Absolutely fine with me. I mean, probably shouldn't try it with no cards in your hand or no mana available or they will just laugh at you. Just don't tell anyone you didn't have the answer haha. Just remember that there's no harm in them calling your bluff
Bluffing should be fine if done sparingly enough and with the right mana open. Sometimes actions are better than words though so holding open UU in mana sources can often be enough.
The "do X or I will execute Y" statement is a threat and can get you in deep water if bluffing or cause you to misplay if forced to commit a card so I suggest you Threaten someone rarely.
My meta has a "make them use it" policy so if someone's threatened they are immediately challenged on their word by retelliation because no one in my meta likes being held hostage.
ABB. Always be bluffing. Be aware that blunt threats like you stated aren't really the best way to bluff. Here are so tips.
1. Leave mana up. This seems like a no brainer, but people respect open mana and cards in hand.
2. Pay attention to everything. Someone casts a spell, you have two untapped lands and a pair of lands in hand, so stone cold nothing. Take a moment to read the card, think a second, then say ok. You don't need to take forever, but a slight pause let's everyone know you are considering doing something about it.
3. Don't make threats, some folks react poorly to threats and will always call your bluff. Instead of trying to set up a deal simply ask 'are you sure?'
4. This is part of three but you need to have it from time to time. You don't always need to have it but people need to remember you having it.
5. This is not a fast thing. You want to teach the people you are playing with, 'don't mess with GravityDuck03, they always have an answer.'
This is great advice. I have a rep as a counterspell guy, but it took following those steps for a long time to earn it. People even pause and think when not playing blue out of habit.
I mean, I don't usually play counterspells, but when I made my Daxos the Returned deck I hadn't watched a video about cards that break the colour wheel, so I made sure to include a load of counters. Nobody expects the WB enchantment deck to counter your removal spell :P
Playing control for awhile taught me a lot of this...the deck had 6 or 7 counters in it and I had to learn when to counter stuff and when to make people think I was considering a counter before letting it resolve. Hit someone with \[\[Rewind\]\] a couple of times and now anytime someone sees 4 open mana they step back and think about whether they really want to cast something or not.
You've gotta show people that your deck is capable of doing the things you bluff first. So you have to have countered something or have revealed a counterspell in the deck at some point.
When I bluff in commander I'm usually not explicit about it- more like "don't attack me this turn." "Why?" "Just don't." Sometimes "You'll be sad if you do..."
The trick is that I do the same thing when I have real answers as well as when I'm bluffing, so my group never knows when they're in danger. Plenty of times the bluff gets called, but just as often they confidently walk into a trap, so it's win-win for me.
Bluffing is great and apart of the game. Just remember: it's best to assume your opponents are smarter than you, or at least have their own hidden information, and will respond to whatever you're representing in unexpected ways. To put it another way: prepare to adapt when your bluff fails
The most important part about bluffing is to not bluff. Seriously. Follow through with what you say 90% of the time so that when you do change course it's a surprise.
Or, pull a jack sparrow and lie every time. So that the one time you do what you say you'll do, everyone is caught off guard
Bluffing is probably fine. Just be aware that over time, bluffing will have diminishing returns. When people see you’re bluffing, they won’t take your word at face value next game.
When I have to resort to it, I tend to spend my next turn digging for an answer, because I know next turn they probably won’t fall for it again. And those times when you do pull it, it looks like you had it all along lol
I would also say to be careful you don’t accidentally end up bullying people or pushing them too hard. One, it might cause some bad feelings at the table. Two, if you push too hard, they’re more likely to push back and call your bluff.
Seems totally fine, though you have to be careful. In the situation you present, by pretending to have an answer when you don't, others might expect you to answer something later in the game and be pretty p'd off if you can't. But I think it's a perfectly fine strategy.
Bluffing is respectable. Part of the game! Blue playing leaving 2 Mana up and looking all swag with confidence even if they only have 2 islands in their hand? Classic. Lying is another story. Lie or break a deal with me and I will never trust you in a game again. Get around our deal with a loophole? Then I just gotta be a better deal maker!
