That TCG Blogger

“How did you know I was going to play Wrath of God, you must’ve cheated?!” the opponent yells. “I have a full field of creatures, you were sitting defenseless and you had a smirk on your face. The signs were all there for something big, so I had to hold a counter”, I reply in dignified confidence. The ability to tell what your opponent is going to play before they do is what separates the mediocre players from the gods of gaming. First of all, if you didn’t understand my anecdote up there, “Wrath of God” is a powerful, well-known spell in Magic: The Gathering that destroys every creature on the field and can be a pretty devastating trump card if used right and becomes a good example for reading the opponent. Anyway, be prepared for plenty of Magic references in the future since its an easily relatable game for most and well-known throughout the world. Now, about reading the opponent, there are a few key things you need to know. First of all, you need to know what kind of player your opponent is, you can tell this just by watching the cards/pawn and how they play them. You also need to know what is in play at ALL times, one moment of brain lapse and you have left yourself open to a direct attack. The most important thing, and probably the most difficult, to do is being able to know what your opponent is about to play.

What type of player is your opponent? I believe that Magic: the Gathering put it best when they created their three player archetypes: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. The Johnny player is the player who sits there trying to pull off “the perfect combo”, the one that involves as few cards/moves as possible and guarantees victory. The Timmy player enjoys the thrill, they want to summon the coolest cards and crush you where you stand with the most powerful characters in the game. The most confusing player here is the Spike, he/she will sit there trying to playing the moves that would make any normal person question their intelligence. Though at the end of the day, the Spike tends to be able to lead their opponent into a false sense of security by this trick by pulling these useful cards together into a player crushing combo. When reading the opponent you need to ask yourself a few questions: What are they trying to do in the game? Are they trying to pull off a game winning combo, beat you into a pulp by playing the power strategy, or just trying to prove they’re better by means hidden. How are they going about doing it? By directly confronting you, indirectly waiting for the right moment, or doing it in a way you don’t yet understand. What do they want out of the game? To win by any means necessary, pull off an infinite combo (a combo that triggers an infinite amount of times), or proving their intellectual skill. If you wish to be able to read your opponent you need to be able to tell what kind of player they are, look for small coincidences based on the descriptions here and also note that they may be a combination of two, such as wanting to prove something by creating a powerful creature.

Ever had this problem happen to you? You’re playing a card game, and suddenly your opponent plays a card that targets the discard pile and you didn’t realize that the card you forced them to discard is now in play and now a major threat to your victory. The key to any game is being able to tell what’s in play at all times, just because something isn’t in the main battlefield doesn’t mean that it is no longer a threat to your game. Especially those who have ever played Yugi-oh know that cards like Monster Reborn and Call of the Haunted were able to combo with any discard card to bring out a powerful creature. Also, always note how many cards your opponent has in their hand, just because they are invisible to you, does not by any means rule them out as threats to your plan. There is not a single game that I know of, that has no instant based cards in the game so be wary of them. Just because you are able to attack them directly, doesn’t always mean you can come back alive from it.

The final key to this whole process is being able to know what’s in your opponents hand. If you know their player type and have been able to read their deck for at least two turns (sometimes even more), then it is simple to know what they are trying to do. First of all, you need to know every card available to the player. Luckily with Magic, there’s only around six sets that remain tournament legal at a time so keeping up isn’t that huge of a problem, its just taking the time to familiarize yourself. Sun Tzu said it best with “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” Simply meaning, you need to know what your enemy has in their deck (by understanding the possibilities of what they could have) as well as you know your own cards before you can expect to be successful. You then need to understand the situation, if you’re opponent is sitting there taking damage, then they obviously are planning something and you need to be prepared. On the contrary, if they are attacking you relentlessly, then you should know what to expect, more power heading your way. The player who can read deep into the depths of the others mind will always come out on top. Afterall, these games are based purely off of strategy.

The most key thing you need to know above all, is to know who you are. If you are unaware of what player you are, then you will automatically be going into the match blind and be at a loss. Also knowing what you are going to do in a game can allow you to possibly prevent your opponent from reading you, if you like leaving your opponent at a loss. Above everything I’ve said in this post though, have fun in your games. After all, they are only games.

Keep on Rollin’

-That TCG Blogger-

Want to know more? Got a question/comment?

Contact me at Ecomicsinc@gmail.com