Everyone makes mistakes. It is a fact of life, and a fact of Magic. If no-one ever made any mistakes, the world would be a pretty boring place (Imagine a whole lot of robots walking around speaking in binary).
Thankfully, humans do make mistakes. However, when you are playing a match of Magic, you want the person to be making the mistake to be your opponent. I even know some people who purposely play decks without many decisions to minimize the chances of them screwing up, and while this is a valid strategy, it is not one that I myself tend to indulge in. I find that the decks which present the most decisions are often the most powerful, and to me at least, the most fun.
Sometimes, the deck as a whole requires lots of little decisions, but often there are just one or two cards that present many angles. A.J. Sacher has written an excellent article on [card]Brainstorm[/card], and Nick Spagnolo has written one about [card]Preordain[/card], both of which I recommend you read.
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read” – Mark Twain
So i was going through some paperwork today at the ManaDeprived Office, and guess who comes in? It’s my good friend J Sith.
“Hey, Master, make me a good Elf EDH list.”
“Umm, no? Can’t you see I’m busy here?”
“Ok, at least make me a good artifact extended deck?”
“What part of ‘I’m busy’ can’t you understand?”
J Sith then pulls out his secret weapon, and begins to cry. Even I, cold hearted bastard that I am, can’t help but feel sorry for this pitiful little creature who is weeping at my feet and getting my shoes all wet.
“Why are you crying?”
“It’s like Toy Story 3 all over again, I want to play the Extended PTQ but I don’t have a good deck!”
“Here, don’t cry, I’ll give you my faerie list,” I say.
“That deck is too hard for me to play, I don’t know how to use any of the cards”
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head. After finishing working my 18 hour day (KYT whips us if we try to go home or ask for money*), I decided to write this article for J Sith and all the other little crybabies out there who find cards too hard to play.
5. [card]Thoughtseize[/card]
Turn 1 [card]Thoughtseize[/card], Turn 2 [card]Bitterblossom[/card], right? Wrong. Sometimes you want to wait on your Thoughtseize, especially if you know what the matchup is. I used to play my [card]Thoughtseize[/card]s as soon as I could, and I often was correct. However, by playing your Thoughtseizes too early you can allow your opponent more turns to draw the ‘out’ they need. Of course, against an unknown opponent, turn 1 [card]Thoughtseize[/card] is correct, but what about turn 3 [card]Thoughtseize[/card]? I find that often you want to wait to Thoughtseize the turn before(if short on mana), or the actual turn that you want to stick a relevant spell (like Jace or Mistbind Clique).
Besides the timing, choosing what card to take is hard. I notice that people often make the mistake of not taking a card that exists in multiples just because “they have another one”. Sometimes this is correct, like in the case of [card]Cryptic Command[/card] that you plan to [card]Mana Leak[/card] to resolve one key spell, but often it is wrong, because you are going to have to answer both those cards if you don’t take one, such as [card]Great Sable Stag[/card] or [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card]. My friend Nick Leblanc is a master of [card]Thoughtseize[/card], whenever I play or playtest against him, he always takes the right card. Compare that to Vincent Thibeault, who during a playtest session for Worlds took an [card]Obstinate Baloth[/card] with [card]Thoughtseize[/card]. Don’t worry, he still won, but I can’t blame him for changing to a deck without [card]Thoughtseize[/card].
Taking the card your opponent needs the most isn’t always correct, because sometimes you can answer that card, but another card comes down before your shields are up (Putrid Leech you can’t counter because you want to play Bitterblossom, but by turn 4 you can [card]Cryptic Command[/card] a [card]Chameleon Collosus[/card].) You need to consider all the factors, and plan a course of action that will allow you victory, even as early as turn 1.
Once, I was playing a Faerie mirror match against my friend Justin Richardson, and I Thoughtseized him turn 1, and he revealed his hand of [card]Bitterblossom[/card], [card]Bitterblossom[/card], Land, Land, [card]Scion of Oona[/card], [card]Terror[/card], with 1 land already in play. I looked at my hand or [card]Terror[/card], [card]Scion of Oona[/card], Cryptic, and lands, and realized that the only way I am winning this game is if I draw a second Scion, so I took his Terror in the hope of being able to get double Scion lock. I did end up drawing a second Scion, and after killing his Scion, his Blossoms killed him. Had I been on the play, I think taking a Bitterblossom would have been correct, because then I could draw into another Thoughtseize, or a Blossom of my own, instead of just being able to draw a blossom for parity.
