Chess and Go aren ' t perfect , but they ' re the best we ' ve done so far . <| sep |> A good DM plays intelligent foes effectively . I don ' t know what a magic hand wave is , but forcing a concentration check isn ' t the only way to end a spell . Making the player unable to concentrate by putting them to sleep , stunning , or knocking them unconscious is all viable . My players know if they whip out a spell on a BBEG that really puta it at a disadvantage , they ' re more than likely going to get backlash from that BBEG . Sometimes it works in their favor , since it takes the pressure off their previous target , but I ' m not usually going to sit there and let a player keep his concentration spell up for 6 rounds if it ' s a threat . When my players fought Baba Lysaga who ' s a 16 th level spellcaster , the druid who is level 7 or 8 kept putting up lightning storm and Lysaga focused on that character . IMO playing a monster below its intelligence so a player can win is a magic hand wave .