Just to get it out of the way, here is the link to the original article. In it, Flores discusses what was then a new concept called stage theory. He spends time defining and looking at the three stages of a game of magic, but how does this type of thing alter our perception of the game? How do we utilize stage theory?

Flores provides the first clue himself when he states that much of magic is about stage suppression. I think the statement itself is fundamentally flawed, but the idea behind it is sound. Stage interaction is a very relevant way to think about magic, but it isn't always stage suppression that is taking place.

What matters is the nature of each stage and the type of interaction that occurs in that stage. Each deck must have a specific plan for interacting with its opponent at each stage of the game. Let's take a look at each stage individually.

Stage 1 (basically manascrewed):

Major plans:

1. Make it not exist
2. Accelerate into stage 2 or stage 3
3. Defend yourself to allow yourself to reach stage 2 or stage 3.

The first major plan in this stage is to simply get out of it as fast as possible, ideally with your first land drop. There are two main ways of accomplishing this. The first is to have an extremely low curve so that your deck can operate on one or two lands. The second is to play a lot of fast mana (both of the artifact and instant/sorcery variety). The former of these is typically used by aggro decks and the second by combo decks.

Having lots of fast mana is particularly dangerous, because it disguises the true situation of the deck very well. A board that seems extremely innocuous could be exactly that, or the combo player could be very close to "going off." Aggro and the low curve strategy are easier to deal with because they are predictable. After all, low mana spells can only do so much.

The second or third plans are fairly self explanatory, so I won't discuss them here. Suffice it to say that Valakut is an excellent example of plan #2, while U/B and U/W control are good examples of plan #3.

Stage 2 (mostly misplays):

Major plans:

1. CARD ADVANTAGE
2. Damage Control

Flores is correct that the main play in Stage 2 is card advantage. Stage 2 is where decks jockey for position and card advantage (of all types, not just raw card advantage) is at its most powerful. The cumulative advantage generated from this type of play can easily overwhelm an opposing player. Most players are familiar with this type of interaction so I won't dwell on it.

There is another avenue of play in stage 2, however. I've termed it "damage control" because I have no real better inclusive way of naming it. In reality, it's a set of situations which I will go through in more detail. In effect, this method of play is designed to counter major problems that have arisen during stage 1 play or very early in stage 2 play. There are three categories of problems that I'm talking about.

1. Your opponent got out of stage 1 faster and is applying pressure.
2. Your opponent disrupted your development or plan in stage 1 and you now have issues advancing your primary game plan, even if essentially unopposed.
3. Your opponent is threatening you with a potential stage 3 situation or has put you in a stage 3 situation.

If you arrive in stage 2 under any of these conditions you are in "damage control mode." Effectively it means you are very far behind and need to catch up. These situations come up in all sorts of match-ups and you need to know how to deal with them strategically as well as tactically. Here are some examples of these situations in action.

#1

• UB control arrives at turn 4 at 11 life and with its opponent having 4 cards in hand and a Goblin Guide and Plated Geopede.
• RUG successfully resolves a Lotus Cobra on turn 2 against UW Control

#2

• Boros untaps on its third turn having lost its 1-drop to Path and its 2-drop to Mana Leak.
• Wargate makes its 4^th land drop and now has Cryptic mana, but has lost a Prismatic Omen to Thoughtsieze and a Wargate to Vendilion Clique, leaving it with no action spells.

#3

• A T2 Valakut player has Valakut and 6 other basic lands (2 forests) in play.
• Your opponent has UUBBBRR available in Extended and you just made your 4^th land drop playing Conley's Necrotic SnOoze.
• Your opponent played T2 Bitterblossom.

These are just some examples, and, of course, are not exhaustive.

The tactical solution to your individual situation will vary from game to game, but the strategy is the same in all cases. You should be following one of two courses of action.

1. Remove the troublesome permanent(s)
2. Create a resource bottleneck to slow your opponent's development so you can catch up.

The first of these plans is self-explanatory. However, in order to execute the second game plan you have to determine which resource to attack to bottleneck your opponent's development. Remember, Magic has 3 basic resources:

1. Life
2. Mana
3. Cards

By attacking your opponent's life you bottleneck his ability to develop by forcing him to spend resources protecting himself.

By attacking your opponent's mana production (primarily by blowing up his lands) you bottleneck his ability to play spells.

