Playing To Win At Magic: The Gathering

A good part of this article is inspired by David Sirlin's excellent book Playing To Win, which can be viewed for free online at www.sirlin.net/ptw. This article will have many of the same concepts, but also has my own ideas and examples specific to Magic: The Gathering. Reading Playing To Win is not required to understand this text.

Playing To Win At Magic: The Gathering

An article by Jay Bailey (mtgsalivanth)

Introduction

Many of the concepts found in these texts will be ones that you do not agree with. If you wish to argue them, I'll make it easier on you by providing my e-mail address (www.salivanth@live.com) and my Twitter account. (mtgsalivanth). I routinely check both of these.

With that out of the way, let's move on to the meat of the article: Playing to win at this game. Some of you do not want to play to win. Some of you play casually, and don't want to progress past the level you are at right now. That's fine: these concepts do not apply to you. I speak to the ones who aim to improve their game.

Magic: The Gathering is a game, and the first thing you must accept is the following:

Magic: The Gathering must be treated like Magic: The Gathering.

This means that no tournament-legal card, deck, or strategy is cheap, wrong, or should not be used for reasons other than 'It will not help me win'. If you are playing casually, play casually, but in tournaments, PLAY TO WIN.

This means accepting truths about the game. A combo deck is not cheap because it does not interact with the opponent. It's not a deck that 'does not 'play' Magic'. It does not interact with the opponent because it's not designed to. If you think that's wrong, you're not playing Magic: The Gathering. You're playing a different version of the game, and you must play the version that the tournament is playing.

If a deck is going to cost several hundred dollars to build and you can't afford it, fine. But don't whinge about the fact that you can't afford it. If you cannot remain competitive with your budget, then you should set your sights to other places other than improving at the game and playing at higher levels.

Counterspells are a valid strategy. Discard is a valid strategy. Land destruction is a valid strategy. (Note that I'm not saying these are valid as in 'They are competitive' for they may not be at the time of your reading. However, it is valid as in if it is a competitive strategy, you should not refrain from using it because it's 'cheap' 'dishonorable' or 'no fun'.)

I believe David Sirlin himself said it best.

"The game knows no rules of "honor" or of "cheapness." The game only knows winning and losing". 

- David Sirlin, author of Playing To Win.

I could give many other examples. Netdecking, metagaming, rules lawyering...but the principle is the same. If you want to win, you must accept that every tournament-legal strategy is fair game if it increases your chance of winning.

You do not decide what is fair and what is not. Wizards of the Coast does. If they say it can be done (by not banning or restricting it) then it can (and if it is good, will) be done. End of story.

Sir Scrub

Let's introduce a player I call Sir Scrub. Sir Scrub has many names and many guises. He may appear at your table or your FNM. If you haven't met him, or have met him in a large tournament where you do not have to put up with him again, be grateful.

You can never outplay Sir Scrub. Ever. You can beat him, of course, but it's always due to luck. You drew better or he drew worse. He was mana screwed or mana flooded. You got a lucky cascade, he never did. Sir Scrub is cursed with terrible luck, but at least he plays with honor.

Sir Scrub is the guy who draws cards off the top when he loses and then says 'In 3 turns, I would have had you.' The fact that you made sure the game DIDN'T last longer than it had to doesn't seem to resonate with Sir Scrub. He still had all these in his deck, he just never drew them.

Do you recognise him? You probably do, and if not, it's a good thing, too.

You

The previous section seemed to make no sense. It offers no advice on winning, and just bashes people. I wrote that section to show you the opposite of what you should be.

You should not chalk matches up to luck. Sometimes you WERE mana-screwed or mana-flooded. But could you have prevented it? By saying that mana-screw cost you the game, you're saying that:

A) You fully randomised your deck.

B) You made the correct mulliganing decisions.

C) You played perfectly.

D) There was no way you could have psyched your opponent into thinking you had something to stop him doing what he did to win.

Only if all of these are true can you blame mana-screw or mana-flood, or any other luck-based occurence.

When you lose, be humble. How could you have performed better, played more tightly, anticipated your opponent's moves better? Was his lucky topdeck lucky or was he holding you off until he could draw it? Did you push him as hard as you could, or in control, did you defend and prioritise threats to the best of your ability?

