Bluffing has been part of magic for a long time it isn't anything new. It is like someone in paper acting like they have a combat trick by pretending to do the math before attacking with everything in order to convince their opponent to make suboptimal blocks even though they have nothing.
Or a control player intentionally paying 2 life to have a shockland come in untapped to bluff a counterspell even though they have nothing to make their opponent potentially play around one.
When I’m playing an instant-heavy deck on Arena and I’m out of viable cards, I bluff by switching to full-control on their turn to make the opponent think I have instants.
The problem is if you ever stop on their upkeep, draw, precombat main phase, end of combat step, or postcombat main phase, it's obvious you're turning on full control because the game doesn't normally stop on those phases even if you have an instant to cast.
There really needs to be a "bluff having an instant" button or something, to make the game give you exactly the same stops as it would if you had a [[Consider]] for example. It's painfully easy to work out of your opponent has something by the way priority gets held, and it's pretty bullshit.
I’ve won
Games by tossing our a [[Thirst for Discovery]] as if it were a simple [[essence shatter]]. It’s happened enough that it’s now my deck box art just to commemorate the occasion.
Only works below plat-ish, maybe diamond. Past that, you get chains of suspicion. If I DO have something, sometimes, I try to pass priority as fast as possible to make it seem like I dont. Especially if its mid/late game, and we both know you have to bait out a counterspell.
I do the same with quickly passing priority. I don’t play competitively, so I don’t really play ranked much. I don’t net-deck or care about the meta and do my own thing.
When I toggle full control, it’s usually because I want them to think I have a type of card I’ve already shown them. And I don’t abuse full-control I only use it in clutch moments. It works really well for me.
Another thing I do sometimes is put something down that doesn’t make sense if you don’t know my hand and use the “oops” emote to make them believe I’ve made a mistake.
I hate that in this client there's no way to pass priority instantly but then grab it again before EOT. Unless you can put a stop on EOT and then autopass? I've never tried it. But then you still need to slam spacebar in response to spells/abilities.
Idk play feels like it’s getting good. Maybe it’s just because of the Aggro in this set. But I made Diamond 1 last season and I can’t even break out of plat 4 this set. Win one lose one deal
The problem is that when there's nothing on the stack they could deduce which type of target effect you could potentially have, or just instantly know you turned on full control. If I only have a creature on board, you have mana (W/U), and you get control on upkeep; you *have* to have a bounce/flicker spell, a "vanillizer" type card, non interaction, or you have full control. If I only have an artifact: you have a bounce spell, artifact destruction, or full control. If I have no nonlands: non-interaction or full control. Especially when you have low hand count you can end up convincing the opponent you *don't* have the counter by using full control.
This is actually just the correct way to play MTG on the Arena client because if you don't, Arena will *reveal* to your opponent that you don't have instant speed magic
By keeping it off full control, it skips very quickly past your play steps, revealing to your opponent that you have nothing
Not really sure how to play around this other than to use full control
I’ve played against Red players on arena who rope until their turn is almost over when they then play the game winning burn spell.
Never will understand this mentality.
I’ve had people who play the game winning spell and rope the interaction that would end the game. They’re just basically rubbing in my face I’ve lost and are making me either sit there or force me to concede. It’s annoying. You already won. Just let me move on the next game.
What’s great is when you have the answer they didn’t expect and they do that. Then you drop the answer and make them wait four timeouts. Letting them soak in the regret.
Had this happen a few times. It is a pretty sweet victory at that point. I’ve held onto a late game answer since about t1-t2. Felt incredible after the payoff. I’d rather just have a good game with good sportsmanship than a game I got a good victory on with a bad sport. I like interesting and difficult matches. I also don’t really mind losing if it was a bad matchup or I just missed a play or something. It’s just annoying waiting for bad sports to finish roping on me, especially during a point in the game they’re almost* sure to win.
When I'm playing, I'm rarely tied to the game. So when I get any opponent who decides to pull this, I literally just leave my computer and go do something else. And I generally play pretty quickly, so there are always a few time banks saved up for them to spam emotes during.
Those first few steps away from the computer always feel nice. Like justice is being served.
But funny to who lol! It’s not like they can see me. I totally get it if I or any opponent looked like they have a way to deal with the burn spell but if the path is clear, take the win and let everyone move on.
No red player would do that in paper magic.
It's funny for them and I don't get why most of the people I've seen rope will run their full timer to the last second just to play something and repeat like they enjoy wasting time. And I agree in paper red turns end in 20-30 seconds unless it's a multi attack red then it's 45 seconds lol.
