Hi, I have been playing for years and have picked up on little things you should do during tournaments
1. Usually, when u want to play something, you think about it and it is obvious, so occasionally, you need to pause sometimes just to make your opponent think more
2. It is always fun sleeving up in like a chandra or garruk sleeves and playing other decks lol
3. Have some random tokens like dragons, goblins, or something on the table
There are more, but I do some without realizing it now. What other ways do you psych out your opponent?
Do you think it is useful? obviously skill is still a big part of the game, but I always get a good laugh when someone ask me if I had X in my hand, and i say nope! then they sigh and show me they could have won lol
I usually keep a pile of random tokens with me wich can mislead an opponent.
My favourite way to get under my opponents skin is to play slow game one not too slow mind dont want to be accused of time wasting, then in game 2 speed up especially if im in a bad position i will play as fast as i can without making mistakes. Players who arent used to tournaments will fall into this trap very easily its harder to catch more experienced players but when they fall into it its so much more fun to watch them try to keep pace with you but make so many mistakes as they do it.
Every time you poison someone hand them a poison counter. Even if you got them ten poison, just hand them each one by one and then say "GREAT GAME!" with a smile and a handshake.
That should drive any one bonkers, to the point that infect might actually be Tier 1 just out of the anger it causes your opponent.
When you say "psyching out your opponent", you kind of walk a line of unsportsmanship. Because you could do stuff like being generally annoying or intimidating to throw your opponent off his game... but I personally would avoid things like that even if they aren't technically illegal (or maybe if they are they are harder to catch if you don't go too far with it). But I do have a few ideas. These all fall under the umbrella of "faking" an in game action you technically can't make.
The simplest, most common thing people do is just leave mana untapped to "represent" that they might have a card in their hand which they really don't have like a Mana Leak or a Lightning Bolt. Or to go a step further, you could swing with your 2/2 into their 5/5 and "fake" having a Bolt in your hand and a lot of the time they'll respect that move (make sure they aren't in a situation where they would want to make that trade anyway) because they don't want to lose their bigger creature. It's a little more ballsy, but it's been done before.
On top of "faking" having a card in your hand by simply having the mana untapped, there is the "act like you might counter it" play. Obviously only really works with spells that you can only really play in response to another spell. Doesn't really work with stuff like Dismember. But say they you are playing control against a beatdown deck and they play some turn 3 creature. Maybe instead of saying "ok, maybe take a few seconds to think it over and make them think you might have that Mana Leak. They might try and wait till you are tapped out to play that big spell of theirs when in reality they could have played it as soon as they had the mana.
Again along the same vein of "faking" a card... and this works a lot better in draft tournaments... but asking seemingly innocent questions like "what's your life total" or "how many cards in your hand" at the right time and with the right emphasis might make your opponent think you have a card in your hand that you don't and try to play around it. An example of this, say your opponent is at 6 and you are at 10. He has a 2/2 flyer and a 3/1 flyer and you have say two 2/2s and have been trying to race him. It's his turn and he knows he wins if he attacks two more times. Before he attacks you... maybe say something like "ok... you are at 6?" and then pretend to calculate damage in your head, and maybe add "so you are attacking with everything?". If you are subtle about it and convincing enough. He might think you have a trick that could kill him next turn and he might hold one of those flyers back to block so that he doesn't die if you have some kind of Giant Growth effect that would win you the game. Of course... you don't have anything like that in your hand, but when you swing with both of your 2/2s and he blocks with his... you just bought yourself two more turns by bluffing a trick. It might fail... but if you are going to die unless you do something... you might as well try it.
On top of "faking" having a card in your hand by simply having the mana untapped, there is the "act like you might counter it" play. Obviously only really works with spells that you can only really play in response to another spell. Doesn't really work with stuff like Dismember. But say they you are playing control against a beatdown deck and they play some turn 3 creature. Maybe instead of saying "ok, maybe take a few seconds to think it over and make them think you might have that Mana Leak. They might try and wait till you are tapped out to play that big spell of theirs when in reality they could have played it as soon as they had the mana.
I try to do this but I am extremely bad at bluffing. Somehow, I still play blue control whenever I can.
I try to do this but I am extremely bad at bluffing. Somehow, I still play blue control whenever I can.
Eh... well if you aren't good at it I wouldn't force it. Personally I don't use many of these tricks other than the "leave mana open" one I mentioned but I think everyone does that.
