Mana Drain tips

[forests failed you]

THowever, even Demars burnt off Mana Drain mana, after casting a couple of spells mind you

I didn't have any spells I could cast!

You said it at least fifty times after Duressing me;  MY HAND SUCKED SO BAD GAME THREE, and it was true.  Mana Drain's delayed trigger did not help me cast any of the 5 land and 2 Moxes in my hand.  Thank god for Jeff Anand and his forcing me to put LoA in my list at the last minute to save the day.

Quote fixed. -Klep

[Methuselahn]

I think that you touched upon some of the basics regarding Mana Drain decks.  I was half-expecting the article to be about the card itself, but instead, was just about some things you should keep in mind when playing a deck with Mana Drain in it.  I realize that it was intended for newer players and all, but this is suppossed to be the Vintage Open Forum where more advanced topics are discussed where basic users can respond and I feel that it was quite one sided and lacking in the places where it would be most effective.

I was really hoping to see coverage of how to play and play against Mana Drain decks.  Perhaps this would have made the article more complete.  For example, there's no mention of playing the Drain mirror outside of when you should drop moxen.  Like, playing bombs on your opponent's upkeep, before the draw, so that they tap blue during their draw, get the mana during their first main and are forced to eat it because they are out of colored mana.  This is a critical piece of strategy that wasn't touched upon at all.

6.  My opponent has a Pithing Needle on the stack.

This is just wrong and impractical.  In all my testing and tournament experience, I have never
had an opponent name a fetchland. (and yes, I don't crack them with needle on the stack)  Why?  Because of two reasons, they are playing those fetchlands too, there are FAR better choices to name, or both.

[Metman]

I have really enjoyed the discussion on this topic and I don't think it is for new players at all.  I have a lot of experience playing Drain decks (as long as I've played Magic so eight years now).  I too have gained some knowledge from this discussion.  I thoroughly enjoy learning how different people play the card differently in various situations.  Therefore I believe this discussion should stay here in this forum. 
What I found most useful is the Brainstorm/Fetchland timing situations.  These are topics and discussions that aren't talked about as far as I know but I believe they are fundemental plays that make a player better.  To be perfectly honest I hadn't thought this deeply about it, and it's good to see some people bringing it into the limelight.  There are plenty of new and experienced players that can benefit from this discussion.  I am hoping to see more talk on this topic and more on how to play specific cards in certain situations with a variaty of decks. 

[pyr0ma5ta]

Playing a bomb during upkeep?  I'd never even considered that.  Wow, that definitely changes the way I'll be playing in the future.

[PucktheCat]

I was thinking about Fetchlands a bit more.  Other situations where it is correct to fetch include:

When you are about to use a Mirage block tutor (Mystical, Vampiric) and your opponent has a Wasteland (only if you are going to fetch a basic).
When you have only one draw phase left to find a particular answer, and a drawing a land would lose you the game.

The Pithing Needle thing seems pretty situational.  If you have out more than one of the same fetch and your opponent has none it might be correct to crack one or more.