#181: Winning against your worst opponent, your own brain
From Magic Numbers by Sierkovitz
April 1, 2026 · 1h 15m
About this episode
The episode explores cognitive biases and strategies to improve game performance in Magic the Gathering and beyond.
No graphs in this seminar but we are looking at something that will help you in every format you play and, who knows, potentially also in your non-magic part of life. Today we look at some cognitive theory and find ways our own brain tries to make us lose. How does it do it, what can we do about it? How to find a right mix of instinctive reactions and analytical thinking that maximises our intellectual contribution towards our games while letting us play a long tournament without getting exhausted? We also look at some common biases and put them in the context of Magic the Gathering draft. How to create a system that lets us avoid those common cognitive traps? How to build a structured approach that will naturally make us aware of our own brain trying to fool ourselves. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord , sign up for Patreon , and use this…
People in this episode
Host: Sierkovitz
Topics covered
- cognitive theory
- Magic the Gathering
- game strategy
- cognitive biases
- tournament play
Keywords
- cognitive traps
- analytical thinking
- instinctive reactions
- tournament strategy
- Magic the Gathering
Sponsors
BulkBox
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Discord, Patreon
Products: BulkBox
Places: UK
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