All-in with 7/2 Off suit?! What a bluff!
April 18, 2006
There are a few things that really confuse me about
some Magic players and the decisions that they make
during a tournament. A lot of them revolve mainly
around strategies that they feel are smart at the
time, but in the long run don't end up being helpful
at all. I'm talking about many things when I say
this, but the main one that people don't seem to
understand is the art of the bluff.
Bluffing can be a huge game breaker when put into
the hands of somebody with experience, as showcased
by Professional Poker players such as Daniel
Negreanu and Johnny Chan. They will put their
tournament life on the line with some of the worst
hands on the planet and get away with it because
they know what they are doing. Of course, being
known by millions of people around the world doesn't
hurt either when performing these bluffs. Bluffing
can be really easy to pull off in this game, but
people don't seem to realize this.
"I should've tried to represent a Hinder..."
Bluffing is all about making the opponent think
you've got something that you don't. This can be
done in many different ways. By holding back that
Silhana Ledgewalker, you could easily represent that
you have a
Might of Oaks in your hand if the
opponent's aware you're running them. If you're
using a mono-black deck, you could stop players from
throwing out creatures in case of a
Dark Banishing
you may or may not have. Hell, even a Mono-Blue deck
that has a full seven-card hand that's nothing but
Islands can stop the opponent from playing that one
card that will win them the game. And do you know
why? Because blue has enough counters to counter the
counters that are countering your counters. Blue has
the tendency to not let anything dangerous resolve,
so a hand that size could really throw off the
opponent.
You have to realize that these could be both small
and big bluffs, and win you the game if you execute
them well. If you're opponent's preparing to play a
spell, start reaching for your land to make it look
like you're prepared to stop it as soon as it hits
the table. Pull a card out of your hand as soon as
you see that
Watchwolf about to be played to show
you're prepared for it, even though you're not. It
could even be as small as simply saying, "You know I
could
Shock that easily, right?” It's all about how
you perform the bluff.
It's hard to bluff without a hand.
Could somebody explain to me why people insist on
playing any and every land they draw while they're
in top deck mode? Unless you are getting severely
mana-screwed or your opponent has a
Hypnotic Specter
in play, there is no reason why you should ever play
any lands you top deck, and even if you are getting mana screwed you have no serious benefit from
playing the land anyway. Playing the land won't give
you any sort of advantage. Even if you play the
land, if you top deck another one, what did you gain
from playing the previous one? Absolutely nothing.
If you keep it in your hand, you have a chance to
represent a card that can stop the opponent. The
only times you should ever play lands when you are
in top deck mode are either when your opponent is
playing Land Destruction (to keep up with the amount
of land your opponent's getting rid of) or when you
have one card in your hand other than the lands
you're drawing, and you need enough land to cast
that card. Even though most of the time this will
not work (they'll know the chances of you drawing
the nuts are low), it is still worth trying besides
the alternative of getting hit without fear.
I knew what you were holding, that's why you lost.
Now when I say you should bluff, I don't mean that
you should bluff all of the time. Let's take a look
at my above example. More times than not your
opponent will not believe that you have a card in
your hand that can stop them if you are in top deck
mode. This is mainly the opponent's brain telling
them that their opponent doesn't have enough cards
to represent anything dangerous, so it's safe to
attack/play spells. The only time you should ever
seriously bluff is when you are on a downhill slope
to lose the game and when you have at least three or
more cards in your hand. Anything less will
typically not work because of the previous mindset.
You have to realize that trying to represent
something you don't have is not as easy as some
people make it look. You could have the best poker
face on the planet, but if the opponent doesn't
think you have the stone cold nuts you're going to
get served. That is the fatal flaw in trying to do
this. If your opponent doesn't believe you, then
there's no reason for you to try and bluff them out
of doing something.
I want you people to realize that you don’t always
have to do what is printed on the pieces of
cardboard. If you know what you are doing, then
those should be the last things you are paying
attention to. You should be studying your opponent,
and seeing what he thinks you have. Because if you
can make him think you have something that you
don’t, that will give you a much higher advantage
over them in the long run.
done in many different ways. By holding back that