Yesterday, I encountered one of the most interesting Magic gameplay situations I’ve been in for a *long* time. (And the answer to this question probably says a lot about how you play Magic/your life philosophy.)

Normally I can’t play in Magic tournaments because of working at Wizards, but yesterday was a rare exception for Mariah's charity tournament. The setup is this: It’s round 5 and you’re 3-1. You’re playing Blue Devotion and he’s playing R/W burn. It’s game 3. He has played pretty well during the match so far, and has been taking a lot of time to think about his decisions the entire match.

On his turn, he uses his last card to Magma Jet you down to 3 life. He picks up his top two cards, thinks for a while, and then goes to put the cards on top of his library. You ask him right as he sets the cards down in an assertive voice, “In that order?” He looks up, stares at your Nightveil Specter, his face very briefly contorts into something that you read as having made a mistake, then replies in a slightly quiet, “Yeah, that order.”

He passes the turn.

Thanks to the Master of Waves in your hand and your couple creatures on the board, you have a pretty big army that puts him on him dead next turn no matter how you attack - assuming you survive.

The question is this: do you attack with Nightveil Specter and have him draw the second card of his library, or do you hold it back and have him draw the top card of his library?