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Overview

Welcome to the second lesson in the cEDH Advanced Course! This lesson will focus on heuristics—a key concept for improving your gameplay by developing effective strategies, decision-making shortcuts, and mental frameworks for common scenarios. By creating heuristics, you can navigate complex board states and execute winning lines with confidence, even under pressure.

What Are Heuristics?

In cEDH, heuristics are methods or patterns that enable you to arrive at probable solutions with limited information and time. They’re like shortcuts for decision-making that streamline complex processes, allowing you to focus on the broader game state.

Example of a Heuristic:
If you have [[Dockside Extortionist]] (at least 8 treasures), [[Wishclaw Talisman]], 4 mana, 2 lands in play, and 2 cards in your graveyard, you can consistently present a winning line with [[Underworld Breach]]. This specific sequence becomes your "baseline heuristic," which you can adjust depending on variables like fewer treasures or different board states.

Developing Effective Heuristics

To create and refine your own heuristics, follow these steps:

1. Exploration

  • During goldfishing or pickup games, experiment with different tutoring lines, mulligan decisions, and play patterns.

  • Focus on specific cards and their synergies, even if it means failing occasionally. Failures often reveal new insights into your deck’s potential.

2. Mental Mapping

  • Over time, build a mental map of the cards in your deck and their synergies.

  • As you play more, connections between cards and lines will form naturally. For example:

    • [[Dockside Extortionist]] → Treasures → [[Underworld Breach]] setup.

    • [[Wishclaw Talisman]] → Tutor key pieces for combos.

3. Network Integration

  • Take a more structured approach to goldfishing:

    • Play out specific scenarios, not just your opening hand.

    • Record each step, including mana spent, cards used, and resources required.

    • Factor in variables like hate pieces, interaction, and board state.

4. Take Notes

  • Document noteworthy lines and scenarios from games.

  • Reflect on your sequencing to identify errors or optimizations.

  • Assess lines for their realism, resource intensity, security, and viability in different contexts.

Example Scenario: Winning with [[Dockside Extortionist]] and [[Wishclaw Talisman]]

Setup:

  • [[Dockside Extortionist]] with at least 8 treasures.

  • [[Wishclaw Talisman]] in play.

  • 4 mana available.

  • 2 cards in graveyard.

Winning Line:

  1. Activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]]: Tutor [[Chain of Vapor]].

  2. Cast [[Chain of Vapor]]: Target [[Dockside Extortionist]].

    • Sacrifice a land to copy [[Chain of Vapor]] and bounce [[Wishclaw Talisman]].

  3. Recast [[Dockside Extortionist]]: Generate 8 treasures.

  4. Recast [[Wishclaw Talisman]].

  5. Activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]]: Tutor [[Underworld Breach]].

  6. Cast [[Underworld Breach]].

  7. Escape [[Chain of Vapor]]: Bounce [[Dockside Extortionist]] and repeat the sequence.

  8. Escape [[Brain Freeze]]: Mill yourself for enough cards to execute your winning line with [[Thassa's Oracle]].

Key Adjustment:
If [[Dockside Extortionist]] generates fewer treasures, adjust by requiring 2 additional mana per missing treasure at the start of the sequence.

Scaling Heuristics for Broader Gameplay

Once you establish specific heuristics for common lines, expand them to include:

  • Tutoring Priorities: What to tutor based on game state (e.g., [[Silence]] for protection, [[Ad Nauseam]] for card draw).

  • Mulligan Strategies: Cards to prioritize in starting hands.

  • Deck-Specific Patterns: Develop heuristics tailored to your deck’s unique strengths and weaknesses.

Key Benefits of Heuristics

  • Faster Decision-Making: Streamlines complex processes into manageable steps.

  • Adaptability: Provides a foundation for adjusting lines based on variables like mana, cards in hand, or hate pieces in play.

  • Efficiency Under Pressure: Reduces reliance on working memory, allowing you to focus on opponents and the game state.

Tips for Mastering Heuristics

  1. Practice Regularly: Repetition engrains heuristics into your procedural memory, making them second nature.

  2. Goldfish with Purpose: Focus on specific scenarios and record your steps.

  3. Analyze and Improve: Take notes during games to refine your heuristics and sequencing.

  4. Collaborate: Discuss lines and patterns with experienced players to gain new insights.

Final Thoughts

Developing heuristics is a vital skill for mastering cEDH. By automating complex processes and creating a mental framework for common scenarios, you’ll improve your decision-making, adaptability, and gameplay efficiency. Remember, the better you know your own lines, the better you can focus on your opponents’ plans.