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'''Metagame''', literally "a game outside the game," is a prediction of how others will make decisions in a game based on their personality or their previous decisions.  A metagame can exist in any game in which the opposition is human or portrays some sort of artificial intelligence and the competitors make choices. '''Metagaming''' is taking advantage of the metagame for purposes of winning more often.
'''Metagame''' (Greek: μέτα = “about”, “beyond”), literally "a game outside the game," is a prediction of how others will make decisions in a game based on their personality or their previous decisions.<ref>{{DailyRef|level-one/metagame-2015-06-01|The Metagame|[[Reid Duke]]|June 1, 2015}}</ref> A metagame can exist in any game in which the opposition is human or portrays some sort of artificial intelligence and the competitors make choices.<ref>{{DailyRef|feature/lost-shuffle-games-within-games-2010-06-21-0|Lost in the Shuffle: Games Within Games|[[Richard Garfield]]|June 21, 2010}}</ref>


==Examples of the Metagame==
==The ''Magic'' metagame==
*In the movie The Princess Bride, a character is presented with two wine cups and is asked to drink out of one of them. He knows that one is poisioned but does not know which. He attempts to grasp the metagame by reasoning about his opponent's character, attempting to figure out which glass that sort of character would put the poison in.
In ''[[Magic]]'', "Metagame" commonly refers to the popularity of [[deck]]s, and sometimes specific cards. Simply put: "what everyone else is playing."<ref>{{DailyRef|magic-academy/what-metagame-2007-01-06|What is the Metagame?|[[Jeff Cunningham]]|January 06, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|magic-academy/metagame-workshop-2007-06-23|Metagame Workshop|[[Jeff Cunningham]]|June 23, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|feature/ask-wizards-november-2008-2008-11-03|Ask Wizards - November 2008|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|November, 2008}}</ref> The decisions the players make in what decks they play and what cards they  put into those decks in acknowledgement of their predictions about what potential opponents might choose themselves is what is called 'playing the metagame'.<ref>{{DailyRef|metagame-2014-07-14|Metagame|[[Mike Flores]]|July 14, 2014}}</ref> The practice of tuning a deck or adding [[sideboard]] cards in order to have a better chance to defeat the most popular decks is called ''metagaming''. The term “metagame” is also used to describe the game around the game, including the [[Organized Play]] system, online resources, a library of material, and numerous communities.<ref>{{DailyRef|making-magic/good-it-gets-2006-06-05|As Good As It Gets|[[Mark Rosewater]]|June 05, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|feature/i-never-metagame-i-didnt-history-magic-metagame-2009-06-01|I Never Metagame I Didn't Like: The History of the Magic Metagame|[[Mike Flores]]|June 01, 2009}}</ref>


*Competitor A's favorite number is six and all of his friends know this. Whenever Competitor A is asked to pick a number between one and ten, he picks six. Competitor A asks his friends to guess the number he is thinking of between one and ten. The metagame shows that the number is likely six.
===Example===
Metagaming is often cyclical. One example from ''Magic'' is the card  <c>Shatter</c>, which says "[[destroy]] target [[artifact]]." ''Shatter'' is very powerful, and so to avoid it most people have stopped playing artifacts. These people are metagaming because they have changed their decisions in anticipation of people playing ''Shatter''. Then, people notice that nobody is playing artifacts so they take Shatter out of their decks since it is worthless without artifacts to target. This is another example of metagaming because the players have changed their decisions in anticipation of their opponent's decisions. Then, people notice that shatter has become uncommon, so they begin to play artifacts again. This, yet again, is metagaming. This cycle can continue indefinitely.


==Examples of Metagaming==
===In Standard===
*There is a special set of moves in chess which allows a player to win in four moves. Competitor A has been watching Competitor B play chess, and the past five games in a row Competitor B has attempted to use this four-move win.  When Competitor A sits down to play against Competitor B, Competitor A will be metagaming if he/she plays in a way that will easily thwart the four-move checkmate before Competitor B makes it obvious that this is what he/she is doing.
Metagames are like living puzzles that try to solve themselves. The decks in a metagame will never be perfectly balanced. Within the first week of a set's release, the player-base as a whole will have put far more collective hours into finding the best deck for [[Standard]] than [[R&D]] can during the entire development period. The strategy the developers have for creating metagames that don't solve themselves within the first few weeks is making cards that are, as a whole, well balanced, but also do enough different powerful things that all of the decks in the metagame have room to shift as time moves on.<ref>{{DailyRef|latest-developments/room-grow-2013-04-11|Room to Grow|[[Sam Stoddard]]|April 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|latest-developments/puzzling-environments-2015-10-16|Puzzling Environments|[[Sam Stoddard]]|October 16, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|beyond-basics/breaking-rock-paper-scissors-2017-11-02|Breaking Rock-Paper-Scissors|[[Gavin Verhey]]|November 2, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|play-design/designing-diverse-standard-metagame-2017-12-08|Designing a Diverse Standard Metagame|[[Melissa DeTora]]|December 8, 2017}}</ref> One example of this is <c>Oko, Thief of Crowns</c>. This is an example because since so many Simic decks are running it, it has become very expensive, and, as a result, more decks are running copies of <c>Noxious Grasp</c> and <c>Veil of Summer</c>.


