PV’s Playhouse – Eight Game Situations
Posted by Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
July 7, 2010 | 
69 comments
Hello!
For a long time, I have encountered some situations that I think are interesting, but I could never really put them in an article because they didn't relate to what that article was about. So, today, since I didn't really know what to write, I've decided to just put all those situations together in the same article. Therefore, this article is not about anything specific – it is just a bunch of situations that have happened to me or to others, and that have made me think about something related to the game, and have helped me improving my concepts. Since they have made me think, I hope they can make you think, too!
Situation 1: Luis was playing Chain of Plasma/[card swans of bryn argoll]Swans[/card] at Worlds in Memphis, Extended portion. He comes up to me and says, "So, I am playing against this guy and, in game one, whenever I play a spell he always Condescends for the exact amount I can't pay – for example, if I am tapped out, he will Condescend for one, despite having 10 untapped mana and not doing anything with it. The thing is, I have Simian Spirit Guide in my deck – I just never drew it. So, game two, I have the combo (or something very important he wants to play) and a Simian Spirit Guide. If I wait one turn, I can have a counter of my own for backup. Do you just play it there, or do you wait a turn?"
I think this situation is interesting for a lot of reasons. First, there is Luis's opponent's side – I think you always have to know everything that is legal in the format, and play around as much as you can. Having Simian Spirit Guide is not usual – in fact, it is highly unlikely – but there are actually zero downsides to playing around it in this situation. Of course, if Daze is in the format, or if you fear Pact of Negation and want to keep mana open for a counter war, you don't do it for all your mana, but in those situations where you have a ton of spare mana and your opponent is tapped out there is no reason not to do it for some extra. The big lesson here, I think, is that it is not only because you don't run certain cards that no one else has thought of running them, and therefore you need to know everything that is in the format to figure out what they can be playing that can possibly beat you, and, if it is completely harmless, play around it.
Now, from Luis's side, I think this presents the point that you have to watch for what your opponent is doing, because it is likely that he will keep doing the same thing – especially if it worked. I know I wrote an article about how you should try to find reasons for the plays your opponent is making, but sometimes you have to differentiate from the best play and the play he is making. In this scenario, the best play from Luis, if he assumed his opponent was going to also make the best play, is to wait a turn. However, he has very strong evidence that his opponent is not making this play – so his best play also changes.
As much as they want to avoid it, players do have certain patterns and pre-defined plays that, if you pay attention to your games, you can use to infer certain things and play in different ways. So, my answer was that yes, I would just play the cards that turn, and that is what Luis did too. His opponent didn't have the Condescend, but that is not really the point.
Another time this came up was when I was watching Gabe Walls play a match in GP Houston, and he was playing against an aggressive deck and had [card jace, the mind sculptor]Jace[/card] in play. He was at like 13 life, and his Jace was at three counters, yet his opponent kept attacking him and he kept Brainstorming. In the end, he won, and I told him it was very weird that his opponent would just never attack Jace, since he was clearly Brainstorm-locked and by killing Jace he would give him at least two turns of dead draws. He agreed, and said that he didn't even like Jace in this match post board, but he had played Jace game one and the same thing had happened – his opponent had ignored it. Since the reason Jace was bad was because it could be attacked, he decided to keep it, because he knew, based on the previous game, that his opponent wouldn't just wouldn't do that, even if that was the correct play.
Situation 2: My friends were arguing about a one-lander in Jund. I am a notorious one-land hater, so I was just watching the discussion. Then one guy said, "Well, I kept because I play 27 lands, so I‘m definitely going to draw into some."
I've seen this situation multiple times – the more lands the people have in their decks, the more likely they are to keep a hand that is short on land – I am not even going into the merits of keeping one-landers here. What those people fail to understand is that the deck plays 27 because it needs a lot of them! If you could operate between two and three lands, you would play 22-23. You play 27 because you have to play that many! The fact that you have 27 lands in your deck should be a big warning sign saying you have to ship that hand, and not a reason for you to keep it. Think of it as a Zoo deck that plays 16 one drops – do you keep a hand on the draw without a one drop because "you have plenty so you are going to draw one?" No, you have plenty in your deck because it is important that you draw one, and is in fact so important that you have 16 of them. If you are playing against a combo deck and have a bunch of counters or answers, you cannot keep a hand on the likelihood of drawing them – you have a lot of them exactly because you need them! So, search for them.
