Who's the Beatdown? Finding Your Role in a Magic Game

Two decks sit down. Both have creatures, both have removal, both have a few big spells. Which one should be attacking? It sounds like a silly question. It is one of the most important in Magic, and players have been asking it by name since a famous 1999 article by Mike Flores called “Who’s the Beatdown?”

The short version of the idea: in nearly every game, one player is the beatdown, who wins by dealing damage fast, and the other is the control, who wins by surviving and taking over late. The player who misjudges their role usually loses.

How to tell which one you are

Ask which deck wins a long game. That deck is the control. The other one is the beatdown, even if it is not an aggressive deck in general.

Clues that you are the control in this matchup:

• Your cards are more expensive, and stronger once cast.
• You have more card draw or more two-for-ones.
• Your opponent’s creatures are cheaper and faster than yours.

Clues that you are the beatdown:

• Your opponent’s late game outclasses yours: bigger creatures, a bomb rare, more card draw.
• Your curve is lower.
• Your opponent has answers that get better the longer the game goes.

The same deck can be the beatdown in one matchup and the control in the next. A midrange creature deck is the control against a fast aggressive deck, and the beatdown against a slow deck full of card draw.

Playing as the beatdown

• Use your mana every turn. Tempo is your edge. A wasted turn gives the control deck time.
• Trade cards for damage. A creature that trades with a blocker is fine. A removal spell used on a blocker so your team gets through is often correct.
• Attack into some risk. The longer the game goes, the worse your odds. Accept bad blocks for your opponent and make them have the answer.
• Count to their life total. Every decision is about dealing the last points before they stabilize.

Playing as the control

• Trade early and often. Every creature you trade with brings you closer to the late game, where you win.
• Protect your life total. Your life is the clock the beatdown is racing. Chump blocks are fine if they buy a turn you need.
• Do not race. Attacking with your blockers to deal some damage is the classic control mistake. Your win comes later.
• Spend removal on threats, not on everything. Save answers for the cards that could still beat you.

When roles flip

Roles can change mid-game. The control deck that stabilizes at 6 life, with a big flyer and an empty board across the table, is now the beatdown, because the clock is on its opponent. The beatdown player who loses their creatures and draws a late bomb becomes the control.

Check your role at three moments: after your opponent’s first two or three plays, after any big board change, and whenever someone’s hand runs out.

Playing around their cards

Knowing your role tells you when to play around tricks and when to ignore them.

• The beatdown plays around less. You cannot wait forever. If they have the trick, they have it.
• The control plays around more. You have time to wait one turn for a safer attack or block.

When you do play around a card, play around the one that would lose you the game, not every card in the set. In a draft or a prerelease, you can learn a set’s common instant tricks before you sit down. They come up again and again, and knowing which colors carry them makes untapped lands readable.

Using roles in deckbuilding

Roles shape a deck from the first pick. A deck built to be the beatdown wants more 2-drops, fewer 6s, and creatures that attack well. A deck built to be the control wants removal, card draw, and a few cards that win once it is safe. Most limited decks sit in between, which is why reading your role game by game matters so much.

In cube, where the decks are stronger and more varied, roles get even sharper. Our cube draft strategy piece puts the same thinking to work at the draft table.