*Metagaming is often cyclical.  In Magic imagine you are playing Shatter which says "destroy target artifact."  Shatter is very powerful, and so to avoid it most people have stopped playing artifacts.  These people are metagaming because they have changed their decisions in anticipation of people playing Shatter.  Then, people notice that nobody is playing artifacts so they take Shatter out of their decks, since it is worthless otherwise.  This is metagaming again because they have changed their decisions in anticipation of their opponent's decisions.  Then, people notice that everyone has stopped playing Shatter, and so they begin to play artifacts again since it's safe.  This, yet again, is metagaming.  This cycle can continue indefinitely.
==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category: Magic Slang]][[Category:The Game of Magic]]
[[Category:Magic slang]]
[[Category:Magic theory]]

Latest revision as of 09:49, 28 December 2019

Metagame (Greek: μέτα = “about”, “beyond”), literally "a game outside the game," is a prediction of how others will make decisions in a game based on their personality or their previous decisions.[1] A metagame can exist in any game in which the opposition is human or portrays some sort of artificial intelligence and the competitors make choices.[2]

The Magic metagame

In Magic, "Metagame" commonly refers to the popularity of decks, and sometimes specific cards. Simply put: "what everyone else is playing."[3][4][5] The decisions the players make in what decks they play and what cards they put into those decks in acknowledgement of their predictions about what potential opponents might choose themselves is what is called 'playing the metagame'.[6] The practice of tuning a deck or adding sideboard cards in order to have a better chance to defeat the most popular decks is called metagaming. The term “metagame” is also used to describe the game around the game, including the Organized Play system, online resources, a library of material, and numerous communities.[7][8]

Example

Metagaming is often cyclical. One example from Magic is the card Shatter, which says "destroy target artifact." Shatter is very powerful, and so to avoid it most people have stopped playing artifacts. These people are metagaming because they have changed their decisions in anticipation of people playing Shatter. Then, people notice that nobody is playing artifacts so they take Shatter out of their decks since it is worthless without artifacts to target. This is another example of metagaming because the players have changed their decisions in anticipation of their opponent's decisions. Then, people notice that shatter has become uncommon, so they begin to play artifacts again. This, yet again, is metagaming. This cycle can continue indefinitely.

In Standard

Metagames are like living puzzles that try to solve themselves. The decks in a metagame will never be perfectly balanced. Within the first week of a set's release, the player-base as a whole will have put far more collective hours into finding the best deck for Standard than R&D can during the entire development period. The strategy the developers have for creating metagames that don't solve themselves within the first few weeks is making cards that are, as a whole, well balanced, but also do enough different powerful things that all of the decks in the metagame have room to shift as time moves on.[9][10][11][12] One example of this is Oko, Thief of Crowns. This is an example because since so many Simic decks are running it, it has become very expensive, and, as a result, more decks are running copies of Noxious Grasp and Veil of Summer.

References

  1. ↑ Reid Duke (June 1, 2015). "The Metagame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ Richard Garfield (June 21, 2010). "Lost in the Shuffle: Games Within Games". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. ↑ Jeff Cunningham (January 06, 2007). "What is the Metagame?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. ↑ Jeff Cunningham (June 23, 2007). "Metagame Workshop". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (November, 2008). "Ask Wizards - November 2008". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Mike Flores (July 14, 2014). "Metagame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 05, 2006). "As Good As It Gets". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ Mike Flores (June 01, 2009). "I Never Metagame I Didn't Like: The History of the Magic Metagame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. ↑ Sam Stoddard (April 12, 2013). "Room to Grow". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. ↑ Sam Stoddard (October 16, 2015). "Puzzling Environments". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. ↑ Gavin Verhey (November 2, 2017). "Breaking Rock-Paper-Scissors". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. ↑ Melissa DeTora (December 8, 2017). "Designing a Diverse Standard Metagame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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