Control and when card advantage does not matter!

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1674

Control and when card advantage does not matter!

Hi again this is another semi article with the hopeful aim of generating some intelligent debate the last article did not really achieve this but the feedback I did get was positive which was nice, thanks so I decided to produce another. I actively encourage other members of the forums to share stories if they have any on when they themselves or an opponent have placed too much emphasis on card advantage and it cost or should have cost whoever made the error the game. I am writing this article as I feel for many reasonably skilled to good players who have had card advantage is good engrained in their head are prone to these sort of mistakes. Mostly because they have stopped questioning the play and nothing should be beyond question.

It is widely accepted that card advantage is the way most control decks win games any semi decent control player knows this. A common mistake and one I was guilty of making for many years once I had grasped the concept of victory through card advantage was placing to much emphasis on card advantage, it is not always the most important thing sometimes shocking as this maybe simply surviving is more important then generating card advantage particularly vs. deck such as mono red burn which do not care about card advantage they are more than happy to surrender this to you in exchange for damage to the dome. Its not much good having 5 more cards in hand then your opponent when you are already dead, sitting there with even more draw spells and lands in hand which is why it is often a good idea to side some draw out vs. mono red burn.

Below is a list I used to top 4 the first ever magic-league invitational right after the release of the second set of the ravnica series so no hallowed fountain court hussar, demon fire etc yet, at the time I was very much in love with the concept of victory through card advantage as the deck probably shows, almost every card in the deck even the win conditions are capable of generating card advantage in one way or another.

2 pithing needle
4 remand
4 mana leak
2 lightning helix
3 compulsive research
4 hinder
4 electrolyze
1 blinking spirit
3 rewind
4 Wrath of God
2 Tidings
1 Meloku the clouded mirror
2 Firemane Angel
4 Steam Vents
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Adarkar waste
4 Battlefield Forge
6 Island
2 Plains

This was prior to pro tour Honolulu, so the decks were a lot less fine tuned I played vs. a lot of 5 colour zoo and other bad aggro decks with no burn for reach which the deck ate up for breakfast, I eventually lost to greater good gifts in the top 4. My success with the deck greatly declined after the pro tour, this is to be expected as after pro tour’s deck’s are a lot more fine tuned although still a good match up my deck could lose to heazy street or 3 colour zoo a lot more easily than it could the unrefined lists I had faced in the invitational.

Before honolulu vs aggro before you could go turn 5 tidings, turn 6 wog followed by mana leak or remand and go on to beat aggro. After Honolulu you went turn 5 tidings often you never got to untap. This was not the only reason though I was losing a lot more though I was placing to much value on card advantage, I was always trying to get an extra creature out of my wrath of god and not focusing enough on simply surviving to allow the card advantage I had generated go on to win the game. This is a mistake I am now allot less prone to making but still one I see many other players make. Card advantage is important but it’s not always the most important thing.

Here is another example of when card advantage does not matter this time we are going to go to limited triple alara. I had drafted an aggressive rb deck and lead with turn 2 goblin deathraider followed by turn 3 and 5 blightning, sound like a good start the problem was my opponent had kept a one land hand and already had all the gas he needed in his hand to win all my blightning’s were doing were preventing him from having to discard due to having to many cards in hand. Unless I generate an enormous amount of card advantage in this situation if I allow him to draw out of his screw he is probably going to win the game. He was playing naya ramp found a land made a druid of the anima followed by a sun seed nurturer then a cavern throctar. Now I had a katahri screecher to keep my opponent at 3 life and was now looking to top deck one of my 3 resounding thunders for the win, he followed up his throctar with a drum hunter and then shortly after a jungle weaver. Now I was forced to make an all in attack to keep my opponent at 3 life by the end of his go for one more turn and this time it was time for my opponent to place to much emphasis on card advantage, he traded away his sunseed nurturer rather than his drumhunter even though the only way I was going to win this game was by burning him out. This gave me an extra top deck in the form of corpse connoisseur into vithian stinger and an extra turn to find a resounding thunder if my opponent had no answer and I found a chump blocker for his fatties which was the case, I whiffed and he won but by placing to much emphasis on card advantage he could easily have lost a game which he should have won every time if played correctly. I’m recalling this from a while ago so excuse me if there are some inaccuracies in the game play description but the essence of the point remains the same.

Were always being told all the time as magic players how great card advantage is and it really is great but a lot of players particularly those of us with a fondness for control decks can fall in love with card advantage to much and not see when card advantage does not matter, it becomes an auto pilot decision to make the play that nabs us an extra card but this is not always right sometimes as I hope I have demonstrated above. So next time you come across these sort of situation ask yourself does card advantage really matter to me now?

Jag4 · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 33

Card advantage has never mattered to me much because 99% of the time I'm playing fat aggro,

I'm from the school of Jamie Wakefield, it's the last fatty that they can't deal with that kills them, that currently is Cloudgoat Ranger.

Jag

orphan · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 26

Very well written and insightful.

