Post #2: Mechanics of MTG

Today, I wanted to talk about some basic magic theory that helps me do well when I’m playing in an unknown magic environment, or I’m just starting to build a new deck. Hopefully this helps people who are unfamiliar with some common magic jargon they may hear around the casual table.

Card Advantage: this term refers to a card or ability that helps its player draw more cards or place land cards on the battlefield. If you think of lands and ‘cards in hand’ as a resource, card advantage simply means being able to obtain more resources.

For example, I’ll use one of my favorite cards in magic, Consecrated Sphinx. This guy allows you to draw 2 cards every time an opponent draws 1 card. In large free for all or multiplayer games, Consecrated sphinx is a great way to refill your hand with cards and ‘feed’ the engine of your deck and get you that much closer to winning the game. Another good example is Orcle of Mul Daya. This popular elf (seen in standard RUG decks) lets you play an additional land every turn and allows you to play the top card of your library if it’s a land. The ability to place more lands on the board without using cards from your hand serves as a great reservoir of resources that may just tip the scales of the game in your favor.

In decks that focus on forcing your opponent to discard their hand, using cards that force your opponent to discard multiple cards, including Mind Shatter, Mind Sludge, or Liliana's Specter, also produce card advantage in a counteractive way by limiting your opponents options.

Tempo: this term focuses more on the battlefield and the ability to keep pressure on your opponent. Tempo usually refers to creatures or abilities that help you get closer to winning on board with successive turns. Some cards can also hurt your tempo by forcing you to pay a certain cost during your upkeep or cause you to sacrifice creatures during your upkeep (Eldrazi Monument)

One of the strongest examples for tempo can be seen in Grave Titan (a major win condition in standard B/U decks and a huge force in casual Zombie tribal or black-oriented token decks). Grave titan produces 2 2/2 zombies when he enters the battlefield and whenever he attacks. As the game progresses, the longer Grave Titan is on the board, the more tempo he will generate in your favor and help you win the game very quickly.

Board State: board state is more of a neutral term to describe someone’s board position and how well they are doing in the game. Cards that generally make your board more threatening or more defensive increase your board state.

A good example of board state is seen in Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite from the New Phyrexia spoilers. Elesh Norn gives your dudes a +2/+2 buff and hurts your opponents’ creatures with -2/-2 across the board. Elesh Norn significantly impacts the board as a single card. However, cards like Elesh Norn draw a lot of attention and may bring attention to you, so be prepared for your opponents trying to kill you or destroy your creature.Cards that affect the board state can do things that are beneficial for you, detrimental for your opponents, or can have an effect that affects all players equally.

Opportunity: more of a new concept, opportunity refers to the ability to play spells or abilities at advantageous times.  This could include casting a crucial spell while your counterspell happy opponent is tapped out, so they are unable to respond or using your leftover mana in the turn to better your board state.

When playing Kargan Dragonlord (a crucial piece to mono red), using his level up ability when you have ‘free’ mana available may help you play around your opponents removal spells. If you level up Kargan 4 times in the same turn, before combat, you risk your creature being destroyed by a well timed Doom Blade and losing the tempo of 4 mana for that turn. This tempo loss could be devastating, especially in the early part of the game. But, if you level up Kargan when mana is available rather than invest a turn into him, it makes it more difficult for your opponent to hurt your tempo, and you get a nice 4/4 flyer.

Win Condition/Bomb: This term refers to cards that help you win the game. Cards in this category could be a large trampling creature or a spell that makes you difficult to kill.

Resiliency: Simply put, it’s the ability for your cards or deck to withstand common board states in large multiplayer games. This could include cards that destroy all creatures or the presence of flying/evasive creatures.

Darksteel Juggernaut is a good example of a creature that withstands most board wipe type cards (like Day of Judgement) and helps you have a good ‘post-wrath’ board position. Other creatures that have abilities when they hit the graveyard can also be very helpful in increasing the resiliency of your deck.

Hope this post helps you in building your deck and dominating multiplayer magic games. What do you think of this magic theory? Was there any theory that you’ve heard that wasn’t posted here?