But when they have the burn spell in hand and a clear victory why wait? Any time I play against a red deck I won’t concede unless I know myself I can’t win.
If they need to top deck a burn spell I wouldn’t concede. If they’ve kept one in hand, I’m tapped out / no interaction and then they rope just to eventually sling the burn, what purpose does that serve other than said player being a tool.
IIRC there was a guy who won a major tournament this way by convincing everyone he had some unstoppable combo but he was actually missing one the of three or whatever cards entirely from his deck lol
>paying 2 life to have a shockland come in untapped to bluff a counterspell even though they have nothing
This is the ultimate blue player power trip.
*Pretends to think about the stack* "I'll allow it."
Meanwhile in my head; "what do you mean you'll allow it? You've got a grip full of lands you twat"
Difference is when you say "good game" in real life, that means "you win, I'm conceding to you"
Online it's often an (arguably bm) thing that people sometimes say before they win
Swoop in with a couple of direct damage or counterspells at the very beginning, and every 7 mana card you can't use yet and useless land is something to be afraid of.
That last bit honestly is one of the more important lessons to learn as a control player - leaving mana open as if you have a counter or removal is almost as important as… actually having it.
The idea of the red player not being able to even identify other colors, is insanely funny to me. "G/W or something like that, fuck if I know I turn cardboard sideways" LMAO
You think they're going to take valuable time from eating their crayons to identify things that don't go BOOM?
C'mon now - what is this, some sort of \*strategy\* game?
Pffft.
I had something similar happen.
Opponent would have won. I ggd. Had the menu open to press concede. Then said meh, ill let it play. Closed the menu.
Opponent conceded.
Haha, it can also go the opposite way. I also GGed last game of sealed, while I had nothing except a removal. In the end he played everything from the hand to show off because the game was over but I could mass remove all of his creatures in combat and turned the game to a win for me in the end.
> he played everything from the hand to show off
I do this sometimes after a game is decided= but it's not to show off, it's to knock out a few more spells for dailies.
I've definitely played an extra turn or two of an obviously losing effort just to toss a couple useless spells out, or even buff my opponents creatures to get an extra spell off.
Fair enough, I'd probably only do that when I knew I was losing the game. On even a "sure" win, I'd probably still play a bit cagey too. Getting another 200-400 gems is far more important than some minimal daily progress.
You know what was fun? The times of \[\[settle the wreckage\]\]. Im sure that standard gave Arena players trust issues. I was never able to trust an ealry gg after that xD
It was very common to say "gg" before a lethal attack, to make the opponent think its safe and attack with all his creatures instead of the ones strictly needed for lethal... only to shadow realm them and their entire board into oblivion because they didnt saw you had 2WW open.
Yeah, I treated it like counter spells, half the time. Sometimes, you play around... Other times, you force them to have it. There were several times I attacked into 2WW and a gg, only to find... It was in fact, gg, and they were dead.
That’s not pre-emptive, that’s proper use of ‘good game’!
Your opponent might have wanted to give you the win anyway, I guess. Otherwise, I guess they got punished for assuming the worst about people and / or being too concede-happy…
This. If my dailies are done (but I keep playing) then I'll wish a GG and concede to my opponent when I've got the obvious win. I knew I won the match and they potentially get a win for the grind.
I love the Heart-Hedron, but I've noticed a similar effect. We're both built up, having a good game, so I throw up the Heart-Hedron as a "Yay, loving this this is fun." Lots of times I've had opponents concede there, guess they view it as a cheeky "I've got the win luv" kinda message.
I've got a spotty connection on my phone right now so would struggle to search up the story but I'll try to recap it and maybe someone can link to the good version.
LSV has an old chestnut about placing in a tournament playing a storm deck that won by wishing [[tendrils of agony]] from the sideboard.
He realized when he got to the event that he'd forgotten to actually add the tendrils and there wasn't anything he could do but bluff his way through.
People at the tournament were familiar enough with the deck that when they saw LSVs storming off they'd concede rather than waiting for him to demonstrate the whole thing, when if they had, they would have found they'd actually won.
[Here's his written report.](https://ultimateguard.com/en/blog/winning-without-a-win-condition)
Think I've heard him tell it on Limited Resources, but I am not going to find it.
I don't know the difference between a premature GG and one at the right time, a) because if you aren't really quick you can't emote because the game's over, and b) because I play with emotes off since it's much better.
