E · Optimization & Practice · §18
Record more than results. Eight categories that turn a loss into a diagnosis rather than a feeling.
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Mistake taxonomy
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From the guide . §18 Testing Framework
Match results alone will not tell you whether the deck or the pilot is the problem. Eight categories will.
Opposing Legend and Chosen Champion, play or draw, the battlefield each player selected, the archetype branch, and whether it was a pre-board or post-board game.
Number of natural one and two-Energy units, whether Kinkou had a realistic threshold, whether Hopeful had an enabler, how many restricted Power colours the hand needed, whether it held unsupported top end, and what the mulligan decisions produced.
Per meaningful turn: units played, bonuses that changed an outcome, bonuses effectively wasted, whether they were concentrated unnecessarily, and whether a unit should have stayed in hand.
First battlefield conquered, first Hold missed, whether a point was lost because a unit was replayed or repositioned, whether the second battlefield was threatened soon enough, and whether temporary Might expired before it mattered.
How often it drew, how often the four-to-five line was what enabled the draw, how often it was stranded below the threshold, and whether a different three-drop would have been better.
For every cast: the target, the play ability repeated, the battlefield left, the battlefield entered, whether it was replayed ready, whether damage or Stun was cleared, whether battlefield control was lost, and whether simply playing another unit would have been better.
and Twilight targets, how many ready effects produced a second meaningful action, how many were played with no relevant exhausted unit, and every turn where a line failed on double Body, double Fury, Accelerate, Trophy Hunter’s Body requirement, a sideboard spell, or Deflect. That last set is what tells you whether six and six is right for your version.
Assign each loss one primary category. Pilot error: wrong role, overdeployment, missed stack sequence, poor allocation, Power mismanagement, wrong sideboard map. Matchup structure: their engine invalidated the plan despite correct play. Construction: a repeated dead card, unit density too low post-board, wrong removal package, rune split failure, top-end mismatch. Variance: no early unit after a mulligan, repeated top-end draws, their narrow card at the exact window.