A guide to 1v1 dueling card games like MTG

4 hours ago

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The following is a very loose guide to playing 1v1 dueling card games like MTG. My name is

JR Leslie. I have several thousand hours into card games. I am best at a WWII deck building game called KARDS which I consistently ranked in the top 10 for several seasons (now several years ago). I say this to establish that I have some proven experience and expertise in card games which gives me some discernment about how to play them at a high level.

This guide will only be a very loose framework. Dueling card games vary significantly from game to game. Most have unique mechanics and play patterns. It would be almost impossible or at least incredibly time consuming to write a detailed guide that sought to explain them all. Rather this guide is intended to be loosely applicable to almost any game. It is up to you to discern how to apply it.

Part 1: Resources

In every dueling card game there are at least five resources, some are more obvious and others more subtle. Until you are aware of and understand these resources you will not be able to play optimally.

In Faeria, players start with 20 health.

Resource 1: Health/Hit Points

In all dueling card games the player has a certain amount of health or hit points. If this health bar ever hits 0 or below the player immediately loses. The player’s health bar varies in what it is attached to from game to game. In a game like Duelyst the player’s health bar is attached to their mobile General unit, in a game like Hearthstone it is the number of health points your static Hero possesses. The objective of every dueling card game is to reduce your opponent’s HP to 0 before he can do the same to you. Because health is a very tangible resource very prominently displayed in the user interface that directly impacts winning or losing, new players usually overvalue it. After all, why ever sacrifice HP if that is the ONE way you can lose? However, it is important to keep in mind that health, in a sense, is a binary resource. If you have more than 0 HP you are alive, if not you are dead. Obviously having more health is better than less, but having more can be irrelevant. Because health is simultaneously a precious and also expendable resource it is VERY important to establish early in the game how much you should value it and what health threshold you will try to maintain (or not).

In Magic: The Gathering players play land cards to improve their purchasing power

Resource 2: Economy

Every dueling card game has a certain economic aspect, a resource that you expend to play cards. In most digital games, this resource automatically ramps up as the game goes on. In Hearthstone for example, a player starts with one mana on turn one and gains one mana every turn thereafter. This means that players gradually become capable of playing more expensive cards as the game progresses. In card games like Magic: The Gathering, the economic mechanics are not automatic. Players must play land cards (which are part of their deck) that give their owners resources when “tapped.” Either way, most economic mechanics and systems are usually straightforward and linear. In most dueling games economic resources that are not used on one turn are not added to the next. They can only be used for that one turn and if they are not the resources are effectively lost forever. Because of this mechanic a common mistake that many players make will be to use all of their economy on playing cards every turn. While in many cases this can be the correct play, it isn’t necessarily. Sometimes it is better to make a more efficient tactical play that better counters the opposing players threats than to play the highest cost cards possible.

A starting hand in Kards. The player has chosen to mulligan the fourth card from right, meaning that they will discard this card and draw another.

Resource 3: Cards in hand

In every dueling card game players will be holding a certain number of cards in their digital or actual hands. These cards are the players’ total amount of options. They are what is possible. The more cards you hold in your hand, the more possibilities, the more options, the more answers to potential enemy threats. They are also the sum total of raw strength or power you can muster at any given moment. Cards in hand are like a form of kinetic or potential energy, they are future value that can be utilized but hasn’t yet been realized. Remember that cards in your opponent's hand also give them more options, possibilities and strength. The more cards your opponent holds, the greater chance there is that they will have an efficient counter ready. Plays that are more susceptible to enemy counters should be avoided when the enemy is holding many cards. Instead, strike when your opponent has less cards and is less capable of thwarting your plans. Holding more cards than your opponent is, in many cases, a significant advantage. Imagine if you have seven cards in hand and your opponent has four. If you trade off four of your cards at a one to one ratio with your opponent, you are left with three cards while your opponent has none. While some decks will not find this situation particularly challenging to come back from, for many decks this can be game ending. In general, when you have few cards you must treat your cards as precious and make sure you extract the most value out of each. When you have many cards you can afford to sacrifice value for more high tempo (or bigger, more aggressive, riskier) plays, especially if your opponent is low on cards themselves.