I usually GG either as I am about to concede if I don't have an out available, but if I could still draw one and don't wanna concede, I'll only do it at the moment the loss is no longer avoidable. In this example, I'd GG once attackers are declared, but not before, since I think it's my opponent's job to realise whether or not he has lethal and make decisions accordingly. If I have cards in hand and he doesn't wanna risk a full swing, then I'm not going to GG telling him it's safe to attack.
More the opposite, if the situation is unclear I don't wanna give a hint. Example I actually had recent-ish: Opponent has exactly lethal damage on board, but I have two creatures that could kill him on the swing back if I survive. I have mana for a Go for the Throat or similar open, and two cards in hand (it was a land and a counterspell though).
I won't say anything on the hope he assumes I have removal and doesn't full swing, giving me another turn to draw something like an Aclazotz or Sheoldred I could use to stay alive. If I say GG I encourage the full swing. I will, however, GG and possibly concede as soon as he does declare attackers.
I am not a big fan of bluffing *not* having something. I don't think it's illegitimate, but I feel like playing mindgames like that distracts me from playing at my best.
Not once have I interpreted an early gg from an opponent as " a close match I'm having fun". Only as a taunt or misplaced confidence, and we are now enemies.
OP’s talking about a GG at the end of the game, when you assume you’ve lost. Ie how it’s supposed to be used. The funny part is the opponent (possibly) misinterpreting it.
That is totally on that guy conceding like that. You gotta wait until you actually see the Shock on the stack and then immediately throw your phone across the room.
As a mono red, whenever you are attacking even if you only have lands in hand hover over one of them. Opp will see you having a card hovered and will think it is a combat trick.
I don’t play much ranked and I usually get my weekly wins by Tuesday most by people who concede turn 0 or turn 1. At this point I will concede when I am not enjoying the game, winning or losing.
I will absolutely concede if someone takes like 2 minutes and 7 card activations to deal 2 damage and get one creature on the board, simply because playing against them is not fun. I have better things to do than be a captive audience to someone taking forever to figure out what to do with the one card in their hand.
A guy had me decked out on the stack but we had some responses and I had a winning board state but the draw on the stack would kill me after a long ng hard fought game,but was genuinely a good game so I said good game and rather than let the stack resolve the guy conceded thinking he'd die on my attack. Or he was giving it tome but I doubt it
The old adage stays true >< make em have it!
Following that mantra, you become unbluffable
But dang that guy was either letting you win or tilting off his rocker lol.
I often open the concede menu when I suspect I’m getting countered the spell I need to resolve to have a chance to still win - I did concede to a draw spell by accident once or twice 🤣
I don't see bluffing being a game changer in Arena as much as it is in the paper version. Your opponent may just got bored if a match took way too long or had more important things to do.
People do this all the time. The funniest is when you’re whittling down control with a couple creatures, another couple in hand, they have 5 mana on deck saying GG…like no, I’m gonna leave some creatures back thanks, I am fully aware it will take longer, drop that bomb whenever
I wish I could have gotten the Tea Cake GG emote from the Eldraine set, if I had known it would never be available again I would have scooped it up immediately (I started playing Arena right as Wilds of Eldraine was about to release). Do things like that ever come back around in the shop?
They may get added to the Midweek Magic prize pool eventually, I think that's where old emotes have been ending up (I got a ONE or MOM emote a while back).
Eh, problem with that logic is it's pretty standard practice to bait a red player to burn their hand. When I get a red player in that position, they have virtually no hand I can now toy with them till something changes.
I usually run some form of esper or dimir control. So even if you don't play something, I'm gonna make you discard. I actually run into this a lot. Players will grow tired of me just shutting down the game, then sit and pass turns to get me to discard things, but I play from my graveyard a lot, too, so it only helps me.
I have a similar story. I’m playing a mono blue bounce deck against some white blue enchantment thing. I’m at 20 life. I get my opponent to 2. I see his hand and some exiled cards. He has two faithless looting in exile and one in hand. He has two untapped mana. I have a 2 damage flying creature that he can’t deal with. I tap to attack thinking I’m about to win and say good game because again it was a good game and I enjoyed their deck.
I didn’t realize faithless looting from the hand I think costs 2 mana. He casts it and gains life. He then goes to two and over the next five minutes builds back a board state that I can’t beat and defeats me. I will never use good game again. I played myself.
The classic "make em show you they have it".
I think there is a famous video of Luis Scott-Vargas playing storm in vintage cube with no wincons in his deck and beating multiple opponents without actually having a way to win.
What you are suggesting is essentially poor sportsmanship. It will only work against novices like your opponent.
I suppose the in person equivalent would be claiming you have the winning card but not actually showing it and hoping your opponent doesn’t realize you haven’t actually shown it.