By attacking your opponent's cards you deny him things to do, and thus bottleneck his development through a lack of options.

Returning to our example situations above, let's see how some of these strategies can be applied to get out of sticky situations.

Situation 1: Your opponent played T2 Bitterblossom.

Solution: If possible here you should try to attack your opponent's life total, turning his Bitterblossom into a liability and thus making it difficult for him to utilize the advantage that he gains from this. Barring this as a possibility, the next best course of action is to try to kill Rebecca's enchantment.

Situation 2: Your opponent has UUBBBRR available in Extended and you just made your 4^th land drop playing Conley's Necrotic SnOoze.

Solution: Assuming you have Fulminator Mage available to you, attacking the Cruel Control deck's mana is correct at this juncture to keep Cruel Ultimatum from resolving. While you do this you can make your own land drops, stranding useful cards in the 5cc player's hand, allowing you to make up their lead in development and maybe even pull ahead. People need to remember in this case that Necrotic Ooze can act as Fulminators 5-8.

Situation 3: RUG successfully resolves a Lotus Cobra on turn 2 against UW Control

Solution: The Lotus Cobra in this situation is very dangerous because it can easily put down a trump with defensive backup, due to the mana advantage it generates the RUG Player. In this case, if UW cannot remove the Lotus Cobra, it should try to neutralize the RUG player's cards, since UW control should have more card advantage. Thus, if it successfully trades off answers for trumps or its own trumps for RUG's trumps, eventually the UW player should come out ahead. This is why Spell Pierce is so good, because it allows UW to put a Jace on the table and back it up quickly, denying RUG one of its strongest mid-game trumps.

If this seems like a far stretch, it's because it is; you're very far behind and need lots of help. Things have to go right for you, but in these situations it's critical that your basic strategy maximizes your chances of drawing out.

Of course, this type of play is a two-way street and your opponent can use similar strategies to press his advantage. Thus begins the tactical battle.

Stage 3 (trumps)

Trumps are by nature cards that swing the playing field of the game. Trumps make games about them, the card, and not tactical battles and cumulative victories. In essence, the card trumps the play and the player. What makes Stage 3 interesting is that it can happen at any time. Trumps exist at a wide variety of mana costs and can thus become relevant at any point during the game.

The most important thing to remember about this is that it makes Magic games non-linear. There is no need to go through Stage 2 to get from Stage 1 to Stage 3; Bitterblossom, Prismatic Omen, and in some cases Luminarch Ascension and Pyromancer's Ascension demonstrate this.

There is a problem with Stage 3 interactions, however, because at this point the game revolves around specific cards, and thus tactical opportunities are restricted. Trumps that contribute heavily to their own defense and/or the defense of the player (e.g. Jace 2.0, Bitterblossom) are particularly problematic. Spells like Cruel Ultimatum have many tangible benefits as well, since they are typically overwhelmingly powerful, due to their 1-shot nature. How many times have you said something like "Well, we both did some stuff, then he played T7 Cruel Ultimatum and I lost"?

Stage 3 Magic simply revolves around individual cards like this. It's an arms-race of sorts, with players bringing trumps for their opponent's trumps; then their opponent brings trumps for their trumps that trump other trumps, etc. As the trump wars go on, formats become more and more in-bred because a very small pool of cards start mattering – trumps, and extremely good answers. This is what happens when Stage 3 Magic takes over the game.

So why is Stage theory important? Understanding the nature of interaction within each of the stages of Magic allows for better planning during deck design and sharpens tactical play. By understanding the constraints each stage places on the players, you can begin to use those constraints to your advantage and counter your opponent's attempts to do so.

When you understand the core principles behind a line of play you no longer rely upon situational knowledge and experience while within a game but a theoretical framework for understanding basic strategies. This allows you to make connections across formats better and will aid your improvement. If you utilize this strategic view in all of your games you will begin to see similarities and you'll be able to build up a bank of effective basic strategies. You'll then be able to execute and apply these strategies at a later date simply by changing component pieces (cards) and replacing them with the appropriate, format-legal, role-players that you have access to. This is the primary function of stage theory – a practical framework for analyzing tactics and strategies in situational Magic.

Chingsung Chang

Conelead most everywhere and on MTGO

Khan32k5@gmail.com