Situation 3: I'm playing Shadowmoor Sealed deck in a GP – Minneapolis I think? – it is round four, after the byes. My opponent is GR, and the board is even, but I am ready to destroy him next turn with Mass Calcify. On his turn he untaps, draws, taps two mana and plays [card painters servant]Painter’s Servant[/card].
"Color?"
"hmm"¦. I don't know"¦. eh"¦. whatever"¦ White"
“…”
The game goes on and on, and I can't find a way to get rid of that Servant for the life of me. He never attacks with it, he never blocks with it, it just stays there doing absolutely nothing. Then, a couple of turns later, he draws Bloodmark Mentor. He then starts cursing himself for not naming red with his guy, to the point where I'm tempted to just say, "hey bro we are all friends here, you can take that back and name red if you want." In the end, I win the game without ever being able to play the Mass Calcify because that guy just stood there.
The lesson here is that, when you play a card such as Painter's Servant in your deck, you must look at your deck during deck construction and see what color you are going to name! First of all, you probably need a reason to play Painter's Servant – and if you have a reason, then it should be pretty obvious. But lets assume you just want the 1/3 body – even then, just look at your deck as you are building and try to figure out what color you are naming on a vacuum. In his case, all he had to do was skim through his deck and think, "Hmm, if I ever play Painter‘s Servant and nothing else is happening, then I should name red because I have this guy."
Of course, if you are really good, you might come to the point where you think "what can I lose to?" and then get to Mass Calcify and name white anyway. However, since my opponent was clearly clueless on what to name, the game was even at the point, and he regretted not naming red, I am pretty sure that is not what happened – if Kenji had done it, it'd have been much different.
It is not just for Painter's Servant – there are many occasions where it is important to already have the idea on your mind, so you don't have to think about everything on the table. For example, whenever I am building a sealed deck, I see if I have any double-colored two drops. If I note I have, say, a Black Knight, I make a mental note to always play my Swamp turn one – that way I don't have to draw the hand and risk not remembering it, only to draw the Black Knight on turn two and not be able to play it.
I also remember watching Adam Yurchick play a Thopter Foundry/Hexmage mirror in which he played [card oona, queen of the fae]Oona[/card]. Then, next turn, he activated it and started thinking. He had to try to mentally count his opponent's deck, to see which color would be better to name – he ended up deciding for black. This time he was correct, but that was an unnecessary risk, albeit small. When you play a card such as Oona, and you know you are going to board it in against a specific deck, then you should just take three minutes to look at a decklist before the match and count the number of cards in each color! This is just a detail, but it adds up – the more you can think before you actually *have* to think about it, the better.
Situation 4: Playtesting Jund versus Grixis before PT San Diego, I had Putrid Leech in play and it was turn three. My opponent had UUR up, and I attacked with Leech and didn't pump, because I didn't want it dying to Lightning Bolt. Then post combat I played Sprouting Thrinax, and Luis stepped in with, "Nooo not you too!" I looked at him a bit puzzled and he said that every time someone made this play it gave him nausea, because it is just the strictly worse play. The correct play is, of course, to play Thrinax BEFORE combat – so, if they tap out to Double Negative it, you can pump your Leech without fear of it dying.
I like this because it shows that you have to challenge your preconceived notions sometimes, and it is very easy to get carried away. Since we begin playing, we learn that attacking and then doing something is better, and sometimes we just accept that as the truth, but of course it is not always so. Sometimes it is obvious when you should do it – with Crusade for example – but sometimes it is not so obvious, and you have to actually think about it. Another situation where this came up was when we were testing White Weenie for PT Yokohama (biggest mistake of my life) against Mono-Red, and we found out that, if you have turn two Soltari Priest, sometimes it was correct to attack and then, if they take it, play Griffin Guide after combat so you don't get blown out by Sulfur Elemental (then, if they do have the Elemental, they will play it before damage and then you can play a different three-drop).
