Do Pros Draw First In Limited Mtg

Toffel

Thoralf Severin
2018-05-29

Considering this choice doesn't come upwards too oftentimes, simply it is easy to overlook the right option out of pure habit. You might, like and then many, just play first past default, but at that place are some central factors that make playing 2nd the right determination in many situations, especially in Sealed.

In the fifth round of GP London, I chose to depict first and my opponent responded by proverb: "Finally somebody, who knows the right choice." While it was confusing equally to why they wanted me to make the right pick, it was clear that their opponents didn't describe first. Overall, I had the same feel at the tournament and, in Rivals of Ixalan sealed, that was usually a fault. Non a super huge one, simply a mistake nonetheless.

Some people don't fifty-fifty call back about it. Magic is a game where starting first gives yous a sizeable reward. It is very rare in constructed that someone doesn't want to play showtime and, in recent draft formats, playing first was also an piece of cake decision. Sealed is a different ballgame and information technology is easy to non take that into consideration. I would say more that fifty% of my opponents played first when they probably shouldn't, even when the consensus of the active pro customs is that there are numerous situations where yous don't want to play first.

Why Nosotros Play First

The biggest (and by and large only) advantage is that you tin can play things, set on, and interact first. If you play a 2/2 on plough 2 and your opponent does the same, yous have the selection of removing the opposing creature, playing another beast or maybe playing a combat trick and so on. You tin make all the determination regarding your game plan and your opponent can just sentry. This becomes even more than impactful, when yous can play something that grows your board while dealing with your opponents' (like a Ravenous Chubacabra). While playing first, y'all are the commencement one to play big impactful 4- to 5-mana spells that are devastating when your opponent is already under force per unit area. It gives them less time to react and less possibilities for interaction.

A lot of information technology comes down to information, too. Imagine your opponent just played the natural 2-drop into 3-drop into four-drop curve. Since some creatures are better at attacking, y'all couldn't profitably block and ended up taking some damage. Now you can play your own four-drop that may or may not be able to block, because your opponent gets to act first. You tin can also use your combat trick (or removal spell) in paw, but that ways you are behind on board and you opponent still can interact with you if they want. Maybe they realize that attacking is bad and simply play another creature. Then yous merely wasted a whole plough. Peradventure they accept the animate being covered and as well have a skilful interaction with your combat trick, and so yous've lost the turn and the card, which usually ends the game. Some other case of this kind are counterspells. Playing first guarantees you about of the time to play your counterspell on an even (or advantageous) lath state, thus making its fail charge per unit significantly lower. Worst case your opponent doesn't play anything and also lost mana for their turn.

There are and then many games where your last sentence is, "I would take won this game if I had merely played first." and it's like shooting fish in a barrel to default into playing first all the time.

The Ability of Cartoon Cards

The advantage of drawing commencement is quite easily measurable: information technology's being upwards a card when both players played the aforementioned amount of turns. That means you have more cards to choose from. That is very important when you need to hit your later country drops or need to detect a land for each color in your deck. If your deck lacks color fixing, then cartoon first can be a nice tool to gain those extra points of percentage towards drawing your boosted colors.

Overall, y'all too have a slightly college adventure of "curving out", pregnant that you lot use all your mana each plow, which might make upwardly for the drawback of not playing first. Yous might know this feeling by middle: you lot outset plow three and depict the two-drib you wanted to play final plow. Cartoon first might have been the departure in that location.

There are also some cards that work much improve being on the draw. The first cards that come to my mind are mass removal spells. It is beautiful to let your opponent have the perfect bend and and then play Wrath of God or Golden Demise, which more than than makes up for the tempo your opponent got from playing first.

Besides, sometimes cards in your deck line upwards perfectly against your opponents' cards. In Scars of Mirrodin, everybody was playing Mana-Myrs. There were strong picks and usually every deck had about i to 2 copies of them. When my deck featured cards like Sparkmage Apprentice or Contagion Squeeze, information technology was pretty bad going showtime, since those cards don't do anything on an empty board. Y'all want your opponent to play those Myr cards before so that yous can play those cards on curve, while also getting to draw an boosted carte du jour.

If you find yourself in the tardily game a lot of the time and you are missing resources, then switching to depict first could exist an easy gear up. If the games do not tend to conclude until the 6th-8th turn, the actress card yous are drawing is hugely impactful, since information technology's a free card.

The Divination Paradox

It is pretty obvious, that casting Divination on the describe is very bad when you haven't played annihilation. That makes this card a flashbacked faithless annexation and that is not what you want to practise on turn 3. You desire to cast Divination to hit your land drops and observe your adept spells and cartoon the carte du jour makes up for starting first anyway. This is an accepted paradigm that I don't agree with most of the fourth dimension.

I can see playing first when your deck does not contain any cheaper cards than Divination whatever, simply usually you lot volition play some inexpensive removal similar Fungal Infection, Barbarous Offering or Shivan Burn. While it is true that you want to keep those cards for maximum potential and Roughshod Offering and Shivan Fire tin do much better than killing your opponents two-drops, y'all could just play some 2-drops on your own. Dominaria has excellent ii-Drops in Ghitu Chronicler and Caligo Skin-Witch and even Relic Runner or Vodalian Arcanist aren't that bad. Nosotros utilise Divination to outvalue our opponent and being on the play works against that.

Unremarkably nosotros are not looking to race our opponent, merely to defend the ground and win with flyers or stiff single cards. If your deck has a lot of cheap flyers and uses Divination as a filler card late in the game, so playing starting time is still fine, simply having a Divination in my deck for control reasons leads me to draw first. We want to hit state number six for Cold-Water Snapper, we want to get to the removal spells to kill our opponents' good cards and if the format allows united states of america to describe first, because (similar in dominaria) the 2-drops are mostly underwhelming, nosotros should go for that.

The Checklist

I've distilled the ideas above into a cracking checklist that you lot can use to make up one's mind if you should play or draw (at least in my opinion). Points college in the list have higher priority and therefore should be weighted more heavily than points below. For example, if yous want to draw starting time considering of high price spells you need to play, but it would be advantageous for your opponent to get first because of fixing, you should not go first. That is why mana-fixing is lower on priority than high-cost spells.

PLAY: The format is ambitious - your opponent is likely to play on curve and creatures are harder to block (examples: Ixalan, Amonkhet, Zendikar - usually every draft format)

2.one Depict: Your deck has inexpensive interaction and as well needs to striking lands for expensive spells (or your reactive spells are good, similar wrath of god effects).

2.2 PLAY Your deck is low on quality and plays a lot of inexpensive creatures and fewer high-cost spells.

Depict The format is slower and y'all don't expect to lose quickly (that could also mean that your opponent is just playing a slower deck and you need resources).

PLAY Y'all have specific cards, that demand to be played early on or demand to impairment your opponent (like Exemplar of Force or the Shanna, Sisay'south Legacy).

Depict You or your opponent needs fixing badly.

DRAW It is early in the format and yous are non sure, especially in sealed

PLAY If none of the to a higher place reasons apply, playing should be your final determination.

If you have any other arguments or reasons to go 2d, please experience free to exit a comment in the section below. I would like to know which cards in particular made you draw starting time.

Cheers for reading,

Toffel

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily Cardmarket.