by Ryan Spring

Have you ever been that guy? The guy who always does well at events, and consistantly finishes in the top 8, but can never seem to close the deal? Are you that one guy who keeps getting second and third over and over again but just can't win the event? Well then, as a firm believer in the old saying that second place is only the first loser, I'll help you stop that problem today. I've made a list of small, subtle things that really matter in Magic. This list is the things that even great players sometimes overlook, and the best ways to give yourself a true competitive edge.

This doesn't mean to ask him if you can switch seats, since the glare from the sun shouldn't be a problem, and the cards on the table tend to look about the same from either side. Instead, try to mentally switch places with your opponent. If he only had one counterspell in his entire hand, which card in your hand would he really need to counter the most? Once you figure that out, you can play other good spells as bait, forcing him to counter something of less importance, all before dropping your real threat.

In another example, before you attack, try to picture mentally how you would block if you were in your opponent's position. If you don't like what you come up with, maybe you should reconsider the attack. If they block differently than you expected them to, ask yourself why. Are they holding a pump spell? Are they trying to save up creatures for a counterattack? Maybe they don't suspect that you're holding a certain card, and aren't playing around it? It could be a lot of things, and you might never know for sure. But it will only help you if you try to figure out why your opponent did what they did, and then make your own plays accordingly. If you know what your opponent is going to do, it's much easier to beat them.

That's right folks. Your magic opponents are, in fact, always telling the truth about what they are holding in their hand, how good your matchup is, and why they made the plays they made. Alright, fine, that might not be true, but you can learn a lot from listening to your opponent. After you win game 1, a frustrated opponent might rant "If I had only drawn a Wrath of God I would have won...", which is like giving you free information. Now you know why they weren't playing a lot of creatures, and now you understand the game plan they have against you. Your opponent clearly wants you to play all your creatures and overextend yourself, so he can clean them all up with a timely Wrath. Well then, next game, you'll know better, and only play a couple creatures at a time, to make that Wrath less effective.

Another good thing to pay attention to is the tone of your opponent. You really want to observe them in as many ways as you can without making it obvious. If they suddenly begin to sound unexcited as you play a card, or if they begin to slouch in their chair, that probably means they've just fallen behind. Likewise, when you drop your huge dragon, and they happily reply with "Yeah, dragon, sure.", they're either acting and have absolutely nothing, or you're in a lot of trouble. If they become frustrated and start playing recklessly, or if they start playing much faster than before, they're probably mounting an all-out offensive because they think they’re losing. This is a great thing to know. You always wanna know how your opponent really feels about the cards you're playing, so observe them as much as possible and then adjust your plan.

This does not apply to my articles, of course, since the information I provide you with is always perfect, but it might not be in other cases. A card is not good because your friend told you it is. A card is not good because it's popular, or has a cool picture. Sadly, a card is not good because you like it and want it to be, otherwise I'd have my old zombie deck still built for next extended season.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to actually play with cards and test ideas. Decide for yourself if a card is good or if it's worth a slot in your deck. Figure out through practice games if a card lives up to the hype, so you don't get any unpleasant surprises come tournament time. Be sure to read a card carefully, and consider all the options, and think of creative ways to use it. Some cards are only good in certain decks, but awful in others. People who tell you a card is good mean it's good for them. It might not be so good in your deck.

Back to my Wrath of God example, that card is TERRIBLE in a deck that wants to kill the opponent with creatures. And by terrible I mean like, completely unplayable. But, on the opposite extreme, the card is fantastic in a creature light control deck. I would go so far as to say that four copies is an absolute must in any control deck with white in it. Ever consider that? If not, take a look back at your cards and start thinking about what types of decks would make them work the best. This is when you'll really start to realize why certain cards are considered good.

Yes, I just got done telling you to practice things for yourself, and that people are not always correct when they evaluate the power level of a card, but now I'll argue the other side of the matter. If many, many people think a card is good, and you don't, they probably think it's good for a reason. That doesn't mean to just believe them and take their word for it, but instead, ask them why the card is so good, and ask them to give you examples. Ask them how they use the card, or what other cards they have that make it work better. Whether they convince you or not, if you're on the fence about a card, play it yourself and form your own opinion.

