Play or Draw? That is the question.
General forum
Posted on Aug. 20, 2016, 12:41 a.m. by Sconeth
Title says it. When starting a game, you rolled your dice or whatever you do to decide who decides who goes first. Play first? or Draw? Lets look at the pros and cons.
First, lets just say these are 2 decks, midrange, no card draw or mill or anything, and both exactly 60 cards, only 1 card out of the library per turn, and no mulligans.
Play:
Pros: You get more speed, get the bigger creature/spell first. Wont deck out before opponent. 1 turn ahead of opponent
Cons: Opponent has more cards than you.
Draw
Pros: You get more cards to choose from.
Cons: Opponent is 1 turn ahead.
Now lets suppose we are playing control. Control generally has more card draw than most decks. Lets say we are facing another midrange deck.
Play
Pros: We get our lands first, we can play our counters sooner!
Cons: We will probably deck out before opponent. Opponent has more cards
Draw
Pros: MORE COUNTERSPELLS!
Cons: Still likely to deck out before opponent, due to our card draw. Opponents could play early threats before we have chance to counter them. But that doesn't mean we cant kill them later...
So IDK. Still confused on which is better choice. I usually play control, and take the draw. But recently, I went to a prerelease and my opponent said to always take the play. no matter what.
What do you guys think? Are my pros/cons absolutely BS? or ok? I could've made more pro/con lists for different deck types, but i'm lazy. So I didn't. Deal with it.
the general consensus is always go first unless you're control in which case you consider your options. by going first you are effectively a turn ahead of your opponent at all points. and being a turn ahead is usually the difference between winning and losing. if you have discard you can rip your opponents threats out before they can use them. if your burn or aggro you get in before they can drop defensive creatures. if your midrange, you get your early beaters down to apply pressure. if youre control, you get a land down before they do, ensuring you have 2 mana open when they cast their 2 drop. every deck has a solid reason to play first.
let me put it this way. think of it as you are always going second. if you win the die roll, you are told you can skip your first draw step to make your opponent skip their first turn. would you do it? how many scenarios can you think of where you wouldnt?
August 20, 2016 1:47 a.m.
The tempo advantage of being on the play greatly outweighs the slight card disadvantage of not drawing a card. If you feel like you need the extra draw in order to play your cards, your either keeping poor starting hands or your unable to play things when you need to because of poor deck construction (most likely because your curve is too high).
August 20, 2016 2:59 a.m.
The arguments you exposed are not BS, as they are perfectly valid. Indeed both have their pros and cons but it depends almost exclusively on the deck you are playing and how well it was built (tuned vs. not tuned).
In my meta we tend to switch starts from match to match. We try to pilot our decks in optimal and not optimal conditions to keep our skills properly honed; I mean, you cannot depend on your start to win games, do you?
And we also use the "Losers starters" rule when we play the second and third game of a match hahahah.
I like starting when playing my RDW deck just to ensure a fun and short game, but for the others I don't usually care about it: they win games no matter you take play or draw hahahaha
Cheers to all
August 20, 2016 4:37 a.m. Edited.
Unless there is a specific reason you want to draw first, you should play first. Especially with control. For example, let's say you have a control deck where the cheapest counter you have costs three mana. If you draw first, your opponent can play turns 1-3 without fear of response (because you won't have three mana available until after their third turn). If you play first, you can start to respond on their third turn and they only get two turns free from your permission.
August 20, 2016 8:43 a.m.
Shane.Allen says... #8
I always play first, speed is everything. If I can play my land, cast my spells first, get my engine going first, I'll take care of card drawing later. Drawing is so important in Magic, card draw does win games, but that's why you build your decks to draw cards.
August 20, 2016 9:27 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #9
I always play first.
Alot of my lands ETB tapped. So I can't ignore that.
August 20, 2016 12:15 p.m.
Shane.Allen says... #11
That is very true, if you actually want to learn how to play real competitive Magic sit down and watch some YouTube videos of the Pro Tour matches.
August 20, 2016 2:12 p.m.
Unless your playing legacy dredge in which case always draw.
August 20, 2016 2:29 p.m.
Going by win percentages of everything that isn't legacy dredge, always play. Having another card is nice (especially post-mulligan) but the tempo advantage from going first is huge.
August 20, 2016 2:37 p.m.
The only time I would go on the draw is Draft/Sealed where the card advantage is worth it or burn mirror in which case I take the role of the control deck with my burn spells.
Sim_Will_CMcantfindmehopefully says... #2
Unless I'm playing an intensely aggro strategy I am always on the draw because the card advantage is too valuable.
August 20, 2016 12:47 a.m.