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Strategy

ManaScholar Academy

In the making · Intermediate

StrategyHow to win more games of Magic

Strategy teaches you how to win more games of Magic: The Gathering. You learn to measure card advantage and tempo, work out whether you should be attacking or defending, plan combat with the clock and racing math, make better mulligan and sequencing decisions, and read what your opponent is likely holding.

Builds on The Rules Arcana. Opening Hand's beginner principles, keep-or-mulligan basics and Practice arena puzzles are the starting point. Strategy turns those rules of thumb into real decisions.

Coming soon

  • 20 lessons in 5 modules
  • English
  • Built on trainings we've given since 2010

Course details

What you’ll learn

  • Evaluate plays by card advantage and tempo
  • Identify your role in a matchup and play to it
  • Count the clock, race or block, and decide which threat to answer
  • Make keep-or-mulligan decisions and sequence your turns
  • Use open mana and your opponent's behavior to predict their hand

What it will include

  • 20 lessons in 5 modules
  • Worked examples with real board states
  • Exercises with answers
  • Checklists to use at the table
  • Lifetime access, including updates
  • Read on phone, tablet or computer

Contents

Module 1: Card advantage & tempo 4 lessons

Card advantage is having more useful resources than your opponent. Tempo is using your mana and turns more efficiently. Strong players weigh both.

  1. What counts as card advantage
  2. Two-for-ones and virtual card advantage
  3. Tempo: mana, time and the board
  4. When to trade card advantage for tempo
Module 2: “Who's the beatdown?” 4 lessons

In every matchup, one player is the aggressor and the other is the control player. Misjudging your role is one of the most common reasons games are lost.

  1. The beatdown and control roles
  2. Working out your role before turn one
  3. When roles switch mid-game
  4. Life as a resource
Module 3: Combat planning: the clock, racing and threats 4 lessons

Count how many turns each player has left, decide whether to race or block, plan your attacks two turns ahead, and know which threat to answer first.

  1. The clock
  2. Racing math: race or block
  3. Planning attacks two turns ahead
  4. Threat assessment
Module 4: Mulligans & sequencing 4 lessons

Good games start with good keeps. Sequencing is the order you play your lands and spells, and it quietly decides many games.

  1. Beyond the basics: keepable hands in every matchup
  2. Land drops and playing around your own curve
  3. Ordering spells within a turn
  4. Playing around tricks, and when not to
Module 5: Reading your opponent 4 lessons

Every untapped land, pause and attack tells you something. Reading your opponent turns guesses into informed decisions.

  1. Open mana and what it represents
  2. Building a range of likely cards
  3. Tells, timing and information you give away
  4. Bluffing honestly within the rules

Who it’s for

  • Players who know the rules but lose games they feel they should win
  • Friday Night Magic and MTG Arena ranked players
  • Commander players who want to make sharper decisions

Requirements: Opening Hand and The Rules Arcana, or solid rules knowledge.

Questions

Which formats does the strategy course apply to?

The concepts apply to every format. The examples are played with our 40-card teaching decks, so they feel like Limited games, and we point out where Commander and other multiplayer games change the advice.

Is “Who's the beatdown?” still relevant?

Yes. The idea comes from a classic 1999 strategy article by Mike Flores, and the principle still holds: in most matchups one player should be the aggressor, and the other should play for the long game.

After Strategy

Deckbuilding

Deckbuilding teaches you how to build Magic: The Gathering decks that work. You learn to plan a mana curve and land count, choose an archetype, turn a plan into a tested list on any budget, build for Commander and Limited, and adapt between games with a sideboard.

About Deckbuilding → · The whole learning path →

ManaScholar Academy is an independent educational resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or approved by Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast LLC.