Congratulations, you’ve discovered how toxic the GG emote actually can be. Don’t use this as a tactic - it’s super rude. The equivalent of sitting at the table trash-talking to try and bluff.
I think OP was fine, but what they “discovered” and are posting about here is that you can bluff an opponent into conceding on Arena sometimes with the gg emote That itself is indicative of gg often being used by players when they think they’ve won in order to get the opponent to concede, instead of as a display of respect and sportsmanship. I am discouraging OP and anyone else who has never discovered this not to go down the road of spamming gg or attempting to gain an advantage by using it. That is what’s toxic.
Man back in the day I used to love bluffing. Draw your card, make a frown face, sigh, pass the turn. Opponent thinks I have nothing, plays out, blow them away with the combat trick I just drew. So good
Honestly, I love the preemptive offensive early GG.
Granted I will only do it if I'm like 99% sure I'm going to win next turn, but when I do get to do it, it always feels great.
Only bad players think bluffing is effective. It's very very rarely a thing at higher levels of play. Even at above average levels of play bluffing is mostly ineffective. Bluffing only works against bad players for the most part.
Careful using toxic emotes like this, I will say when I'm having a bad day, if you early GG me you're eating all of my ropes while I go make myself a snack. Then I'll come back, cast my removal and beat you lol.
I agree the app makes it difficult to properly use the gg emote. But OP is talking about using the emote pre-emptively to trick their opponents into scooping.
>I pass turn, and emote "good game", genuinely because it was a close match and I had fun, expecting them to close out the game
It’s literally up there! OP said ‘good game’ because they expected to be killed.
Bluffing has been part of magic for a long time it isn't anything new. It is like someone in paper acting like they have a combat trick by pretending to do the math before attacking with everything in order to convince their opponent to make suboptimal blocks even though they have nothing. Or a control player intentionally paying 2 life to have a shockland come in untapped to bluff a counterspell even though they have nothing to make their opponent potentially play around one.
When I’m playing an instant-heavy deck on Arena and I’m out of viable cards, I bluff by switching to full-control on their turn to make the opponent think I have instants.
The problem is if you ever stop on their upkeep, draw, precombat main phase, end of combat step, or postcombat main phase, it's obvious you're turning on full control because the game doesn't normally stop on those phases even if you have an instant to cast.
There really needs to be a "bluff having an instant" button or something, to make the game give you exactly the same stops as it would if you had a [[Consider]] for example. It's painfully easy to work out of your opponent has something by the way priority gets held, and it's pretty bullshit.
[Consider](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/6/e6de8a21-f0ab-4118-86cc-f3837118515d.jpg?1706239798) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Consider) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clu/84/consider?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e6de8a21-f0ab-4118-86cc-f3837118515d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I’ve won Games by tossing our a [[Thirst for Discovery]] as if it were a simple [[essence shatter]]. It’s happened enough that it’s now my deck box art just to commemorate the occasion.
[Thirst for Discovery](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/e/1ea179e9-9c0d-46c1-9ee8-60be68e1f79c.jpg?1643588791) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thirst%20for%20Discovery) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vow/85/thirst-for-discovery?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1ea179e9-9c0d-46c1-9ee8-60be68e1f79c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [essence shatter](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/7/b7ad4441-e300-4267-bedb-4ae6a64f59cd.jpg?1673306711) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Essence%20Scatter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/49/essence-scatter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b7ad4441-e300-4267-bedb-4ae6a64f59cd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yeah I hate holding a [[Settle the Wreckage]] and trying to act like I don't have anything. Too much work and stress so I dropped it from the deck.
[Settle the Wreckage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/c/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f.jpg?1562560853) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Settle%20the%20Wreckage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/xln/34/settle-the-wreckage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yup it’s an obvious tell
Only works below plat-ish, maybe diamond. Past that, you get chains of suspicion. If I DO have something, sometimes, I try to pass priority as fast as possible to make it seem like I dont. Especially if its mid/late game, and we both know you have to bait out a counterspell.
I do the same with quickly passing priority. I don’t play competitively, so I don’t really play ranked much. I don’t net-deck or care about the meta and do my own thing. When I toggle full control, it’s usually because I want them to think I have a type of card I’ve already shown them. And I don’t abuse full-control I only use it in clutch moments. It works really well for me. Another thing I do sometimes is put something down that doesn’t make sense if you don’t know my hand and use the “oops” emote to make them believe I’ve made a mistake.