The other reason I like this example is that it was a very big wake up call – as good as I think I am, I still make a lot of mistakes that can be easily fixed (though in my defense the play was not new to me, I had already thought about it and even done it like that, but it simply didn't occur to me at the time).
Situation 5: I was playtesting Jund versus the Naya deck, for PT San Diego. I was playing against Gabe, and I was on the play. It was turn three, and he had a Noble Hierarch and two lands (I think he had just played the Noble Hierarch that turn), whereas my hand had two Maelstrom Pulse, no other three-drop and no other removal. I thought about Pulsing his Hierarch, but decided against it and passed – I wanted to keep it to deal with the [card knight of the reliquary]Knights of the Reliquary[/card] and Behemoth Sledges, which are the real threats in his deck. Next turn he played Bloodbraid Elf into the likes of a Wild Nacatl and attacked me for four; A Ranger of Eos followed and I was just dead. After the match, Gerry chimed in and said he would definitely have Pulsed.
The lesson here is that you have to avoid being so scared of a card that you end up losing even when they don't have that card. We had played plenty of games, and most of my losses had been to those two cards – Knight and Sledge – that I just learned to fear them. Being the only removal for Sledge (and complemented with two Terminates for the Knights), I was wary of spending my Pulses. The result was that the tempo blow was too much, since I wasn't doing anything else, that I ended up losing even though he didn't actually play any of those cards! Also important to note that, though the games play out similarly, each game is a unique game, and it is not because you lost a few games to a card that it is going to be the most important card in every game you play.
This is not to say you shouldn't be afraid of something – clearly, there are moments in which it is correct to save your removal spell for the big card you know they have, especially in limited. What you cannot do, though, is let yourself be killed because of that – nothing is more important than winning the game, not even having removal for their best cards.
Situation 6: I was watching Willy Edel play on Magic Online, with Mono-Red against Jund. He played turn one Goblin Guide and attacked and his opponent revealed Lightning Bolt. Then his opponent played a Mountain and passed, and he drew, played a Mountain, and passed without attacking. Then his opponent played the Lightning Bolt on his Guide.
I see this situation happening a lot – except pretty much every time the Goblin Guide attacks, giving them a free draw, and then dies. In this situation, you have to understand what is going to happen – your opponent is going to Bolt the Goblin anyway, so you might as well not attack. One advantage of Goblin Guide is that you look at the cards they are drawing, so you should use that advantage to plan their actions just like you do with yours. If your opponent does not play the Bolt, that is just fine with you too – whenever he taps out, you are going to hit him for two, which is what you want.
Situation 7: Once, Luis was in a Shadowmoor team draft and I was passing by. He had to go do something for a while, so he asked me to tag in for him, and I did. I was informed he had mulliganed. I shuffled and drew my six cards. They were:
There isn't really a moral to this story, I just think it's funny because that is probably the most awkward hand ever drawn in a draft game, and I don‘t think I‘d have the opportunity to put this in any other article.
Situation 8: I was playing a Shards sealed Grand Prix and opened an excellent pool. It had three Wild Nacatls, Flameblast Dragon, Feral Hydra and pretty much every removal spell in the format, as well as other solid guys. I knew I was going to be GRx, but struggled as to whether the X was White or Black.
With white, I had access to Oblivion Ring, and it would power up my three (!) Wild Nacatls, but no mana fixing whatsoever. With black, I had some other powerful cards, none as good as Ring, and 2/2 Nacatls – but I had some mana fixing (I believe I had two Grixis Panoramas, but might be wrong), and it also powered up Skeletonize.
This is a classic power versus consistency situation that happens in a lot of sealed decks. It was very hard for me to decide, and I took almost the full time allowed before going with black, even if the cards were just worse, because I reasoned that my deck was already so great that the only way I could lose was to not be able to play my spells, and that the Panoramas would do more for me than the Oblivion Ring, because I already had plenty of removal but no fixers. Sure, 3/3 Nacatls are better, but I was already going to win with 2/2 Nacatls. In the end, I finished 8-1 in sealed portion – I boarded into Plains once, because my opponent had multiple 2 damage cards (Jund Charm, Infest, 2 power guys) and I figured having 3/3 guys really mattered against him. I got color screwed and this was the only match I lost.