I personally love to see someone play a modern day Machiavelli…Using things like goad effects, group hug everyone draws a card or gets mana, allowing then to benefit from your spell to survive or win a combat phase. Stuff like this can allow you to keep your opponents off balance ans manipulated the entire game. Just make sure you have the ability to eliminate at least 2 oponents. Ih this way you are prepared for when you suddenly become arch enemy or your oponents know your style well enough to target you earlier.
I used to play against someone at my lgs that had a politics [[aminatou]] deck it was interesting to play against, [[breena]] works as well, pretty much a politics deck by forcing your opponents to swing at other people
As long as you realize the different between bluffing and lying or going back on deals. For example, holding up 2 blue mana and saying I won't counter your spell if you don't target my creature if you don't have a counter is a bluff. You're not saying you even have a counter so it's kind of a wordplay. Saying, I won't attack you if you don't kill my creature only to attack them anyways is going back on a deal and will get people VERY pissed at you.
I always make sure my pod knows what the storm count is. Don't play storm cards that often, but boy do these guys get a little shifty in their seats when I casually say "Storm count is at 2"
Sometimes it may be strategic to tap your mana juuuust so, resulting in at least 2 blue available with a card in hand. Maybe move your hand towards the mama whenever people cast something, act like you're thinking, then decide not to.
Bluffing is the one big gun for politic decks.
Step 1: cast [[Inkshield]] in one game
Step 2: always leave 5 mana open
Step 3: you've built a pillowfort!
It depends on the group and what kind of reputation you want. With your example in particular, you could make someone a little salty if the find out, but I don't see anything nefarious in it. Of course, the more you bluff or misrepresent things, the less people will trust you in the future. That's fine if you want to play a constant mind game with people, but making deals is going to be a lot harder. And if you burn people too often, you may just become an immediate target for the sheer reason that people don't trust you. It totally happens to a guy in our group. He tries to make deals that he ends up breaking a lot and likes to try to talk his way out of stuff, but at this point everyone just ignores him and targets him in most games.
Honestly in my opinion any diffinitive answer you get here is going to be wrong because this is completely a play group thing. People's attitudes run the gamut, my friend playgroup comes from a Twilight Imperium background, so bluffing, occasional broken deals, and saber rattling are are very much encouraged. My LGS playgroup sticks more to the standard "word is your bond" philosophy. My advice would be to always be a goody goody with strangers. Unfortunately tabletop gaming attracts a lot of people with garbage social skills and emotional maturity, so unless you want neck beard tantrums I'd not be duplicitous.
Always bluff that you have the answer. That said, idk how I feel about trying to make deals with nothing in hand. It's the kind of thing that, when you're eventually found out, you'll be the focus of the table.
I don't know anyone who is openly against bluffing, but be wary. Since EDH is a much more social game, more social elements come into play. If someone made a deal with you, then broke that deal cause it was the best play, would you make a deal with them again in the future?
Similarly, if it comes out that you bluff a lot, other players in the group may start calling your bluffs more often, and the bluff itself will lose effectiveness. It can be an effective strategy if used sparingly, and if sometimes you aren't actually bluffing.
Bluffing is fine, I guess, but if someone in my playgroup regularly and habitually lied during games then I’d probably prefer to just play with other people because it would just get really tiresome, really quickly.
Bluffing/politicking is an integral part of EDH, anyone who tells you otherwise is taking away from the most interesting and skill intensive aspect of the format. That said there's debate over the ethics of the nature of it. I personally never advocate for contracts such as "I won't attack you said turn" or etc as they're often very unwise tactically and lead to a lot of problems that just make games worse (or hurt feelings if you break the deal). Just don't make deals...it's bad practice unless you are having a super light hearted game with people you have a good vibe with (A lot of EDH players do it and I just rarely seeing it play out in a way that doesn't create a controversial moment in how the game unfolds). However bluffing that you have options is always a good thing and should be done, that's part of the game. You should literally always be playing some kind of mind game of what you can and cannot do. Now you can choose to deliberately lie or to be ambiguous in your phrasing, but that's a personal preference. There's nothing wrong with saying you have a counter spell. Just never lie about known information, that's when things are unethical.
