Subject: beginner's article
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 23:52:23 -0800
From: bdugan@flash.net (Bill Dugan)
To: webmaster@classicdojo.org
====================
Wait For It!
By Bill Dugan http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html
December 22, 1997

Waiting to cast your spell until the last possible moment is one elementary
technique that all beginning Magic players should learn.

When you observe a beginning Magic player, you'll notice they want to cast
their spells during their turn, as soon as they have the card and mana
available.  Suppose the beginner has no creatures out and the opponent has
a creature -- say a Fireslinger -- on the board.  If the beginner draws a
Dark Banishing, he's likely to say "Ah, I Dark Banish your Fireslinger"
right away, during his turn.

What's wrong with this?  Well, sometimes nothing.  But if you observe an
experienced Magic player in the same situation, you'll notice he will look
at the Dark Banishing, look at the board, look at all his cards, do it all
again a couple of times, and then say "Done."  During his opponent's turn,
the opponent will attack with the Fireslinger, and the experienced player
will then Dark Banish the Fireslinger in the middle of combat.

Why?  There are several possible rewards and risks in delaying the casting
of the Dark Banishing here.

POSSIBLE REWARDS

1.  Card advantage.  Your opponent may play an Enchant Creature on the
Fireslinger to enhance it, before combat.  Empyrial Armor placed upon the
Fireslinger followed up by an attack is a pretty good attack.  If you wait
until Empyrial Armor is on the Fireslinger and _then_ cast Dark Banishing,
you have accomplished a 2-for-1 trade -- your opponent's Empyrial Armor
_and_ Fireslinger go to the graveyard, and you have only expended one card.
Bingo, the coveted card advantage.  If you had cast Dark Banishing during
your turn, your opponent would still have that Enchant Creature card in his
hand, ready to use against you with another creature.

Since almost nobody plays with Enchant Creature spells in constructed-deck,
you're much more likely to see this situation in sealed deck.  Won't you
feel smart if you do away with an Endless Scream or Flickering Ward in
addition to the creature?

Technical note:  If your opponent does announce an Enchant Creature spell
upon his creature in this situation, it's probably best to cast Dark
Banishing on the creature _in response_, rather than allowing the
enchantment to resolve and waiting for combat.  This may be required to
deal with enchantments like Flickering Ward (he may pick black!) or Mystic
Veil.

Similarly, you may gain a little card advantage if your opponent uses
Instants in combat.  If you feel like living dangerously, provoke your
opponent by declaring a vulnerable blocker, let your opponent announce his
Giant Growth or -- joy! -- Elvish Fury, then respond with Dark Banishing:
watch the creature flail and watch that Instant fizzle!  Or you may be able
to provoke your opponent by declaring _no_ blockers.  This is more
dangerous because your opponent may be able to counter your Dark Banishing,
and if you've already declared no blockers then you're going to have to
take the hit.  If you think you can provoke the use of an Instant by
declaring your blocking one way or another, then by all means, do that
before you cast Dark Banishing.

2.  A better target may appear.  Your opponent may play a card like
Viashino Sandstalker (or Ambush Party, or Suq'Ata Lancer...) before
attacking.  If you had cast Dark Banishing during your turn on the
Fireslinger, you'd have no way to deal with the Sandstalker.  If you held
onto the Dark Banishing, then you could Banish the Sandstalker, a much
better target, and take just 1 damage from the Fireslinger instead of 4.
Better targets may appear if your opponent is playing with instant-attack
creatures, or especially if your opponent is inexperienced and
unnecessarily plays summon cards before an attack.  (Maybe he'll cast that
Colossus of Sardia before the Fireslinger attacks....)

3.  Increase opponent's unease and uncertainty.  If you tap out to play
Dark Banishing, your opponent will know he can act with impunity.  If you
leave the mana open until the last moment, especially if you are playing
blue, then your opponent's mind will remain full of fear and doubt: do you
have a Power Sink?  Should he cast a creature or wait until you're tapped
out?  You may even get your opponent to delay casting spells if you have
untapped lands (islands, really).

POSSIBLE RISKS

1.  Counterspell potential.  If your opponent is playing blue, in
particular, it's a better idea to cast the important Dark Banishing-type
spell during your turn if he's tapped out of blue mana.  Suppose he taps
out to cast Air Elemental.  A Dark Banishing during your turn is a very
fine idea, because next turn when he attacks, when you announce your Dark
Banishing, he will retort with the Counterspell he's been holding.  Don't
let him do this.

2.  Awkwardness with phasing.  Let's say you went first in the game.  If
your opponent casts Breezekeeper on his Turn 4, then you know you'll be
able to Banish it (a) right then, during his Turn 4; (b) during your Turn
5, and then you will not be able to until (c) _his_ Turn 6.  This may be
awkward if you have a 6-casting cost spell that you want to cast on your
turn 6.  If you think this may happen, perhaps it's best to Banish the
Breezekeeper on your turn 5, before it phases out.  This is a pretty rare
risk compared to #1.

Now, this discussion has centered around creature removal during combat.
You should also usually "Wait For It" with instants in general, until your
opponent's discard phase.  If you have two untapped Islands available and
an Impulse, then even if you don't have any counterspells in your hand, you
should pretend that you do until your opponent announces he's done with his
turn.  Then you say "During your discard phase, I'll Impulse."  There is no
reason to cast the Impulse during your turn except for Risk #1 above.  You
must compare this risk with Reward #3: your opponent will be full of fear
and doubt as long as you have cards in your hand and UU available.
Increase the fear and doubt!  Pretend you have counterspells, and when he's
done with his main phase, _then_ cast your instants, during his discard
phase.

This doesn't apply only to blue.  If you intend to Disenchant his AEther
Flash enchantment, don't bother to do so until his discard phase.  He may
provide you with Reward #2 by casting some much better target during his
main phase -- maybe he'll lay down a Nevinyrral's Disk that you reeeeally
don't want him to activate.

During your turn, it's also usually a good idea to "Wait For It" until
after combat when casting your other spells.  Never summon a creature
before combat -- see Reward #2 above, your opponent learned Reward #2 too.
An exception to this rule is granted if you want to summon the creature
because (a) it's an instant attacker like Viashino Sandstalker or Lightning
Elemental; (b) it will enhance other creatures like Keldon Warlord or
Llanowar Behemoth; (c) you have some other tricky purpose in mind, like
dropping a Quirion Ranger so you can untap your tapped Colossus of Sardia
so you can use it to attack your pal who's running a Stasis deck.

One exception to "Wait For It" is land.  If I'm going to play a land during
my turn, I always do it before announcing my attack or any spells or
effects.  Your opponent may have a Power Sink or Force Spike, and you're
sure going to feel stupid if the land you need is in your hand instead of
on the table.

In summary, 80% of the time, there is no tactical reason for you to cast
your instants during your turn.  Waiting until the last possible moment
will help occasionally, and those occasional moments make it worthwhile to
Wait For It.

===============
Bill Dugan
bdugan@flash.net