There are lots of times where you have to think how you can possibly lose, and then act to prevent that. In this case, I was giving up power, but I believed that was not going to harm me because I had plenty of power left – and it did in fact not harm me. This is basically the same reason that made me pick Leaf Arrow in the Pro Tour – I asked myself "how am I losing?", and then when I figured out the alternative (Zulaport Enforcer) would not really be missed, I picked the card that would be the best to prevent what I feared.
There are situations, though, in which you have to do the exact opposite and ask yourself, "How am I winning?" If my deck was terrible, I'd have to try and give myself a chance to win – no sense having slightly better mana if what you are doing with it is just not powerful. Sometimes, you just have to get lucky, and that means you have to give yourself the best chance to get lucky, even if that means having a terrible mana base or splashing two bombs in different colors.
Well, this is about what I've got for today, I hope those situations make you think like they made me think.
Before I leave, though"¦ some articles ago I asked about the Invitational and it seemed people liked it. I have never really published an Invitational report (though I did write a little bit about it for a magazine), but I think I can do a good job remembering most of it with the help of the coverage. Would that be remotely interesting or simply too outdated? (Though to be honest, the kind of format we played doesn't really get outdated much, but perhaps it is just not interesting).
Well, thanks for reading!
PV
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About This Author
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
Paulo has long been considered one of the best players in the world, and his win at Pro Tour San Juan certainly cements that. In addition to his Pro Tour win, he has another five Pro Tour Top 8s and six Grand Prix Top 8s, and won Brazilian Nationals twice.&hellip
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Josh says: July 7, 2010 @ 9:31 pm
Why aren’t there more pictures? It is easier to illustrate game situations through visuals then a wall of text.
Kai says: July 7, 2010 @ 9:35 pm
LSV’s deck in Section 7 had to be the absolute nuts. Snap keep that 6. How many Elsewhere Flasks?
Brady says: July 7, 2010 @ 9:43 pm
Pretty funny draft hand.
On MTGO if I can remember to I like to screenshot my deck once I finish building it. This really helps in situations where you have to play to your outs, and occasionally you actually have tutors to consider.
Howard says: July 7, 2010 @ 9:51 pm
Wonderful article. I very much enjoyed situation one and four. Certainly things that can make one reassess their play.
Chris P says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:03 pm
That Painter’s Servant story was totally hilarious. I might suggest, though, being a big believer in the power of subconscious thinking, that he did subconsciously know Mass Calciify was in the format and chose white for that reason. If you asked him, he’d say “I dunno”, but maybe deep down he did something smart.
Also, situation 7, LOL – If someone asked me to play for them and those were the first six cards I saw, I’d probably have to ask if the Plains were proxies.
Brad Nelson says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
This was a very enjoyable read. A+
E says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:30 pm
An invitational report sounds great.
gatch says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:45 pm
good read! you got me on goblin guide..i never thought of it that way..knowing that your guide is going to get bolted before dealing 2 you shouldn’t risk giving them the land just to know their topdeck.. I plead guilty to Situation 4 as well, players get used to their plays like clockwork we forget to really analyze everything that could happen.
Brady says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:50 pm
Of course MTGO also saves your draft deck in a hidden-away folder, but a screenshot is easier.
Munir says: July 7, 2010 @ 10:56 pm
Please do post your report of the Invitational. Those events are legendary and they’re unique enough that you can derive interesting lessons from them not necessarily present in other formats.
Babbs says: July 7, 2010 @ 11:32 pm
Luis’ probably planned on handing off that deck to somebody else before exiting stage left for a light lunch and maniacal laughter at that poor player’s expense.
