How do you play your cards?

[danyul]

I was opening some Unhinged packs the other day and came across a card called Stop That! which referenced the annoying way that certain players flick their cards during play. This got me thinking about the little play habits that I have picked up and that I have noticed other players using.

Now, I've been playing since Ice Age and remember sending my Serra Angels in against other 5th graders but I have never developed any of the play techniques that I see good players using. Usually I just lean back and do whatever but I have seen that alot of seasoned players tend to play with very precise, practiced movements. After carefully watching a couple players, I have started to play with my deck laid along its length parallel to my chest, as opposed to perpendicular. Now when I draw cards I kinda scratch the edge of the card on my playmat as I bring it to me to make sure that I have drawn only one card.

I have seen other players snap the edges of their cards as they lay them onto the board, move attacking creatures forward on the board as they declare attacks, play with their graveyard laid out lengthwise so that each cardname is visible, make weird jabbing movements when the spell in their hand targets something on the board, and the list goes on.

I was just wondering what kinda weird habits you guys have seen people using. I ask partly out of curiousity and partly because I want to look like I know what the fuck I am doing when I sit down and play against a scary looking, card-flicking opponent.

[Team-Hero]

I don't like holding my hand. For the most part, it spends a lot of time face down on my playing matt in front of me. When I play a card, I just let it fall on to my matt. I don't flick my cards at all. I have a pet pieve when people touch my cards... I don't like touching my cards... much less other players.

I place my deck on my left side (even though I am right handed) at a slanted angle.

I keep my graveyard under my library. I don't keep my graveyard sideways like a lot of other players.

When I refer to cards, I just point at them with my fingers (middle and index) not with my card.

When I feel it's needed, I will pick up my hand and mix it up.

When I tap, I pick up the card(s) and drop them again. I don't drag them.

As for layout, starting with closest to me: Lands, creatures/equipment, attacking/blocking creatures. To my right, enchantments.

I use 6 sided dice to keep track of my life total, counters, and p/t.

My sideboard stays in my box next to my library.

In my mind, I recite the steps in my head: Untap phase, Squee phase (that's my upkeep), Draw phase, etc.

[DeathwingZERO]

*I tend to keep lands out right in front of me. I will stack multiples of the same type of land so the names are seen, and lay them out next to each other like that. Creatures will go above that, to the left. Enchantments, artifacts, and other non-combat cards go to the far right. Combat style cards (Equipment, etc) will go in between.

*When targeting a permanent, I will point to it with the spell, and let my hand rest over it for a moment before setting it down on the table in front of my creatures to let the opponent respond. If not, I will say the card name I am referring to. Either way, my spells on the stack will always be laid out on the table in the middle, so neither myself or my opponent wreck priority of resolutions.

*During attacks, I will lift up and set my creatures out in front of non attackers in tapped positions. If I can get away with sliding them up and tapping, I'll do that too. I always make sure to declare the combat step before even touching creatures, as it's just good procedure to do so.

*I do tend to shuffle my hand, as opposed to flicking them. Makes less noise, and it keeps my mind up with refreshing what's in my hand so I don't need to reference it when I need to play or respond to something. Otherwise it sits down on the table behind my lands, sideways.

*My deck and sideboard are always to the left of me (sideboard in box or face down away from graveyard), and I will always "flick" the top card to make sure I only draw one. My graveyard is always directly to it's left and is stacked, unless I'm playing something like Ichorid or anything that requires knowing what's in there, like Rite of Flame or Threshold spells, then it's laid out with all card names in plain sight.

*I pretty much declare all steps that are relevant. If my opponent or myself has something that would trigger on Upkeep, I will say the step. I will also use "Main Phase 1" and "2" as well as the damage on stack and resolution of combat steps. It's good to at least announce them that way there's no miscommunication and problems with judges during a discrepancy.

*When playing combo based decks, and I know my opponent won't have an out, I will just reveal my hand and let them know the count is lethal. Only some people actually expect me to play out the combo around here, as they know I play or playtest storm combo religiously.

A funny story is tied to this one. While playing a storm based deck against an opponent that had literally no outs, he called a judge on me when I resolved a lethal Tendrils. His logic was that since I never wrote down the storm count I didn't have an exact count for him, and even though I asked for his response to each spell, he never counted the spells, as it was not his job. So I had the judge stand behind me while I went back to my graveyard and removed from game zone, and listed every single mana source I had used, every spell I had played, and the exact storm count, in order. Not only was my count dead on, but the judge also looked at my opponents deck and nearly gave him a game loss for wasting his time, as he had literally nothing to stop me in his deck.

That's pretty much all I can think of on specific ways I play. Overall I'm pretty loose, and I still forget things (like discarding down to 7 if I'm in a bad match that's just a stalemate), or randomly blow triggers like Squees, etc. That stuff just requires constant reminding, and it becomes second nature.

[Jaiminho]

I used to play lands away from me, with the rest close. Then, switched that, but I still play like that on MWS.

