Hi and welcome back to the #1 blog series of TCGPlayer.com, counting from bottom to top (Bill_Stark sorry this time you are last). In the last blog I talked about the Pickles matchup and tips on how to play the matchup. I was going to do a sequel that was focused on UB Mannequin but I decided to talk about something else. This time I will try to redefine what is Control and how to read your opponents.
What is Control?
Control is often defined as a type of deck or archetype. It is the favorite of players who don't like losing in the first 4-5 turns. Most players have a bad definition on what Control is. Some players say itis anything with counters, anything with blue, or anything with mass removal. All of them are close to the reality of some archetypes but not for the meaning of Control.
When I started the Upgrade Your Control series, my goal was to talk about tips on how to upgrade your archetype and your control play.As time has passed, I have learned some new things and my perspective has changed. I wanted to inform a wide audience and share my experience so players can improve their game and do I can keep learning more from replies to teach some new things.
I completely changed the definition of Control as a result of experiences in the past two weeks. What is Control? Control is a status of the game. It is the driver's seat, the coach of the team, the captain of the boat. To completely dominate the pace of the game and to make opponent's play your game, that is Control.
An Aggro player has Control of the game as soon as he starts applying pressure. The Control element of an aggressive strategy is to get crazy and uncontrollable with combat damage and in some cases pump and burn. It sounds contradictory but if an archetype with controlling cards can't take away that Control status he will lose and feel the pressure of being 0-1.
Combo archetypes are know as the Thieves of the Control status. A Combo deck completely ignores that the opponent has Control until he is set. The it is just a matter of precision of the execution, and when you open your eyes after blinking, your Control was stolen. Combo decks are as much similar as a one punch KO can be.
Lastly, Control archetypes are the jack of all trades. They are really sneaky in terms of stealing Control. This can be achieved little by little, by trading one for one, or they can counter punch with great power with a big trade.
Every time you start a game of Magic, it is race of life totals, a race for a win, and a race for the Control of the game. Having the Control will indeed give you the victory.
Reading Your Opponents
Any good poker player wins pots by reading their opponents. In Magic it is no different. This is a skill most players overlook. Those who overlook this details are throwing away very valuable info. Gathering information is a valuable tool and I'm not talking about staring at your opponents sunglasses to see his hand.
Body signals are your friends. Players have bad habits. They stack their lands depending in the plays or spells they might play. If you see a player stacking [1]:u::u::u:, it is most likely a signal of Cryptic Command. Sometimes they just start piling their lands and don't play any spells.
I was in a 8 man Draft after 10pm PT. Sitting next to me was Michael Jacobs and on the other hand was a 1800+ player. My limited game is not as good as my Constructed . I started in TPF drafts and was really bad until I got a 1534 rating. After some good XXX drafts I managed to up my Limited a bit better up to 1586. When the Lorwyn Pre Release came, I went without any losses and won the whole thing. Did two more 8 man drafts and finished 1st and 2nd. I was getting better. Back to the MTGO story, I got completely cut off from blue cards, obviously the best color to draft, and ended up with a GW pile.
I was the only "low level" in the table and somehow I got paired against Jacobs. He was playing UBw Faeries/Folk (obviously U). I got pretty bad beaten in the first game. In the second game I got to a point where the next swing would kill him and the next one for me would put me in 2 life. I had a Goldmeadow Harrier, Plover Knights, and a Woodland Changeling. He tapped some lands and untapped them. He went to the combat step and went all in. I had no W so there was no tapping . I was at the mercy of a Surge of Thoughtweft to die. I guess he was waiting for me to block and trade some critters in order to leave me defenseless. I recalled seeing him tap some lands, so to me it was clear he wanted to play a critter. I think he underestimated me because of my rating and tried to bluff for a win. He wasn't even trying to read me, he trusted that I was a "bad" player. I had the information I needed and decided not to block. He scooped after I decided not to block.
On another story, I was playing a UW Control mirror and after losing the die roll, I put 7 cards from the top face down and waited from my opponent to draw his. Since I was playing second I could decide to mulligan after he has kept his hand. I was staring at him for some body language and he seemed like troubled with his hand but kept it. I knew how he acted that he ahd a so-so or weka hand. I kept mine. He was color screwed as he only had one blue. I won that game on that simple advantage. On game 2 I decided to misinform him and I bluffed being upset. He dropped a Jace, I killed it with mine. The game went on me storing some counters and at one point he had 6 mana available and I had 7. He played a Jace. I tried Rune Snag but he Faerie Tricked it. He drew his card and I dropped a Teferi. He was troubled to see the Mage in play. I removed the Jace via Ring and proceeded for the win.
Reading your opponents is useful and sometimes misinforming your opponents is good too. This is like a Telepathy without paying mana. There are three things you should look to read an opponent:
1. Body Language: good for determining the power of their hand, mulligans, and lack of patience.
2. Land Stacking: Good to know what spells they have available, possible tricks
3. Land Tapping/Untapping: Potential bluffs, pattern of their possible plays.
Reading your opponent is a must skill to win many bad matches and if you clearly can master it, then I can say you are one step closer of being a top dog.
Remember: There is no knowledge that is not power.
&nb sp; Experience is what makes you better, talent just makes the process faster.