Adam says: July 7, 2010 @ 11:50 pm
I really needed to hear the part about not playing around bombs to your detriment. I can think of a few games I would have won had I not saved that single deprive for the Drana they never drew. I guess you just have to find that sweet spot to draw the line and say okay, I don’t care if he top decks drana. He is not resolving an ulmog’s crusher. Anyways, I enjoyed the article. I always like hearing about rare and interesting game states.
lsv says: July 7, 2010 @ 11:51 pm
@ babbs
A light lunch? Who are we kidding here =)
Though in my defense, I did have at least 2 elsewhere flasks (I hope for my sake)
Brett says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:38 am
That is the most amazing hand I’ve ever seen.
Zaiem says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:40 am
That hand seems ridiculous – that’s an instakeep. I’ve done the mono-blue splash for Jaws of Stone/Corrupt decks before, and they’ve been great. I also take Elsewhere Flask pretty highly in that format.
Matt says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:49 am
For situation 6 I disagree, sure I know he has the bolt, but attacking with the goblin guide means you more or less force him into bolting and in doing this it means you can now safely play your geopede, kargan dragonlord or whatever post combat without fear of it getting bolted. Sitting back and doing nothing with goblin guide looses tempo because you now can’t play your 2 drop.
Even if your guide does get bolted you get to see his top card, which can be very useful particularly if you don’t know his deck composition is in advance, eg if I see a Master of the Wild Hunt with my goblin guide I’d play differently then say if goblin guide reveals plated geopede.
On the off chance he doesn’t bolt you you get two damage in.
Without knowing his deck and what he has in his hand hard to know if it was a misplay or not (maybe only 2 drop he had was hellspark elemental) but I think you still want to be attacking, especially with a deck like jund if you don’t bait out his removal spells early makes it hard match up to win especially as turn 3 he is going to blightning you, you really need to get that 2 drop down on turn 2.
Then again maybe thats why I’m not a pro player.
J.T. says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:52 am
I see very few articles of this style, which is depressing because I think they are among the most useful in terms of making a player stronger. This was an excellent read/learning tool and I would love to see more articles like this from you in the future.
Ffancrzy says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:54 am
I agree PV, please do an invitational event recap, it isnt the type of thing that can be “outdated”
Aeka says: July 8, 2010 @ 1:01 am
This was a nice read and pretty informative. I don’t play Jund or Mono Red so those two are both situations I had never really thought about and probably would have made the wrong play if I had been playing them. It’s nice to be informed of common unintuitive correct plays because people often lose games because of them, but don’t correct themselves because it’s not obvious that they made the wrong play.
ryanb says: July 8, 2010 @ 1:17 am
pv, you are the nuts
Matt says: July 8, 2010 @ 1:19 am
Cool Stories, Bro!
insomniacbob says: July 8, 2010 @ 2:30 am
I’d like to see more articles like this. that’s all
GerryT says: July 8, 2010 @ 3:21 am
Don’t do an Invitational report. Write useful stuff like this.
Arjen Xira says: July 8, 2010 @ 3:56 am
Invitational >>> anything else!
Kenseiden says: July 8, 2010 @ 5:20 am
I laugh everytime when theres LSV involved.
I remember playtesting mono red against 5cc in time spiral-lorwyn standard and playing Demigod of Revenge/Ram-Gang after combat multiple times. I have to admit I felt so good to be free of the shakcles of auto-playing.
J_Klimek says: July 8, 2010 @ 5:26 am
sit. 6 – I have to disagree. If you don’t ever attack into open red with your 2/2 then your opponent has already dealt with your creature, at the low low cost of keeping a red source untapped. They don’t really have to bolt it if you’re not going to attack.
Hagan says: July 8, 2010 @ 6:40 am
Great read, the know how your going to win and know how your going to lose part was really great. Back when I did a lot of DDM, I was quite good at sealed play, one of the ways I always addressed every warband was to sit down and just ask “how does this band win,” “how does this band lose.” It is a process for some reason I have never ported over to Magic sealed and I want to really start addressing that with every sealed/draft deck from here out.
Emtee says: July 8, 2010 @ 6:55 am
Keeping R untapped for the rest of the game isn’t exactly a low cost. He’s typically going to tap out almost every turn (if you count tap lands) after this.
Though as someone said, if you are planning on dropping a Dragonlord post-combat you still should attack.