You must trust your decisions and your deck. A classic example is mulliganing. Do you, after mulliganing, look at the top card to see if you would have drawn the card you need? Okay, so there WAS that third land off the top. Who cares? You still made the right decision. This is something I consciously stopped doing, since by doing so, I basically say 'I don't trust that I made the mathematically correct move.' You must trust your decisions after you make them.

You must do everything you can to win. If you need a certain card, did you aggressively mulligan to find it? Did you defend as best you could to attempt to draw the card? Did you overextend into your opponent's sweeper? These are things that could cost you the game, but can be hard to notice. A 5-land hand against your opponent's Black-Red deck in Zendikar draft can very well be suicide, even if it looks good against a slower deck. If you don't know what your opponent is playing, that's one thing, but Game 2 you should not make that mistake.

Did you do your research? You didn't know what to do in that situation. Perhaps you should have tested more.

Essentially, there are a thousand things that you probably could have done, but did not, that can contribute to your loss, a lot more than mere luck. If you're not trying your best in a situation, luck merely helped your opponent win, not sealed it for them.

Conclusion

A great deal of my blog and many other hands have written about how to improve your play skill at Magic, so I shall leave that to other articles and other hands. This is the mindset you MUST take into any serious tournament, and if you do not, you may as well not go. If you still disagree with me, as some of you probably will, my e-mail is once again www.salivanth@live.com. My Twitter account is mtgsalivanth. Feel free to argue as much as you like, but in the end, as I have come to realise: this is the mindset that counts when you want to win.

The Ten Commandments of Magic: The Gathering

And then yay, Maro descended from the heavens, his hands bound by the tomes of prophecy, and he spake: These commandments are handed down to me by Richard Garfield, and they are to be obeyed, now and forever.

1. Magic is the first TCG, and the harbinger of all TCG's. Thou shalt claim no other trading card game came before me.
2. While thou shalt play other card games, thou shalt not claim any TCG be greater than Magic, whether it be Huntik or Yu-gi-oh, whether it be old or new, whether it be simple or complex, for I, the designer, am a jealous one, visiting the inquiry of thy peers upon the people who seek to betray me and not keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not blame the designer for any problem with which the designer is not at fault, for many hands make up Magic, and blame shalt be apportioned to the proper areas.
4. Remember the casual day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou test, and do all thy optimisation, but the seventh day IS the day of the casuals, in it thou shalt not attempt to theorycraft, nor grief thy table with combo decks, for in six days all thy testing may be concluded, and casual multiplayer shalt be joined on the seventh day, and should be hallowed.
5. Honour all of thy formats, that thy days be long exploring the infinite variety that is all of Magic.
6. Thou shalt not cheat.
7. Thou shalt not deck-hop every week.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy opponent.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's deck, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's topdecking, nor his playskill, nor his drafting, nor his building, nor his collection, nor any thing that IS thy neighbour's.



Yes, I did base these off the real 10 commandments. One of them (3) was forced to change a lot, whereas one (8) was able to not change at all.

Yes, this is a very strange idea.

No, I don't believe these commandments are actually what anyone from Magic thinks, and I don't believe all of them should be followed, and as in the real bible, there is room for interpretation in it.

Also, this was a complete joke, so don't take any of it as actual gospel. Unless someone breaks 6, 8, or 9. Then Richard Garfield compels you to stone them to death.

Happy gaming, fellow initiates!

The Alternative Goldfish

A lot of people goldfish their aggro decks. They find out how quickly it can kill. While that's all well and good, real testing is a lot better. But what if you don't have someone to test with, or you don't have more than a few minutes to test something quickly, or your internet's down and you're an MWS / MTGO player?

I present: The Alternative Goldfish Gauntlet! While it's not as good as real testing, it's a decent way to find out if you can handle certain strategies.

Note: The following gauntlet is designed for aggressive decks. Control decks shouldn't be goldfishing at all: they NEED real testing for even slight benefits.

Note: This gauntlet is designed for a 3-game sideboard match. Hopefully you win each game: don't stop after 2 games. Record your results.

