Persuasion, Procedure, and Planeswalkers: The Protocological Rhetoric of Magic: The Gathering

Kevin Brock

Sample Constructed Game: Adam v. Kevin

Adam (Blue/Black Control) vs. Kevin (Mono-Red Quick Burn)

The game progression for each player in each turn is explained in the below table, with a gallery of images following each overall turn to illustrate the actions taken by each player during that turn.

Turn	Actions	Play-by-play Reflections
Adam T1	Opening Hand Played Divination Played Island x3 Played Mercurial Pretender Played Mind Rot x2 Main Phase Played Island	Ugh ... super risky. Also, pretty hilarious with both of the Mind Rot cards. I’ll give it a go.
Kevin T1	Opening Hand Cone of Flame x2 Lava Axe Lightning Strike Mountain x2 Shivan Dragon Draw Phase Foundry Street Denizen First Main Phase Played Mountain Played Foundry Street Denizen	Given that I only have two mana in my opening hand, this isn’t a fantastic beginning—but I’m willing to make it work, because the rest of these cards are solid gold for my general strategy. Also, thank goodness for a cheap 1-drop creature (that is, a creature that only costs one mana) on the draw so I can at least threaten Adam early on!

Adam T2	Draw Phase Child of Night First Main Phase Played Island Hand at end of turn Child of Night Divination Island Mercurial Pretender Mind Rot	Not much going on here yet. Need a Swamp.
Kevin T2	Draw Phase Mountain First Main Phase Played Mountain Played Lightning Strike → Adam at 17 life Combat Phase Attacked with Foundry Street Denizen → Adam at 16 life Hand at end of turn Cone of Flame x2 Lava Axe Mountain Shivan Dragon	Yes: so far so good. Let’s get some damage going quick; the sooner I can end this game, the less chance Adam has of countering anything I bring out. (This is, after all, the central philosophy behind my constructed deck.)

Adam T3	Draw Phase Typhoid Rats First Main Phase Played Island Played Divination Drew Swamp Drew Peel from Reality Hand at end of turn Child of Night Mercurial Pretender Mind Rot x2 Peel from Reality Swamp Typhoid Rats	Kevin’s deck is super fast, a tough match-up against my more methodical deck. Glad I snagged that Swamp with my Divination!
Kevin T3	Draw Phase Mountain First Main Phase Played Mountain Combat Phase Attacked with Foundry Street Denizen → Adam at 15 life Hand at end of turn Cone of Flame x2 Lava Axe Mountain Shivan Dragon	Stoked to get a Mountain, but I’m stalled for a round until I can play my more costly direct damage spells...

Adam T4	Draw Phase Encrust First Main Phase Played Swamp Played Typhoid Rats Hand at end of turn Child of Night Encrust Mercurial Pretender Mind Rot x2 Peel from Reality	Okay, now things are looking decent. Looking better.
Kevin T4	Draw Phase Mountain First Main Phase Played Mountain Hand at end of turn Cone of Flame x2 Lava Axe Mountain Shivan Dragon	I have to wait to attack for a turn so that I can hopefully get around those Typhoid Rats. Also, if he puts one more creature out, I can at least rely on some Cone of Flame action.

Adam T5	Draw Phase Into the Void Hand at end of turn Child of Night Encrust Into the Void Mercurial Pretender Mind Rot x2 Peel from Reality	Not a great draw, but the Mind Rot work begins on Kevin’s turn. Discarding can be used to great effect (to pre-emptively sabotage an opponent’s strategy).
Kevin T5	Draw Phase Mountain First Main Phase Played Mountain Played Lava Axe → Adam at 10 life Adam played Mind Rot Kevin discarded Mountain and Shivan Dragon Hand at end of turn Cone of Flame x2	Re: Draw Phase: YES—enough for Shivan Dragon next round! Here’s more of that sweet direct damage. I have to wait on his Typhoid Rats, which is also just waiting in the wings ... Re: Adam’s Mind Rot: Crap. Well, at least I have two copies of Cone of Flame in my hand. They’re more important to my strategy than the dragon. (I think Adam cast Mind Rot very quickly after the Lava Axe to discard the other direct damage spells I might have, right?)