When playing I too often use the "mana open" trick. It's staggering how many people who would normally be extremely aggressive are suddenly holding back. Even better when doing this, flip around one card in your hand. You will look very trigger happy. I always try to look content with myself when doing this.
Also already mentioned, constantly checking your opponents resources is also a good way to intimidate an opponent in an innocuous but powerfull way. It makes them think you have your game planned out and are ready to employ an answer to whatever he or she does. However, I never do this when I'm back or when the game shifts towards my opponnent, as this makes you look desperate and struggling to find an answer.
Outside the game, I like to proclaim any bad beats I dish out. Sometimes it's better if people don't know what you're playing, but other times you can force people in conservative plays "because they have to be able to deal with that bomb of yours". When that happens, you can take advantage of it by just playing aggressively and push through damage that totally shouldn't be going through.
Edit: I just realised that in the end, most bluffing is about forcing your opponent into conserving play to open up windows of opportunity.
Another thing I forgot to mention that might not be as obvious... and again, usually something that happens in limited where there are more "surprises": say it's late in the game and both of you have 5-6 land out and have basically played all of your cards. If you draw a land and that's the only card in your hand... maybe hold on to it instead of laying it down (because you probably aren't going to need it anyway). Because if you just pass the turn without playing a land having a card in hand... they might think you have a trick in your hand of some kind. It doesn't always work, but it's one of those low risk-potentially high reward situations.
And along the same vein of thought... no matter how big your hand is. If you draw a card and it's a land... don't play it immediately. They might catch on that the card you just drew is a land if you play it practically immediately as soon as you draw it (which is what some people tend to do). I always draw my card, bring it in with the rest of my cards, pause for a moment and then play the land for my turn. And it might not be the land I drew either. It's a subtle thing to think about, but think about if you see your opponent do that for three turns in a row... you are probably going to assume his hand is light on threats (because if he has a 4-5 card hand presumably 1-2 of those cards are lands as well) and maybe you might use your removal/counters early and try to put him on a clock to take advantage of a hand that's a little low on gas. It's like knowing that he's mana flooded before you actually see the evidence of this 5 turns later when he has like 7-8 lands on the table and no cards in hand.
On that note if its early game theres no reason not to ply the land immediately even make a sound of excitement it can make your opponent think your light on land
I like to use the "Mana bluff" trick, but go a bit further--I like to sloooowly reach my hand up to place it on my lands as they are about to play their spells. It gives them the thought that I'm actually not bluffing.
Dont be rude to the opponent. Playing extra slow or taking time for obvious decisions is crappy.
Most strategies have been stated here, but here is one I sometimes do against people:
TELL THEM THEIR MISTAKES
After they do something wrong, tell them they screwed up in a polite way. Nothing is worse than knowing you could have had the opponent dead, but missed it. This gets the opponents mind racing and often causes them to make another mistake.
Representing Mana Leak is probably the most used JMT, and has been so, for a few months now. Trust me, it works, and there is no poker-esque mastery about it. Simply making sure to leaving 1U open will make your opponent think twice. Spell Pierce has become so ubiquitous in blue control decks, simply leaving U open was cause to hold back a turn four Jace back in the old Caw mirrors.
There are a thousand different bluffs that have been used to success, some with controversy. It's very important to remember to not get caught up with mind tricking people. It's a good tool to have in a pinch, but tight play will win you far more games, far more consistently.
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give them the "Paul Rietzl" and put down your hand onto the table and fold your arms and just stare at them during their turn.
LOL, that's funny. I've been to many tournaments in Los Angeles and San Diego but haven't had the chance of playing him, so that's very interesting. I have to admit from most people, it's kind of annoying though.
Usually I just completely ignore the person and then give a stare back. It's not tough to intimidate Magic players.
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give them the "Paul Rietzl" and put down your hand onto the table and fold your arms and just stare at them during their turn.
I've always played that way actually. End my turn, flop my hand down on the table, sit back and "watch". It's surprising how uneasy people get when you're not looking at your hand, and sometimes they even forget you have one. In FNM's I'll even order my hand so I can flip the appropriate response without having to pick up my entire hand.
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if you're wondering whether or not your opponent has a specific card that would be pivotal in the matchup, just turn to your opponent and ask them point blank "do you have the Doomblade?" or whatever the card is.
obviously they're not going to give you a straight answer. most people just say "i dunno" or "maybe" or they say nothing at all. but its an unexpected question and you can often provoke a reaction out of people just by asking. if you're good at reading body language you might get a tell out of them. its worked for me in the past. not necessarily reliable, as some opponents are very good poker players and have their body language game under control, but it works quite often so i still pull this trick out on a regular basis.
