What is your playstyle?
General forum
Posted on Jan. 11, 2014, 2:26 p.m. by strateupjee
I will make a few notes before going further. I only play standard, so my only experience is from standard FNM's. Also I am not referring to balls-to-the-wall blitz RDW decks, I am referring to Mid-Range/Tempo/Control decks.
Now, I really want to see how people play when at your average tournament. Granted I know playstyles can vary from game to game since game 2 and 3 you know what they are playing. My playstyle for example, is playing really safe, running through all contingencies and assuming that they have lethal in hand. When playing this way, it is a lot easier to see what you need to do to stay alive, at least in my opinion. Also, I understand that in some situations, you just have to hope that they don't have it, because there isn't anything you can do, but I just mean in an average game.
So my question is: how do you play? How does your style change from game to game and from hand to hand?
lookoutimscary says... #3
I love playing Aggro-Combo decks that can be explosive, I also LOOOVVEEE interacting with/playing from the Graveyard, which is why I run a Dredgevine list. In terms of my playstyle, I generally don't "play it safe" and usually don't consider all outcomes of a said action, which probably isn't good, but on the other hand I like interacting with my opponents and getting to know them not just playing getting up and leaving (I don't know if that's really a playstyle though)
January 11, 2014 2:52 p.m.
I enjoy aggressive and mid-range decks to where I can crush my friends or other competitors. and I start as quick as possible so I see if there deck is fast enough to beat out my larger creatures.
January 11, 2014 2:56 p.m.
Dalektable says... #5
Depends what i'm running. When running my White Weenies build i think to myself, game one at least, assume they have no removal and you will be able to straight out murder them and play like that. This usually gets me able to kill them pretty quickly. If removal is present i play pretty safely depending on my hand, always assuming removal is present.
When playing control i do as Epochalyptik does, always assume the worst situation. If i'm playing R/G or mono green devotion i always assume they're going to curve out perfectly into a Stormbreath Dragon for example. (off topic, but once i had someone T2 a Worldspine Wurm on me and i kept a hand with no removal that could deal with it, it was awful)
January 11, 2014 2:57 p.m.
My playstyle varies wildly, sometimes even within a single game.
Sometimes I talk a lot of trash between smirks and giggles (especially if I am playing blue). Sometimes I have a game face on (and whisper "untap, upkeep, draw" to myself). Sometimes I take a few shots and every play I make is the funniest one yet. Sometimes I am staring off into space, totally thinking about something else entirely. Sometimes I get into a conversation with another player or two and lose track of what I am doing. Sometimes I "play nice" and join the rest of the table in making sure that "the best man wins". Other times, I get sick of this and go kamikaze on said "best man" and eat the consequences.
It tend to take quick turns pretty consistently and I trust my opponents too much. I rarely count out their lands or check up on them when they are searching decks or graveyards. I really should fix this. I also tend to be a little bit forgiving towards my opponents about misplays / forgetting triggers.
January 11, 2014 2:59 p.m.
yup, love playing midrange to Aggro, too. just recently started experimenting with control/mill decks. before, I used to try to prepare for everything - didn't even have a sideboard then. the 60 cards I bring with me, is the ONLY cards i'll be playing with :)
and same with r3v13w, i tend to "trust" my opponents playing fair, tapping and untapping lands properly, etc..but that's because i've mostly had a positive playing experience. sometimes it's even my opponents who ask me if I'm sure I wanna target THAT creature. "You sure? This one has lifelink, and this other one has an ability to..." you get the picture :)
January 11, 2014 3:17 p.m.
Like cr14mson, I have also mostly had a positive experience with the game - having fun even when things seem a little shady. I have almost exclusively played multiplayer or 1v1 in a casual / friendly environment (very little recorded tournament style games if any in my case). Usually cheating is the last thing on my mind.
On the other hand, I am not often stopped when I am making a stupid move / poor choice. I take it pretty well, though (although I do think it is at least partly because I am not all that focused on winning - others think I'm just not as good of a player. I don't always take it as well when it goes from just a game to a judgement. That's when I bring out a game face and decks that aren't fun for other people).