I agree with everything you said except for the nature of the title. Control decks only win when they can achieve card advantage. Hand disruption (your blightning example) and card draw are the two most basic ways of achieving advantage. However in the current standard meta game card advantage, in a controll deck, can be achieved in many different ways. Looking at the 2 top tier control decks (fea and 5cc) you can get a decent cross section of the card advantage available to control players. The older, UB version of Fearies won because of the large amount of subtle card advantage it could generate. Bitterblossom and Cryptic Command (in its draw card and X modes) generate obvious card advantage, but every other card in the deck generates card advantage. Mistbind Clique is a time walk and a 4/4 beat stick. Scion Of Oona counters removal and is a flying lord. Spell stutterer sprite got the job done being as a counter spell and 1/1 dork. How is this card advantage? For the price of the spell ( a counter/time walk) you are also getting a body as well. Combined that with two for ones achieved with agony warp and the Fea deck can easily be 5-6 card ahead of any opponent by the end of the game.
5cc generates its advantage in a different way, utility. Command and charms fill 8-16 slots of cards with only 4 cards. Esper charm isnt just an instant speed divination or mind rot, but it also is an answer to the dreaded turn 2 Bitterblossom. Getting more mileage out of your cards is a luxury that control decks use as a means of generating card advantage.

Edward_O · Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 14

This is an article that generates a lot of thought for anyone who has spent a large amount of time playing control. During each match I find myself wondering "How am I going to manage to do what I need to do to get in a position where I can win, all the while keeping my opponent from winning?".

For my control deck, pulling this off was staying alive until my win condition was in place with enough answers to any threats my opponent could produce. I sometimes put more emphasis on getting there than pacing the journey.

This is when worrying about card advantage could sometimes become a problem for me. A perfect example that comes to mind is the time I was facing off against a Time Sprial era Urzatron deck with my U/B variation of Teferi/Mystical Teachings in the final round at a local tournament.

There was one win in each of our corners and we were in the final round. I was getting used to my opponent's massive amount of mana and card draw and knew that I was going to need to step up and get some card advantage going if I was going to compete. This being the case I took every opportunity I could to cast some draw spells, and fought the counter battle to get a shadowmage infiltrator on the board. Of course that being the case, it was looking rather well, but I decided that I'd tap out at the end of his turn in order to flashback Think Twice, just for a little extra assitance. I flashed back Think Twice, then he cast a Bogardan Hellkite. Maybe I was so used to having Teferi around that I forgot other people could use flash, who knows? Either way, I couldn't draw into any Damnations or any other answer for the Hellkite. Fail. Wow, how did I not see that coming? Because I was looking at moves down the road instead of the here and now.

Ultimately, I was too focused on drawing out cards when my opponent wasn't interested in drawing out the game. I write that match up to a pitiful play error on my behalf, but in my mind at the time I was staying the course and doing what was needed in order to win. Nothing ventured nothing gained, but sometimes your opponent has the worst case scenario waiting in their hand.

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1674

Okay Jag although you may think card advantage does not matter to you and it may not your example card was not the best, as cloudgoat ranger is one of these cards that subtly creates card advantage that orphan eluded too. Ie if you kill the giant there are still 3 1/1 kithkin dorks to deal with.

Orphan I see your point with the title but control and when card advntage is less important does not have the same ring to it or dramatic effect:P

Edward thanks for sharing, being a bit to keen to draw that extra card, in a risky situation certainly cost you dearly, the important thing is that you recognised that and learned from it.

Duodax · Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 168

I think it depends entirely on the card pool how control decks make advantage and how do they hinder the opponent from winning and how to win themselves. Bloodbraid Elf is a great example: if your opponent has no blockers it´s your win condition, if he has equal creatures it´s your wall nobody wants to attack into and on the top on that you clear the board, kill a fat creature or just draw two cards/let your opponent discard two when it enters play plus it harldly can be countered without advantage.
Since Cascade; control again became a new concept: more luckbased but more awarding in general: everyone who cascades with enlisted wurm into hallowed burial (without lib manipulation obv.) into a full board will know what I mean.

Jag4 · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 33

I was relating to cards in hand, not on board, Trotsky, I cited Cloudgoat Ranger as the best fatty in the current metagame because it often reloads the board Burial, Pulse etc, but Baneslayer Angel is another good example, probably better I admit.

I think the control decks are very different compared to decks of yore circa pre 2001 - tapping out for 7 mana spells still doesn't feel right...

SugarShark · Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 458

glen elendra archmage is good friends with baneslayer angel

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1674

Okay good we got some discussion going even if its not exactly what I wanted I am more than happy to delve into this matter as well.

And infact the one thing that is better than card advantage, board advantage, as it gives you something physical on the board as well. Which is card advantage that has an immediate impact on the game, cards like shriekmaw, mulldrifter, cloudgoat ranger, broodmate dragon, court hussar, bloodbraid elf etc. There are lots of other cards that can achieve similar effects like glen eladra archmage, kitchen finks revillark, but a little less reliably.

I think there are so many unique ways of creating card advantage now that its almost impossible to fit them into neat little catagories props to wizards for that.

Also for a discussion on how control has changed and why it has changed if you have not already check out my other article, in the other section of the forums as well, it gives my views on some of the discussion generated in this thread.

Varno · Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 77

Great Article once again trosky, i hope you continue writing because i have enjoyed reading ur articles.

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1674

I will try to do something more in the future but its hard to consistantly come up with orignal things to talk about.

Weedmonkey · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 105

Have you considered polishing this articles and submitting them to the coverage department? I know it's been a while since anyone's posted any strategy-related articles, but it was something that was done by many M-Lers on here a few years back, and it'd be good to see more articles up on the front page instead of just announcements

Duodax · Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 168

i could actually writing sone of those articles too but I personally prefer judging Cool

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1674

Weedmonkey · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 105

Nothing special. Just proofreading and making sure you have correct spelling and punctuation. If you're proficient in HTML you can also format it in that Smile

. If you've got any articles past or present you want up on the front page, just send them along to articles@magic-league.com