4. [card]Vendilion Clique[/card]
I have cast this card during both my upkeep and my opponent’s upkeep, my opponent’s draw step, their combat step, their end step, my main phase, and my end step. I have targeted my opponent to take their best card, targeted them and taken nothing (just to see their hand), targeted myself and taken away a useless card (like Mana Leak, which let me draw my Wurmcoil Engine the last possible turn against Mono Red), and even seen their hand and taken my worst card (sometimes they just show their hand before targeting, even in PTQ finals).
I find that about 90% of the time I target my opponent, and about 70% of the time that I do, I don’t take anything. The threat you know about is less dangerous than the one you don’t. Of course, sometimes you have to take something, but often this guy is ‘just’ a 3/1 flier at instant speed that reveals your opponent’s hand. Like Thoughtseize, you have to consider what to take, but also realize that your opponent does have a deck full of spells, so don’t be surprised if that [card]Blightning[/card] you took “transforms” into a [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card], or if that [card]Splinter Twin[/card] to go with their [card]Pestermite[/card] turns into another Splinter Twin.
3. [card]Cryptic Command[/card]
I have used every combination of modes on this card multiple times. The most common is draw a card, because I have a Wafo-Tapa-like unhealthy obsession with drawing cards. Dismiss and Fog + Cantrip(no, Jake, not Lightning Bolt) are not the only uses for this card. I often see people tapping their opponent’s team when bouncing 1 creature and drawing a card would cause 3 more damage to go through, but such a huge swing in tempo. Faeries uses this card at it’s best, and often when you bounce something, they never even get the chance to replay it. Here are the situations where I would use the different modes:
Counter, tap:
My opponent, playing around [card]Mistbind Clique[/card](yes, this card doesn’t only get cast during upkeep), plays his spells precombat. I am relatively low on life, or I need to get past blockers, and the spell being cast is relevant.
Counter, draw.
I am significantly ahead, and my opponent has basically no board presence, and a relevant spell on the stack, or at least a spell that would buy them many more turns.
Counter, bounce.
My opponent has cast a spell I need to counter, and has a threat on board that they cannot recast this turn, or only 1 creature that I wish to prevent from attacking, or by cutting them off from a land I make a play impossible for them (e.g. stops [card]Cruel Ultimatum[/card] from being castable next turn)
Tap, draw.
My opponent has an army of creatures, and I need to buy time, and dig to answers that exist in my deck. Bouncing 1 creature wouldn’t help me.
Tap, bounce.
The target of the bounce is almost always a land, either my opponent’s man-land, or a land of my own to gain a mana when i haven’t made my land drop, sometimes to activate Mutavault.
Bounce, Draw.
Usually when my opponent’s attack force is not very strong, say a lone Chameleon Collosus that has been pumped, or a Raging Ravine. Of if my opponent has cast Scapeshift with only 7 lands, I will use this on a mountain in response to Valakut triggers(or sometimes on Prismatic Omen) so that the triggers(except for the one of the land you bounced) will all fizzle.
Of course, these are just basic guidelines, since it always depends on the situation at hand, but just consider that you have options before instantly tapping and drawing, or countering and drawing.
2. [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]
Yes, everybody’s favourite 100$ standard Mythic Rare is here! Besides deciding what to put on top when Brainstorming (depends if they play discard, if they play goblin guide, if you are going to shuffle or possibly shuffle), I will help you decide which of Jace’s abilities to use.
-12: 99.9% of the time that you can. However, sometimes you are dead on board, and sometimes your opponent can still win! Yes, in fact once my opponent used Jace’s ultimate on me and I won, despite having nothing but lands in play.
-1: I probably use this ability the most when Jace comes into play, but often it is very useful to buy you some time. If your opponent plays a [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card], and you have no answers, I think the play is to bounce it for 2 turns and then [card]Brainstorm[/card], that way you get to see 2 cards deeper. Sometimes by chaining Jaces you can even do one better, and end up with a full Jace and a brainstorm awaiting you.
