In what I plan to be a series of articles, I will be examining Magic games that I have played. The ability to replay a Magic Online game allows me to make a precise analysis of the game that is difficult and tedious with the paper game. My goal is to use specific examples to demonstrate the use of general strategies for playing Magic. This example comes from a Mirrodin sealed league that I played recently.*

This game demonstrates two important strategic concepts. The first concept is thinking ahead. We've all learned to hold back creatures to block on our opponent's attack, but you will often need to plan your next turn and think about the turn after that if you really want to improve your play. The other concept is that of resource management. All but the most inexperienced players know how to manage resources or they wouldn't win a game. This example is particularly good at showing how important it can be to get it exactly right. I will also be touching on the issue of being able to figure out your opponent's cards by looking closely at what he or she plays. I hope to cover that in more depth in a future article.

Background: This is the second game of the match. I lost the first game to my opponent's aggressive White/Green deck with Skyhunter Patrol, Fangren Hunter, Leonin Den-Guard, Leonin Skyhunter, Arrest, and Iron Myr. The Iron Myr may or may not indicate the presence of a Red splash in the opponent's deck.

My deck is:
Auriok Transfixer
Clockwork Condor
Elf Replica
Fangren Hunter
Goblin Replica
Gold Myr
Iron Myr
Leonin Den-Guard
Leonin Skyhunter
Lodestone Myr
Luminous Angel
Skyhunter Patrol
Spikeshot Goblin
Tel-Jilad Archers
Tel-Jilad Exile
Blinding Beam
Bonesplitter
Deconstruct
Granite Shard
Journey of Discovery
Lightning Greaves
Loxodon Warhammer
Serum Tank
Shatter

Ancient Den
5 Forest
Glimmervoid
Great Furnace
3 Mountain
5 Plains

This is a strong deck, but it can play a little slow unless the cheap White creatures are drawn first. From my experience, that doesn't happen too often. The Lodestone Myr is not as strong as it could be because of the relatively low artifact count. After the first game, I replaced a Tel-Jilad Chosen with an Elf Replica, since I had seen Arrest, but only one small artifact creature.

I choose to play first.

Opening hand: Glimmervoid, Bonesplitter, Clockwork Condor, Forest, Journey of Discovery, Tel-Jilad Exile, Elf Replica.

Answer: This is a risky hand. After the explosive bashing I took in the first game, I could easily lose this if I can't draw another mana source. However, I can't resist the quality spells in hand and the potential for mana fixing from Journey of Discovery and I keep it. My opponent mulligans down to six.

My turn 1: I play a Forest and the Bonesplitter.

Opponent turn 1: Plays a Forest and Chromatic Sphere. This card indicates pretty strongly that my opponent is playing a three-color deck. The third color is probably Red, because of the strength of Red as a splash color, and the presence of the Iron Myr in the first game.

My turn 2: I draw Loxodon Warhammer.

Answer: He could Deconstruct the Bonesplitter and really destroy my game. On the other hand, if I hold it for another land, that delays my Journey of Discovery another turn. The"safe" move is to keep the Glimmervoid until two lands are already played to assure being able to cast Journey of Discovery. My concern is that holding back will affect the tempo of my game against a fast deck, so I think playing the Glimmervoid is the lesser risk. Also, if he does have the artifact destruction, I may reduce the chance of losing the Loxodon Warhammer later.

Opponent turn 2: Plays a Plains and casts a Gold Myr.

My turn 3: I draw a Leonin Skyhunter. The trouble has begun as I miss my first land drop.

Opponent turn 3: Plays a Forest and attacks with the Gold Myr. He casts a Viridian Joiner.

My turn 4: I draw a Blinding Beam. I exchange a little idle banter with my opponent about my bad draw. My opponent agrees that he would keep a two-land hand. I keep hoping he won't Shatter or Deconstruct the Bonesplitter and I might have a chance to recover.

Opponent turn 4: Plays a Plains and attacks with the Viridian Joiner. Since he held back the Gold Myr, I'm pretty sure I know what's next. As feared, he drops the dreaded Fangren Hunter. This game is looking really, really bad. At least I still have eighteen life.

