How to Play Control like Aggro at Essential Magic

THE TAO OF DISCARD

The past 18 months of Magic have seen an enormous paradigm shift, specifically in the Legacy format. Due in large part to parties like StarCityGames, as well as an aging fanbase and resurgence of once-retired players coming back into the game, Legacy has become the second-most-popular official format in Magic.

This growing popularity has, however, brought with it two major repercussions: the first, and most notable, is the rising cost of major, staple cards in Legacy; the second, as a response to these rising costs, is the communal innovation of older deck designs and the development of entirely new designs as a way to remain competitive without needing to conform to traditional staples. And of all the innovations that we have been witness to, perhaps none more has been more prominent than the rise – or, for older players, the return – of the rivalry of Discard vs. Counterspell.

Counter magic is near and dear to many MTG players, especially those who are familiar with Legacy. But for the better part of Magic’s history, Control has been all but synonymous with Blue. For many, many years, the formula for a successful control deck has been common knowledge to players: 4x Force of Will, 4x Counterspell, 4x Brainstorm, 3x Daze, 3x Spell Snare, and now 3/4x Mental Misstep are pretty much the core of every primarily-Blue deck.  While time has shown that this is a tried and true strategy, there is one major flaw – and it’s not even a gameplay flaw. The necessary card in this strategy, Force of Will, while an uncommon and thus not on the Reserved list, is almost 20 years old, and has not been reprinted since its creation, and has been growing in price (as of the writing of this article, it averages $65-80, and even when reprinted, an Alliances version will still likely fetch over $40 for a mint version).

This is a disheartening thought to thousands of Spikes everywhere; how can you play Control when you can’t even afford it? The simple answer: don’t - play either strong aggro or fast combo if you want to win. The better answer: find an alternative form of control. The schadenfreude answer: find an alternative form of control that eats counterspells alive, and makes the bastards who spent $250 on a playset of their precious Forces cry. Thus has been born the perfection of Discard.

Once an odd and somewhat amusing strategy in Magic, often considered a “bad but passable” form of Control, Discard has, in the last two years, become as prominent in major tournaments as Counterspells, and just as feared. If one were to characterize the two, Counterspells are the Superman to Discard’s Batman. The likeness isn’t inaccurate, either – Counterspells are often seen as overpowered, entirely reactive, and can smash pretty much any obstacle set before them; Discard, on the other hand, is proactive, has to be extremely calculating, can shut down pretty much any obstacle before it even becomes an obstacle, and, most importantly, can easily curb-stomp is  “vastly more powerful” buddy.

The prominence of decks like Junk (aka Rock, aka Dark Horizons – it has some identity issues), which has consistently hit the Top 8 at Tournaments everywhere, has brought to light the potential of Discard for players everywhere, and the formula for a strong Discard deck has become as common knowledge as the formula for Counterspells: 4x Thoughtseize, 4x Hymn to Tourach (1), 4x Swords to Plowshares/Innocent Blood, 3/4x Vindicate, and 3/4x Dark Confidant.

There are two major things you may notice about the above list: firstly, that, although it is called “Discard,” it has 2 Field Control cards in it; secondly, that it is not purely black, as you would expect. There is a reason for this.

In order to understand how to play Discard, you must first understand its philosophy.

To “Discard” does not mean to simply to take cards from your opponents’ hand and either exile them or put them into the graveyard. Rather, to “Discard” means to cause your opponent to use up their most precious resource – their hand – by any means necessary.

The first step to destroying their hand is the most obvious: cards that discard from their hand like Thoughtseize and Hymn to Tourach (1).
 
The second step is to make your opponents’ plays ineffective or wasted. This is where cards like Swords to Plowshares, Innocent Blood, and Vindicate  come into effect. Whether or not your opponent makes a play is irrelevant; allowing them to play a land, cast a permanent spell, and then remove that permanent from the field is just as effective, if not more so, than casting Hymn to Tourach (1). For this, White is far and away better than black, and thus modern Discard is often white and black together.

The final step is to keep up the offense; for this, Dark Confidant is your best choice, as he consistently grants you, and only you, more cards.
Counterspells are extraordinarily powerful, but at a major cost – completely reactive, blind play. Counter-magic is a very passive method of gameplay, and relies on being able to answer a problem as it comes forth. Discard, on the other hand, is a very aggressive, proactive method of play, the most powerful aspect of which is not the act of discarding, but of information gathering.

A Turn-1 Thoughtseize is the most optimal play for Discard for two reasons: first, that you can remove any potential threat they currently have before it becomes a threat; second, that you get a full look at their hand. While it is important to remove the most immediate threat they own and disrupt tempo, it is even more crucial for you to look at everything in their hands, memorize it, and plan your next step.

