When turn 2 rolls around and I have a Mountain, a Forest, and a feces-flinging mad Kird Ape in front of me, you can be sure that someone is going to receive a good old-fashioned jungle whuppin' if I have anything to say about it. As I look around the table, I see some things that deflect my red-eyed gorilla's gaze: Lizzy has a Sliver out in front of her? Not her. Jason has a Goblin out in front of him? Not him. Jason has a Rat out in front of him? Not him. Jason has an Elf out in front of him? Not him.

(Yes, there are three Jasons in the group I play with.)

And then there is Mark, who only has Sterling Grove in front of him - yes! The Kird Ape beats his chest and charges forward with a cry of,"OOOH-OOOH-AAAH-AH-AH-OOH!"

Mark doesn't like getting clobbered by my angry monkey so early in the game - but that's just too bad! That is what happens to someone in the early game who doesn't even have some meager defenses in place.

Some multiplayer mages may wonder why I would attack so early in a game. My answer is quite simple:"Because I can!"

Other times my answer may be,"Because I have to."

After ten years of playing multiplayer, I cannot sit idly by while a player spends four or five turns dropping lands, enchantments, artifacts, and building up resources in her hand. If I can help it, I will send some damage the direction of the player who forsakes the early game. Increasingly, I see this same mentality of challenging the late bloomers growing within the group I play with.

One of the biggest reasons I do this is because I hate nasty combo decks and I will actively try to rush a player before they can"go off" if I sense a combo - and I know I am not alone in this belief. Another reason is that I may not get many other chances to hit the player who starts dropping a fatty per turn after turn 7 or will magically"turtle up" defensively, which makes some of the early damage critical to my success.

Despite what you may hear, the early game is important.

I will not argue the fact that multiplayer games last longer and those late rounds are typically where victory or defeat are decided... But I will in fact argue that the early game is more important than may be commonly accepted.

There are five areas of gambles or errors for the early game that I offer up to multiplayers in chaos games: In fact, all of these ideas can be expanded to the entirety of a game, but I intend to focus on the opening rounds. I also believe that all of these ideas are highly subjective and each group has its own personality and makeup, which affects their respective gaming sessions. Here are my thoughts on five early-game gambles:

• Blood in the water effect
• Board position too weak
• Hints of an impending combo
• Board position too powerful
• Enemies and allies

Blood In The Water Effect
One of the strange phenomena in multiplayer is the"blood in the water effect." Just as sharks have their feeding frenzies, there are many kitchen tables that have their own multiplayer variation on the bloody theme. No matter what the intentions or the board position of the victim, sometimes the will of a table swings towards finishing off a player swiftly and decisively. How many times have you seen the one player with the key to stopping the combo player's maniacal plan get snuffed out simple because she was at four life? I think I can safely assume that all of us have been the victim of the savage"blood in the water effect" at one time or another.

Often it simply begins with one player attacking another player, who unwittingly fills the role of the victim. What ensues is a tag-team beat down with opponents following up attack after attack via creatures and spells. Why it begins it isn't always very clear: Did someone tell a bad joke? Is a player reading and re-reading cards in front of other players and as a result instilling a sense of fear and oppression? Who shorted the group on the pizza bill? Did a player get up to go to the bathroom?

Those are all possibilities in the realm of multiplayer Magic. Typically, the frenzy begins due to one of the four early game errors or gambles that I explore below. What is certain is how it all ends and that one player gets a little extra time to prepare for the next game.

Board Position Too Weak
When a player has a weak board position, they are simply asking for an opponent to take advantage of the situation. The natural course of a game is such that the strong can (and often do) remove the weak from play. Do hyenas ponder whether they should go after the robust water buffalo stamping its hooves in the dust, or one that is on laying its side wheezing?

There's no decision here. A weak board position is nothing more than an invitation to be vanquished.

A player may survive punishment for a weak board position in the early game, but it may come back to haunt her later when a few more points of life would have made a difference late in the game. Certainly, you may have great cards in your hand, but unless you are playing with something which allows your hand to be revealed (like Zur's Weirding) then there won't be anyone who knows this (wandering eyes at the crowded kitchen table excluded!). By the time the strength of your hand is known, it may be too late - and the"blood in the water effect" may have set in.

