As Magic becomes less and less about deck design, the importance of play skill becomes ever more important. Based on the decks most frequently making the top of tournaments in Standard, two decks are dominating: Caw-Blade / U/W control and Valakut ramp. These decks are making at least twice as many Top 8s as any other deck. These probably also the most-played decks as well, so simply acquiring the cards and basic knowledge of how to run the deck obviously isn’t enough. For every player who makes a Top 8 with one of these decks, there are several who don’t. So we know these decks are good enough to make the Top 8; what’s the ingredient that decides which players make the Top 8 with them? Play skill is the difference-maker. There are eight keys to high-level play and increased success at Magic:

1. Precision

2. Resource Management

3. Game Awareness

4. Understanding your Plan

5. Understanding your Opponent’s Plan

6. Making Adjustments

7. Deck Mastery

8. Image

Precision

There are few things I admire more when watching people play Magic than precision. When you play, make sure to do everything exactly right: Be very clear which lands you’re tapping and tap them all the way; be clear what phase you’re in, who has priority, what is being targeted, how much damage is being assigned where, etc. Don’t put creatures into your graveyard that will probably be dying during regular damage when there is a First Striker that hasn’t dealt damage yet and no one has passed priority yet.

Small things can end up mattering. Make careful decisions: Which lands should you tap, and which should you leave available for potential later use or bluffing value? Should you cast your instant, now while your opponent is tapped out, or try to get a better use out of it on your opponent’s turn? Should you play the last land in your hand, or hold it?

There are several advantages to being a precise player. For one, it’s an advantage during disputes. If a judge is asked to decide who’s got the correct life total, what’s more compelling: the pile of coins or the precise score sheet with both players’ totals and tracking of how they got there? If you’re always clearly announcing your phases and plays, it’s much less likely your opponent can claim you’ve made some procedural error that will give him an advantage.

Precision can also help prevent unforced errors. Games can easily be decided by forgetting to use Rebound, attacking before playing an important card you meant to play first, untapping before realizing you wanted to do something during your opponent’s end step, etc.

A nice side effect of precision is that it can be intimidating. Your opponent may assume that you’re better than him, and start assuming that you’re going to win, and play accordingly. Suddenly, your opponent will be asking you rules questions and for help improving his deck, and the game isn’t even over yet.

Resource Management

Careful use of your resources is another hallmark of good play. How well you make use of your mana, your cards, your life total, and your permanents is a major key to success. With most decks, every turn, you should be asking yourself, “What’s the best use of my mana this turn? What will I be doing with my mana next turn?” When in doubt, I usually play the card or do the thing that costs all of my mana, so I’ll have more options and flexibility in future turns. It’s also important to get the most out of every one of your cards. The best cards are ones that deal with many of your opponent’s cards. A good example is using Cunning Sparkmage against an opponent with lots of 1-toughness creatures. Typically, it will be very efficient—your one card and 3 mana will account for at least two cards: the creature it kills and the card your opponent uses to destroy the ’mage.

Most inexperienced players don’t have an understanding how to use their life totals as a resource. The first stage is way too much chump-blocking. Not only do these players refuse to use their life total as a resource, but they waste creature resources defending their life totals with too much zeal. The next step is recklessness. Once players discover that chump-blocking is a hallmark of inexperienced players, they refuse to ever chump-block, even when it’s actually the correct play. Don’t worry about what anybody else thinks or will think; just make the play that will give you the best chance of winning. If you’re constantly winning, it will be much easier to ignore people’s criticism. Trust me, even if you get into the Pro Tour Hall of Fame, people will always be ready to criticize!

Game Awareness

In order to play well, it’s important to have good information. You need to pay close attention to all of the details of the game. How many cards does your opponent have? What mana does he have untapped? Can you learn anything from his graveyard? What can you learn from his permanents? Do his creatures, artifacts, etc., give you any ideas about what else his deck wants to do?

Try to figure out what deck your opponent is playing as soon as possible. This will help you make the best plays. Pay close attention to his life total. Too many players lose games they could have won just by being more aggressive and finishing an opponent off with one last push or one last burn spell. Also, pay close attention to your life total. Don’t lose a game that’s going your way because you didn’t husband your life total enough. It’s good to plan ahead, but if the game situation changes on your opponent’s turn, be sure to adjust your plan accordingly and don’t just do whatever you had planned. Being aware of changes in the game state is critical. If you don’t keep adjusting your decisions based on changes in the game as it progresses, you’ll lose many winnable games.

