When should I consider trading creatures in combat?

Asked by kupo123 14 years ago

For the good of many and personally myself, when would be a good time to start trading creatures, especially in limited.

cardcoin says... #1

Thats a hard one to answer. but to be honest. Do it as much as possible to keep your opponent from being able to overrun or play a similar effect.

Less Creatures on battlefield = less of a problem.

September 29, 2010 11:12 p.m.

Crothselm says... #2

I agree that frequently trading creatures is a good idea. Maybe hesitate a little more if you are top-decking or if you have no more creatures you can play to quickly get another body on the field.

A big thing to keep in mind for limited though: Try to gauge whether your opponent has a trick up their sleeve. I don't know how many times I have had to enter combat planning on a trade only to have them play Mighty Leap or Giant Growth . If it's obvious that they want you to block, don't fall for it. You don't want them to turn your trade into a removal for them.

September 29, 2010 11:21 p.m.

cardcoin says... #3

Also on that note. Look at the cards in the set. Especially the common instants. That's when you know what that's there are possibly when you attack. For the current set (som) White has stall. Black has -x/-x effects, and green... Well apart from instant destroy artifacts... Not much. Red has direct damage and blue... Hmmm not sure about that lol but knowledge about the set will help a lot in limited.

September 29, 2010 11:33 p.m.

KrazyCaley says... Accepted answer #4

Basically, I would say, trade creatures when the probability is that it would be to your advantage to do so. For instance, if you know you're going to be drawing more creatures than the other guy (or have card advantage mechanics that will make you draw more creatures), then by all means trade away so that he's left relatively defenseless.

You should also trade creatures when you're getting a good value for the trade. Say he has a Boggart Ram-Gang or something and you have Blade of the Sixth Pride or something. By all means, trade; your creature only has one toughness and is vanilla; his has 3 toughness and withers. You're getting a great card quality deal there; for the cost of a relatively crappy creatures, you're killing off a good creature.

All in all, know the situation, know what's likely to happen in the turns ahead, and plan your trades accordingly. Just be careful- when creatures trade, either someone is trying to just push through an attack and is willing to take casualties in the process, OR one of the two players is making a mistake.

September 29, 2010 11:45 p.m.

kupo123 says... #5

Thanks guys. It'll really help

September 30, 2010 8:35 p.m.

This discussion has been closed