"Coming off the bye we were wary of being a bit rusty, so we were pretty pleased to have a very good start," she said. "Our timing is still out just a wee bit, so we need to go back and look at that, because when we let the ball go we play good netball."
Although the scoreline may suggest otherwise, the Tactix did a solid job of putting the Magic attack under pressure, disrupting their rhythm and cutting off the easy ball into Irene van Dyk. But any ball they turned over was often won straight back by the Magic defence, with the intimidating presence of Silver Fern pairing Leana de Bruin and Casey Kopua in the circle making the Tactix hesitant with their passing.
In an effort to shut down the Tactix' key scoring weapon Jo Harten, the Magic opted to start Kopua back at goal-keep - a position she was once renowned for before she found a home out at goal defence in both the Magic and Silver Fern dress.
Kopua did a good job of getting under the skin on Harten, restricting the English international to just four goals in the first quarter as the Magic surged to a commanding 17-8 lead in the first break.
The game could have taken a steep turn for the worse right there for the Tactix, but to the visitors' credit they competed well in the second period, continuing to disrupt the Magic's flow on attack, while improving their own execution, to outscore the home side 15-14 for the period.
While the Magic's 31-23 halftime lead was by no means comfortable, coach Noeline Taurua opted to take a punt on rookie midcourter Nadia Loveday in the second half, introducing the youngster at wing attack for her ANZ Championship debut.
The addition of Loveday - one of the Magic's development players - helped open up the attack, with her confidence to let the ball go impressing her captain.
"She has great vision and she just lets that ball go first time, which I think the defenders aren't always expecting," said Langman.
Finding better fluency on attack, the Magic cut loose in the third period capitalising on the wealth of turnover ball to be 49-31 up going into the final period.