Adam T6	Draw Phase Island First Main Phase Played Island Played Mind Rot Kevin discarded Cone of Flame x2 Hand at end of turn Child of Night Encrust Into the Void Mercurial Pretender Mind Rot Peel from Reality	Mind Rot round 2! Also, I’m pretty close to being dead.
Kevin T6	Draw Phase Lava Axe First Main Phase Played Lava Axe → Adam at 5 life Adam played Peel from Reality on Kevin’s Foundry Street Denizen and Adam’s Typhoid Rats Hand at end of turn Foundry Street Denizen	Of course, I have to play this Lava Axe first! Adam’s only one or two spells away from defeat. I’m so close to winning this in a turn or so!

Adam T7	Draw Phase Peel from Reality First Main Phase Played Child of Night Hand at end of turn Encrust Into the Void Mercurial Pretender Peel from Reality x2	Hanging in there!
Kevin T7	Draw Phase Lightning Strike First Main Phase Played Foundry Street Denizen Played Lightning Strike on Adam’s Child of Night Adam played Peel from Reality on Kevin’s Foundry Street Denizen and Adam’s Child of Night Hand at end of turn Foundry Street Denizen	In retrospect, my desire to clear the battlefield got the better of me. I should have tossed this Lightning Strike damage directly at Adam. (I am certain that it’s at this moment where the game changes considerably in Adam’s favor.)

Adam T8	Draw Phase Feast on the Fallen First Main Phase Played Child of Night Hand at end of turn Encrust Feast on the Fallen Into the Void Mercurial Pretender Peel from Reality Typhoid Rats	Child of Night round two! I’ve managed to slow Kevin up, but I’m one Lava Axe in the face away from death. I need that Lifelink ability in play, quick.
Kevin T8	Draw Phase Krenko’s Enforcer First Main Phase Played Foundry Street Denizen Hand at end of turn Krenko’s Enforcer	I’m kind of screwed, but I need to try to just hold my ground before Adam can get too much life back. Luckily I have a bunch of direct damage spells in my deck, still. Right?

Adam T9	Draw Phase Island First Main Phase Played Island Played Mercurial Pretender Its ability allows it to copy Child of Night Played Typhoid Rats Combat Phase Attacked with Child of Night → Kevin at 18 life Adam at 7 life Hand at end of turn Encrust Feast on the Fallen Into the Void Peel from Reality	I’ve managed to turn the tide slightly, definitely drumming up some momentum here. This seems like a turning point. Those Mind Rot spells came in handy! Kevin’s stalled out a little.
Kevin T9	Draw Phase Borderland Marauders First Main Phase Played Krenko’s Enforcer Combat Phase Attacked with Foundry Street Denizen Adam blocked with Typhoid Rats Second Main Phase Played Borderland Marauder Hand at end of turn Empty!	Adam’s deploying a small army, but I’m not drawing enough creatures or sorceries/instants to outdo him. I can definitely feel the tide turning against me!

Adam T10	Draw Phase Swamp First Main Phase Played Swamp Played Into the Void on Kevin’s Borderland Marauder and Krenko’s Enforcer Played Feast on the Fallen Combat Phase Attacked with Child of Night and Mercurial Pretender (pretending to be a second Child of Night) → Kevin at 14 life Adam at 11 life Hand at end of turn Encrust Peel from Reality	I’ve bounced his creatures into oblivion. Mana is on the board. Double lifelink creatures with flying. Things are looking much better.
Kevin T10	Draw Phase Wall of Fire First Main Phase Played Borderland Marauder Played Krenko’s Enforcer Hand at end of turn Wall of Fire	Adam’s having a serious comeback, and nearly all of my momentum is gone. This is not good at all for my quick victory deck strategy. If I don’t draw something amazing soon, I’m toast.

