Favorite play style

[Killer Joe]

Here's one for the 'Egg-Heads' among us: What drives Magic player's to play the style and colors that they do?

First, I believe that anyone can play this game, please note that I did not say that everyone could play this game, well .

With that said, that means there is an even distribution of play styles. Let me clarify, I mean that if you took a poll of about a thousand <random> people (let's say US citizens) about thier hair and eye color, I'd be willing to bet that you'd have about the same number of people with blonde-ish hair, brown-ish hair, red-ish hair and about the same number of people with Brown-ish eyes, blue-ish eyes and green-ish eyes. Now before you go thinking that I am saying that numbers wouldn't vary somewhat, then let me tell you that I'm not saying that. There's always a "Margin of Error" or skewed numbers for whatever reason.
But, generally, there wouldn't be a landslide on any of them. I say US citizens because we're a mixed breed of whoknowswhat, you couldn't do this poll in Asia, unless you adjusted the poll question that best reprents what you are trying to find out.

Back to Magic, I'm saying that I think there are about the same number of control players as there are combo players as there are beatdown players (I believe those are the three GROSS play style categories). Of course, no one likes to be pigioned-holed into just one of three categories, but you all belong to one of those, trust me.

Let's take me, for instance, I never used to know it, but I like Control decks, and ya know, that's funny, because I'm a teacher and, I have a job whereas I have to control folks. But not just that, I have ALWAYS had the need to be 'in-control' of life situations, I think most people that know me write it off as me being 'full-of-myself', so be it. But I am the happiest playing magic when I'm playing control decks ie U/W Control, Con-Troll, Rising Waters, etc... you get the point.

I also think another factor is that, I sorta grew up in Blue (magic life, that is). The kids who originally showed me magic were control players. I did, however, fall in love with Green, too, that's probably why I am really attracted to Blue/Green decks .

Again, no one likes to be catagorized into neat files of order, but I think that many of us magic players are playing the colors and styles that mirror our life. Are there and can there be exceptions to this? Sure, if that's what makes you feel beter .

What do you think? Remember, only YOU will the truth, and the truth will set you free!!!!!!!!

I love blue, I love blue, I also love green, yipeeeee, yahoooooeyyyyy!!!!!!!

 

[Multani]

I agree with YJ.
Though I perfer to play single color, Green and Blue all the way!
White has it's appeal to me as well, but I almost never play it as a dominant color.

 

[Apollo]

I gues I disagree. At any rate, if it's true, I'm the exception. In life, I'm sorta controllish too. I hate not knowing what's going on, I want to be in command, etc etc. But in Magic, I'm mostly beatdown. I'll play mostly anything, but when it comes down to one game, any deck, I'll be with red or green, going for the head. I'm not sure why; I just sorta like the idea of summoning creatures to fight for me, I guess, so I want to use a ton. Or maybe I just have an agressive, psychotic guy hidden inside me. I don't know.

I love red, I love green! I love orange and brown! I hate silver and gold (whoops, losing the topic here).

 

[Zadok001]

Duel would always tell me stories about a nice Christian female Magic player he once met. She was sweet, friendly, glowy in that "California Sorority" feel so well shown in Legally Blonde.

She played mono-Black with discard, removal, and fat creatures.

Duel doesn't believe in personality stereotyping to Magic decks.

I do. Sort of. Only problem is, I see so many people with very fixed personalities playing an ENORMOUS variety of decktypes. It's hard to equate the two when one side keeps changing on me.

 

[Dementia]

Lets see, my favorite decks are a U/G Turbocontrol kinda thing. A mono Green stompy almost suicide kinda thing. A G/W stall stall and Mill em to death. A U/G Stall then Millem. And a B/G/R beatdown deck.

Of those I don't think I could choose a favorite....well I could, but only cause I made the G/W Mill deck a long time ago and have a special place for it in my heart

Don't forget to factor in the fact that a guy who goes for the underdog will usaully go green....

Just in my own expierience I would say that early in my Magic playing days the decks I played were perhaps influenced by my personality, but now I just like playin what gives me the best chance of winning......hey, that probly says something about my personality too

 

[Istanbul]

I really think I tend to prefer control. I have three T2 decks...R/U Burning Bridges, B/U/G control, and Saproling-Opposition...and I'm so into getting Opposition to control the board, I sometimes forget that I have to WIN, too.

 

[Spiderman]

I think I need someone to expand on how a "beatdown" or "combo" person in Magic is that way in real life. The only "beatdown" real life comparison I could make is that you're physically active and I don't think that's really it. Combo, I have no idea.

My favorite deck style is that with "silver bullets", that is, I like to have something for any situation. To that end, I'm between beatdown and control. This mirrors my wargaming style somewhat, as I like to build up my forces rather than bull-rush in. But for real life? I have no idea how it compares... unless you say I like to sit back and gather info before making decisions (which is kinda true, I guess).

 

[Killer Joe]

A "beatdown" person is usually an "A" type personality. Pushy, aggressive, assertive, kind of like a "Bull in a China Shop".
A combo person is someone who lives a life style with a busy schedule such as juggling two jobs etc....but always gets the job done.
A control person is someone who always has to be in control of situations ansd such.