Discard is a game of tempo and planning. Use your choice cards to gather information about whether or not you should continue to attack their hand, switch to physical offense, or pull out your combo.

A handful of counters, or answers to your threats, tell you immediately to pull back and wait to disrupt even more before it is safe. Thus, the ability to count your opponent’s cards is more crucial in Discard than in any other method of play.

Remembering what your opponent had in their hand 2 turns ago, what they’ve played from that hand, what cards have been drawn since then which are unknown and thus “variables,” and the probability of each of those variable cards being a threat based on what you have seen of the deck must be kept in mind at all times, or else you may make a mistake and either waste a play yourself or be caught completely off-guard.

Probability also plays a huge part in discarding. Hymn to Tourach (1) should not be used lightly, and a fool’s volley is often  to launch one on the very first turn. Even if you have the mana to do so, blindly casting a Hymn and hoping it hits something useful is putting your fate in the hands of, well, fate – an uninformed Hymn may very well hit two cards that are completely irrelevant to your opponent, and will have been a complete waste of several cards for you.

I once spoke with another player running a Junk deck (we were discussing strategies, as my primary deck and a Junk deck are very similar), wherein he said he loved casting Dark Ritual, Hymn to Tourach (1), and Thoughtseize, to which I responded, “you mean Dark Rit, ‘Seize, Hymn, right?” Puzzled, he said that you should cast Hymn first to try and hit a land, then cast ‘Seize to hit any card Hymn didn’t hit. It was then that I explained to him why that was a mistake – “First you cast Thoughtseize, to hit the most important card, and then you cast Hymn. The reason is that, first, you’re guaranteed to hit his crucial card, and secondly, you have an even greater probability of hitting other necessary cards with Hymn afterwards. Since you’ve decreased his hand from seven to six, you’ve greatly upped your probability of hitting those last two needed cards.” After a moment to process what I had said, he seemed to have a moment of epiphany, and after a game with another player, he told me he’d tried it in the sequence I’d suggest, and said that it was devastating – much more than he’d previously encountered with his deck. Knowing what your opponent has and your chances of hitting those cards randomly is vastly more important than trying to simply wipe out as many cards as possible, as quickly as possible.

At the same time, not only should you gather information for your next few plays, but analyze the cards in their hand to determine exactly what deck they are playing. Getting an early look at their strategy not only allows you to make informed decisions about what cards to watch out and reserve your answers for, but also to prepare for what you will be sideboarding in. One thing to remember is that Discard doesn’t always win Game 1; instead, losing is fine, as it can be seen as a means to gather information, allowing you to shift strategies with your sideboard to completely shut down your opponent – after all, losing to Affinity the first game is fine if it means that you know to put in your copies of Kataki, War’s Wage in for games 2 and 3 and look for them specifically.

Discard is a strategy not only of disruption, nor primarily, really – it’s a strategy of espionage, conspiracy, and sabotage. The more you are informed about what your opponent can and cannot do, the more informed you are about how you should proceed with your own goals or destroy theirs.
While disrupting their hand directly is effective, it is by no means perfect. Even when they have no cards in hand, it is still possible for them to Topdeck  a threat. More times than I can remember, I have decimated my opponent’s hand until they are empty, only for them to draw a card, smile as widely as the Grinch, and slap down a Tarmogoyf, effectively declaring their dominance of the field.

Were I only playing hand disruption, this would be an honestly “Oh Crap” moment. However, this is where the next aspect of “Discard” becomes prominent – making your opponent waste their resources for you.

Before they’d even cast that Tarmogoyf, I had already planned for its arrival – a Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Mirran Crusader or Vampire Nighthawk was lurking in my hand: a sniper patiently waiting for its target.  Once I’d played any one of those, my opponent immediately realized he’d just wasted a card

Many of those unfamiliar with Discard make the assumption that casting a spell successfully means that the spell or creature is safe. In fact, just the opposite may be the case.  For example: Standstill. Normally, against most decks, it is an endgame card – a monster that either stops them from casting any spells or gives their opponent three cards.

For Discard, however, if the opponent has no hand, draws and casts Standstill, the result is rather humorous. As soon as the turn is passed, it’s in proper form to cast Hymn to Tourach (1), at which point the opponent draws three cards, and either counterspells the Hymn, leaving them with two cards, or discards two at random. Then, it is only polite to either cast another Hymn, a Thoughtseize, or perhaps even a Tidehollow Sculler so as to completely neutralize the cards they just drew. Thus, not only have they wasted their Standstill, but also at least two of the three cards they just drew from it – four cards of theirs for potentially one or two of yours.

Again, I offer an example of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. In many instances, it’s a harbinger of the end for its controller’s opponent. However, to Discard, Jace proves only a humorous respite once you unleash the Vindicate you’ve had lying in wait for the last two turns.

