Future Sight

 Hey guys its Drew. Today i will be talking about the role prediction and other skills play in magic games and how helpful they can be. Knowing what deck your opponent is playing before you play them is a huge advantage. When you play different decks you have to change your strategy to work around and beat their ploys. right when the game starts look to see what land they play. In standard you can begin to formulate what your opponent is playing when they play their first land. If they play a island their deck can range anything from delver, spirits, esper and solarflare. The color of the mana gives insight into what strategy your opponent will be playing based on the behavior traits of the color. If your opponent plays a forest it is easier to decipher what they are playing much faster than with a island. The only green decks in the meta game are G/R ramp, and mono green aggro. these green decks will often always have a 1 drop on the first turn instantly revealing what they are playing. A darkslick shores suggests the deck is either control or aggro or perhaps a mix. When you see darkslick shores expect either zombies, esper, U/B control, or delver spirits.
    Think logically. You can often predict what your opponent will play on a certain turn based on how much mana they have. By predicting this you can save your removal spells to take care of the threat right away. If I am playing against a green deck then i can expect a solemn simulacrum or Thrun the last troll on turn 3 or 4 depending on their ramp speed. By saving your answers for cards that you anticipate you will be one turn ahead of your enemy. This strategy is used by professional chess players to work around and defeat their opponent's plans. Prediction is a skill that takes time to learn and master as well as a lot of practicing and reading up on what the current decks played in the metagame are.
   Think slowly. By slowing down and taking every factor into consideration you will be much more unlikely to make a play mistake. Speeding through your turn and making hasty decisions can and will cost you the game even if you draw good cards. A good player will be able to use a mediocre hand with skill by taking time and thinking slowly and logically. Always think before you cast a spell, how much mana does my opponent have untapped? How many cards do they have in their hand? what kind of deck are they playing? think through everything before you play your card.
Throughout the game think about the following; how am I trying to win the game right now? what am I doing to accomplish this goal? What is my opponent doing to try to win the game? what are they doing to accomplish this goal? How am I preventing them from winning? By thinking this over constantly you will realize a potential combo your opponent may have and it won't catch you off guard.
  Practicing these skills WILL make you a better player over time. Take your time on your turn it isn't a race and when you go too fast that's when the big mistakes that will cost you the game are made. Until next time, Happy casting, Drew.