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Editor: Sharon Van Der Werk. Monday 21st February 2004.
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Pressure in the New Extended
Well it appears that unfortunately for all of us who like playing magic with one another that we have a brand new format that we get to play by ourselves for the most part. If you're the sort of person to get annoyed by this, then maybe this isn't the format for you, but I'll attempt to explain the theories I've developed about playing a near-solitaire game. I'll start with THE beat down deck in the format, Affinity. Pierre Canali Main Deck 19 land 26 creatures 3 Cranial Plating 15 other spells 3 Kami of Ancient Law 15 sideboard cards Whilst it always appears that there is no interaction between yourself and the combo deck, It's all about pressure. There is a good example of this seen when playing limit Texas holdem'. Lets say you have a pair of aces and there are 2 hearts on the flop, and your opponent has 2 hearts in their hand, making a 4 flush. They are said to be drawing, and they will make their flush 36% of the time with 2 cards to come. So, you currently have the best hand and they are behind, so unless you make them pay to draw you will lose a lot of money in this situation. Now lets take the above example and change the game from limit to no-limit Texas holdem'. If you have a pair of aces and they have 4 cards to a flush with 2 cards to come. If you bet more than ½ again of the money that is currently in the pot, they cannot call and expect to make a profit (the chance of hitting a flush with 1 card to come is 18%, or nearly 4 to 1. If you bet ½ of the money currently in the pot, they are only getting laid 3 to 1 to draw to the heart, which isn't enough to draw, a negative expectation). The above example is an example of one of my favourite concepts in magic and poker. Pressure. Pressure is all it appears to be, summed up in one word. You are forcing someone to do something that isn't beneficial for them to do. In poker, you put pressure on the drawing hands so they cannot profitably draw. In magic, you put pressure on the combo decks and force them into making an attempt to win 1, perhaps 2 turns earlier than they would have liked. If you have someone under pressure, they are forced to make low percentage plays in an attempt to win, which in turn make the game easier for you to win. The beauty of the above situation is that in reality, you no longer have to win the game in such a hurry, so long as there is the perception that they have to beat you to it. One of the greatest assets you have to you is the illusion that if they don't try and win, they cant. This spells more true in magic than it does in poker, since after game 1 you have access to an incredible array of sideboard cards that just tear combo decks apart, and the mere threat of them will often buy you time in games 2 and 3. The above scenario requires another important aspect of pressure, and that is table image. You need to develop a presence at the table that keeps the opponent guessing, and unable to determine the correct pathway. This is particularly important for these matches, and whilst it is thought that the information game is most important in control vs control matches, I tend to disagree. I think that in the shorter games, if you have a grasp on the information people are seeking and telling them all the wrong things, you gain such a massive advantage in such a short space of time. If you can successfully represent that you hold mana leak and you are actually holding shrapnel blast, they will try to wait for a turn when they're actually already dead, and those wins add up to a lot of 2's in your favour on the result slip. The national championship game for NZ nationals last year came down to the fact that I was holding shrapnel blast in my hand and roger believed I had mana leak. This allowed me to do a massive 24 points of damage in 1 turn, because he was waiting around for another turn to cast Akromas vengeance ( I know this example comes from a beat down vs control setting, but I felt that it was applicable to the example I was giving). By the way, I think that game 1 of this match, the one where I dealt 24 in 1 turn with affinity was one of my shining moments of my magic career, it was an incredible think outside the box situation that thanks to some interesting tech from main deck (GO STIFLE!!!!), which meant Roger had a hard time grasping what was actually in my deck (as a side note, I think I was only able to win our match because we weren't provided with our opponents decklists before the final, which gave me quite an advantage with all the random stuff in my main deck and sideboard lol). One final not about pressure. If you don't feel capable of playing an aggressive game, it is best to steer clear of decks that require you to put pressure on your opponents. The best beat down players in the world are all fairly intimidating players, all capable of feeding misinformation and putting doubt into the mind of the combo players as to how long they have. Magic is after all a game if imperfect information and the players that are most capable of getting all they can from information and misinformation alike will come out on top in the end. Ciao, Gracey |
