On The Stack

The past four weeks have been very enriching. Because GP Singapore is imminent, and therefore the frequency of my games intensified. The learning values were there of course, but it also offered many excruciating experiences for me, most of the time.

I received hard lessons on top-decking (or rather, not top-decking at all) when you needed it the most. Imagine having the luxury of drawing over thirty cards off the top of your library when your opponent has a massive board presence of ten lands and nothing else, simply waiting for you to make things happen.

And suddenly it seemed like I was playing this unfamiliar Twinless Exarch.

Or your opponent sneaking in a very brilliant Illness in the Ranks just before you cast your Blood Moon to screw up the land colors for his Collected/Chord of Calling. Twenty turns later I concluded that I had swapped out my one and only Repeal that I was patiently waiting to draw.

But the most important lesson this weekend, was that I finally learnt to use the golden phrase," On the stack.”

A typical combo match-up is capable of ten-minute games. You either win, or lose. Which is also the reason why I always have time for two cigarette breaks between rounds and sometimes, even a 25-minute lunch break.

And then I figured out that I have also been giving away longer coffee breaks to my opponents. I am actually giving away games far too easily.

I hold the stack a lot more nowadays. I make an increased amount of calculated moves between the stacks for better gameplays.

I used to let Abrupt Decay resolve when it targeted my Deceiver Exarch in the midst of tapping for the combo, since there was no way I could counter it and I should naturally let it go. But because I held the stack, I took a second look at my hand and realised that I have a Pestermite and I can flash it in response with Abrupt Decay on the stack, untap my Deceiver Exarch and trigger off the combo a million times before Abrupt Decay resolves.

I held an Aether Vial trigger on the stack and Repealed it before any counter can be added on it. I placed my own Serum Visions on the stack and resolved a Telling Time so that the Serum Visions would effectively draw me the second card that I needed. Sometimes I even go to the extent of flashing in a Deceiver Exarch with my opponent’s fetchland ability on the stack, just to avoid him getting a blue land source to counter my creature.

There was this recent encounter where I was playing against a Jeskai Aggro deck with Geist of Saint Trafts and flipping Delvers. We got ourselves into a midgame beatdown, his one 3/2 Insectile against my two Snapcaster Mages. With his life total at 2 (I was at 3), I had a Lightning Bolt in hand and could easily deal for lethal to his face, which some players might do. But my opponent had two untapped lands in play and I decided to pass my turn, allowing him to survive on 2.

That move proved to be crucial as my opponent took his opportunity and cast a Lightning Helix targeted at me for his own version of lethal. In response, I cast my Lightning Bolt which went on top of the stack and resolved first. State-based effects checked, opponent ends up dead first, and I won the game.

My games have gradually evolved from losing in 10 minutes to grinding out my opponent for 20 minutes and eventually finding ways to turn the tide and win that game instead.

Because when you hold spells on the stack, there is time for you to consider your options and make better decisions rather than blindly allowing spells to resolve. On-the-stack plays are excellent opportunities to catch your opponents off guard and pressurize them into making misplays that could be beneficial to your game.

Remember that once you have allowed spells to resolve, there is no way of retracting your moves.

I smoke a lot lesser now though.