I guess I should have more fully answered the question. I play all the colors and some control, some aggro, not very much midrange. I tend to like themes and gimmicks. Many of these can be easily countered by a single card (if the opponent has it). I try to deal with this by sheer wideness of scope in what different things I might play. I also tend to run relatively cheap stuff - maybe not the absolute cheapest, but cheap for sure. Most combos don't interest me but synergy does. More than anything, I like to pull a surprise on someone.
I also enjoy and have some luck with guessing what an opponent is likely to do next. This aspect of the game draws me towards blue quite a bit.
January 11, 2014 3:42 p.m.
miracleHat says... #9
I am either playing control, or aggro. when i am playing Vendilion Clique edh and have Sword of Feast and Famine along with Sword of Fire and Ice , i will play the beatdown strategy. if i have a Mana Vault with Jace, Memory Adept in my hand then that it different. i would play control and mill my opponent out with jace. if i am playing Kaalia of the Vast , then i will always run aggro. I don't have a single combo deck but i do run fun interactions (Isochron Scepter + X) but no Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Pestermite
January 11, 2014 3:45 p.m.
I don't play in tournaments, but both when I'm playing EDH and when I'm playing regular decks, I prefer slower decks that can keep the pressure on my opponent. As such, Cascade is one of my favorite mechanics. You basically get two cards for the price of one. Bloodbraid Elf is a key part of Steve's Argyle Socks and I have a Maelstrom Wanderer EDH deck. I usually find ways to cheese out the key components like Angelic Arbiter and Akroma's Memorial (or any other 7 drop there) for the respective decks.
January 11, 2014 3:52 p.m.
ravenclaw06 says... #11
I am a control player at heart. Yet, as I only play in my causal play group control has basically been hated out. So has the color blue :P At one point, my friends even banned Hydrosurge calling it an "OP" card. Since then my play style has been forced to seriously adapt. To begin, my playgroup is about 45% B/G Rock decks that interact heavily with the graveyard, and 45% G/R ramp.
Since then i've been playing very creative decks like Re-animator or Defender-ramp (my friends love smashing big creatures against one another.. if you can't tell :P ) and a lot of white weenie. I just love being able to have some nice answers but also have a stream of consistent power on the board. Naturally, as a control player I love to draw cards. Skullclamp has made my transition to white weenie much easier! :P
January 11, 2014 5:55 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #13
I love mill and land destruction so my play style is pretty poor. I am working on it though. Control is what got me interested in the game and it is what keeps me coming back for more.
January 11, 2014 7:59 p.m.
lord_of_the_snakes says... #14
really bad budget control, my current deck is azorius control with Traumatize and Psychic Spiral as wincons, i'm saving up for the mill jace, and some more things to turn it into esper control
January 11, 2014 8:27 p.m.
hyperlocke says... #15
Every deck I own could be considered midrange but I only play casually, so my two cents might not be worth it...
Usually, I just try to follow my deck's tactic. if my opponent has a counter/kill spell, well dammit. I'll just try again or take another route to victory.
If I'm facing control, I play the less lethal first. If it's countered, great, I can play my real hot stuff; if not, I can kill with the second best, too... It's really 50/50, depending on opponent's hand...
When facing an aggro deck, I usually have enough life gain, so I can take quite a lot of damage until my strategy takes off.
Combo? No chance in hell. Fortunately, combo decks are quite frowned upon in my play group...
Midrange decks: Depends on how much kill spells/hand disruption they have... Usually my strategies prove stronger (no side boards...).
All in all: eh, half I lose, half I win... nobody in my play group cares, it's just a game...
Epochalyptik says... #2
I'm a control player, and I tend to consider the worst-case scenario, then the most probable scenario. It's like chess; I try to plan several moves in advance for each contingency. I don't take very many unnecessary risks, but I will force an opponent's hand or call a bluff if I think it's in my favor to do so.
The whole process goes very quickly; it's not at all as slow as it sounds.
January 11, 2014 2:35 p.m.