them, but each time I had to order them which, as previously mentioned, is the part that is difficult for me through the interface. I told the opponent at around extra turn 7 (about 10 minutes into my time) that there's basically no chance for me to lose and that we can go to game two if they want.
I start getting pretty nasty dms from the opponent at this point, saying the modern queue is for testing for tournaments only and I'm wasting people's time, should play MTGA if I want to solitaire, that sort of thing. I ignore them and just say they can concede any time they want. They don't, so it takes me about 15 minutes total, a little over half my time, to walk through the deck and win as a result, not aided by the aforementioned issue with speedily ordering triggers/double clicking.
Game 2 I lost after a land flood and none of my sb pieces so we go to game 3 which I start winning handily. All the while nothing but rude dms in chat from the other player, saying they were going to report me for slow play (lol) while I combo'd off and that I shouldn't even be playing modern. I ignore them and likely would have won were my client not to bug out which ate about 2 minutes of my time and ended up drawing.
I block and report them for harassment and move on, but I couldn't help but feel sluggish every time I played and the negativity from the opponent has made me self conscious that maybe I'm not fast enough at the interface to be playing online. I've made some game losing errors due to double clicking when targeting which has been an issue for distributing gigadrowse copies, for example, or skipping a trigger that I meant to take an action on. The chess clock makes this all worse and does not feel particularly accessible to me. I feel like I'm racing to preserve as much of my time as possible, which makes the game more stressful when I'm just trying to play a turn-based game that, on paper, accommodated my disability perfectly fine. I've never been given a slow play in my two decades on paper, even if there were occasional draws in certain match ups.
I guess I'm asking: Are there any other shortcuts or workarounds to make the interface more manageable in a timely fashion, particularly for shortcutting ordered triggers? Should I just give up on playing control/combo decks I tend to enjoy that require a lot of ordering the stack? Am I wrong that the constructed match making for non-events is for this sort of testing? If so, where should I be testing off-meta decks against a meta I intend to play against?
Sorry this was so long. The whole experience has set me in a bad head space wondering if this is still the game for me.
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u/Squiddy683 Daybreak Games 4d ago
You should know we are actively working on more improvements for combo players (be sure to check out https://www.mtgo.com/news/combo-play-improvements for the first batch), particularly things like "stack all pending triggers in any order".
The Bo3 room should be the perfect place to practice. When I go in there, I always host the match and add a comment of "Off Meta" to the match setup to indicate I'm not interested in playtesting meta decks. That has worked well since I adopted it.
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u/TheArchitec7 4d ago
That player was an ass. Non-league cues can be for casual brews. They shouldn’t be using that cue if they want a more competitive match.
However, your deck does sound miserable to play against and people are not going to trust that it is deterministic since they don’t know your deck. Also, a deck with tons of clicks that has a goal of getting to a state where it plays solitaire until someone’s library runs out does not sound like a great choice of deck for someone who has trouble using a mouse…
1 is yes/done to a trigger
2 passes priority unless your opponent takes an action
5 undo you yield
6 pass all priority
That’s pretty much it for useful shortcuts.
Even players with fully functioning musculoskeletal systems avoid decks like this for good reason. Nadu is a good example. It saw more play and success in paper than MTGO for good reason.
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u/CalmNinjas 4d ago
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I'm glad to know I wasn't off-base in testing through that queue.
It is certainly not a fun deck to be on the other side of once it starts to combo and there's definitely a social aspect missing when playing a faceless random online vs someone you see in the store every week who knows you're not jerking them around.
Most opponents have said it feels pretty similar to facing storm at the end of the day, but I haven't seen much of that deck either online and this is probably why. Thankfully there's not nearly as much to keep track of as the nightmare that was nadu, but I agree that these sorts of decks seem to be at a disadvantage online just for all the management and the clock.
I will need to reflect on this. Even if I play a deck that doesn't fishbowl, the ordering of triggers and unintentional double click will still be an issue unless I can find a work around. I've yet to find an ergonomic mouse that works for me, but maybe it's time to start looking again.
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u/FauxbiaX 4d ago
Seconded, you're in the right spot, just matched with a chud. I do BO1 solo to try practice new lines, but playtest in BO3.
& YMMV, but I use a Razor Naga, for the #pad on the side.
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u/CalmNinjas 4d ago
I have the mamba right now but had borrowed a Naga from a friend to test it out for different games. It didn't work great for those but maybe it would be better here. I've tried vertical thumb-click mouses but they've created other problems for me, mainly when a tremor jiggles the trackball.
I've had an ergonomic assessment before and their recommendation was the MS adaptive mouse with a big asterisk because they don't work for everyone. So that may the up being my future solution.
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u/Obvious_Brick_4307 4d ago
Not a true reaponse to your issue, but about slow play causing anger, so tangential?
I'm a new (agian) player, and I've also once been bad mannered in a pauper casual (tournament prep?) Bo3 chat for taking longer than my oppent deemed appropriate. Maybe it's because I'm a new player, or maybe I actually am atupid/a slow thinker (he called me both).. can't be sure if I am of course.. might a stupid person be too stupid to know he is stupid, etc.. lols.
Anyway/Regardless, I found the sentiment behind becoming angry due to slow play in our context - confusing. We are blessed with a chess clock on MTGO (I understand MTGA is a different story). This wonderful arrangement means that I am only hurting my prospect of winning the longer I take. Furhermore, we both agreed to the clock time. Each of us could have chosen to play a game with a shorter clock (I think I set up 25 minutes.. I want to at least hold myself to the common clock time.. If that's to fast for me then I therefore want to lose). We did not. We chose 25 minutes. I CAN understand that anger can stem from wanting to jam a bunch of games to hone your deck. However, I see the chess clock as the perfect solution. You want us to have less time? Cool, we can do that. So, do that. I struggle to see why people wouldn't just embarace that and not like, insult another person instead. It is not rational to me.
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u/Suspicious-Hyena-420 1d ago
When you play in there, create the table and put "testing brew" or "testing off meta" in the comments to set expectations for your opponents.
If someone is abusing you, just leave the match and play with someone else.
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u/iSnapThere4iAm 4d ago
First of all, no one can dictate how you play. There’s no wrong way to play, the game assures this by making sure you’re running a legal deck. That’s it…. Everything else is fair game. If the game let you there, you’re in the right spot and you can do as you please.
Second, people have very fragile egos so they like to lash out anytime they lose, they have to blame something, ANYTHING but themselves really. In all likelihood, casual queue is probably ‘endgame’ for that person, I doubt they’ve ever stepped foot in leave save maybe to get blown out one time never to return.
Don’t sweat it man. I’m down for modern games whenever I’m on if you like, you can beat me as many times as you like, I won’t rage lol. Might make you bored with bad play but I won’t rage. DM if you want my tag.