Quote Originally Posted by Fred_Bear View Post
I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about Stax. The point of Magic is always to win.
No, its not. There are decks where the win condition is looping a card from your grave to the top of your Library and letting them draw out. Hell there is one in Standard right now. The point of magic is to do what your planing, but it is not always to win. There are a lot of times the point it not to lose. Hell thats normally the mantra of any control deck. If you can control the game you can win with a Factory and nothing else.

The point of Stax is not to win, it is to slowly remove the options the other person has while keeping yourself alive. You are not playing to win, you are playing not to lose. At all points that should be the question "How do I lose this game?" and then remove each answer you come up with one at a time until there are none left.

Do not build to win, build to live. The deck I am playing in Modern right now wins with a Crucible and a Ipnu Rivulet. Not exactly exciting gameplay but again, thats not the point.