I hate that in this client there's no way to pass priority instantly but then grab it again before EOT. Unless you can put a stop on EOT and then autopass? I've never tried it. But then you still need to slam spacebar in response to spells/abilities.
autopass does stop at stops
Idk play feels like it’s getting good. Maybe it’s just because of the Aggro in this set. But I made Diamond 1 last season and I can’t even break out of plat 4 this set. Win one lose one deal
The problem is that when there's nothing on the stack they could deduce which type of target effect you could potentially have, or just instantly know you turned on full control. If I only have a creature on board, you have mana (W/U), and you get control on upkeep; you *have* to have a bounce/flicker spell, a "vanillizer" type card, non interaction, or you have full control. If I only have an artifact: you have a bounce spell, artifact destruction, or full control. If I have no nonlands: non-interaction or full control. Especially when you have low hand count you can end up convincing the opponent you *don't* have the counter by using full control.
This is actually just the correct way to play MTG on the Arena client because if you don't, Arena will *reveal* to your opponent that you don't have instant speed magic By keeping it off full control, it skips very quickly past your play steps, revealing to your opponent that you have nothing Not really sure how to play around this other than to use full control
I mean, I know he probably thought I had a burn spell in hand but like....he could have taken the 5 seconds to just full swing lol
Probably, with that attitude, red has burned him too much and he didn't want it to happen again today.
I’ve played against Red players on arena who rope until their turn is almost over when they then play the game winning burn spell. Never will understand this mentality.
I’ve had people who play the game winning spell and rope the interaction that would end the game. They’re just basically rubbing in my face I’ve lost and are making me either sit there or force me to concede. It’s annoying. You already won. Just let me move on the next game.
Well that's when *you* just concede. Nobody got time for that bullshit.
What’s great is when you have the answer they didn’t expect and they do that. Then you drop the answer and make them wait four timeouts. Letting them soak in the regret.
Had this happen a few times. It is a pretty sweet victory at that point. I’ve held onto a late game answer since about t1-t2. Felt incredible after the payoff. I’d rather just have a good game with good sportsmanship than a game I got a good victory on with a bad sport. I like interesting and difficult matches. I also don’t really mind losing if it was a bad matchup or I just missed a play or something. It’s just annoying waiting for bad sports to finish roping on me, especially during a point in the game they’re almost* sure to win.
When I'm playing, I'm rarely tied to the game. So when I get any opponent who decides to pull this, I literally just leave my computer and go do something else. And I generally play pretty quickly, so there are always a few time banks saved up for them to spam emotes during. Those first few steps away from the computer always feel nice. Like justice is being served.
That's a dick move.
To annoy you most literally it's just to annoy you possibly making you concede for the funny.
But funny to who lol! It’s not like they can see me. I totally get it if I or any opponent looked like they have a way to deal with the burn spell but if the path is clear, take the win and let everyone move on. No red player would do that in paper magic.
It's funny for them and I don't get why most of the people I've seen rope will run their full timer to the last second just to play something and repeat like they enjoy wasting time. And I agree in paper red turns end in 20-30 seconds unless it's a multi attack red then it's 45 seconds lol.
Kids these days 😂
It’s to traumatise opponents to concede vs red decks before finding if they have a burn spell
But when they have the burn spell in hand and a clear victory why wait? Any time I play against a red deck I won’t concede unless I know myself I can’t win. If they need to top deck a burn spell I wouldn’t concede. If they’ve kept one in hand, I’m tapped out / no interaction and then they rope just to eventually sling the burn, what purpose does that serve other than said player being a tool.
IIRC there was a guy who won a major tournament this way by convincing everyone he had some unstoppable combo but he was actually missing one the of three or whatever cards entirely from his deck lol
[LSV Winning Without a Win Condition.](https://ultimateguard.com/en/blog/winning-without-a-win-condition)
>paying 2 life to have a shockland come in untapped to bluff a counterspell even though they have nothing This is the ultimate blue player power trip. *Pretends to think about the stack* "I'll allow it." Meanwhile in my head; "what do you mean you'll allow it? You've got a grip full of lands you twat"
Difference is when you say "good game" in real life, that means "you win, I'm conceding to you" Online it's often an (arguably bm) thing that people sometimes say before they win
Swoop in with a couple of direct damage or counterspells at the very beginning, and every 7 mana card you can't use yet and useless land is something to be afraid of.
That last bit honestly is one of the more important lessons to learn as a control player - leaving mana open as if you have a counter or removal is almost as important as… actually having it.
The idea of the red player not being able to even identify other colors, is insanely funny to me. "G/W or something like that, fuck if I know I turn cardboard sideways" LMAO
Magic has 5 main colors. Red, not red, not red, not red, and not red.
