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We return to Sun Tzu as the core of this article:
"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."
So how does this apply to us as Magic players? I talked about this to a very limited degree in my last article, but I wanted to expand upon it in this one. I think this quote is one of the best pieces of advice anywhere, mainly because it applies to so many things. I am constantly finding new ways of applying Sun Tzu's most famous quote in my life.
We can divide Sun Tzu's quote into two portions—knowing yourself and knowing your enemy. If you think about the quote in terms of these two things, it becomes far more interesting in application. The battles become a metaphor for any sort of problem or trial you face, and a game of Magic is definitely a trial of some sort. So, let's take a look at both sides of the puzzle.
Knowing Your Enemy
Most Magic players spend a lot of time here. The "enemy" is your opponent and his deck, or, in the case of tournament preparation, the format gauntlet as a whole. Most good Magic players will apply themselves to learn individual matchups, formats, and other various techniques to help them win. Thus, I'm not really going to talk much about this.
Knowing Yourself
This is where most Magic players fail. Of course, going by the principle that the enemy is your opponent's deck, you would think that your own deck would be representative of "yourself." While this is true to a certain extent, it isn't completely true. This is because you are playing your deck, and, like I said in the previous article, there is a human element you can't remove.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand yourself as a Magic player. Self-evaluation in order to get better is a common subject of discussion among Magic players, but how many people have actually analyzed what type of player they are, what their core ideas about the game are? I believe that knowing these things also helps you as a player.
The first thing to be concerned with is your personal approach to the game. I believe there are three fundamental approaches to Magic:
- Magic is a race. I am trying to win the game as fast as possible.
- Magic is like Mario Kart. I'm still racing, but spending time to hinder my opponents is usually effective.
- Magic is war. I am trying to strategically attack my opponent's resources and destroy his ability to make war.
Every player defaults to one of these three views of the game, and most decks follow one of these approaches as well. So, I ask you, what kind of player are you? How do you view the game of Magic?
Obviously, your own personal approach to the game affects your deck selection, but it also affects your card use. Consider that you are playing casual and you have a Doran-style rock deck. Your opponent is playing U/W control. You are on the play and play a turn-two Tarmogoyf (which is a 2/3 counting your Thoughtseize). Your opponent drops a turn-two Wall of Omens, and you come back with Thoughtseize. You reveal the following seven cards: Flooded Strand, Island, Wrath of God, Baneslayer Angel, Jace Beleren, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell. You are holding two Tidehollow Scullers, Tarmogoyf, Doran.
Clearly, you are taking Wrath of God with either the Thoughtseize or the Sculler, but the exact line of play depends on if you are racing. If you decide to try to race this hand, you can choose to take Wrath with the Thoughtseize and Swords with the Sculler. In this line, you are planning to either use your second Sculler for the Baneslayer (if the opponent doesn't counter it), or draw removal for it.
There is another option with this hand, however—fight the attrition war. You can do this by taking Jace Beleren with the Thoughtseize, and Swords with the Sculler, allowing you to get in some damage, and forcing them to Wrath the table. If you reload after that, you don't have to deal with Wall of Omens, and you are still presenting a significant clock.
Regardless, you are not in great shape, but how you proceed from here can definitely depend on how you intend to approach the game. As you can see, in close situations like this, your own personal ideas and approach to the game can definitely affect your choices. Understanding your own approach to the game helps you understand your own biases in card evaluation.
Why is your card-use profile important? The answer is simple—no card exists in a vacuum, and most cards have some form of utility. Many cards, like Thoughtseize, are incredibly flexible, and your own play style will color your use of the card. For example, let me ask you: Is it more important to hinder your opponent or to stop him from hindering you? Your answer is probably "depends on the situation," but if I gave every Magic player the same situation, there wouldn't be a consensus opinion. This is because of play styles.
Consider the times when you discuss a given game situation with your friends. How often do you produce a unified opinion as to what the correct line of play is? It can't be always, in fact, I would venture to say that you have differences of opinion reasonably frequently. This is because subtle differences in card evaluation affect the end evaluation of each line of play, making each line of play seem marginally better for a certain play style. In close situations, where these subtle differences matter the most, play styles can have a huge impact.