Library's on the left side, with the top of the card pointing at my opponent. Graveyard is the same, close to the library, top of the card pointing at library, with only names visible until I can't put more cards there, then I just pile it. RFG pile has the left side of each card facing the bottom of each graveyard card. When graveyard is big enough, RFG just stays under it, piled, with top name visible. NEVER EVER remove cards face down unless it says so. People think RFG is a dark zone in which cards get fucked up backwise and sideways and no one can remember what that was.

I snap the card as little as possible when playing, since it kinda bends it. Some friend of mine loves to get the loudest snap ever and you can see the results on his card's top right corner. Also, shuffling like a Poker Master Dealer guy fucks the card on the top middle, so I avoid that too.

When targetting, I lay the spell on the table. Sometimes I point with my finger, poking the target with my fingernail or actually poking it with the card thats targetting.

I keep rearranging lands as I play a spell. They usually stay in groups of 2-4 lands/artifact mana, with a maximum of 3 groups (even if I have 13+ lands, I group in 5+, but never in more than 3 groups) with no difference to other group of more than 1 card. Then, when playing a spell, I pick up the mana card, tap it and place it with other tapped lands, in a single group, even if the spell costs 6. Then I rearrange everything again. It's also like that with creatures when attacking, tapping for costs and such.

Also, I keep shuffling the top 2 cards in my hand. Then, place another one there and shuffle them. And again. And again.

[Nightmare]

[Lego]

I play my cards upside down.

[thefreakaccident]

I have similar set up to nightmare, although I keep my RFG card perpendicular from my grave...

I flick my cards a lot, it started out as a nervous tick, and then I realized it was, so I tried doing it every game (don't know why)... so now, whether I am winning or loosing I have my cards like 6 inches from my face, I flick my cards (ever shifting them in my hand), and I usually get into the head of my opponent....

When I am playing in a larger event, I will not bathe/brush my teeth for several days, it makes the other players uncomfortable... also, when I am going to shake someone's hand, I sneeze on the hand prior (in clear sight mind you)... but this is only at larger events...

At my local, I speak loudly, am nice and well groomed, and for players who do not know what my cards do, I play with my cards reversed facing towards them.



Also, for everyone who was wondering, I am being absolutely truthful about everything here.

[ParkerLewis]

I play my cards upside down.

That's funny, cause I play mine face down.

But it's okay because both my library and my hand are face up. Obviously.

[Ebinsugewa]

I play my cards upside down.

And in Italian.

I think the way I play is pretty normal, lands close, dudes on top, and I have a red zone on my mat that I use for swinging. Deck sideways in the upper-right-hand corner and I slide the card across the mat to make sure it's not stuck to another one. Graveyard in order underneath my deck, RFG to the right of it. I pick up creatures to attack and send them in sideways. Lands clumped by type.

[RoddyVR]

I need to find a better way to organize my creatures. Every time i have Gemhide Sliver out (and i play him a lot), its always a pain to keep the creatures i'm using for mana seperate from the ones i'm attacking with. Maybe i'll just start playing the vigilant sliver so that any tapping is clearly for mana.

I tend to target with the card, so i'll actualy keep a StP in my hand with the corner of hte card pointing at the creature i'm targeting while my opponent thinks about how to respond. CIP ability creatures (harmonic sliver mostly) are harder to do that with, cause i always want to be sure that i know what they're responding to (the creature spell or the cip ability) so i cant realy keep the creature "on the stack" pointing at their counterbalance if that's what i'm killing.

I need to get myself a playmat and start using it, cause most rounds i notice that by the end of hte round i'm taking way more then half the space between myself and the opponent. my lands are like 5 inches from my edge of hte table (even though game one they start out right on the edge i think) and my creatures are basicaly pushing his off his side of the table.

I hate it when people do that wierd quick shuffling of the cards in their hand... its just distracting and can quickly get annoying.

I love how Lego plays, putting the cards upside down from himself, so his opponent can always easily read the cards. I couldnt do that, i'd be flipping my own cards back all the time to see what they are.

[Aggro_zombies]

I play my cards upside down.

I do this too. I've found it either annoys the hell out of people, or they try playing their cards upside down back at you, then get confused and flip them back around. Good times.

Also, library on the right, lands closest to me, non-land permanents further out (creatures farthest, with enchantments and artifacts in between the lands and the guys). My graveyard is always to the right of my library, and RFG goes on top of my deck box (which is off to the side on the left).

[Nihil Credo]

Same as Ebinsugewa, except mirrored left-right. And no, I'm not left-handed.

Also, to you upside-down-players, a day will come when you'll have to play with Jushi Apprentice.

[Pinder]

My library is in the upper right corner of my playmat, turned sideways. The graveyard is immediately below that (right side up as opposed to sideways), and the RFG is immediately above (also sideways). Lands go right in front of me at the bottom (stacked however I feel like), creatures above that, attacking creatures sideways at the very top of the playmat. Noncreature stuff goes off to the left, in front of lands.