My turn 5: I draw a Forest!

Answer: I would like to play Journey of Discovery, but I've already played a land. If I cast it now, I will have to discard. I think I need all the cards I have, so I cast the Elf Replica. At least it can block the little creatures.

Opponent turn 5: Plays a Plains and attacks with the Fangren Hunter. He then casts Arrest on my Elf Replica.** That's a pretty good target, since the Elf Replica could kill the Arrest otherwise, but I'm still happy to see it on a relatively useless creature. The Elf Replica will pretty much assure that my Glimmervoid stays in play, which is extremely important at this point.

My turn 6: I draw a Gold Myr. I'd rather see a land, but I'll take any mana source at this point. This is where it gets interesting, though. I need a plan that will turn this game around and maybe win it. My opponent has only one card in hand, so he is pretty much played out, but I'm looking at a 4/4 with trample that I'm not going to be able to stop right away.

I've got an Arrested Elf Replica, two Forests, a Glimmervoid, and a Bonesplitter on the board. In hand are Clockwork Condor, Journey of Discovery, Loxodon Warhammer, Leonin Skyhunter, Blinding Beam and Gold Myr. My opponent has a Gold Myr, a Viridian Joiner, a Fangren Hunter, Chromatic Sphere, two Forests and three Plains.

Answer: The Tel-Jilad Exile is my best creature to stop the life loss until I can get the Loxodon Warhammer in action. I should be able to use the Blinding Beam to interrupt his attack long enough to avoid dying, but I need to have plenty of mana to get the Tel-Jilad Exile on the board with regeneration mana. I cast the Journey of Discovery, fetch a Plains and a Mountain and play the Plains.

Opponent turn 6: Plays a Forest and attacks with everything to take me to eight life. He seems to consider casting a spell, but then passes to me. I couldn't think what that might be at the time, but now I think he was considering removing the Bonesplitter with Shatter. Perhaps he changed his mind when he realized the Elf Replica would keep the Glimmervoid in play. Those little tap-undo moves are one of the best ways to read an opponent online. I never ignore such information, but I always keep in mind that it could be a bluff, too.

My turn 7: I draw a Plains and play it. I consider playing out the Leonin Skyhunter, but I decide that mana development is more important right now and play the Gold Myr and the Blinding Beam to keep his creatures tapped. I could have played the Tel-Jilad Exile now, but I wouldn't have the regeneration mana. I wouldn't be able to block since I need that creature to prolong the game. Blinding Beam seems like a safer way to preserve my dwindling life total. When making plans at low life in Mirrodin, you should always assume two to four extra damage. Your opponent could drop a Bonesplitter or, especially in this case, Raise the Alarm at the end of your turn.

Opponent turn 7: Plays a Plains.

My turn 8: I draw a Plains. My hope grows as my opponent seems to be just drawing land. I play the Tel-Jilad Exile with three mana to spare. I use the Gold Myr to equip the Bonesplitter. I don't want to leave the Gold Myr untapped because he could Shatter it at the end of my turn and take away my regeneration mana.

Opponent turn 8: He uses the Chromatic Sphere and casts a Pearl Shard. While casting the spell, he taps four mana and then untaps. That could mean that he just drew the Pearl Shard off the Chromatic Sphere and he has another four-mana spell in hand. It could also mean that he thought the Pearl Shard costs four or that he forgot that he had one mana from the Chromatic Sphere. The next spell he plays is Lightning Greaves. Then he makes a serious mistake that turns out not to matter in the end. He equips the Fangren Hunter with the Lightning Greaves and attacks.

He has forgotten that he can no longer prevent damage to the Fangren Hunter with the Pearl Shard. Even if he has Predator's Strike in hand, he can't use it on the Fangren Hunter. I block with the Tel-Jilad Exile and kill it. Let this be a lesson, boys and girls. Be careful with your Lightning Greaves.

