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Ask a Hall of Famer: #1
Rob Dougherty
11/2/2009 3:00:00 PM  this article! - or -
[Article discussion now available to all readers!] This week kicks off the first of an ongoing series for TCGplayer.com, Ask a Hall of Famer featuring Rob Dougherty. This means that every week Rob will be available to answer your Magic: the Gathering related questions that you [Email In]. Your questions can be on a wide range of subjects including strategy, issues and opinions, general theory etc. Please note that comments at the end of the article should be about “this” article. If you have questions you want Rob to answer you must [Email Them to TCGplayer]. We hope you enjoy this great new series and if so, please let us know in the comments section. --- Rob, As I'm sure you're aware, the current standard meta game consists of a lot of Jund Cascade. Through play-testing against and with Jund, I've come to realize just how powerful Blightning can be. I'm trying to come up with a control deck that can consistently beat Jund (I figure if I can beat Jund then I can handle Vampires and Red Burn with smart sideboarding). A card that I've become very fond of is Hindering Light (UW, instant, counter target spell that targets you or a permanent you control. Draw a card). Here's my question: If I'm using a U/W Control deck, should I not play anything during my turn so that I can counter Blightning with a Hindering Light or Negate? Even though my opponent could not have a Blightning in hand or a 3rd land drop? If I take the risk, play a Wall of Denial (for example), and then get hit with Blightning, that's pretty much game over, considering how much card advantage Jund has. If I decide to play it safe, then I am forced to take a hit from a Putrid Leech (for example) for 4 dmg. Which course should I take? I feel like I'm screwed either way. More generally, I think my question really is: Should I play in anticipation of cards that I'm afraid my opponent will play? If I do and the card does not end up being played, then I've wasted my turns. If I don't play in anticipation, then I'll get hit with the bomb and probably lose. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this question in general, and also more specifically on the Blightning dilemma. Much appreciated, Ilya Ilya, The short answer to your question is: “No, you shouldn't pass holding the Hindering Light just in case they are planning to hit you with a turn 3 Blightning.” The full answer is, of course, much more complicated. Let's think a bit about counters in general. Counters (permission) are reactive cards: you wait for your opponent to try to do something and you stop them. Cards like Putrid Leech and Blightning are proactive (threats). You don't have to wait for anything, you just play them and try to kill your opponent. In general, proactive cards are superior to reactive cards. If you draw as many or more counters as they draw threats the game is at a stand still. If they draw more threats then you draw permission, they are winning. Furthermore, if they get a creature like Putrid Leach out before you have the necessary mana to play your counter, your permission is useless to stop it. So, you shouldn't try to stop everything with reactive cards. You need to concentrate on the key problem cards for your deck, or buying yourself the time you need to set up. You've made the situation a little more extreme by choosing Hindering Light. The good news is you can stop the card you've identified as the biggest threat, and if you do, it isn't a stand still, you are up a card. The bad news is, because there is a limited number of cards the Light will counter, you will have a lot more scenarios where they will be able to get out threats despite your permission. As you've correctly identified, you just can't afford to sit back and let them pound on you while you sit on your Hindering Light. If you have a play that will stabilize your board, you need to make it and save the light for later… Unless A)You've confident based on your hand, the board, etc that you would lose to Blightning but win if they played something that Hindering Light can't counter. B)You can “read” you opponent and can tell by the way they are playing that they have Blightning and are planning on playing it. The big question you have to ask yourself is “Can I afford to play Hindering Light given the drawback.” I think the answer is no, but testing is the only way to be sure. --- What does a pro Magic player do on a daily and weekly basis? Can you give me/us some Insight as to what a typical day and week look like for you? Thanks and best wishes for the future, Vince Well Vince, most full time pros Sleep in late, play tons of Magic online, and get together with friends/teammates in person or online to work on upcoming formats. They often supplement their income with writing, playing poker, or the likes. I, on the other hand, am kind of a weird case. I work … a lot. I'm a premiere tournament organizer for Magic, so I run PTQs, Prereleases, etc. I've also designed and am organizing the TCGplayer.com 5K series. I also have a game company (epicTCG.com) and design, develop, and publish the Epic Trading Card Game. I work on other game projects as well, like consulting for other game companies, or doing collaborative game projects with friends/game producers. If that weren't enough to keep me busy, I'm also a father of 4. I have a 7 year old, 5 year old, and 3 year (all boys) and a 1 year old baby girl. A typical Monday - Friday for me is get up early and help get the kids off to school. Go to my office and schedule events and work on Epic (and my other game projects). When I get home I spend a few hours with the family. Magic practice tends to happen from 9PM – 1AM or so. Usually it's Magic Online, but I'll occasionally get together with friends in person. On weekends I'm either running Magic tournaments, playing in Magic tournaments, running Epic events, doing conventions, or spending some much needed time with my family. So, I'm crazy busy, but that's the way I like it. --- How do you feel about the 'big dumb combo' decks like All in Red, and Hypergensis existing in any given metagame? Do you feel decks that generally take such little play skill (in contrast to lets say, blue decks) are healthy for the game? -Joseki Well Joseki, I feel a diverse metagame is good for Magic. There is nothing more boring than a magic environment where there are only a couple of viable decks. So, in general, I feel that combo decks with their