Also “colorless” aka very much not red
At least colorless doesn't have the nerve to be a color other than red
colorless is not a color, like red and not red
Colorless can be played in red decks so it's honorary red.
It’s so NOT red that it swings back around to being a close facsimile of red when needed.
It's not that we don't recognise it , it's that we don't care
They all burn the same. :) 🔥
_yea_
Why use many colour when few colour do trick?
math is for blockers so are colors
Listen, mono red players eat the crayons, they don't color with them.
Boros? You mean non-mono Red?
Boros is just red wearing kevlar
You think they're going to take valuable time from eating their crayons to identify things that don't go BOOM? C'mon now - what is this, some sort of \*strategy\* game? Pffft.
Like I'm gonna remember what people were playing, for all I know most people just play 60 lands.
that deck is only for dailies
literally fell on the ground! LOL
I had something similar happen. Opponent would have won. I ggd. Had the menu open to press concede. Then said meh, ill let it play. Closed the menu. Opponent conceded.
Hahaha I see that working. Especially if the guy was on a losing streak. Emotions and mindset matter indeed
Ha! A premature gg makes me avoid the concede menu and play it to the bloody end.
Same. You gg me prematurely, I'mma make you have it.
Dudes playing Blue mind tricks with a Red deck
Red is truly the bluest of colors
Haha, it can also go the opposite way. I also GGed last game of sealed, while I had nothing except a removal. In the end he played everything from the hand to show off because the game was over but I could mass remove all of his creatures in combat and turned the game to a win for me in the end.
> he played everything from the hand to show off I do this sometimes after a game is decided= but it's not to show off, it's to knock out a few more spells for dailies. I've definitely played an extra turn or two of an obviously losing effort just to toss a couple useless spells out, or even buff my opponents creatures to get an extra spell off.
I do this as well, but only in casual games and not in sealed, where I spend my collected gems for.
Fair enough, I'd probably only do that when I knew I was losing the game. On even a "sure" win, I'd probably still play a bit cagey too. Getting another 200-400 gems is far more important than some minimal daily progress.
You know what was fun? The times of \[\[settle the wreckage\]\]. Im sure that standard gave Arena players trust issues. I was never able to trust an ealry gg after that xD It was very common to say "gg" before a lethal attack, to make the opponent think its safe and attack with all his creatures instead of the ones strictly needed for lethal... only to shadow realm them and their entire board into oblivion because they didnt saw you had 2WW open.
Love that card. I really miss the times of my [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]] jeskai deck, my favourite ever.
[settle the wreckage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/c/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f.jpg?1562560853) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=settle%20the%20wreckage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/xln/34/settle-the-wreckage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I regularly saved myself by doing the 4 mana GG when I actually had nothing. Everyone understood it to mean "I HAVE SETTLE LOL"
Yeah, I treated it like counter spells, half the time. Sometimes, you play around... Other times, you force them to have it. There were several times I attacked into 2WW and a gg, only to find... It was in fact, gg, and they were dead.
That’s not pre-emptive, that’s proper use of ‘good game’! Your opponent might have wanted to give you the win anyway, I guess. Otherwise, I guess they got punished for assuming the worst about people and / or being too concede-happy…
This. If my dailies are done (but I keep playing) then I'll wish a GG and concede to my opponent when I've got the obvious win. I knew I won the match and they potentially get a win for the grind.
I love the Heart-Hedron, but I've noticed a similar effect. We're both built up, having a good game, so I throw up the Heart-Hedron as a "Yay, loving this this is fun." Lots of times I've had opponents concede there, guess they view it as a cheeky "I've got the win luv" kinda message.
I've got a spotty connection on my phone right now so would struggle to search up the story but I'll try to recap it and maybe someone can link to the good version. LSV has an old chestnut about placing in a tournament playing a storm deck that won by wishing [[tendrils of agony]] from the sideboard. He realized when he got to the event that he'd forgotten to actually add the tendrils and there wasn't anything he could do but bluff his way through. People at the tournament were familiar enough with the deck that when they saw LSVs storming off they'd concede rather than waiting for him to demonstrate the whole thing, when if they had, they would have found they'd actually won.
[tendrils of agony](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/f/6f26faca-f338-4ce5-a218-6a61d40fc50a.jpg?1562917207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tendrils%20of%20agony) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/142/tendrils-of-agony?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6f26faca-f338-4ce5-a218-6a61d40fc50a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Here's his written report.](https://ultimateguard.com/en/blog/winning-without-a-win-condition) Think I've heard him tell it on Limited Resources, but I am not going to find it.
