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Do you fake falling behind in Commander to avoid getting focused on? (mtgzone.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've noticed that in my playgroup when someone is falling behind in Commander they usually get much, much less heat, to the point that they're able to ramp their mana and then just win out of nowhere after everyone has depleted their resources etc., so I was wondering if one could actually fake it and if you do do you have any tips for it?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

@TheMagicer I guess it depends on what you mean by "fake falling behind".
I do conserve my resources to avoid being perceived as a threat. That's not only proper resource logistics, it's also saving my stuff from removal to reduce risk.
I will also argue that I am not a threat based on my board state compared to other players, or try to convince people that some plays are unnecessary.

I think the difference is between lying about my luck vs being strategic in how I present my board state

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Yes, I guess that's what I meant! In my playgroup we're all new to MTG and I've noticed that everyone almost always taps out all mana (unless they have a removal/counterspell in hand), me included.

I should probably start avoiding going all-in like you do, to reduce both how I'm perceived by others and the resources I commit up until the boardwipe. I guess it can be a proper strategy, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Could be a habit from games like Hearthstone where playing "on curve" is super important because you can only play stuff on your turn. In Magic, you often want to leave the impression that you could interrupt something or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

MTG is our first TCG so it's definitely not that lol we like big boards and spells, we're actually few people so we don't really play super competitive, make many mistakes, and games take way too long (around twice as long compared to what WoTC say about Commander games' duration) lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Well it sounds like yall have a good time :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

We do, would be nice to make games a bit shorter but I guess that will come with better decks and more experience with what we're playing haha

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

@TheMagicer carefully conserving resources is actually a very important skill in the game.

I play a Iroas aggro deck that can be very explosive, but is bad at drawing cards.
It needs to get to 7 devotion for Iroas, but any extra creatures don't bring much benefit while do bring a lot of risk. If I have no cards in hand and get board wiped, I'm basically done. So I always try to hold back as much as I can after 7 devotion to prepare.

Im glad you're thinking about this! A real level up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

@TheMagicer of course I have other decks that are better at drawing cards so it's fine if they overextend because I can probably draw out of it. Definitely deck-dependent

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

You're right, very deck-dependent! One of us runs a heavily upgraded Pantlaza precon that's basically all creatures, and once they managed to win even after three board wipes even though they kept casting ALL creatures they could lol

So, yeah, I can see how overextending after you get to 7 devotion can leave you empty-handed when the wipe comes. Definitely something I'll keep in mind in future!