Understanding your Plan

It’s hard to play properly if you don’t fully understand what your deck should be trying to do. Are you trying to push your opponent off the table? Are you just trying to get to the late game? What kind of synergies does your deck have?

It’s also not enough to understand what your deck’s typical plan is. You need to have an in-game plan. Each game develops a little differently. In any given game, your usual plan may need to be adjusted. How is the game going? Do you need to play your deck more aggressively than you typically play it? If things aren’t going well, perhaps you need to take more risks than usual.

If you understand what your deck is best at and what it wants to achieve, you will be better prepared for various situations as they come up. One of the best ways to make good plays during the game is to make lots of them before the game. Just remember to stay flexible to changing conditions.

Understanding Your Opponent’s Plan

Almost as important as understanding your goals and how to achieve them is figuring out what your opponent is up to. If you’re playing Blue/White control, your game plan needs to be very different if your opponent is playing Red Deck Wins, Valakut ramp, or Blue/Black control. If you know what your opponent is playing and what he’s trying to do, you can adjust your play accordingly. For example, if you’re playing with Mana Leaks, it will help you decide when it’s safe to tap out, when it’s important to leave 2 mana open, and when it’s urgent to tap out to act right away.

Making adjustments

The most obvious example of making adjustments is sideboarding. Now that you know what your opponent’s plan is, how can you best counter it? What cards in your sideboard will best help you improve your matchup? What cards are best for you to take out, and what cards can you afford (or not afford) to take out? One of the most common mistakes when sideboarding is oversideboarding. While it’s important to react to the specific matchup you’re facing, it’s also important not to overly interfere with what your deck is trying to do. It’s critical to make sure that every change you make is an actual upgrade, not just a change for the sake of doing something. Another common mistake is undersideboarding because you just can’t decide what to take out. Some people will never sideboard in limited for this reason. This is just embarrassing. If you don’t have at least one card in your sideboard that isn’t better than at least one card in your main deck for a given matchup, there are serious problems with the design of your sideboard.

Sideboarding isn’t the only time to make adjustments. You should also make them during the game. Obviously, you can’t make adjustments to your deck during a game, but you can still make changes to your play and your game plan. While you should always have a default game plan for your deck, the matchup and the progress of the game will dictate adjustments you should be making as the game proceeds.

Deck Mastery

Sometimes, the best deck choice isn’t the “best” deck. Sometimes it’s the deck that you’re best at playing. If you believe that you’ve found a deck that will break the format wide open, you should obviously play it. However, if you’re having trouble deciding among more than one deck, you should probably play the one you’re best at playing. Experience with a deck matters a lot. It’s pretty common for the winner of a tournament to be either someone playing a new deck that is really well metagamed or someone playing a deck that lots of people are running. In the latter case, it’s usually someone with lots of experience playing that deck. When lots of people are playing the same deck, something has to set them apart; having mastery of your deck can be that factor. By knowing your deck and how to play it well in every major matchup, you can process other information better. While some players might be forced to learn their decks as they proceed through the tournament, you’ll already know the ins and outs of your deck and how to play it, leaving you better able to face tough play situations as they arise.

Ideally, you’ll choose the best deck for the tournament well in advance of the tournament you want to prepare for. Then you’ll spend countless hours play-testing it against every major matchup. With luck, you’ll even get to play it in a few smaller tournaments leading up to the one you really care about.

Image

An underestimated aspect of playing Magic is grooming your table image. It can often give you an advantage to create a persona for yourself when playing Magic. The important part is finding one that works for you. The image that works for me is that of Scary Magic Pro. Embracing this persona helps in multiple ways. First, if I can sell it to myself, it helps me stay confident and focused, because everyone expects the pro to win. Selling it to myself helps me sell it to my opponent. If I can sell it to my opponent, he may start to play worse.

Other personas can work well, too. I had a friend who would intentionally try to make his opponents think that he was awful. If you can get your opponents to underestimate you, this can sometimes give you an advantage. Sometimes your opponent won’t bring his A game if he doesn’t realize he needs to. Another good persona is the chatty Friendly Guy. This isn’t a good persona for just anyone. It’s important that you choose a persona that comes naturally to you so that you don’t waste too much mental effort maintaining it. If you’re naturally chatty, though, Friendly Guy could work for you. Making conversation with your opponent can both distract him and perhaps relax him enough that he stops bringing his A game. If this persona comes naturally enough to you, it might even make you relax in a way that will enable you to make better decisions.