Also, ask as much as you can. Ask better and more experienced players about anything you want to know, from why certain cards are better than others, to what you could do to improve your play, to how many lands of each color belong in your deck. With an exception to every rule, most players are friendly and really enjoy playing the game as much as you do, and will be quick to offer you advice. Watching better players and trying to understand them is one of the best ways to learn, and one of the quickest ways to improve your game.

No, I'm not telling you to develop a huge ego and start trash-talking your opponent, or to go around telling everyone that you have the best deck in the room. I was thinking more along the lines of believing in your deck, and your ability to win with it. Trust that even in a bad spot, or when you're getting a bit unlucky with your mana draw, you're not dead until your life total reaches zero. I can't tell you the number of times when I've had to mulligan (Mulligan Rule - Before each game begins, a player may, for any reason, reshuffle and redraw his or her hand, drawing one less card. This may be repeated as often as the player wishes until he or she has no cards left in his or her hand.) down to four cards at PTQ's (Pro Tour Qualifiers – the Magic Tournaments that determines who goes on the Professional Tour) and pulled the game out anyway. Just because I'm going to four doesn't mean my opponent has a perfect hand. Maybe their hand is below par? Maybe they kept a really slow hand that will allow me time to get back into the game? Maybe, even with fewer cards, my deck is just too fast, and I can try and come out quickly to steal a win? Hey, maybe they'll have to mulligan, too. Just don't concede until you're really dead.

Sometimes, you have to get lucky to get out of these spots. You can't actually think you're favored when you have four cards against seven, but that makes it by no means unwinnable. Likewise, if the matchup is just plain bad, you're probably not supposed to win, but funny things happen, opponents make mistakes, and you do in fact sometimes draw that exact card you need right off the top of your deck. More often than not, you don't, but it only takes one time. If you need to get lucky to win from the spot you're in, make that your new game plan. Play as if you're going to draw the exact card you need and try to take advantage of your luck.

Also, don't get intimidated when you're playing someone you know is good, They might even be better than you, but so what? They may even play their deck absolutely perfectly, but that doesn't mean you can't play your own deck well enough to beat them if the right draw comes your way. While very skill intensive, magic is not all skill, and if you believe in your own ability and refuse to be a pushover you'd be surprised who you can beat. Take it from me that people seem much better than they really are when other people think they're good.

How you come into a tournament is just as important as the deck you're playing and who you get paired against. Do not play on two hours of sleep. Do not play starving since you've gone without food for twelve hours. Do not play while nervous, or anxious, or distracted by something else going on in your life. Why would you want to give yourself a disadvantage? Why would you want to make it easier for someone to beat you? You need to be rested, comfortable, and sharp when the tournament rolls around. When a tough play comes around, you need to be able to concentrate fully on the game in order to solve it. Don't put yourself in a position to play poorly out of fatigue, or make mistakes since you're rushing to get the round over so you can run to a burger joint.

You don't want to have to stress about Magic. Have confidence in your deck, get a good rest the night before, then just wake up and play. It really is that simple. You want to give yourself every little edge you can. That means when you're wide awake and focused against an opponent of equal skill who is just playing sloppy from lack of rest or food, you're probably going to win a long game, in which small, skill-intensive decisions decide the outcome. I don't really care if your mother is sitting in the hospital. If it's that bad you should be there instead of playing Magic. Otherwise, when the time comes, block absolutely everything out and put all your energy into playing.

What's so advanced about it? After game 1 you bring in the good cards and take out the bad ones then just leave them in until the match is over, right? Actually, that's just wrong. There are lots of tricky things to consider. Some cards are much better on the play than on the draw. If you won game 1, your opponent will be playing first in game 2 a good majority of the time. In that case, certain cards might come out, because you're on the draw, that would normally be fine and stay in on the play.