I recommend that players look for alternatives to some of the sorceries and instants, instead looking for a permanent that can do the same thin. It can strengthen your board presence and ward off threats. Try that Seal of Doom instead of Terror, or go with Devout Witness rather than Disenchant.

Hints Of An Impending Combo
Hints of an impending combo can be one of the biggest mistakes a multiplayer mage can make early in a game. A player can easily put their self in harm's way laying down pieces of a well known"net deck," dropping parts of a not-yet-forgotten combo deck, or maybe even by playing strange cards that most of the players at the table have yet to see in action. Some people are afraid of the unknown!

Some groups enjoy combo decks, so combo players might escape time and time again... But other groups learn from players' combo decks, and seek ways of thwarting their plans. Early recognition of a combo deck can result in the removal of cornerstone spells and permanents for the combo - and more importantly, lead to an alliance of players who want to see the combo player's threat utterly removed from the game.

Board Position Too Powerful
Beware of a board position that is deemed too strong. A turn 2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath is a beautiful thing to behold for the person who plays her. To the rest of the table, the controller is simply too powerful. One Swords to Plowshares may snuff her life and begin the tides of beatings from the rest of the players.

Without question, a strong board position is desirable and may even establish a very strong and flexible defense. Rarely can a strong board position hold off the combined might of two or more players. Players need to always consider whether their display of strength will only serve to rally one's opponents to unite and confront their singular (and powerful) enemy.

Be mindful! Conservative play can be a double-edged sword."Too much too soon" can earn you the attention of the group, while"Too little, too late" may leave you unable to respond to threats. Skilled and experienced players often excel at balancing on this precarious strategy, while others over commit or under commit.

Enemies And Allies
The final error is ignoring signals to what I term"allies and enemies." Several articles could be dedicated to the topic of"enemies and allies," but will I try and focus on the early game only.

First, be very aware of who is playing and what their natural dispositions towards other players or away from other players are. If an alliance forms and you are on the outside looking in, then you are going to either form an alliance to counter it or prepare for your doom.

Secondly, be aware of developing synergies on the table and also be aware of opposing strategies on the table. The synergies and opposing strategies may clue you into what may happen next. In any given group, many alliances and enemies can be figured out based upon synergies and opposing factors. Just keep in mind that it isn't always very clear or logical: Two synergizing mages may lash out at each other, while other mages of opposing strategies may link up for a while to further their ends.

Thirdly, some players are just plain bizarre or exhibit patterns that we can sometimes discern. Perhaps the white mage always attacks the black mage more often than not. Another player may freak out if they see someone playing a Bouncing Beeble! Other players use some strange randomization in their madness for attacking other players, so they are hard to figure out. It is also not uncommon to see player fall into character with the tribe they are playing, which means their Elves are going to throw down with your Goblins. It is my suggestion to keep track of these sorts of things, because they can come in handy from time to time!

Finally, do not forget that in the end, any player who can be labeled as an opponent is in fact going to be your enemy (or dead) by the end of the game, but who knows what sort of benefits you may find cooperating with other players in the early game? You know your group and the players within the group the best, so use that knowledge to your advantage!

In Conclusion
I will be the first to admit that not all of my decks have a very strong presence in the early game, but is my experience of late that clearly points to those decks being less successful as well. I also must say that some of my most successful decks gambled through those early turns.

A case in point (at the expense of a fellow player): During the last gaming session, one of our players got a harsh lesson of how important the early game is. In almost every game, he finished last or second-to-last, primarily due to those early rounds. He is a skilled player and has won more than his share within the group, but his decks have displayed a noticeable disdain for the early game more times than not. It was often those early moments of the game that set the table for his defeat. It didn't matter whether it was early weakness from a glut of artifacts, an early display of power in Scion of Darkness or a hint of a combo with Unnatural Selection, because his blood was spilled each time and the sharks at the table around him went on a feeding frenzy.

Always remember that the opening rounds of a multiplayer game really establish the individual character of the game. During those moments you can secure your position for the mid and late game, or you can make some of the errors/gambles I outlined above. You may survive unscathed. You may survive with some scars. You may also sit on the sidelines after a quick demise. Whatever happens in your gaming circumstance, I hope you have some fun!

And I would love to hear from some of you about your early game exploits.

Kevin Donaldson
multiplayermtg@yahoo.com