 

[ErinPuff]

I play beatdown, mainly, but I'm a quiet little pacifist introvert in real life..

 

[terzarima]

Hey all you out there, its time for my 22 cents,

On the psychology of magic: I don't beleive that the decks that people play can be directly related to their personality, I mean, the examples people have given already prove that fact. However, that is not to say that certain people don't play thier peresonality (I mean, look at you YJ ) . Maybe its something more to do with the sub-conscience or imagination of the person and what they would do if the world was real. Perhaps, its their outake on life, or pehaps how they feel, or just maybe they like the decktype.

Personally, I don't really care if I win or not, in fact, I'm making up my mind if I should continue to buy cards or not and just have fun with the cards I have or will trade for. So I can't really conform to a certain decktype. I can win with almost anydeck (but my own.... I'm not the best deck builder, but I'm a good player) so its hard to pick a favourite . Control decks always make me laugh, becuase they aggrivate people so .

 

[Apollo]

I think ErinPuff said the same thing in 10 words that I did in a hundred...

Oh, and that should say that I love brown and orange and hate black and gold... whoopsie.

 

[Hetemti]

I play just enough control to make a big critter win.

 

[Killer Joe]

I heard that!!!!!!

 

[rkoelsch]

When I first started I played R/W red for offense and white for defense. I guess i am a stalling type of player that waits for an opponent to overextend and try and kill me and then kill him. Not the best of strategies. I am not the best with counter magic though I have been playing U/W lately. Since Battlefield Forges are legal I might go back to R/W as that is the most comfortable for me.

 

[Hetemti]

My red/white is different, Bolts and Swords for defence, Ball Lighting, Angels and Dragons, for offence.

And LOTS of duals...

 

[Hellion]

I play Black, White, Red and Green

I hate blue....i only keep blue power cards in my binder to make them salivate all over it...and never sell them. I always think that the more Blue power cards I keep, there will be les blue players in the world.....

I play Black for, LD, Control, Drop
I play White for, Weenie + Control
I play Red for, LD, Burn
I play Green for, LD, Stompy

I play agressive decks because I hate seating around every turn just waiting......

 

[Istanbul]

Actually, I find that blue often has the shortest turns.
Where do you think the term "Draw-Go" came from?

 

[krichaiushii]

As far as play styles go, I lean towards the chaos method of playing. I generally try to prevent others from winning, instead of focusing on winning myself. And believe it or not, there is a difference between the two.

Stalled games bore the piss out of me, so I will attack from a poor position, knowing full well that I will likely be getting choke-slammed by everyone else (I stick to multiplayer games when I play). These attacks generally get the ball rolling towards a quicker game, resulting in a net gain of MORE games played in an evening. I no longer play my combobreaker deck (always announced in my best Mortal Kombat voice), but it had the ability to end games the instant certain cards hit the table (remember kids, play with more than one deck, or you die!)

Straight blue control requires more time and effort to play than I am willing to put into the game (even after five+ years and $1000s of dollars), resulting in counters of all stripes sitting in my hand instead of being used to their best advantage. I recognize the power of control, but am too impatient to use it. Maybe that is why I like multiplayer games so much - heavy control players avoid them like the plague!

As such, my decks are generally creature heavy, with the occasional combo (with creatures as primary components) making an appearance, now and again.

Enough rambling.

Good day!

 

[Duel]

I love playing anything with a clear style. Pure beatdown, or Aggro-control are favorites, only because I'm not able to summon the concentration for pure control. I love playing aggro-control, but I also love winning on turn 3. When someone shows me a deck that does that, okay. Also, I almost NEVER play creatureless decks. I just don't like them.

 

[Dune Echo]

I played a red/green mana curve (Sligh) deck around Tempest/Urza's Block. There's nothing like putting out Muscle Slivers, Albino Trolls, and Cursed Scroll for the kill. I was even able to pull a win over a Toll Bridge deck 3 times in a row. (Toll Bridge is a Cursed Scroll/Ensnaring Bridge/Grafted Skullcap/Null Brooch combo deck.)

Then, for the longest time, I had a 9-Land Green deck because that sucker was fast and furious when it worked. I even bought a Collector's Edition Mox Emerald to play in it with sleeves.

Then I bought Kai Budde's World Championship deck. I LOVE that deck! I had to make my own tournament-illegal copy. Except I lacked a lot of the card advantage techniques. I figured out that will Well of Knowledge, you just smash your opponent with fast mana and Metalworkers. Who needs Tinker when you just draw 1/3 of your deck in one turn and play your entire hand? It's still my favorite deck and gets me the most consistant wins (4 Mana Crypts really help).

Then I got 3 Elvish Champion and played Elvish Beats for a while. It was alright. Fun though.

Played Rebel for awhile. Fairly good deck. Nice and consistant.

Lately, I had to play something different to humor the guy I play with during work (and yes, I do sit there and play DURING work). So, I did something I normally hate to play in a non-combo fashion, I made a blue/black discard/hand destruction deck. I'm going to be posting it in the Decks section here shortly because it completely loses to anything with more than 12 creatures. I just can keep up with the damage race.

But all of this made me figure out that I don't care what I'm playing as long as it smashes something, be it my opponent or his hand or his library. Which makes me wonder in horror if I'd like Academy...