For example, Scab-Clan Mauler, a 1/1 trample for two mana, with Bloodthirst 2, is an excellent card on the play. When you get to lay a one drop, have an opponent play a land and pass, then smash with your one drop, it's a wonderful feeling. On turn two, you have a 3/3 creature with Trample. What's not to like? This is the ideal scenario, but is much less likely on the draw. Your opponent has the chance to play a one or two drop before you get to play your second land, meaning if and when your one drop gets blocked, your opponent will not have taken damage, and suddenly Bloodthirst won't trigger, and that same Mauler that was an awesome 3/3 trampler is now just a bad 1/1. You'd be much better off to keep Maulers in on the play, but take them out on the draw.

Another example comes from when I played red deck wins, back when Mirrodin block was legal, was the card Slith Firewalker. Slith Firewalker is a 1/1 creature with haste for two mana that gets a +1/+1 counter every time he deals damage to an opponent. Like the Mauler, this card was ridiculously good on the play, and often set the tempo for the entire rest of the game. On the draw, for the same reason (it gives your opponent an extra turn to set up and block), this card is much weaker when you don't have the honor of playing first.

This type of thinking between games can make a huge difference and lets you use all of your cards as efficiently as possible.

For that title I just figured that big words would make me sound smart, but it's really simple in truth. All that really means is that you should tweak your main deck and alter your sideboard based on what you expect to be playing against. If the most popular deck in the format is an enchantment-based combo deck, Naturalize should probably be somewhere in your deck. Likewise, if you expect a lot of goblins at the tournament, there's no reason not to include Circle of Protection: Red in your sideboard. That's what your sideboard is for. It's supposed to let you improve matchups that might be sketchy in game one.

Building an accurate sideboard is a great start, but that doesn't mean to neglect your main deck. If your matchup is not good against the previously mentioned enchantment combo deck, maybe add the Naturalizes to your main deck, so you have a better shot even before you go to your board. Alter your main deck so it's good against what you think you'll be playing against, but not to the point where it destroys your deck by drifting too far away from what you're trying to do.

So how do you know what you'll likely be playing against? There are a lot of ways to find out. Check online and see what decks people are winning with. Ask around your local card shop and ask what cards are popular. Ask your friends what cards they've been playing against. Read forums, or magazines, or articles by Ryan Spring to see what types of decks top players are saying are good. Just kidding on the last part, but the point was to gather information so you know as much about your opposition beforehand as possible.

Your deck needs to be tight. No cards should be included that don't have an extremely specific purpose. For example "This card is part of my combo", or "This card is really important if I want to beat control decks". Otherwise, it probably should be cut. "This card might randomly be good against a green deck" is not good enough. You want your cards to be able to do something useful and important every single game, no matter what you're playing against. Even at the very end of deckbuilding, when you're deciding on that final 60th card, it's really worth taking the time to think about. One card can and does make the difference between winning and losing a game.

Likewise, every card in your opponent's deck matters too. Good opponents do not play cards for no reason. Every card they play will be important to their deck in some way, and it's your job to figure out how. Guess from the cards they play what other types of cards it would make sense for them to have. Try to figure out the strategy of their deck. If you can't figure out why they have included a certain card, try to play in a conservative manner, as it's highly unlikely they chose the card randomly and just tossed it in. Also make sure you don't walk into anything tricky. Look at all of your opponent's cards as they work together, as a whole, instead of one by one. Chances are the cards will work well together and make each other more powerful, just like yours should.

Yep, here's an eerie reminder of my first article, in which my final tip was also practice, but this time it's a bit different. Practice your cards in order to become familiar with them. Learn to use each component of your deck optimally and learn how all your cards interact. Become as familiar with your deck as possible so you make fewer and fewer mistakes while playing it. Learn what matchups are good, and what matchups are not so good, and make some tweaks. Learn what your deck needs to do to get out of all sorts of tough situations, then apply this knowledge at the tournament, and pull out tight games that looked hopeless.

Finally, before you hit a tournament, click back to this website and review my list of the ten things you need to do to gain a competitive edge, and failing to achieve tournament victory will become absolutely impossible. Alright, fine, not impossible, but certainly a lot harder.

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