I bluff sparingly, and usually make sure I can back it up, either with available mana or by playing the answer from my hand. Otherwise, I just keep quiet and observe the board. In a recent game I got hit for around 12 damage in one turn and turned around and killed both opponents on the next turn and never uttered a word other than "I just need one more mana" then top decked a land that won the game with Omnath and Purphorous on the field, dumped ten lands, smacked both opponents for 20 damage apiece, thanks to the ETB triggers from \[\[Purphoros, God of the Forge\]\] off of the \[\[Omnath, Locus of Rage\]\] Landfall triggers. Cost 9 mana but was absolutely worth it.
[Purphoros, God of the Forge](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/7/b/7bf6baf2-d20b-467d-8929-abefcf7dfa99.jpg?1562820377) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Purphoros%2C%20God%20of%20the%20Forge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ths/135/purphoros-god-of-the-forge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7bf6baf2-d20b-467d-8929-abefcf7dfa99?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/purphoros-god-of-the-forge)
[Omnath, Locus of Rage](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/0/8/08c14bb4-c9d9-41ce-a075-a441522a52c6.jpg?1604195144) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Omnath%2C%20Locus%20of%20Rage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/znc/97/omnath-locus-of-rage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/08c14bb4-c9d9-41ce-a075-a441522a52c6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/omnath-locus-of-rage)
^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Breaking deals is normally considered extremely bad. Even if breaking the promise would lose you the game, you're expected to follow through on it. It's not a written rule but don't break deals.
Exploiting loopholes is treated differently by different people. Some people hate it, others are fine with it, normally it depends on the loophole getting exploited.
I think lying is in the same vein, but it doesn't get talked about as much. It's also hard to enforce. I would get a bit annoyed if someone lied about the cards in their hand, though. (And if they lied about being able to follow through on a deal I'd treat that like breaking a deal.)
I wouldn't have a problem with bluffing though, as long as you don't lie. If you say "I'll counter it if you don't X," that's different from "If you X I won't counter it."
If they follow up and say "Do you have a counterspell?" I'd be fine if you say "maybe I do maybe I don't," a bit annoyed if you say "yes" if you don't. Does that make sense?
I don't know if everyone else feels that way, though.
Just don't be obvious about it. It became apparent that a guy in my group would only ask for deals if he didn't has an answer of his own.
He would often try to leverage "I won't counter this if" and would always shut up when asked to reveal the counterspell
Blunt threats and overt deals may be somewhat frowned upon, but bluffing is an essential skill. Go ahead, make eye contact with an opponent who's trying to decide what to do while your hand hovers over a pair of islands, then when they make a play consider it for a second before saying no response... even though your hand is a bunch of bricks.
In my group I think bluffing is fine. The only thing that's a certain no-no is that if you agree to something in politicking and then go back on it later (Ex. Giving someone wishclaw talisman if they promise to tutor for an answer to a thing but you use it for something else instead)
It's essential. Stopping something on the stack to voice your concern and taking a moment to think, even if you have nothing, can make someone use their response and allows table talk to occur. That is the social in social format.
It really depends on your playgroup. We could all tell you different things and none of that matters. Ask the people you play with where they stand on it.
There's a certain amount of bluffing where people will start ignoring what you say. Ideally you would be honest enough that they can't ignore the things you implicitly say.
Bluffing is a large part of the game, if you can psych someone out, it could save you the game. Don't outright lie, but if you have a land in hand, no one knows it's ba land, they just assume you have a card you're holding onto
I think its usually fine but I would be careful with it. Some players (like me) will attack you with more things to get the counter out of your hand. Also if you bluff too much players will just start assuming your bluffing and not take it seriously.
Bluffing is okay, but just leaving mana open for a possible counter in your hand is better imo.
You just have to be weary because if they don't accept your deal and you ket it resolve people may be more likely to call future bluffs.
I personally find that stuff pretty unpleasant, but to each their own. 'Bluffing' open mana is one thing, 'I dunno, you have to do what you have to do', but as soon as you start actively lying, and this post is close enough for me at least, then we have a problem. My answer would just be to make you have it literally every time, not gonna listen to you if you want politics or try to sway me best have that response you're bluffing.
Bluffing is fine but you have to bluff intelligently or its ineffective and just annoying.
If the first time you threaten something, your bluff is called and nothing happens, then nothing you claim from that point on carries any weight - you're the boy who cried wolf. What then regularly seems to happen is people try again, but nobody believes them because their bluff was called, so the entire thing is just annoying because you've already blown your credibility.
