Not Quite My Tempo: TCG Pace of Play Tips - TopDeck.gg Newsletter

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Welcome to Sperling’s Tip of the Month - our monthly column where former Magic: the Gathering Platinum pro (with 4 Pro Tour Top 8s) Matt Sperling will give you a piece of his mind, helping you improve your TCG game. This month - how can you play at a reasonable pace?

Not Quite My Tempo - Pace of Play Tips

By Matt Sperling

Pace of Play in Magic is mostly the speed at which we make decisions (not entirely, since sometimes pace slows down while you calculate how many squirrels that ability generates or shuffle your newly triple-sleeved commander deck, but mostly it’s about the pace of decisions). Finding the right pace of play is important in both casual and competitive games of Magic. Let’s start with casual play – a slow tempo will bore your fellow players, while playing too fast may create errors that are annoying at any level of play (such as a missed trigger or forgetting to do something on your turn that you had planned to do). In competitive play, slow pacing can lead to unintentional draws, losses if you are down a game and time runs out, or having to rush later to catch up on the clock. Playing too fast in competitive play may result in strategic errors and game rule violations.

What are my tips for finding that “just right” balance in our pace of play?

Practice and implement shortcutting through routine steps.

Plenty of players are under the impression that well-trained, careful players announce “Untap, Upkeep, Draw” when their turn begins. This is something you basically never see at the top levels of play because it wastes time. You don’t have to untap and draw so quickly that there is no chance for an opponent to ever do something during your upkeep, but you need to move quickly and also adjust the exact speed based on whether an opponent is even able and possibly motivated to do something during these steps. So, more specifically, if an opponent just said “go” with all their mana up, I may untap and draw a card with healthy pauses between untap and draw in order to give that opponent an unstated but present opportunity to stop me if they have upkeep effects. If it’s turn 2 and my opponent just dropped a 2/2 onto the board and said go, I’m untapping and drawing a card with no delay or hesitation because if I don’t, the unjustified delay in my pace of play will add up.

That’s the key with these shortcuts and knowing when to zoom through them – the time adds up. Verbal “Untap, Upkeep, Draw” isn’t going to lead to a draw when used once, but every turn of every round? Realizing you’re about to search your library a second time and not shuffling and presenting the first time isn’t absolutely critical, but these things add up.

Recognize key decisions as such, slow down

Some games (like online Poker) and some platforms (like Magic Online) have a “clock” or “time bank” system that very clearly and explicitly lets you bank time by playing fast and use that time later when you need it. In casual play or paper tournament play there isn’t such an explicit bank of time to deposit into and withdraw from, but still the concept survives. Playing fast in non-critical moments buys you some extra time to slow down and think through the critical moments.

Indicators of scenarios or examples of scenarios where this may be a critical moment to slow down and think through:

• Combat step where it’s not clear which creatures should be attacking or blocking

• Decision from which many consequences flow / many paths of game tree close off (such as whether to use your last piece of removal, and on what; or simply whether to mulligan your opening hand)

• “Shields Down” moments where you know taking an action gives your opponent a window to do their thing without your involvement

• “Hail Mary” moments where you may have a rapidly closing window to try and pull something off, even if that thing has a low absolute probability of success

Don’t play at your opponent’s pace; confidently establish your own

One very common way we find ourselves playing too slowly or especially too quickly is when we subconsciously adopt our opponent’s style and pace of play. This is a natural thing to do; we’re social creatures. Our opponent is confidently playing very quickly perhaps and it makes it feel a little bit awkward (maybe not consciously but on some level) to play our usual more steady pace. Recognize that we can be susceptible to this and practice to gain the confidence that your pace is the right pace.

Change your pace when the situation dictates

If there are 5 minutes left on the round clock and a draw would be an undesired outcome, you must play faster than your usual pace if you want to really reduce the risk of an unintentional draw. If you have 30 minutes left to wrap up a game already in its end-game, it may be time to make sure you avoid blunders (while still maintaining a reasonable pace of play – a baseline we should always try to hit).

Don’t slow down to try and force a draw, since this is not sporting behavior and may also be prohibited (depending on what you’re doing and the rules in effect at the time), but do play at your normal pace if you desire to do so. Just because an opponent really wants to finish the game in time and is rushing through decisions does not mean that you must play faster than the normally required reasonable pace of play. I still usually pick it up a little bit to make it clear I’m acting in good faith, but I don’t rush myself in these spots.

One recurring theme in the topics above is that confidence in your play and the practice that leads to said confidence are important aspects of pace of play. Newer players can be expected to miss the mark, and that’s inevitable, but as we improve it is worth spending some time thinking about how we spend some time.