0: The bread and butter. This is the ability that makes Jace worth what he is. Though this ability doesn’t actually win the game, after 10 turns of brainstorming, its very unlikely that you are going to lose. I use this ability right when I play my Jace if my opponent is playing another Jace deck without burn(or man-lands that can kill it right away), or if I don’t really care about it’s survival because I have a backup, or if I’m desperately digging for answers. Sometimes a [card]Brainstorm[/card] + [card]Fog[/card] is all you need to get back into the game.
+2: You have all the tools you need to keep control of the current board state, now you just want to maintain the status quo until you can -12. Or you have a relatively fast clock going on, and just want to prevent your opponent from drawing one of their few outs. Many people don’t seem to realize that you can use this ability on yourself. Often, I brainstorm, put 2 cards, one that I really don’t need 2nd from the top, then the next turn Fateseal it away, thereby growing my Jace, and getting rid of the bad card. Also, if you play it turn 4 and want to protect it from Bolt or a Tarpit, yet you are unsure what your opponent needs (maybe they have 3 Jaces in hand, maybe they don’t have a 4th land), it is usually correct to Fateseal yourself.
Well, up until here, all the cards have been cards from Faeries. It may come as a surprise, but these are also the cards people screw up the most, and that I have a fair amount of experience playing. (I didn’t even mention that Jace gets a new ability in Faeries, -1, 3U: Take another turn after this one…see if you can figure that one out). But our number 1 card is a card that Faeries doesn’t play, and in fact HATES to see on the other side of the table:
1. [card]Goblin Guide[/card] (a.k.a. G.G.)
Goblin Guide is a really hard card to play. Sometimes, it enters the battlefield tapped and attacking, yet the card doesn’t even have any errata. The ability to reveal a card on the top of your opponent’s library is not optional, and often you get a lot of information from knowing what is in their hand (after they draw it, of course). So write it down! Please don’t attack with this when your opponent reveals a [card]Condemn[/card] on the top of their library and plays a plains turn 1, unless you have another attacker. They need to keep holding up that white mana forever, and it’s not like they won’t use it. Wait until it uses up some of their mana so you can resolve that Koth in your hand. Also, too many times people ignore just how powerful [card]Goblin Guide[/card] is as a blocker. Control decks playing red tend to play [card]Pyroclasm[/card], when they could just play this little fellow, and eat Kudoltha Rebirth tokens all day!**
Well, that’s it for some cards that are super-skill intensive in Standard and Extended. Now to make a deck that plays all 5***, I’m sure that it will be super sick. (Jay Elarar Terminology lesson: Sick = AMAZING, Horrible = not amazing)
Thanks for reading!
*How do you think the rich stay rich, and the ballers stay baller?
**Aggro decks are actually harder to play than they seem. There is nothing wrong with choosing to play an aggro deck. Aggro players are people too and they deserve our respect.
***BONUS*** List: Inspired by Michael J. Flores
4 [card]Cryptic Command[/card]
4 [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]
4 [card]Goblin Guide[/card]
3 [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]
4 [card]Thoughtseize[/card]
4 [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] <—-Justin Richardson’s suggestion
3 [card]Vendilion Clique[/card]
1 [card]Pestermite[/card]<—–because you can tap hellspark elemental
4 [card]Blightning[/card]<—–Card advantage + damage? sign me up!
4 [card]Lotus Cobra[/card]<—-because this is what you think of when you say “Mythic”
3 [card]Misty Rainforest[/card] <—for cobra
3 [card]Flooded Grove[/card]
4 [card]Reflecting Pool[/card]
4 [card]Vivid Creek[/card]
4 [card]Vivid Marsh[/card]
3 [card]Mountain[/card]
1 [card]Forest[/card]
1 [card]Island[/card]
1 [card]Swamp[/card]
1 [card]Plains[/card] <—to confuse your opponent
Alexander Hayne is the 2012 Pro Tour Barcelona champion. He also finished 2nd at GP Montreal in 2011.