If you watch many pro players, you might notice something consistent about how they play: They attack BEFORE they cast spells. Why is that? What’s the point of waiting?

Well, sometimes, it makes sense to cast spells before you attack, such as when you’re casting a creature with haste. Also, you’d probably never want to cast something like Overrun or Insurrection after combat!

However, there are good reasons to attack before casting other spells that don’t benefit you during this turn’s combat phase.

• Firstly, your opponent now has additional information about what to worry about for next turn, which can influence blocking decisions or combat tricks.
• Secondly, if you tap all your mana to cast something before you attack, the opponent knows you won’t have any combat tricks of your own (even if you didn’t anyway, your opponent doesn’t necessarily know that!). Bluffing that you might have something is often helpful!
• Thirdly, simply waiting to play a land until after you attack can make your opponent think you missed a land drop this turn, which can cause overconfidence and perhaps unwise decisions based on that information (or lack thereof).
• Fourthly, if your opponent is playing counterspells, then attacking first might force them to use some kind of combat trick, requiring them to tap mana to cast it. This could leave your spells in the second main phase free and clear to resolve safely!

This is a basic overview, but I hope it helps you to reconsider the next time you’re about to cast that Runeclaw Bear in the precombat main phase, when there’s no strategic advantage to do so!

Today’s Strategy Tip written by
Josh Stansfield, Level 2 judge from Orange, CA