Chris Davis says: July 8, 2010 @ 7:00 am
Yeah, I also don’t see how Situation 7 fits the article. Maybe that should have been included … Elsewhere?
=P
Albert says: July 8, 2010 @ 7:50 am
PV FTW
Trackback MTGBattlefield says: July 8, 2010 @ 7:53 am
PV's Playhouse – Eight Game Situations…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield – Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Replika says: July 8, 2010 @ 8:13 am
Write both – more of this AND an Invitational report.
Lizard King says: July 8, 2010 @ 8:26 am
The reason for not attacking is that your opponent will deal with the Goblin Guide no matter what and if you attack he may get a free land off the top. If he doesn’t bolt the goblin on the end of turn, he will have to keep a R open the next turn, in case you decide to attack. If he does so, you might choose not to attack next turn as well and the same situation will go on.
Of course, if you have a turn 2 drop, you may attack with your goblin to protect the freshcomer (that of course doesn’t seemed to be the case); or he may outclass your creature by playing one of his own (but then you can burn his and attack with yours, netting 2 damage out of his tapped lands).
But thinking in a situation which the business cards in your hand are almost burn spells or bigger creatures (I assume that applies here), not attacking is the better option.
Will says: July 8, 2010 @ 8:27 am
If you wrote that report I would read it and enjoy it. I’d probably learn something too.
Jason says: July 8, 2010 @ 8:41 am
First off, THANK YOU for the situations. I find these super valuable and is the exact way I have become a better player. I have a few comments on your situations and a situation I’d like to add.
situation 1 “jund 1-lander”: I have to disagree that 1landers are fine and NEAR-PERFECT to keep if you have a couple putrid leeches. There are many matchups where a T2 leech is just autowin. It often depends on the matchup but against something like U/W, I board out all broodmates and a siege-gang and the curve lowers significantly.
situation 3: Adam Yurchick may have done what you said with scanning a decklist, but perhaps he was counting the board/gy/rfg to adjust black and blue mana symbols? Don’t forget to adjust based on gamestate!
My situation:
This is more a compilation of situations built around one question…
“How many cards in hand?”
What are you telling your opponent when you ask that question?
When I am playing jund, I am asking the question to provoke a particular thought process out of my opponent. I may be wanting to sell the blightning that I don’t have. I may want to be selling double blightning. There have also been so many situations where I am trying to distract them and do so successfully. For example, the board is his cunning sparkmage to my 3 saproling tokens and a bloodbraid elf. I ask him “How many cards in hand?” and he says 3, I say “Ok, go!” …giving him a “That’s not so bad” tone. He untaps, draws, and has forgotten to shoot a saproling.
What is your opponent telling you when asking that question?
Often times it is a means of calculation as to how to match their removal/permission with your perceived threats. If they are jund, they may be measuring conceivable tempo or have blightning. Any time they ask you that question and do something, make sure you are focusing on the task at hand and not still durrdling about counting the cards in your hand.
Coach McGuirk says: July 8, 2010 @ 9:04 am
I wouldn’t put it past LSV to draft a terrible deck just to watch you play it. Though the man is known more for his puns, I think a practical joke like that would be too good to resist
AverageDrafter says: July 8, 2010 @ 9:05 am
This has been my favorite magic article in a long time. Too often the “what would you do” articles skew towards the less advanaced player and are fairly easy (or at least much more obvious). I like that a player of your caliber and exposure to a lot of other great players can show us real and learnable situations like these that help hone our game.
Articles like this is the reason that CF has become the best MTG site hands down.
Do this more!
cloudsabacc says: July 8, 2010 @ 9:46 am
Great article. Seriously one of the best this week. My favorite situations were 2 and 4. This is the kind of stuff I like to read and realize how much it will affect my gameplay at my local tournaments. I may not be good at this game, but your article surely will help me get better.
You have such a deeper reasoning behind your decisions and play, it’s no wonder why you are that good. People wonder why pros are pros and why they are not, this is why! Thanks again for this very enlightening and well written article.
Winston says: July 8, 2010 @ 10:46 am
To all of you saying that situation 6 isn’t right, I think it’s implied that he has no 2 drop to play. Otherwise attacking is clearly right.