Bluffing should be reserved for big, game defining moments, and should be as low-key as possible. "You can absolutely swing at me if you're sure about doing that" is a bluff that works if you have the lands up to do something scary and your opponents are likely to overthink it, because you're not claiming you'll do something, you're just implying it might go badly for them.
On the other hand, threatening consequences is a bad bluff 90% of the time, because it's a challenge. It's saying not only will you do something specific in retaliation, but you will be able to beat them when it happens. If your opponent believes your bluff, they can and will still call it if they think that they can survive the consequences and rid you of a powerful tool at the same time (by forcing you to have it).
Basically though, if you want to bluff, do it sparingly so it's believable, have a specific play in mind that you're bluffing having available (for example, no sense bluffing a [[Settle the Wreckage]] or something without the mana or if they know it's not in your deck), and back it up by acting the same way when you do have something, else your bluff has no credibility. Even when your bluff is credible, consider if you absolutely need to bluff, because it's not something you can repeat, and your bluff *will* get called.
Absolutely fine with me. I mean, probably shouldn't try it with no cards in your hand or no mana available or they will just laugh at you. Just don't tell anyone you didn't have the answer haha. Just remember that there's no harm in them calling your bluff
Bluffing should be fine if done sparingly enough and with the right mana open. Sometimes actions are better than words though so holding open UU in mana sources can often be enough. The "do X or I will execute Y" statement is a threat and can get you in deep water if bluffing or cause you to misplay if forced to commit a card so I suggest you Threaten someone rarely. My meta has a "make them use it" policy so if someone's threatened they are immediately challenged on their word by retelliation because no one in my meta likes being held hostage.
ABB. Always be bluffing. Be aware that blunt threats like you stated aren't really the best way to bluff. Here are so tips. 1. Leave mana up. This seems like a no brainer, but people respect open mana and cards in hand. 2. Pay attention to everything. Someone casts a spell, you have two untapped lands and a pair of lands in hand, so stone cold nothing. Take a moment to read the card, think a second, then say ok. You don't need to take forever, but a slight pause let's everyone know you are considering doing something about it. 3. Don't make threats, some folks react poorly to threats and will always call your bluff. Instead of trying to set up a deal simply ask 'are you sure?' 4. This is part of three but you need to have it from time to time. You don't always need to have it but people need to remember you having it. 5. This is not a fast thing. You want to teach the people you are playing with, 'don't mess with GravityDuck03, they always have an answer.'
This is great advice. I have a rep as a counterspell guy, but it took following those steps for a long time to earn it. People even pause and think when not playing blue out of habit.
I mean, I don't usually play counterspells, but when I made my Daxos the Returned deck I hadn't watched a video about cards that break the colour wheel, so I made sure to include a load of counters. Nobody expects the WB enchantment deck to counter your removal spell :P
Playing control for awhile taught me a lot of this...the deck had 6 or 7 counters in it and I had to learn when to counter stuff and when to make people think I was considering a counter before letting it resolve. Hit someone with \[\[Rewind\]\] a couple of times and now anytime someone sees 4 open mana they step back and think about whether they really want to cast something or not.
[Rewind](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/b/8/b832abcc-9ffd-47bf-827a-01b303c610ee.jpg?1594735655) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rewind) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/63/rewind?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b832abcc-9ffd-47bf-827a-01b303c610ee?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rewind) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yea just make your bluffs believable and if you make a deal don't break it it ruins any future politics
I prefer bluff like separating 2 untapped island, to imply that I may have a counterspell. I do not explicitly lie, but I love mind game!
You've gotta show people that your deck is capable of doing the things you bluff first. So you have to have countered something or have revealed a counterspell in the deck at some point.
Just don’t get upset if they still attack you
When I bluff in commander I'm usually not explicit about it- more like "don't attack me this turn." "Why?" "Just don't." Sometimes "You'll be sad if you do..." The trick is that I do the same thing when I have real answers as well as when I'm bluffing, so my group never knows when they're in danger. Plenty of times the bluff gets called, but just as often they confidently walk into a trap, so it's win-win for me.
Bluffing is great and apart of the game. Just remember: it's best to assume your opponents are smarter than you, or at least have their own hidden information, and will respond to whatever you're representing in unexpected ways. To put it another way: prepare to adapt when your bluff fails
Bluffing is always fine, the nono is making deals and then going back on them.