I personally enjoy saying my opponent's plays before they happen. Like "So you have the Vengevine in your hand. Gonna end of turn discard with your Fauna Shaman to go grab what? A Birds probably." Or like others have said, ask them what they have in their hand. I do act a lot of times like I don't have anything when I actually do too, that one is really nice. I also tell them what they did wrong, but usually wait until after the match, just in case the scenario comes up again in the next game or later that game, I don't want to have screwed myself over. I also like to say things like "Overextending a bit, aren't we?" To make them think I have a Day of Judgment or something in my hand (I usually do though).
I personally enjoy saying my opponent's plays before they happen. Like "So you have the Vengevine in your hand. Gonna end of turn discard with your Fauna Shaman to go grab what? A Birds probably."
I wouldn't want to risk giving them ideas in case they weren't smart enough to figure out the play themselves. Unless it was reverse psychology, but I doubt that would work.
Nothing beats leaving mana open or keeping that land in your hand. Those are the oldest tricks in the book and work for me a lot of the time.
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I wouldn't want to risk giving them ideas in case they weren't smart enough to figure out the play themselves. Unless it was reverse psychology, but I doubt that would work.
Nothing beats leaving mana open or keeping that land in your hand. Those are the oldest tricks in the book and work for me a lot of the time.
I only do it if I know that they're smart enough to on their own.
And keeping the land I just topdecked in my hand and leaving a smile on my face is one of my favorite things to do.
I've organized my mana in such a way to make it look like I'm preparing for a certain spell... like for a counterspell or instant speed removal. Don't know if it works, but if they overthink everything... it should work in making them think twice.
1. Usually, when u want to play something, you think about it and it is obvious, so occasionally, you need to pause sometimes just to make your opponent think more
2. It is always fun sleeving up in like a chandra or garruk sleeves and playing other decks lol
3. Have some random tokens like dragons, goblins, or something on the table
There are more, but I do some without realizing it now. What other ways do you psych out your opponent?
Do you think it is useful? obviously skill is still a big part of the game, but I always get a good laugh when someone ask me if I had X in my hand, and i say nope! then they sigh and show me they could have won lol
be annoyingly talkative
repeatedly ask for their hand size
narrate the game and what you think their thinking
My favourite way to get under my opponents skin is to play slow game one not too slow mind dont want to be accused of time wasting, then in game 2 speed up especially if im in a bad position i will play as fast as i can without making mistakes. Players who arent used to tournaments will fall into this trap very easily its harder to catch more experienced players but when they fall into it its so much more fun to watch them try to keep pace with you but make so many mistakes as they do it.
T2
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:symr::symu::symg:Boar Control:symg::symu::symr:
That should drive any one bonkers, to the point that infect might actually be Tier 1 just out of the anger it causes your opponent.
The simplest, most common thing people do is just leave mana untapped to "represent" that they might have a card in their hand which they really don't have like a Mana Leak or a Lightning Bolt. Or to go a step further, you could swing with your 2/2 into their 5/5 and "fake" having a Bolt in your hand and a lot of the time they'll respect that move (make sure they aren't in a situation where they would want to make that trade anyway) because they don't want to lose their bigger creature. It's a little more ballsy, but it's been done before.
On top of "faking" having a card in your hand by simply having the mana untapped, there is the "act like you might counter it" play. Obviously only really works with spells that you can only really play in response to another spell. Doesn't really work with stuff like Dismember. But say they you are playing control against a beatdown deck and they play some turn 3 creature. Maybe instead of saying "ok, maybe take a few seconds to think it over and make them think you might have that Mana Leak. They might try and wait till you are tapped out to play that big spell of theirs when in reality they could have played it as soon as they had the mana.
Again along the same vein of "faking" a card... and this works a lot better in draft tournaments... but asking seemingly innocent questions like "what's your life total" or "how many cards in your hand" at the right time and with the right emphasis might make your opponent think you have a card in your hand that you don't and try to play around it. An example of this, say your opponent is at 6 and you are at 10. He has a 2/2 flyer and a 3/1 flyer and you have say two 2/2s and have been trying to race him. It's his turn and he knows he wins if he attacks two more times. Before he attacks you... maybe say something like "ok... you are at 6?" and then pretend to calculate damage in your head, and maybe add "so you are attacking with everything?". If you are subtle about it and convincing enough. He might think you have a trick that could kill him next turn and he might hold one of those flyers back to block so that he doesn't die if you have some kind of Giant Growth effect that would win you the game. Of course... you don't have anything like that in your hand, but when you swing with both of your 2/2s and he blocks with his... you just bought yourself two more turns by bluffing a trick. It might fail... but if you are going to die unless you do something... you might as well try it.