Adam T11	Draw Phase Child of Night First Main Phase Played Child of Night Combat Phase Attacked with Child of Night and Mercurial Pretender (pretending to be a second Child of Night) → Kevin at 14 life Kevin blocked with Borderland Marauder and Krenko’s Enforcer Activated Mercurial Pretender’s ability (to return it to hand) Adam at 16 life Hand at end of turn Encrust Mercurial Pretender
Kevin T11	Draw Phase Forge Devil First Main Phase Played Forge Devil Dealt 1 damage to Child of Night Kevin at 13 life Played Wall of Fire Hand at end of turn Empty!	My tactics are not remotely close to being back in order yet. I have to figure out a way to deny Adam’s effective use of Mercurial Pretender!

Adam T12	Draw Phase Island First Main Phase Played Island Hand at end of turn Encrust Mercurial Pretender	Ok, Kevin’s stalled out sufficiently. I’ve lost one of my Child of Night creatures, which is a bummer. I’m holding this turn to see what I might need to do.
Kevin T12	Draw Phase Forge Devil Hand at end of turn Forge Devil	All I can do right now is delay my assault (and make it seem like I’m holding onto something good) until I can get something really great in my hand.

Adam T13	Draw Phase Frost Lynx First Main Phase Played Frost Lynx Used ability to tap Wall of Fire Played Mercurial Pretender Its ability allows it to copy Frost Lynx Used ability (copied from Frost Lynx) to tap Forge Devil Hand at end of turn Encrust	Alright! Frost Lynx is a nice way to gum up the works. I just need to start hitting Kevin harder!
Kevin T13	Draw Phase Lava Axe First Main Phase Played Lava Axe → Adam at 11 life Hand at end of turn Forge Devil	Uh, this should work! I hope.

Adam T14	Draw Phase Jorubai Murk Lurker First Main Phase Played Encrust on Kevin’s Wall of Fire Played Jorubai Murk Lurker Combat Phase Attacked with Frost Lynx and Mercurial Pretender (pretending to be a second Frost Lynx) → Kevin at 9 life Activated ability from Jorubai Murk Lurker to give Lifelink to one Frost Lynx Adam at 13 life Hand at end of turn Empty!	Love that Jorubai Murk Lurker, forever and always. I think I’ve got Kevin now, barring some unexpected nastiness.
Kevin T14	Draw Phase Mountain First Main Phase Played Mountain Played Forge Devil Dealt 1 damage to Frost Lynx Kevin at 8 life Hand at end of turn Empty!	Well, I feel pretty confident saying that I’m going to lose this game ... and I was so close to an early victory, too!

Adam T15	Draw Phase Divination First Main Phase Played Divination Drew Swamp Drew Stab Wound Played Stab Wound on Kevin’s Wall of Fire Combat Phase Attacked with Frost Lynx, Jorubai Murk Lurker, and Mercurial Pretender (pretending to be a second Frost Lynx) → Kevin at 4 life Activated ability from Jorubai Murk Lurker to give Lifelink to itself Kevin blocked one Frost Lynx with two Forge Devil creatures Adam at 15 life Hand at end of turn Swamp	Wow, what a turnaround. Matches like this don’t happen often.
Kevin T15	Upkeep Phase The ability from Adam’s Stab Wound (still attached to Kevin’s Wall of Fire) is activated → Kevin at 2 life Draw Phase Goblin Roughrider First Main Phase Played Goblin Roughrider Kevin concedes. Hand at end of game Empty!	Everything hinges on the draw here ... and there it is. No direct damage, no way to overpower Adam’s army or his well-timed enchantment usage. Time simply ran out for my deck to do its thing before Adam could get himself situated. Since he was able to, I’m powerless to avoid the defeat.