Looking at Play Styles
Play styles stem from your own approach to the game, and each player should be aware of his or her own personal play style. In my view, there are four basic play styles:
- aggressive
- value
- tempo
- prison
Let's look at these individually.
Aggressive – The aggressive play style is, as its name implies, the most aggressive one. Naturally, aggressive players seek to play proactively at basically all times, simply asking the opponent questions and seeing if he has the correct answer. The usual suspects like aggro decks and fast combo fit into this category, but aggressive players are also drawn to decks like Valakut, which ask powerful questions that are difficult to answer. Dave Price's very famous quote—"there are no wrong threats, only wrong answers"—describes this play style to a tee.
Value – Players who have a value play style focus on generating advantage with each and every play. They want to be in a better position after spending every single card; whether that means they are less far behind or further ahead doesn't really matter. They like all their cards to be useful in a variety of situations so the player can wield them together. Rock decks like Jund are particularly emblematic of this archetype, and often a favorite of people with this play style.
Tempo – This is a rare play style, but it exists. Tempo players are drawn to the ability to control the flow of the game. For some, it is the delicate dance between winning and losing; for others, it is the fact that they sort of like being a "jack of all trades" (but master of none). Of course, there are many other reasons people are drawn to this play style, but in general, they all end up in the same place. They enjoy playing decks that are front-runners, decks that get out ahead and then defend that lead from disruption. Decks like Merfolk, Faeries, and to a certain extent Doran are examples of decks that suit this play style.
Prison – Prison players seek to cut off options. They believe that the best way to win is to cut off a sufficient number of your opponent's lines of victory. In essence, they believe that if the opponent is sufficiently crippled (and therefore in a "prison" of sorts), it will be easy to win the game. The actual definition of "sufficiently crippled" will vary from prison player to prison player, but as a whole, they all approach the game the same way. First, cut off your opponent's lines of attack; second, set about winning the game. Decks like 5cc, Draw-Go, Dralnu, Stasis, and Stax are all examples of decks that use this play style heavily.
I think these are the four core play styles. Of course, there are variants of each, but they are just that—variants. So why is identifying your own play style important? Simple: It will help you play better.
But how does this information help you play better? It helps you make better natural decisions, decision you don't think much about. In order to have success playing Magic, playing well is absolutely necessary. The more good decisions you can make, the better you will do. I think everyone would agree with that. Well, then, let me ask you a question—what is a "good decision"?
If you think about it, you'll realize that good decisions only exist within the context of a deck or matchup, and this is where play styles come in. If you pick a deck that naturally suits your play style, you will be able to make more "good decisions" naturally and without thinking; this is because your gut feeling in a situation is more likely to be right. This is one way your play style can help you make better decisions.
The second is that your play style can help you reduce long-term mental fatigue. By choosing a deck that suits your play style, most of your decisions will be easier because they will be more automatic. Since they're easier, you won't have to think much about them, and this will leave your brain free to think about other things, ranging from what you would like to have for lunch to the tougher decisions that you will face.
This extra "break" time is critical for your brain because, like a muscle, your brain gets tired. I'm sure you've noticed that over the course of a long tournament, many people will make worse plays as the rounds go on because their brains "get fried." This is mental fatigue. You can help combat this by choosing a deck that suits your play style.
Similar principles to those described above apply to card selection during deck construction. You can often tweak deck lists that you see to better suit your play style, and doing so will often make you perform better with them. If you tend to be a more controlling player, play a more controlling version of a deck. If you tend to be a more aggressive player, do the opposite. The most important thing to remember is to do what works for you.
Conclusion
Understanding yourself as a Magic player is a way of gaining an advantage before you ever sit down at the table. It's a way of preparing yourself for any situation you will encounter in Magic. By understanding yourself, you are more likely to bring the right tools to the fight, and thus more likely to win whatever game you are playing.
Chingsung Chang
Conelead most everywhere and on MTGO
Khan32k5 at gmail dot com