I try to do this but I am extremely bad at bluffing. Somehow, I still play blue control whenever I can.
Eh... well if you aren't good at it I wouldn't force it. Personally I don't use many of these tricks other than the "leave mana open" one I mentioned but I think everyone does that.
Also already mentioned, constantly checking your opponents resources is also a good way to intimidate an opponent in an innocuous but powerfull way. It makes them think you have your game planned out and are ready to employ an answer to whatever he or she does. However, I never do this when I'm back or when the game shifts towards my opponnent, as this makes you look desperate and struggling to find an answer.
Outside the game, I like to proclaim any bad beats I dish out. Sometimes it's better if people don't know what you're playing, but other times you can force people in conservative plays "because they have to be able to deal with that bomb of yours". When that happens, you can take advantage of it by just playing aggressively and push through damage that totally shouldn't be going through.
Edit: I just realised that in the end, most bluffing is about forcing your opponent into conserving play to open up windows of opportunity.
This is what he does "Are you holding a counterspell/lightningbolt/whatever Michael?"
Maybe you can't get that personal but ask them that and look at their reaction. Good way to find out if you are walking into the mana open trap.
Another thing I forgot to mention that might not be as obvious... and again, usually something that happens in limited where there are more "surprises": say it's late in the game and both of you have 5-6 land out and have basically played all of your cards. If you draw a land and that's the only card in your hand... maybe hold on to it instead of laying it down (because you probably aren't going to need it anyway). Because if you just pass the turn without playing a land having a card in hand... they might think you have a trick in your hand of some kind. It doesn't always work, but it's one of those low risk-potentially high reward situations.
And along the same vein of thought... no matter how big your hand is. If you draw a card and it's a land... don't play it immediately. They might catch on that the card you just drew is a land if you play it practically immediately as soon as you draw it (which is what some people tend to do). I always draw my card, bring it in with the rest of my cards, pause for a moment and then play the land for my turn. And it might not be the land I drew either. It's a subtle thing to think about, but think about if you see your opponent do that for three turns in a row... you are probably going to assume his hand is light on threats (because if he has a 4-5 card hand presumably 1-2 of those cards are lands as well) and maybe you might use your removal/counters early and try to put him on a clock to take advantage of a hand that's a little low on gas. It's like knowing that he's mana flooded before you actually see the evidence of this 5 turns later when he has like 7-8 lands on the table and no cards in hand.
T2
:symu::symb:Tezzeret Control:symb::symu:
:symr::symu::symg:Boar Control:symg::symu::symr:
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Most strategies have been stated here, but here is one I sometimes do against people:
TELL THEM THEIR MISTAKES
After they do something wrong, tell them they screwed up in a polite way. Nothing is worse than knowing you could have had the opponent dead, but missed it. This gets the opponents mind racing and often causes them to make another mistake.
There are a thousand different bluffs that have been used to success, some with controversy. It's very important to remember to not get caught up with mind tricking people. It's a good tool to have in a pinch, but tight play will win you far more games, far more consistently.
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Usually I just completely ignore the person and then give a stare back. It's not tough to intimidate Magic players.
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Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I've always played that way actually. End my turn, flop my hand down on the table, sit back and "watch". It's surprising how uneasy people get when you're not looking at your hand, and sometimes they even forget you have one. In FNM's I'll even order my hand so I can flip the appropriate response without having to pick up my entire hand.
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BG - The Rock
RUG - RUG Control
BBB - Zombies
if you're wondering whether or not your opponent has a specific card that would be pivotal in the matchup, just turn to your opponent and ask them point blank "do you have the Doomblade?" or whatever the card is.
obviously they're not going to give you a straight answer. most people just say "i dunno" or "maybe" or they say nothing at all. but its an unexpected question and you can often provoke a reaction out of people just by asking. if you're good at reading body language you might get a tell out of them. its worked for me in the past. not necessarily reliable, as some opponents are very good poker players and have their body language game under control, but it works quite often so i still pull this trick out on a regular basis.
Nothing beats leaving mana open or keeping that land in your hand. Those are the oldest tricks in the book and work for me a lot of the time.
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I only do it if I know that they're smart enough to on their own.
And keeping the land I just topdecked in my hand and leaving a smile on my face is one of my favorite things to do.
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