Thom says: July 8, 2010 @ 10:58 am
I love how whenever PV says he didn’t know what to write about you know you are about to read the best article of the week.
Invitaional report would be awesome
lance says: July 8, 2010 @ 11:15 am
if i’m the jund player and i bolt their goblin guide and they follow it up with a dragonlord or geopede, i’m doing a fist pump because they’re playing an obsolete version of the deck that i can’t possibly lose to.
Casey says: July 8, 2010 @ 12:18 pm
Fantastic article. Some of those examples really made me think! Please eep assembling these interesting plays and make this sort of article a regular thing!
Gec says: July 8, 2010 @ 1:11 pm
Really a good one. As usual.
Lyle says: July 8, 2010 @ 1:52 pm
@Lance: Really? I suggest you explain, then, because it appears Kargan Dragonlord was good enough to win Japan Nats. But obviously you’re better than the Japanese; that’s why Saitou’s writing at CF and you’re a nobody.
@PV: Best draft hand ever. Only way I could think to make it better would be replacing the Mystic Gate with a Sejiri Refuge, the Jaws with a Spire Barrage, and the Corrupt with a Mind Sludge. LOL.
PlatypusPlatoon says: July 8, 2010 @ 2:16 pm
Now THAT is a hand I can get behind.
David B says: July 8, 2010 @ 2:46 pm
This is one of my favorite articles of yours, ever.
klak says: July 8, 2010 @ 2:57 pm
i say still attack with goblin guide. they are most likely going to jsut play a tapped land next turn anyway and you want to get rid of their bolts so they cant hit you ball lightnings
psymunn says: July 8, 2010 @ 3:22 pm
@Chris P: in shadowmoor, i think, if you were playing painter’s servants you’d most likely NOT want to name your opponents colours’ to turn off cohorts, mentors, duos and god auras. there are a lot more of those than mass calcifies.
alex.d says: July 8, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
Ah… good old elsewhere flasks.
Tigris says: July 8, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
Wow a really good read. One of the best articles i read in a while (especially situation 7^^) Also I raly like articles where you learn some stuff and here it was the case, becasue you threaded stuff normal articles don’t do.
If you will have another article like that I will love to read it
Grimey says: July 8, 2010 @ 5:33 pm
Awesome read! I especially liked the exception to the rule of “playing creatures after attacking” in the case of putrid leech vs. untapped mana from the opponent (playing thrinax pre-combat instead so you can squeeze in a pump if they tap out to counter it).
Ed says: July 8, 2010 @ 5:35 pm
SItuation 7 is the one keep that haunts PV’s nightmares
lance says: July 8, 2010 @ 6:35 pm
Lyle: clearly the point of my comment was that i’m better than every japanese player. thanks for the intelligent response.
dragonlord is a random 2-of in mori’s deck and easily the worst card against jund. I wasn’t referring to his deck, but the old version with lots of creatures like kiln fiend that give you targets for your pulses that are dead against a deck like mori’s.
mamurphy says: July 8, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
Great article, situation 2 makes a very good point.
Zack Smith says: July 8, 2010 @ 9:06 pm
Excellent read
Seeker says: July 8, 2010 @ 9:14 pm
An Invitational report would be an article you knew to write. When you don’t know what to write about, we get these, which are awesome. I can’t tell whether to vote yes or no to it.. but I’d love to read it.
(#7 is snap keep obv)
nikelrah says: July 9, 2010 @ 3:06 am
I am not too sure about the Condescend play. What do you gain by going all in, instead of waiting a turn for counter backup. If the opponent changes his pattern or plays Mana Leak instead of Condescend you wasted a chance to win the game, just because you wanted to do the clever play.
About the Guide situation: I am not too familiar with Standard so maybe the dynamics change a bit here, but if i am playing against a red deck that does nothing and lets me get turns to build up my mana to reach the midgame i am in a good position. I don’t see why you have to bolt the Guide there aswell. They are the aggressor in the match and want to win the game as fast as possible, not you. So turning that Lightning Bolt into a Timewalk that costs R seems like a great deal to me. Why bolt the Guide when it’s not attacking and going to be outclassed in the midgame anyway.