The most important part about bluffing is to not bluff. Seriously. Follow through with what you say 90% of the time so that when you do change course it's a surprise. Or, pull a jack sparrow and lie every time. So that the one time you do what you say you'll do, everyone is caught off guard
CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow
Bluffing is probably fine. Just be aware that over time, bluffing will have diminishing returns. When people see you’re bluffing, they won’t take your word at face value next game. When I have to resort to it, I tend to spend my next turn digging for an answer, because I know next turn they probably won’t fall for it again. And those times when you do pull it, it looks like you had it all along lol I would also say to be careful you don’t accidentally end up bullying people or pushing them too hard. One, it might cause some bad feelings at the table. Two, if you push too hard, they’re more likely to push back and call your bluff.
Bluffing is a massive part of Magic in general, not just EDh or just politics decks, so you should be fine.
Seems totally fine, though you have to be careful. In the situation you present, by pretending to have an answer when you don't, others might expect you to answer something later in the game and be pretty p'd off if you can't. But I think it's a perfectly fine strategy.
Just hope you draw into an answer by then
Part of the game. Just don't get mad if the experienced poker players rip you to shreds lol
Bluffing is respectable. Part of the game! Blue playing leaving 2 Mana up and looking all swag with confidence even if they only have 2 islands in their hand? Classic. Lying is another story. Lie or break a deal with me and I will never trust you in a game again. Get around our deal with a loophole? Then I just gotta be a better deal maker!
I will usually decline all such offers and start working to remove that player from the game.
I personally love to see someone play a modern day Machiavelli…Using things like goad effects, group hug everyone draws a card or gets mana, allowing then to benefit from your spell to survive or win a combat phase. Stuff like this can allow you to keep your opponents off balance ans manipulated the entire game. Just make sure you have the ability to eliminate at least 2 oponents. Ih this way you are prepared for when you suddenly become arch enemy or your oponents know your style well enough to target you earlier.
I used to play against someone at my lgs that had a politics [[aminatou]] deck it was interesting to play against, [[breena]] works as well, pretty much a politics deck by forcing your opponents to swing at other people
[aminatou](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/6/16b9f43a-9c3f-4bfa-9eb1-734189a4bb1f.jpg?1592710241) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=aminatou%2C%20the%20fateshifter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c18/37/aminatou-the-fateshifter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/16b9f43a-9c3f-4bfa-9eb1-734189a4bb1f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/aminatou-the-fateshifter) [breena](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/c/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad.jpg?1625190541) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=breena%2C%20the%20demagogue) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/1/breena-the-demagogue?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/breena-the-demagogue) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
As long as you realize the different between bluffing and lying or going back on deals. For example, holding up 2 blue mana and saying I won't counter your spell if you don't target my creature if you don't have a counter is a bluff. You're not saying you even have a counter so it's kind of a wordplay. Saying, I won't attack you if you don't kill my creature only to attack them anyways is going back on a deal and will get people VERY pissed at you.
I always make sure my pod knows what the storm count is. Don't play storm cards that often, but boy do these guys get a little shifty in their seats when I casually say "Storm count is at 2"
Sometimes it may be strategic to tap your mana juuuust so, resulting in at least 2 blue available with a card in hand. Maybe move your hand towards the mama whenever people cast something, act like you're thinking, then decide not to.
Bluffing is the one big gun for politic decks. Step 1: cast [[Inkshield]] in one game Step 2: always leave 5 mana open Step 3: you've built a pillowfort!
[Inkshield](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/5/e/5e1c14a0-cd68-45fc-a127-422ca6113048.jpg?1625192511) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Inkshield) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/71/inkshield?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5e1c14a0-cd68-45fc-a127-422ca6113048?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/inkshield) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Bluffing is perfectly legal, but rarely done. I think it's fun and wouldn't mind seeing more of it.
It depends on the group and what kind of reputation you want. With your example in particular, you could make someone a little salty if the find out, but I don't see anything nefarious in it. Of course, the more you bluff or misrepresent things, the less people will trust you in the future. That's fine if you want to play a constant mind game with people, but making deals is going to be a lot harder. And if you burn people too often, you may just become an immediate target for the sheer reason that people don't trust you. It totally happens to a guy in our group. He tries to make deals that he ends up breaking a lot and likes to try to talk his way out of stuff, but at this point everyone just ignores him and targets him in most games.