Opponent 1: Plague Rats Guy.

This opponent will play a Plague Rats every turn. Attack and block as you would if you were on the other side of the table. Strategy tip: try not to trade if you can help it. Your rats get quite big, quite fast.

Opponent 2: Terminate Guy.

This guy will Terminate your best Terminatable dude each turn, during his turn.

Opponent 3: Wall Guy.

This guy will play a 0/5 Wall token every turn.

Opponent 4: Token Guy.

This guy plays 2 1/1 tokens each turn. Attack and block to the best of your ability.

Opponent 5: Uberman Guy.

This guy starts with a 10/10 indestructible creature. He plays nothing else. (This guy always starts on the draw.)

Opponent 6: Sower Guy.

This guy will steal your best creature on every even turn. (Turn 2, Turn 4, Turn 6)

Opponent 7: Wrath Guy.

This guy casts Planar Cleansing on every turn with a multiple of 3. (Turn 3, Turn 6, Turn 9)

Opponent 8: Aggro Guy.

This guy plays a 2/1 with haste every turn. He always attacks unless it's completely unprofitable. He tries to force trades.

Opponent 9: Banshee Guy.

All your creatures get a -1/-1 counter at the beginning of your upkeep.

Opponent 10: Nicol Bolas.

Your opponent has a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in play and nothing else. Every turn you don't play a card it gains +1 loyalty. Nicol Bolas cannot play an ability on his first turn. He is always on the draw.


Opponent 11: Choice Guy.

In his main phase, Choice Guy chooses one of the following:

Put a 2/1 with haste onto the battlefield.
Put a 0/5 defender onto the battlefield.
Destroy target creature.
Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature.
Put 2 1/1 creatures onto the battlefield.
Steal target creature. Choice Guy cannot choose this option for two more turns.
Destroy all non-land permanents. Choice Guy skips his next turn and cannot choose this option for two more turns after that.


There you have it, the alternative goldfish brigade! Work your way through them, and see if you can beat each one! Happy testing!

More Zendikar Spoilers

Hi guys! It's time for more spoilers already, so I don't fall too far behind again! Let's go!

Feast of Blood
Sorcery
Cast Feast of Blood only if you control two or more Vampires. Destroy target creature. You gain 4 life.
#88/249

This card is a sideboard card, at best. "But, Salivanth, what are you talking about? It's a better Doom Blade in Vampire Aggro!"


Answer: Not really. In a hyper-aggressive aggro deck, 4 life is only a bit more important than Instant vs. Sorcery, and you can't play it Turn 2. You also, obviously, can't play it after a Judgement. I think Doom Blade is a better choice.


That being said, you can probably pick these up late in a Vampire deck in Limited for some more removal.

Kabira Crossroads
Land
Kabira Crossroads enters the battlefield tapped. When Kabira Crossroads enters the battlefield, you gain 2 life. : Add  to your mana pool.

This could be decent in Mono-White Control, which is being pushed a decent amount. ETBT doesn't matter as much to control, and control is all about incremental advantages. 2 life tacked on to a Plains is an incremental advantage. Keep an eye on this card.

Obsidian Fireheart
Creature - Elemental
: Put a blaze counter on target land without a blaze counter on it. Lands with blaze counters on them have "At the beginning of your upkeep, this land deals 1 damage to you". (The land continues to burn even after Obsidian Fireheart leaves the battlefield.)
	4/4

Hmm...the RRR cost is a bit much for decks that aren't almost all red. However, regardless of the effect, it's a 4/4 for 4 in Red. Not to be sniffed at. As for the effect, it's clearly a way to spend extra mana. I think this could see play in a Red aggro deck as a finisher. Even if it dies, if it sticks around a turn or two, your life, probably already low, is now in dire peril.

Oran-Rief Recluse
Creature - Spider
Kicker  Reach When Oran-Rief Recluse enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target creature with flying.
	1/3

This card isn't that great. Could be decent versus W/U skies in Limited, but I don't see it seeing much play.

Quest for the Gemblades
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to another creature, you may put a quest counter on Quest for the Gemblades. Remove a quest counter from Quest for the Gemblades and sacrifice it: Put four +1/+1 counters on target creature.