Someguy says: July 9, 2010 @ 6:09 am
Light lunch!?! nom nom nmo nom nom nmo nom
JJ says: July 9, 2010 @ 6:48 am
If I’m the jund player, and the lightning bolt is telegraphed such, don’t I then assume the monored player is going to play optimally around it?
If the red player doesn’t attack, and lays a land and passes, then I bolt the goblin guide. I don’t gain the advantage of looking at my top card and potentially getting a land, but as the jund player I also don’t have any misplays to make.
If the red player DOES attack, and I am operating under the assumption the monored player is not stupid/deliberately trying to lose, then I can assume he’s baiting my lightning bolt out because he has another threat he doesn’t want bolted. Wouldn’t I, as the jund player, just let the goblin swing in, take my 2, and wait for whatever he plays next?
If the red player genuinely has no 2 drop, either way the goblin guide dies… I would figure that since both players know about the lightning bolt, bluffing the 2 drop would be the superior play, to trade a possible land for a possible 2 damage.
Orie says: July 9, 2010 @ 7:04 am
I think I’ve seen a more awkward draft hand, in cube. On turn 3 my opponents board was strip mine, mountain, mountain, vedalken shackles (OK not a hand, but still..)
ps nice article
pps go hon
MadtownLems says: July 9, 2010 @ 8:43 am
Why can’t I read an article like this every day when I wake up?? Nice, easy read, with lots to think about. Thanks!
Jack says: July 9, 2010 @ 10:54 am
Food for thought. Yum.
[-a-L-e-] says: July 9, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
” If the red player DOES attack, and I am operating under the assumption the monored player is not stupid/deliberately trying to lose, then I can assume he's baiting my lightning bolt out because he has another threat he doesn't want bolted. ”
…or he haven’t it, and that is just what he want to let think you to do 2 extra damages with the goblin guide. I wouldn’t bolt a non-attacking guide only in two situations:
a) if i know that on my turn three i’ll do a putrid leech with a R open to bolt the other threat, ’cause let dies the putrid leech on goblin guide it’s just fine in the economy of a jund player against burn decks.
b) the bolt is the only removal in my hand, and i’ve only 5+ casting cost spells in my hand. i’ll definitely bolt a guide at the eot if the bolt it’s the only removal of my hand, but i’ve a trinax that i can play on t3 and a bb elf on t4, for example.
That’s my opinion. Anyway…very interesting situations and article here, good work pv
dis says: July 10, 2010 @ 6:41 am
the more reports by pv, the better, which speaks in favor of the invitational report. on the other hand, if writing about the invitational keeps you from writing about something more interesting, i would prefer a different topic.
many thanks for writing!
melancio says: July 10, 2010 @ 6:48 am
“if i'm the jund player and i bolt their goblin guide and they follow it up with a dragonlord or geopede, i'm doing a fist pump because they're playing an obsolete version of the deck that i can't possibly lose to.”
This.
Dr. Cat says: July 10, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Great article as usual. Save up the next interesting situations you see and do another article like this in a year or two!
PV says: July 11, 2010 @ 8:58 am
I mean, if you have a better beater, such as geopede, then sure just attack, but I think most of the time they are going to bolt the Goblin regardless of what you do, they can’t really afford not to – what if they play Leech/Thrinax and then you Smoldering Spires them or something, they just can’t take the extra damage. The “time walk that costs R” argument is not good – in fact, it is precisely your opponent who is being Time Walked every turn by your R one drop if he refuses to bolt it.
In some rare ocasions it is going to be worse, but I think the great majority of the time it is going to be better to not attack in this situation.
Thanks for the comments :]
Nieft says: July 12, 2010 @ 12:12 am
Fantastic article!!!!! Please do more of these =)
Raine says: July 15, 2010 @ 2:54 pm
I truly welcome this style of article; analyzing the correct play in various game scenarios is the best way to become a better player. Reminds me of Zvi’s “The Play’s The Thing” column.
+1 vote for more of this kind of thing, format-relevant or not.