But many players have this thing where they draw it and activate it instantly. In some situations that's completely fine and I accept that. Just like nearly any other card in the game, it usually pays off to take a step back (metaphorically speaking. Don't actually get up and walk away from the table.) and decide how you are going to handle the situation in a way that lets you come out on top.
When a player plays MST and has a choice of 2 or more cards, then that is called 'blind mst'. I used to do this all of the time, thinking that one less backrow was one less problem to deal with. However If you have the choice to hit the cards that you want, then that's even better isn't it? Your victory didn't come down to luck, it came down to your ability to handle the situation, which ultimately is more consistent and you will win more often that way.
Now when you're playing this game, you will have to approach the playing field while having to overcome whatever your opponent's deck is capable of throwing at you. If that's Wind-Ups, then you can expect your hand to be taking a beating. It only makes sense to be pre-emptive and set up Solemn Warning and Bottomless to make sure that they don't get that through, provided you're going first. If you don't have those cards and you open up with a bad hand, then you have to make do and it makes sense to set 3 or 4 cards, so you can use them next turn. Of course, there is always the chance of Heavy storm, but if that's the case then you were going to lose anyway.
How does this tie into MST? Well once they have used the 2-3 cards to make a field of monsters, the other cards are protection cards, which will get placed in their backrow so that they can survive, especially if you foiled their plans with yours.
MST in this situation is not as effective. In this scenario, the Wind-Up player has around 3 set cards, and since they focus on the loop, they are packing their deck with Solemn Warning, Bottomless and Judgment. If you hit Bottomless then you've pretty much wasted your MST and they are in a happier position knowing they have one less card to take out of your hand next turn. You need to reduce their backrow before playing MST so as to hit a more preferable card. That means wasting your bigger monster (Neos alius, Centipede, Kabazauls, Guaiba) to make sure that Bottomless is taken out. Now you have a 100% chance of hitting a powerful trap card, as opposed to 66% as it was before. You lost your summon, but your Heavy storm would have been in vain because of Solemn Judgment. I don't recommend baiting out their cards using your most important cards. Like for instance, I wouldn't overlay your just summoned Tour Guide (Provided it goes through) with your Sangan, just to make a monster over 1500 that can be Bottomless'd (Some players to prefer to hit the big threat rather than the catalyst, which has proven to get yourself in more trouble than it's worth.)
When playing against Field Spells, It's common practice to ignore the Field Spell until it becomes an annoyance, because using MST on that field spell and activating a card that you couldn't while the Field Spell was active is incredibly risky. But it's one of those risks that you might have to take to stay alive. If the plan does not succeed, then they will have another copy of that Field Spell in their hand or have a way to get it into their hand, and you're down 2 cards and back to square one.
A big part of the Card is setting it on your Main Phase 2. It's great to set it because if they set one card, in their end phase, then there's no problem and you can happily hit it before it becomes live. But another fantastic thing about MST that players overlook is that it craps over Continuous Traps.
Take this example, you summon Black Luster Soldier and your opponent has 3000 Life points left. You know that they are running Battle Fader but they have no cards in their hand. You attack directly and they activate Call of the Haunted, targeting Sangan, with the intention of getting it destroyed and being able to Battle Fader you on your second BLS attack. BUT if you chain MST onto the card's activation then it is destroyed and cannot summon a monster. In this scenario MST acted as a cost less Solemn Warning from THE HAND. You attack for 3000 and win the YCS, Hooray. The same can be applied for Fiendish Chain since if you MST after Chain has resolved then you cannot attack again since Chain stopped it. using MST when it activates means it does not resolve and your original attack continues.
When drawing multiple MST, it's perfectly acceptable to set 2 of them. When your opponent sets 2 back row cards, then you can hit both of them and 2-for-2. But in this scenario, one of the cards you hit will most likely be one of their MST since they will already know how to use the methods talked about in this post.
One last thing. You can really catch your opponent off guard if you have a MST and another card set with no monsters on the field and Gorz, the Emmisary of Darkness in your hand. Once they attack, you MST your other card and Gorz comes crashing down. Your opponent may have also overextended because if they see you have backrow, they know you cannot Gorz. But in that scenario, you have led them into a trap that can pay off tremendously. It's even better if you MST their backrow card and then Gorz, but sometimes you don't have that luxury and it's worth -2ing yourself to get some field presence.
The main points to take from this small Article:
- Don't blind MST. It will only waste your MSTs and it gets worse when your opponent has 3-4 backrow cards.
- Hit the Continuous Spell and Trap cards before they resolve. That way, MST becomes a negation card as well as a 1-for-1.
- Don't be afraid to MST your own cards if it means you can drop a 2700 beater on the field. In the Late game when both players are down to 2-3 cards in total, this can clinch victory for you.
MST is one of the most versatile cards in the game, and knowing how to use the card to it's fullest potential separates a pro player to a netdecker. These unorthodox ways of using the card comes from hours of playing the game yourself. Especially in the last point. If you are not confident with MSTing your own cards, then you will lose in some situations when you shouldn't have.
Of course in this article I've almost completely disregarded Heavy Storm. But how to use that effectively needs it's own article too.
Until next time, TheTCGLover out!
Thank you for the helpful advice in this article.
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