An interesting quest. I think this'll be a good rattlesnake. It's very hard to attack into this card. Or block either. In fact, combat math becomes bloody hard. Pick these up. I wouldn't hesitate to play 2-3 of these if I could get them in a Draft. They'll be fifth-seventh pick, but they should be higher.

Mire Blight
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature When enchanted creature is dealt damage, destroy it.

This is a good piece of common removal, and you can probably pick it up pretty late. It's not hard to do damage. Basically, the card reads "If enchanted creature is nonevasive, if it attacks or blocks, destroy it at end of combat". Plus, there's probably at least one pinger in Zendikar.

Turntimber Grove
Land
Turntimber Grove enters the battlefield tapped. When Turntimber Grove enters the battlefield, target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. : Add  to your mana pool.
#227/249

Not really a playable. This card does not work, since it's only really decent application (a combat trick) is nullified. Probably second-worst of the cycle (the black one being the worst).

Relic Crush
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment and up to one other target artifact or enchantment.

Enchantment removal is a lot better in Zendikar than in other sets because of quests. This card is better than it would be in another set. Pick it accordingly.

Expedition Map
Artifact
, , Sacrifice Expedition Map: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

Good common mana-fixer, that can also get you a non-basic should you need it. This isn't spectacular, but it does it's job in Limited.

Unstable Footing
Instant
Kicker  Damage can't be prevented this turn. If Unstable Footing was kicked, it deals 5 damage to target player.

This is, essentially, a Lava Axe. Not too great. The R effect is incredibly, INCREDIBLY narrow, and will almost never be used. Just...no. Don't play this except if you have to.

Kor Aeronaut
Creature - Kor Soldier
Kicker  Flying When Kor Aeronaut enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, target creature gains flying until end of turn.
	2/2

Decent card. Probably not quite Constructed material (maybe with Kicker W) but it's good for Limited. Gets in there well. Still, a 2/2 flier for 2 is damn good. This might see play in Constructed yet. Wait, it's a SOLDIER? The plot thickens...

Kor Hookmaster
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Hookmaster enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
	2/2

Strong Limited card, doesn't quite make the Constructed cut. At 1W it would. If only...

Verdant Catacombs
Land
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Verdant Catacombs: Search your library for a Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Vance Kovacs #229/249

Cool. I have a name to start praying for. Verdant Catacombs. Open for me please...

Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Creature - Sphinx
Flying, shroud You may look at the top card of your library.(You may do this at any time)
#68/249	5/5

WOW. In Limited, in 19 cases out of 20, you just win when you play this. In Constructed, it's a great finisher. This card is amazingly good, since a 5/5 flier is basically proof against anything but removal. This WILL see play in Block, and in T2 if Baneslayer is not in M11.

Savage Silhouette
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has ": Regenerate enchanted creature".

If you have spare mana, this card is great. It's nearly indestructible with the new removal spells. Good to put on fragile utility creatures.

Hagra Diabolist
Creature - Ogre Shaman Ally
When Hagra Diabolist or an other Ally enters the battlefield, target player loses life equal to the the number of Allies you control. Then gain that much life.
	3/2

In an Ally deck, this can be quite mean. In a non-ally deck: not really.

Ondu Cleric
Creature - Kor Cleric Ally
When Ondu Cleric or another Ally comes into play, you may gain 1 life for each Ally you control.
	1/1

Now THIS is an ally. In a deck with half-a-dozen plus allies, it could gain 6 life or so before dying. I think Allies may be worth looking at in Draft, as a matter of fact.

Nimbus Wings
Sorcery
Two target creatures get +2/+2 and flying until end of turn.

An innovative pump spell. Well designed, and this could totally take out a stalemate if put on a couple of decent-sized creatures, like 3/3 or bigger.

Kor Outfitter
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Outfitter enters the battlefield, attach target equipment you control to target creature you control.
#21/249	2/2

Now that's a good weenie in Limited. Look out for B/W Aggro as a Zendikar archetype, because it will be mean stuff.


And that's another bundle of cards.


See you tomorrow!