different play style and crazy win conditions are good for the game. That said, if a combo deck is too good and is crushing all Opposition, then everyone will play it or decks designed specifically to beat it and your back to the non-diverse environment. As far as play skill goes, it is true that blue control decks are the hardest decks to play at a passable level. If a bad player tries to run one of those in a tournament, they are going to get crushed. In contrast, a bad player can pick up an aggro or combo deck, make a ton of mistakes, and still have a chance to win some games. While this can be frustrating for the victim of the low-skill beatdown, I feel this too is good for the game. Not everyone can be a great player. By comparison, most players have to be average and some have to be bad. As a great player, you should want as many people playing as possible, so tournaments (and their prizes) can be as big as possible. In order get new players to play in tournaments, and keep the players we have, we need every player to at least have an outside shot of winning a match. Combo decks help make that possible. On a side note, don't underestimate the potential for high skill play of a combo deck. Just because it doesn't take much skill to win with a combo deck when you get the right draw this doesn't mean there is no room for skilled play. Knowing when to mulligan, how to sideboard, and how to salvage a game where your combo gets disrupted the first time out are all examples of this --- Rob, We've seen a number of 'old school' Magic players return to competitive play with huge success. (Re: Brian Kibler, among others.) How do you explain this, and do you think that their break from the game is actually a benefit when they come back, or that they could have been this competitive all along? Raybomb Hey Raybomb. Yes, there are quite a few old schoolers making comebacks. People like Finkle, Kibbler and other pros are incredibly talented. They usually didn't stop playing because they couldn't qualify, they stopped because other stuff came up in their life. When they have time to come back to the game, they will probably do well again. In most cases the time away doesn't help (it's never good to be rusty). But in Kibler's case specifically I think the fact that he is a little older has made him a more disciplined player. It also should be noted that Kibler's recent success is partially do to the fantastic deck design skills of Ben Rubin. --- Hi Rob, I plan on attending the TCGplayer.com $5k (see you there!) but I am not sure of what the more recent popular opinion on what other decks to look out for other than Jund. There's Vampires, Soldiers, and Red (oh my!), but I'm not sure if they are true contenders or if they are just the early birth pangs of a format. What kind of gauntlet should I be looking at using for testing? Steven P Steven, Glad to hear you are coming to the 5K! Be sure to say “hi”. When building a gauntlet, check out the decks that have done well at big events. Concentrate mainly on the top 8 lists, but also look at what decks made up large amounts of the field. For the TCGplayer.com 5K in Philadelphia you will want to pay close attention to the Standard lists from the World Championship in Rome. Worlds starts on the 19th, so you'll have plenty of time to test with those lists. Deck Help In this section I look at deck lists you've sent in and give my 2 cents on how to improve them. Be warned, in most cases I haven't played these decks, so I'm going on theory. You should take my ideas and playtest them before playing it in a tournament. --- I have an issue with speed decks mostly. I beat a Jund deck or two with this deck, but I get OWNED against speed RW or speed RG. I really need suggestions. Also, I should note that I definitely want to keep the 3 colors in. Here is the deck: 12 Creatures: 4 Hedron Crab 4 Tidehollow Sculler 4 Wall of Denial 24 Spells: 4 Path to Exile 3 Duress 3 Twincast 4 Mind Funeral 2 Jace Beleren 2 Day of Judgement 4 Archive Trap 2 Haunting Echoes 24 Lands: 3 Plains 3 Marsh Flats 3 Swamp 4 Teramorphic Expanse 4 Arcane Sanctum 7 Island
I found a minor combo but I don't know if it works. Here is the play by play. Turn 1 Arcane Sanctum, Turn 2 Hedron Crab Marsh Flats/ search for swamp/ play Duress, Turn 3 Marsh Flats/ search for plains play Tidehollow Sculler then Path to Exile it "on the stack" and get a land and a removed card from the opponents hand.. is that legal? My idea for a sideboard would be: 3 Disfigure 3 Infest 4 Flashfreeze 3 Pithing Needle 2 Sadistic Sacrament Please help!! Thanks Rob. Yeah, I'd love to play a fast beatdown deck against this build. The problem, as I see it, is you have no way to punish them for alpha striking (attacking with all their creatures) every turn. Sure, you have the Wall of Denial, which can slow them down a bit, but doesn't come down until turn 3, and even then, its 0 power it isn't going keep the swarm at bay. Also, with only 2 wrath effects, they can build up a big team without too much to worry. I think you need to put a little less emphasis on the decking cards and put in a few more things to keep you alive. The turns you'll buy will more than make up for it. I'd like to see more Day of Judgment or something that could block and kill some of their early attackers. I'm thinking you may want some Deft Duelist or perhaps Vampire Nighthawk. For the late game you may want to consider Nemesis of Reason. He can help with the decking, and in the mean time he makes a Great Wall. --- I have been playing with this deck for two weeks now at FNM and have gone 7-3. What do you think I can do to improve my deck (splash a color?). My biggest problem has been against mono white control. Creatures Vampire nocturnus x4 Vampire lacerator x4 Bloodghast x4 Vampire hexmage x3 Vampire nighthawk x4 Gatekeeper of Malakir x4 Malakir bloodwitch x3 Spells Sign in blood x4 Tendrils x4 Disfigure x2 Land marsh of flats x4 Verdant catacombs x4 Swamps x16 Sideboard Black knight x3 Death mark x3 Mind sludge x3 Quest for the gravelord x3 Sadistic Sacrament x3 I like your list. You don't need another color, black has all the tools you need. Given that your hard matchup is white control I'd suggest adding Duress to the main deck, and adding a 4th Mind Sludge to the board. Off the cuff I'd say take out 2 Vampire Hexmage and 2 Disfigure to make room for the 4 Duress. Well, that's it for this week. [Email Me] more questions and I will be back here next Monday. -Rob Dougherty  |
  
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