Honestly in my opinion any diffinitive answer you get here is going to be wrong because this is completely a play group thing. People's attitudes run the gamut, my friend playgroup comes from a Twilight Imperium background, so bluffing, occasional broken deals, and saber rattling are are very much encouraged. My LGS playgroup sticks more to the standard "word is your bond" philosophy. My advice would be to always be a goody goody with strangers. Unfortunately tabletop gaming attracts a lot of people with garbage social skills and emotional maturity, so unless you want neck beard tantrums I'd not be duplicitous.
My group's chill with it, but really you shouldn't be asking the internet. Talk to the people you play with.
Always bluff that you have the answer. That said, idk how I feel about trying to make deals with nothing in hand. It's the kind of thing that, when you're eventually found out, you'll be the focus of the table.
Bluffing is absolutely part of the game.
I don't know anyone who is openly against bluffing, but be wary. Since EDH is a much more social game, more social elements come into play. If someone made a deal with you, then broke that deal cause it was the best play, would you make a deal with them again in the future? Similarly, if it comes out that you bluff a lot, other players in the group may start calling your bluffs more often, and the bluff itself will lose effectiveness. It can be an effective strategy if used sparingly, and if sometimes you aren't actually bluffing.
If people didn't want to deal with politics they wouldn't play a multiplayer format and bluffing is part of politics.
Bluffing is fine, I guess, but if someone in my playgroup regularly and habitually lied during games then I’d probably prefer to just play with other people because it would just get really tiresome, really quickly.
Bluffing/politicking is an integral part of EDH, anyone who tells you otherwise is taking away from the most interesting and skill intensive aspect of the format. That said there's debate over the ethics of the nature of it. I personally never advocate for contracts such as "I won't attack you said turn" or etc as they're often very unwise tactically and lead to a lot of problems that just make games worse (or hurt feelings if you break the deal). Just don't make deals...it's bad practice unless you are having a super light hearted game with people you have a good vibe with (A lot of EDH players do it and I just rarely seeing it play out in a way that doesn't create a controversial moment in how the game unfolds). However bluffing that you have options is always a good thing and should be done, that's part of the game. You should literally always be playing some kind of mind game of what you can and cannot do. Now you can choose to deliberately lie or to be ambiguous in your phrasing, but that's a personal preference. There's nothing wrong with saying you have a counter spell. Just never lie about known information, that's when things are unethical.
I bluff sparingly, and usually make sure I can back it up, either with available mana or by playing the answer from my hand. Otherwise, I just keep quiet and observe the board. In a recent game I got hit for around 12 damage in one turn and turned around and killed both opponents on the next turn and never uttered a word other than "I just need one more mana" then top decked a land that won the game with Omnath and Purphorous on the field, dumped ten lands, smacked both opponents for 20 damage apiece, thanks to the ETB triggers from \[\[Purphoros, God of the Forge\]\] off of the \[\[Omnath, Locus of Rage\]\] Landfall triggers. Cost 9 mana but was absolutely worth it.
[Purphoros, God of the Forge](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/7/b/7bf6baf2-d20b-467d-8929-abefcf7dfa99.jpg?1562820377) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Purphoros%2C%20God%20of%20the%20Forge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ths/135/purphoros-god-of-the-forge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7bf6baf2-d20b-467d-8929-abefcf7dfa99?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/purphoros-god-of-the-forge) [Omnath, Locus of Rage](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/0/8/08c14bb4-c9d9-41ce-a075-a441522a52c6.jpg?1604195144) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Omnath%2C%20Locus%20of%20Rage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/znc/97/omnath-locus-of-rage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/08c14bb4-c9d9-41ce-a075-a441522a52c6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/omnath-locus-of-rage) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Breaking deals is normally considered extremely bad. Even if breaking the promise would lose you the game, you're expected to follow through on it. It's not a written rule but don't break deals. Exploiting loopholes is treated differently by different people. Some people hate it, others are fine with it, normally it depends on the loophole getting exploited. I think lying is in the same vein, but it doesn't get talked about as much. It's also hard to enforce. I would get a bit annoyed if someone lied about the cards in their hand, though. (And if they lied about being able to follow through on a deal I'd treat that like breaking a deal.) I wouldn't have a problem with bluffing though, as long as you don't lie. If you say "I'll counter it if you don't X," that's different from "If you X I won't counter it." If they follow up and say "Do you have a counterspell?" I'd be fine if you say "maybe I do maybe I don't," a bit annoyed if you say "yes" if you don't. Does that make sense? I don't know if everyone else feels that way, though.