In any case, I take two damage from the other two attackers and I'm dangerously low at six life to his twenty. He puts the Lightning Greaves on the Viridian Joiner and passes the turn in disgust.

My turn 9: I draw Iron Myr. Things are looking up for me. I have a nice flier in hand and Loxodon Warhammer. Still, I can't get carried away. He could have Predator's Strike or Turn to Dust. I can cast the Loxodon Warhammer and equip it with regeneration mana to spare, but it's not safe to attack until I can keep a blocker back. There's not enough mana for the blocker, too, so I just cast the Loxodon Warhammer and equip it.

Opponent turn 9: His turn passes with only a Forest played.

My turn 10: I draw a Great Furnace. I attack with the Tel-Jilad Exile so I can gain some life and start pounding him down. He prevents two with the Pearl Shard, but I'm much happier at ten life. I play the Leonin Skyhunter, the Great Furnace and the Iron Myr. Then I move the Loxodon Warhammer to the Leonin Skyhunter. I'm unlikely to block with it, but if I have to, I want to gain some life.

Opponent turn 10: It looks like I have a good shot at winning now, but then the next barrier comes swooping in. He casts a Platinum Angel and tosses the Lightning Greaves on it. My deck has just three cards that can destroy artifacts and I'll need two now.

I can skip ahead a bit now. As expected, I'm able to bring him down to zero life. I draw a Serum Tank so I can push a little quicker to my destruction spells. He drops a Welding Jar to up the count of artifact destruction to three. Fast forward to...

My turn 16: I have eleven mana available, plus a Gold Myr and an Iron Myr. My hand is Auriok Transfixer, Fangren Hunter, Spikeshot Goblin, Lightning Greaves, Deconstruct and Goblin Replica (just drew). I've been holding some stuff because it doesn't seem needed in the game, and I would like something in reserve in case he comes up with an Oblivion Stone or Solar Tide. But now, it looks like I have what I need to win.

Answer: If you answered,"Keep using the Serum Tank until you draw the Shatter," then you are partly correct. However, I worry about my opponent drawing into a game-winning card, so I want to finish him as soon as possible. I notice that even with the Pearl Shard, the Spikeshot Goblin can just barely kill the Platinum Angel. I can't afford both of the artifact destruction, the Spikeshot Goblin and pay the equip costs, so I'll need to do some next turn. I drop the Lightning Greaves first and then the Spikeshot Goblin. I can then equip him to keep him protected until next turn.

Opponent turn 16: He plays a Tel-Jilad Chosen.

My turn 17: I draw Luminous Angel - a very nice card, but unimportant now. I Deconstruct the Lightning Greaves and, as expected, the Welding Jar saves it. I use my Green mana from the Deconstruct to drop the Goblin Replica. I can now sacrifice it to destroy his Lightning Greaves. I move the Bonesplitter and Loxodon Warhammer to the Spikeshot Goblin, after moving the Lightning Greaves to another creature, and that's game.

I think many people would have given up on this game after the non-land draw on turn 4. I hope this shows that a lot can happen in just a few turns. By turn 8, the game has clearly turned. Careful planning of how to use my mana, before casting any spells, allowed me to use it most efficiently. Careful planning of how to keep my life total from getting too close to zero was also important. Mana, creatures, and life are some of the main resources in Magic that must be managed, but not the only ones.

I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, let me know at bmcclellan@powervista.com or in the forums and I will write another one soon. I will also be very interested in hearing any disagreements with my assessment of the game and my play choices.

* If you are unfamiliar with Magic Online leagues, they start with the same cards as a sealed deck tournament and then add a booster after each week. Each player plays as many matches as they want, but only the first five each week count toward the league rankings and the rest only affect tiebreaker points. This particular deck comes from the second week of the league.

** Notice that my opponent could have cast Arrest first and attacked for two more points of damage. I suspect he was attacking to see if I would block and hope to save the Arrest for a later target. It is highly unlikely that I would block with the first creature I can afford to play, when I can't exchange with one of his. I think he could have cast the Arrest first to get the extra two points or waited until I was pressured to block with the Elf Replica and used the Arrest later.