Thus, we see an important quality of Discard – that being, since most hand disruption cards are Sorceries, Discard cannot deal with topdecks with those cards. As the game progresses, and your opponent has few to no cards at all, cards they topdeck will likely be played immediately. It is important, then, to move the “Discard” strategy from the hand to the field, and neutralize their major plays.

Loading one’s deck with too many hand disruption cards means that, later on, you may have several dead cards in your hand, while no answers for threats your opponents place down during their own turns.

It is on this point exactly where I would bring up an argument against a commonly used, yet ineffective card – Gerrard’s Verdict is often lauded as a very good card for discard, and is included as a two-of in many decks. However, I myself am more drawn to Tidehollow Sculler. The reasoning is as such: When your opponent has no cards in their hand, Verdict is a dead card, while Tidehollow is at least a Bear; when you have Verdict early game, it is practically useless, as no one will pitch either a necessary card or lands, while at the same time Tidehollow can and will steal a necessary card, or at least prove to be a target for a necessary removal spell of theirs , which protects your own, more needed creatures.

To properly run a Discard deck, you must not only focus on disrupting their hand directly, but be keenly aware of what moves they will make, how you can manipulate them to make those moves when you want them to, how to prepare neutralize those moves, and thus secretly make your opponent do your job for you.
One of the most important aspects of running Discard effectively is resource management – meaning, don’t run out of cards yourself! This seems like a simple matter, but it is, in fact, one of the hardest.

Disrupting your opponent’s hand takes a lot out of your own. To this end, you’ll likely need a constant draw mechanic, or something to manipulate your draws, or both. Bobtop (Sensei’s Divining Top plus Dark Confidant to those of you unfamiliar with it) is Discard’s best friend for this – not only does it provide nigh-constant reinforcements, but the ability to choose those reinforcements before receiving them.

Other cards, such as Phyrexian Arena, also help in getting you the cards you need, but this comes at its own cost: Arena is more expensive, always does damage, still requires Top to manipulate the draws, and is harder to get rid of (really a double-edged sword when you’re at very low life). Still, in keeping up the assault, any method of card drawing is best, as long as you are the only one drawing, and not your opponent.
Finally, we get down to the very heart of the matter – the realization that Discard is as far from a Counterspell deck, and the traditional view of Control, as one can get. As one may insinuate from the above tutoring in the art of running a Discard deck, Discard is very much aggressive in nature, and focuses on keeping up a constant assault on the opponent’s resources.

Much like Aggro decks keep up a constant assault on the opponent’s life, so, too, does Discard assault the opponent’s hand and played cards turn after turn. And much like Aggro keeps assaulting until they have no blockers or answers, and then swings in for massive damage, so too does Discard keep disrupting until they have no threats remaining, and then swing in for either massive damage or combo out.

From turn one, you must disrupt the opponent in any way you can – disrupt their hand, cripple their mana base, present an impenetrable wall, or destroy the necessary pieces of their puzzle. Do not stop pounding at their resources until you are sure that they have no means to turn the game around – only then should you start your assault; even then, you should make sure either the assault is fast enough to end the game in a matter of only a few turns, or else be in a stable enough position to retreat and begin the disruption assault again.

A proper game of Discard should, in many ways, feel like assault of a master of Tai-Chi. Attack quickly, hit a weak point, and test the opponent’s strength. Observe, contemplate, respite, and plan. Attack again and again, lightly be decisively, only striking a hard blow when you know they are weakened. Allow them a moment of perceived victory, then snatch it away with a reactive blow. Finally, at their moment of utmost weakness, strike them with one or two devastating attacks to finish them.

The old adage says that “A good Offense is the best Defense.” However, it never says what exactly constitutes “Offense.” Discard, a seemingly defensive strategy, is, in fact, a vicious form of offense. Unlike Counterspells, which are normally just defend and disrupt in reaction, Discard is, by its nature, offensive. All at once it strikes to disrupt, manipulate, gather information, defend, and plan for the next assault. It is fast and brutal, yet requires wit and careful consideration, or else it is entirely ineffective.
In conclusion, I offer this bit of minor wisdom: to those of you who wish to play Control, but hate the passive nature of Blue and Counterspells, Discard may be your best choice.

In the hands of a master, Discard can be infinitely more devastating than Counter magic. It promises power and victory; however, in exchange for its promise, it requires dedication and thought. You must be alert at all moments, be able to adapt, to gather intelligence, to analyze, to be patient, and to know when to strike. You must know what you are facing, how it is assembled, and how to take it apart.

Simply being intelligent will not win you a game with Discard – if you are smart, yet rush recklessly at the first chance you think you have, you will lose; cunning is what is needed for Discard, and it cunning and foresight which it rewards.