Unlike many other card games, Duelyst features an a multi dimension board and unit movement

Resource 4: Cards on the board

Unit cards or cards with ongoing effects stay around and continue to impact the game after they have been played, unlike immediate one time effect cards like spells. Units that are on the board are simultaneously in the best place to generate value but also at the greatest risk to enemy actions since they can be interacted with by spells and other units. More defensive units will passively create value while more offensive units will need to attack in order to generate value. In general, units must either cause the enemy to play cards to eliminate, interact with other units, or damage the enemy's HP pool in order to generate value. Most units attack once per turn and deal damage equal to their attack to either enemy units or your opponent’s health pool. Units, just like the players themselves, also have a health total and will stay on the board unless their HP is reduced to 0 or below. Every turn each of your units can be utilized to one of three broad objectives: protect your HP pool, damage the enemy’s HP pool or damage their units. Because units remain on the game board until they are removed by your opponent, you should use them in a way that recognizes the board and objectives will change over time. Many units will only be very effective for a turn or two, if you do not use them during this time frame they become almost non-factors in later turns. Such units should be used up even if the current board state prevents them from generating much value. Likely they will generate even less value in the future. Determining the optimal use for each of your units turn after turn is pivotal to winning the game.

A deck composition in Magic: The Gathering

Resource 5: Cards in your deck

While cards in your hand represent potential value that you can utilize at your discretion, your cards in deck represent future value that you cannot yet utilize. Practically every dueling card game has a hand limit that limits how many cards you can look at or play and a deck limit which limits the amount of total cards in your deck that you can play in a game. The cards in your deck, or cards you have yet to see, are all of the future options, threats and counters that you will have the ability to play as long as you prevent your opponent from killing you beforehand. Always be aware of what cards are in your deck. If you are, you will be able to make better decisions every play. For example, let's say your opponent plays a powerful unit which your units on board can deal with, but very inefficiently. You have two cards left to draw in your deck. You’ve been keeping track of what you’ve played and you know that one of the cards you have not yet drawn is an efficient and effective answer to the strong unit your opponent played. In this case, rather than throwing all of your units on board at your opponent’s powerful unit it might be better to ignore your opponent’s unit and wait a turn or two to draw your counter so that you can make a more efficient trade and preserve your units on board. To even see this sort of play and the long term value of delaying a response, a player must keep in mind what cards they have in their deck and what those cards are capable of. A player who does not keep in mind the cards to come only reacts only to the present situation without a clear picture of how the future will play out. This can lead to a player making decisions which overvalue the current state of the game and undervalue what is to come. Poor foresight leads to poor choices. In games that go the late game it is also important to keep track of the number of cards in your deck. Most games have a mechanic that punishes a player for running out of cards. Most of the time this takes the form of “fatigue damage.” Every time a player should draw a card but can’t they take stacking damage to their health. In long games players should be mindful of how many cards they and their opponents have remaining as this can determine how many turns the game can last. This is particularly important in control matchups.

Part 2: Decks

Even within a single dueling game there can be a bewildering number of viable decks. While some are niche or built around a unique card or mechanic, most decks can be put into four broad categories: aggro or tempo decks, late-game or control decks, combo or OTK (one turn kill) decks and balanced or mid-range decks. In this section I will briefly describe each of these decks and what matters to them.

Aggro decks usually are comprised of many cheap units or tokens

Deck type 1: Aggro decks

Aggro (aggressive) decks are the bread and butter of dueling card games. They are almost always the entry point for newer players since usually the cards needed to construct them are cheaper and more readily available. Aggro decks play as their name entails. They are all about putting as much pressure on your opponent every turn and killing them in the early rounds as quickly as possible. Aggro players usually win by establishing a board presence with many cheaper units that whittle down the opponent’s HP. Aggro decks are high tempo and low value meaning that they can go through their cards very quickly but each card is on average of lower cost than the average card of a control or balanced deck. If in a game an aggro player plays all of their cards and their opponent, who is playing a non-aggro deck, also plays all of their cards, the aggro player will lose the majority of the time because the non-aggro player’s cards are simply stronger on average. The whole point of aggro decks is to rapidly defeat your opponent with tempo before they are able to play many of their higher value cards. Because aggro decks play many smaller, lower health units aggro decks are notoriously vulnerable to AOE (area of effect) spells or boardclears, which are spells that deal damage or have other negative effects to multiple units or all units. It is very important when playing aggro decks to be aware of what types of and how many boardclears your opponent could have. When playing an aggro deck, often the difference between winning and losing is determined by how much value your opponent got out of their AOE cards. AOE cards are one of the few but significant reasons that aggro players should sometimes play slower and with more caution.

