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The MG

APDA’s Dark Meat

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Disclaimer: I am old and I do elderly things.

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The Basics of the MG

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What is the MG speech

  1. At a baseline, the MG has three roles:
    1. Undermine the OPP case
    2. Build up and defend the GOV case
    3. Clarify the round
  2. This is done through
    • “Line-by-line” of the On and Off-case
    • New arguments
    • characterization

This is the *bare* minimum for the MG

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What Really is Line-by-Line?

  • A synthesis of arguments into central premises
    • In GENERAL, the more nuance the better
    • Often, LOs do not have organization, so just following them will not work
  • You need ORDER
  • You should focus on organizing the OPP into arguments and then going down that line

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Mechanics of the MG

  • The MG should be focused on beating the best arguments of the OPP but not all arguments are created equal

Time Dedicated

Importance for ballot

Respond

Less so

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Mechanics of the MG (Cont.)

What makes an argument *winning*

  1. It is actually hard to tell
    1. Judges v i b e
    2. People make their arguments bad in LOC and develop them (or they really just made bad arguments)
  2. Some qualities
    • They are blippy instant-win sounding arguments
    • They are the only major conclusion of the round
    • They interact with the PM ballots

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The Evolution of the MG

“Old” APDA

  1. ~1000 word PMC
  2. OPP won….a lot
  3. Tight calls were really not a thing

“Old-ish” APDA

  • ~1700 word PMC
  • OPP wins….less
  • More tight calls
  • Prepped blocks

Current

  • ~1700 word PMC
  • OPP comes to the round
  • Even more tight calls
  • Less prep

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But remember, YOU need to line-by-line.

​

Don’t give another PMC

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The weight of the round is, effectively, on your shoulders

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Me, after the weight of the round is on my shoulders (and I press it)

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How to make the MG GOOD

Average MG:

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How to make the MG GOOD

  1. New offense
    1. The Best: extemporaneous but clearly winning new offense
    2. The Middling: prepped ballots you just wrote out
    3. The rest: just a random argument
  2. Arguments should attack the fundamental premise of the LOC
    • Why? LOC often generates many more arguments or is unclear, which makes it hard for the MG to respond to everything
      1. Beat the pre-argumentative premise of the OPP
  3. Clarification of the round

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Working with your PM

  • READ THE CASE
    • Make sure you know the arguments
    • The collapses should be your main goal and focus
      • Build weighing
    • If you make a turn, weigh the arguments
  • TALK TO YOUR PARTNER
    • In prep: write out overviews when you are GOVing: usually the MG just sits there, don’t do that
    • In round: discuss how you can beat the OPP with new offense

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Questions