The Hidden Structure of Strategy In Magic: The Gathering

An Indie Dev and a AAA Dev discuss the Strategy Circle, a framework for analyzing strategy. Most widely known in the real time strategy game Starcraft, the Strategy Circle consists of three extremes, rush, economy, and defense - each as a counter for another. This model creates dynamic game play and chunks information for players to hold a concept of strategy in their mind that lines up with when they are trying to win the game: win now (rush), win later (economy), or stop my opponent from winning (defense). Over Magic's history we can see how this model has applied to the different deck archetypes as well as when some strategies subverted the circle and ultimately were banned from the game.

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