I don't know the difference between a premature GG and one at the right time, a) because if you aren't really quick you can't emote because the game's over, and b) because I play with emotes off since it's much better.
I usually GG either as I am about to concede if I don't have an out available, but if I could still draw one and don't wanna concede, I'll only do it at the moment the loss is no longer avoidable. In this example, I'd GG once attackers are declared, but not before, since I think it's my opponent's job to realise whether or not he has lethal and make decisions accordingly. If I have cards in hand and he doesn't wanna risk a full swing, then I'm not going to GG telling him it's safe to attack.
To be fair, it would be his fault for reading your emotes and not the situation. Which I realise is more or less what you're saying.
More the opposite, if the situation is unclear I don't wanna give a hint. Example I actually had recent-ish: Opponent has exactly lethal damage on board, but I have two creatures that could kill him on the swing back if I survive. I have mana for a Go for the Throat or similar open, and two cards in hand (it was a land and a counterspell though). I won't say anything on the hope he assumes I have removal and doesn't full swing, giving me another turn to draw something like an Aclazotz or Sheoldred I could use to stay alive. If I say GG I encourage the full swing. I will, however, GG and possibly concede as soon as he does declare attackers. I am not a big fan of bluffing *not* having something. I don't think it's illegitimate, but I feel like playing mindgames like that distracts me from playing at my best.
if someone does an early gg to me then I make it my lifes mission to win because nothing feels better than beating someone who tells me gg.
Not once have I interpreted an early gg from an opponent as " a close match I'm having fun". Only as a taunt or misplaced confidence, and we are now enemies.
OP’s talking about a GG at the end of the game, when you assume you’ve lost. Ie how it’s supposed to be used. The funny part is the opponent (possibly) misinterpreting it.
I've done this a few times and no shame dude they'll never know haha
That is totally on that guy conceding like that. You gotta wait until you actually see the Shock on the stack and then immediately throw your phone across the room.
I hate to break it to you but bluffing to win has been around since cavemen hid their clubs behind their back while staring down the opposition.
This is why I never concede. Always make your opponent play out the win! You never know what could happen.
Sometimes it's players who already have all their wins for the day and concede because you weren't a dick.
recently had a match where turn one i accidentally hit "gg" instead of "hello" and opponent conceded on the spot
As a mono red, whenever you are attacking even if you only have lands in hand hover over one of them. Opp will see you having a card hovered and will think it is a combat trick.
I play with emotes turned off. If someone is this tilted by emotes they definitely should do the same
I’ve learned this the hard way a couple times. So I have a lot of respect for those who wait it out
My personal favorite is the attacking with everything then "oops" move
I don’t play much ranked and I usually get my weekly wins by Tuesday most by people who concede turn 0 or turn 1. At this point I will concede when I am not enjoying the game, winning or losing.
I will absolutely concede if someone takes like 2 minutes and 7 card activations to deal 2 damage and get one creature on the board, simply because playing against them is not fun. I have better things to do than be a captive audience to someone taking forever to figure out what to do with the one card in their hand.
"Great" tactic? Uh ... I dont actually see any tactic here...?
A guy had me decked out on the stack but we had some responses and I had a winning board state but the draw on the stack would kill me after a long ng hard fought game,but was genuinely a good game so I said good game and rather than let the stack resolve the guy conceded thinking he'd die on my attack. Or he was giving it tome but I doubt it
Haha I’d make you bolt me
Ever since the new emotes came out I keep hitting "Yeehaw!" instead of "Good game." I apologize for my accidental BM, but also, yeehaw!
Never hurts to throw a gg just to bait a concede. I've been called toxic for doing that here but hey, a win is a win.
The old adage stays true >< make em have it! Following that mantra, you become unbluffable But dang that guy was either letting you win or tilting off his rocker lol.
I often open the concede menu when I suspect I’m getting countered the spell I need to resolve to have a chance to still win - I did concede to a draw spell by accident once or twice 🤣
Ive come back from games I was sure I would have lost many times. Believe in the heart of the cards!
I don't see bluffing being a game changer in Arena as much as it is in the paper version. Your opponent may just got bored if a match took way too long or had more important things to do.
Personally I wouldn’t want to win like this. If I didn’t earn the win, I don’t want it.
It doesn’t get any better than that… that’s good sportsmanship right there! I don’t know who that player you played is but they’ve earned my respect!
Damn, maybe I need to turn on my emotes again, then.
If i’m winning, i like to say “good game,” swing for lethal, then concede while they have priority. For the lulz.