Aggro deck priorities:

Damage enemy HP

Strong board presence

Deck type 2: Late-game/control decks

Late game or control decks are the dreadnoughts of card games. They are slow to get going but once they’ve ramped up they are almost impossible to stop. These decks feature powerful and costly cards that have the potential to generate enormous value. The key to these types of decks is surviving. If you can survive enough turns to scale up and play your heavy hitters you are almost guaranteed to win. Thus one of the most important resources is your hitpoints. For late game decks, preserving HP is far more important than damaging the enemy’s HP. Cards in hand is another important resource. Because control oriented decks feature more niche and counter cards they usually have less generally useful cards. Late game decks’ weakness is tempo. Usually a control player loses when their opponent is able to overwhelm them before they have adequate resources to react. As a control player you must do whatever it takes to delay and buy yourself more time, especially against aggro decks. Control decks often must sacrifice value for this purpose. As a control player it is a constant temptation to wait for the perfect moment to play your big cards. But just like when you wanted to ask that girl out, that moment may never come. Play your cards for value when possible but do not delay forever, it may end up costing you the game.

Late-game/control deck priorities:

Preserve HP

Neutralize enemy threats

Deck Type 3: Combo/OTK decks

Combo decks are hard to define and come in different shapes and sizes. Some decks, such as OTK (one turn kill) decks are all about setting up a single decisive turn that either kills your opponent or leaves them in a weakened state that will allow you to win shortly thereafter. Other decks feature a combo that generates value over time or puts many powerful units on the board in a single turn. Because, as the name suggests, combo decks rely on playing a combination of cards on a single turn, cards in hand are the most important resource for combo decks. The sooner they are able to find all the pieces of their combo the better. Combo decks are vulnerable to disruption. If the combo player cannot play their combo the way it is meant to be, the combo player has a very low chance of winning. One way of disrupting combo decks is to have enough pressure on the board that they are forced to play part of their combo pieces dealing with your threats. Another way is to save your “counters” (cards that negate enemy spells or other cards) for negating cards that the combo relies on. Against OTK decks especially, prioritizing your health so that you do not fall into their kill range is important. Of course, when playing combo decks you want to prevent these things from happening. You want to preserve as many of your combo pieces as possible until you can play your full combo. You should delay enemy pressure, neutralize enemy threats and bait out their counters with less important cards. If you do not have your combo in hand, prioritize drawing more cards until you do.

Combo/OTK deck priorities:

Draw cards

Play combo

Deck Type 4: Balanced/Mid-range decks

This deck archetype might be the hardest to define and most nebulous of all, since as its name would imply, it is the jack of all trades and master of none. Mid range decks do not have extreme weaknesses as either aggro or late-game decks but they also do not have extreme strengths as either. Mid-range decks have more power than aggro decks and more tempo than late-game decks but less tempo than aggro decks and less power than late game decks. However mid range decks are more flexible than either and have a greater ability to adapt their game plan based on the opponent. Therefore mid-range players must quickly ascertain what type of deck their opponent is running so that they can adapt to counter it. Against aggro decks, mid range players should play to preserve their HP and take out the aggro players' threats on the board. Against late game decks mid range players should make high tempo, aggressive plays that puts pressure on their opponent. Unlike other deck types, mid range is often more about inhibiting your opponent’s gameplan than it is executing your own.

Balanced/Mid-range deck priorities:

Assess your opponent’s deck

Don’t let your opponent play their game

Part 3: Determining what your win conditions are

It would be a mistake to read this guide and come away thinking that only those who play mid-range need to assess their opponent’s deck. This is a crucial skill that all dueling card game players MUST have. Every game you should quickly assess what the capabilities of the enemy’s deck is, what their win conditions are and what your deck can do in response. If your deck has more value than your opponent’s try to stay alive. If your deck has more tempo, play fast and overwhelm your opponent. Below is a matchup sheet that generally shows what the win conditions of decks are when pitted against other decks.

Matchup Deck 1 Wincons primary/secondary Deck 2 Wincons

D1 v D2

Aggro v Midrange Control board/kill HP Survive/control board

Aggro v Combo kill HP/remove combo pieces Survive/get combo online

Aggro v Control kill HP/control board Survive

Aggro v Aggro Control board/kill HP

Midrange v Midrange Value plays/tempo when appropriate

Midrange v Combo play threats/neutralize combo get combo/neutralize threats

Midrange v Control tempo plays/kill HP survive/get to late game

Combo v Combo get your combo/stop other combo

Combo v Control draw cards/play combo stop combo/survive combo

Control v Control play for value/have more cards in deck than opp.