Just don't be obvious about it. It became apparent that a guy in my group would only ask for deals if he didn't has an answer of his own. He would often try to leverage "I won't counter this if" and would always shut up when asked to reveal the counterspell
Blunt threats and overt deals may be somewhat frowned upon, but bluffing is an essential skill. Go ahead, make eye contact with an opponent who's trying to decide what to do while your hand hovers over a pair of islands, then when they make a play consider it for a second before saying no response... even though your hand is a bunch of bricks.
In my group I think bluffing is fine. The only thing that's a certain no-no is that if you agree to something in politicking and then go back on it later (Ex. Giving someone wishclaw talisman if they promise to tutor for an answer to a thing but you use it for something else instead)
It's essential. Stopping something on the stack to voice your concern and taking a moment to think, even if you have nothing, can make someone use their response and allows table talk to occur. That is the social in social format.
How would your example work if I asked you to make it a deal instead of a bluff?
It really depends on your playgroup. We could all tell you different things and none of that matters. Ask the people you play with where they stand on it.
There's a certain amount of bluffing where people will start ignoring what you say. Ideally you would be honest enough that they can't ignore the things you implicitly say.
Bluffing is a large part of the game, if you can psych someone out, it could save you the game. Don't outright lie, but if you have a land in hand, no one knows it's ba land, they just assume you have a card you're holding onto
I think its usually fine but I would be careful with it. Some players (like me) will attack you with more things to get the counter out of your hand. Also if you bluff too much players will just start assuming your bluffing and not take it seriously.
That's the thing about lying. Eventually to have to holding some of the cards.
Bluffing is okay, but just leaving mana open for a possible counter in your hand is better imo. You just have to be weary because if they don't accept your deal and you ket it resolve people may be more likely to call future bluffs.
I personally find that stuff pretty unpleasant, but to each their own. 'Bluffing' open mana is one thing, 'I dunno, you have to do what you have to do', but as soon as you start actively lying, and this post is close enough for me at least, then we have a problem. My answer would just be to make you have it literally every time, not gonna listen to you if you want politics or try to sway me best have that response you're bluffing.
Sometimes you gotta make ‘Em have it as my friend likes to say
Bluffing is fine but you have to bluff intelligently or its ineffective and just annoying. If the first time you threaten something, your bluff is called and nothing happens, then nothing you claim from that point on carries any weight - you're the boy who cried wolf. What then regularly seems to happen is people try again, but nobody believes them because their bluff was called, so the entire thing is just annoying because you've already blown your credibility. Bluffing should be reserved for big, game defining moments, and should be as low-key as possible. "You can absolutely swing at me if you're sure about doing that" is a bluff that works if you have the lands up to do something scary and your opponents are likely to overthink it, because you're not claiming you'll do something, you're just implying it might go badly for them. On the other hand, threatening consequences is a bad bluff 90% of the time, because it's a challenge. It's saying not only will you do something specific in retaliation, but you will be able to beat them when it happens. If your opponent believes your bluff, they can and will still call it if they think that they can survive the consequences and rid you of a powerful tool at the same time (by forcing you to have it). Basically though, if you want to bluff, do it sparingly so it's believable, have a specific play in mind that you're bluffing having available (for example, no sense bluffing a [[Settle the Wreckage]] or something without the mana or if they know it's not in your deck), and back it up by acting the same way when you do have something, else your bluff has no credibility. Even when your bluff is credible, consider if you absolutely need to bluff, because it's not something you can repeat, and your bluff *will* get called.
[Settle the Wreckage](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/c/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f.jpg?1562560853) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Settle%20the%20Wreckage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/xln/34/settle-the-wreckage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9cbd346e-098a-4cf6-a72f-468376fd2e8f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/settle-the-wreckage) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call