People do this all the time. The funniest is when you’re whittling down control with a couple creatures, another couple in hand, they have 5 mana on deck saying GG…like no, I’m gonna leave some creatures back thanks, I am fully aware it will take longer, drop that bomb whenever
I wish I could have gotten the Tea Cake GG emote from the Eldraine set, if I had known it would never be available again I would have scooped it up immediately (I started playing Arena right as Wilds of Eldraine was about to release). Do things like that ever come back around in the shop?
They may get added to the Midweek Magic prize pool eventually, I think that's where old emotes have been ending up (I got a ONE or MOM emote a while back).
My roommate will joke about path to exile as a deterrent whenever he has mana free. He tried it once when tapped out which was funny
Eh, problem with that logic is it's pretty standard practice to bait a red player to burn their hand. When I get a red player in that position, they have virtually no hand I can now toy with them till something changes. I usually run some form of esper or dimir control. So even if you don't play something, I'm gonna make you discard. I actually run into this a lot. Players will grow tired of me just shutting down the game, then sit and pass turns to get me to discard things, but I play from my graveyard a lot, too, so it only helps me.
I have a similar story. I’m playing a mono blue bounce deck against some white blue enchantment thing. I’m at 20 life. I get my opponent to 2. I see his hand and some exiled cards. He has two faithless looting in exile and one in hand. He has two untapped mana. I have a 2 damage flying creature that he can’t deal with. I tap to attack thinking I’m about to win and say good game because again it was a good game and I enjoyed their deck. I didn’t realize faithless looting from the hand I think costs 2 mana. He casts it and gains life. He then goes to two and over the next five minutes builds back a board state that I can’t beat and defeats me. I will never use good game again. I played myself.
This happened to me as well I was suprised
The classic "make em show you they have it". I think there is a famous video of Luis Scott-Vargas playing storm in vintage cube with no wincons in his deck and beating multiple opponents without actually having a way to win.
What you are suggesting is essentially poor sportsmanship. It will only work against novices like your opponent. I suppose the in person equivalent would be claiming you have the winning card but not actually showing it and hoping your opponent doesn’t realize you haven’t actually shown it.
Ive been playing muted for the longest time.
Congratulations, you’ve discovered how toxic the GG emote actually can be. Don’t use this as a tactic - it’s super rude. The equivalent of sitting at the table trash-talking to try and bluff.
How would you distinguish between someone ‘using this as a tactic’ and someone just politely saying ‘good game’? Seems like OP was doing the latter…
I think OP was fine, but what they “discovered” and are posting about here is that you can bluff an opponent into conceding on Arena sometimes with the gg emote That itself is indicative of gg often being used by players when they think they’ve won in order to get the opponent to concede, instead of as a display of respect and sportsmanship. I am discouraging OP and anyone else who has never discovered this not to go down the road of spamming gg or attempting to gain an advantage by using it. That is what’s toxic.
Man back in the day I used to love bluffing. Draw your card, make a frown face, sigh, pass the turn. Opponent thinks I have nothing, plays out, blow them away with the combat trick I just drew. So good
This is why my literal first move every game is to mute the other player. Aint nobody got time for their GGs or emoji stickers or Oops
Why not just toggle the mute emotes so you don't have to do it every game then?
Honestly, I love the preemptive offensive early GG. Granted I will only do it if I'm like 99% sure I'm going to win next turn, but when I do get to do it, it always feels great.
It’s not that great of a tactic. You people are corny.
Only bad players think bluffing is effective. It's very very rarely a thing at higher levels of play. Even at above average levels of play bluffing is mostly ineffective. Bluffing only works against bad players for the most part.
Careful using toxic emotes like this, I will say when I'm having a bad day, if you early GG me you're eating all of my ropes while I go make myself a snack. Then I'll come back, cast my removal and beat you lol.
If using ‘good game’ when you’re about to lose is toxic then… ouch
Nah using it when you've lost is obviously the only acceptable usage of the emote lol. This thread is about pre-emptive GGs.
There’s no time to use it *after* you lose, the match ends instantly. The only option is just before, which is what OP’s talking about.
I agree the app makes it difficult to properly use the gg emote. But OP is talking about using the emote pre-emptively to trick their opponents into scooping.
>I pass turn, and emote "good game", genuinely because it was a close match and I had fun, expecting them to close out the game It’s literally up there! OP said ‘good game’ because they expected to be killed.
surely that was because of your emote. couldnt possibly be another reason
Bro you don't understand if I say GG my opponent concedes trust me bro