Me trying to figure out Magic

One of the problems that I’m noticing with drafting is knowing how to tell if a card is good or not. There may be some formula out there, but I haven’t come across it yet. To know the value of a card, you need to know how any card or combination of cards can help to win a game. To that end, I have learned a few things though that are helpful. These are the main strategy concepts that I try to keep in mind when deciding which card is better than another.

The first strategy is card advantage. This applies both in keeping your hand full of playable cards and in looking for opportunities to get rid of 2 of your opponents cards with one of your cards. The bottom line here is efficiency. What cards give the most bang for the mana? Which cards cards have useable upsides and tolerable downsides? How do I keep my hand full later in the game?

Second off is board advantage. To attain this, you need to have a presence of creatures that out number, out match and/or out manuever your opponents. The two ways to attain this are to maximize the effectiveness of the creatures and to remove your opponents creatures. These need to be done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Many Magic games are won or lost in the trenches. I have started to think more about the role that the cards will play in my deck. Some of the important roles are:

Removal – cards like Doom Blade and Shock Evasion – cards with flying, hexproof or regenerate. Early Weenies (starting pitchers)- Cards that move in early and get things going quickly. Examples would be Goblin Fireslinger and Phantasmal Bear Mid-Game Workhorses (early relievers) – Cards that come out after a few turns and set you up for the win. Later Bombs (closers) – beaters like Flameblast Dragon and Inferno Titan that take a bit of time to come around, but can win the game.

The third is synergy. Card advantage and board advantage are most efficiently obtained when the cards are working together. Look at my previous post about the Vampires deck for a good example of synergy.

Anyway, this is how I’m piecing it together so far. Writing about it helps me process. Please comment if I’m off base or if there is any thing to add.