[emidln]

My creatures in combat hang partially off my mat onto my opponent's area. I don't care which way my lands tap as long as they are always tapped in the same direction. They are always stacked together. I tend to put my elbows on the bottom of my playmat and I sit close to the table. I don't tend to announce phases outside of "untap, upkeep, draw" unless I know I have to (i.e. bluffing/representing drain on second main phase). I play fairly slow so it gives my opponent plenty of time to stop me if they need something. If my opponent starts to become a dick, I start announcing everything and only use words to announce phase change, spells, confirm gamestate, or some other game action. I'll also revert to using "pass priority" instead of asking "okay?" or responding with "okay".

[Mr Wiggl3s]

9000 hours in MSPaint?

[TeKo]

[emidln]

9000 hours in MSPaint?

Like 6 minutes. For some reason, I know how to use MSPaint fairly well.

[Lego]

Also, to you upside-down-players, a day will come when you'll have to play with Jushi Apprentice.

A) This will never happen.

B) That's what counters are for.

I play with my graveyard in front of my library, and I always spread it out so I can see every card. Except when I'm playing Ichorid, and then my graveyard because my entire board.

[revenge_inc]

Same.

I used to play lands away from me, with the rest close.

This is one of my small pet peeves when it comes to tournament play. This makes the combat face so annoying. Only combo or pure control decks with very few permanents should do that.

[umbowta]

A filibuster is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body. An attempt is made to infinitely extend debate upon a proposal in order to delay the progress or completely prevent a vote on the proposal taking place. In this case it will be used to draw a comparison to the topic at hand, that is , the insubstantial habitual behaviors one may have developed while dedicating an abnormally large proportion of his or her leisure time to playing and/or learning about fantasy games.

The term 'filibuster' was first used in 1851. It was derived from the Spanish filibustero meaning 'pirate' or 'freebooter'. This term had in turn evolved from the French word flibustier, which itself evolved from the Dutch vrijbuiter (freebooter). Are you honestly still reading this? Well okay. Continue. This term was applied at the time to American adventurers, mostly from Southern states, who sought to overthrow the governments of Central American states, and was transferred to the users of the filibuster, seen as a tactic for pirating or hijacking debate.

A unique form of filibuster was pioneered by the Ontario New Democratic Party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in April 1997. To protest Progressive Conservative government legislation that would remind you to get a fucking life and amalgamate the city of Toronto, Ontario, the small New Democratic caucus introduced 11,500 amendments to the megacity bill, created on computers with mail merge functionality. Each amendment would name a street in the proposed city, and provide that public hearings be held into the megavagina with residents of the street invited to participate. The Ontario Liberal Party, which was really just a cover for the Overly Large Penis, also joined the filibuster with a smaller series of amendments; a typical Liberal amendment would give a historical designation to a named street. The NDP then added another series of over 700 amendments, each proposing a different date for the bill to come into your mouth.

The filibuster began on April 2 with the Abbeywood Trail amendment and occupied the legislature day and night, the members alternating in shifts. On April 4, exhausted and often sleepy mtgthesource members inadvertently let one of the OLP amendments pass, and the handful of penis loving residents of Cafon Court in Etobicoke were granted the right to a public demonstration of their skills (the government subsequently nullified this with an amendment of their own). On April 6, with the alphabetical list of streets barely into the Es, Speaker Chris Stockwell ruled that there was no need for the 230 words identical in each amendment to be read aloud each time, only the street name. With a vote still needed on each amendment, Zorra Street was not reached until April 8. The OLP amendments were then voted down one by one, eventually using a similar abbreviated process, and the filibuster finally ended on April 11.

In France, in August 2006, the red-wing opposition submitted 137,449 amendments to the proposed law bringing the share in Gaz de France owned by the French state from 80% to 34%, to allow for the merger between Gaz de France and Suez. Normal parliamentary procedure would require 10 years to vote on all the amendments.

The French constitution gives the government two options to defeat such a filibuster. What the fuck? You're still reading this bullshit. OMGYASS. The first one is through the use of the article 49 paragraph 3 procedure, according to which the law is adopted except if a majority is reached on a non-confidence motion. The second one is the article 44 paragraph 3 through which the government can force a global vote on all amendments it did not approve or submit itself.

In the end, the government did not have to use either of those procedures. As the parliamentary debate started, the left-wing opposition chose to take Viagra and have a lemonparty before they would allow the vote to proceed. The martian eskimo anus baby was aborted because the opposition to the privatisation of Gaz de France appeared to lack support amongst the left and right ball sack. It also appeared that this privatisation law could be used by the left-wing in the upcoming vagidential election of 2007 as a political argument. Indeed, Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP - the right wing ruling party), Interior Minister, former Finance Minister and President, had previously previosly inserted inflatables between his wifes legs so that the share owned by the French government in Gaz de France would never go below 70%.

And that's how I play my cards.