Subject: Dojo: Good or Evil?
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 15:09:27 -0700
From: Claude Mona <cmona@ucsd.edu>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Okay.  I have been watching the horizon, waiting for the coming storm.
Here it is.
Suddenly, either the Dojo is more sacred than Mecca, or it is more
twisted and evil than......
(I don't know, Bill Gates? - insert favorite evil person here)!

I pondered the situation, and decided to refer to the required reading
to see what the greatest MTG player of all time had to say about it.

"So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not
be imperiled in 100 battles; if you do not know others but know
yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know others and
do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle"  Sun
Tzu

So.  If you know the contents of your deck, and know how to play it you
will crush anyone who is playing a straight-off-the-Dojo deck.  That is
simply the case because you will know each card in their deck before it
is played.  If you are losing to 'scrubs', 'xeroxers', and 'cheatin'
bastards' it is because you do not know their deck.  Period.
If you know your deck, but do not know theirs, then it becomes much more
of a game of chance.  You may play your deck well, but they may surprise
you with a twist or card that you had not considered.  Turbo-Zvi is a
prime example.  I am very glad that I had a chance to prepare myself for
that thing.  Could you imagine having to face it in a match for the
first time?  This is somewhat akin to going into battle without any
advance reports of capabilities of the enemy troops.  It didn't work in
the past, and it doesn't work now.  Information is power.
If you don't understand exactly how your deck works, and you don't know
exactly how their deck works, then you have a snowball's chance of
prevailing in the exchange.  You may as well just roll over and die.
I'm not claiming to be immune to the effects of the SCREW, but short of
that you should be well able to hold your own.  So much the better if
your opponent is playing something copied card for card off the net.
You should definitely crush them...unless you are guilty of the offense
of being unprepared.

If your opponent is going to play an archetype deck and you have studied
how this deck works, then we can once again consult the man:
"The superior military strategist strikes while schemes are being laid.
The next best is to attack alliances.  The next best is to attack the
army"  Sun Tzu

If you know what the opponent is playing, you can begin to defeat their
deck from the first card that they lay.  Bolt the birds, if birds are a
threat in their deck.  Save the disenchant for the Winter Orb, if you
know that it is coming.  Save a Counterspell for the Wrath of God.
Fight over the Maroskin if thats what will crush you in the end.  Attack
the central ideas of the deck.  If it is a weenie swarmer style of
attack, is it worth getting burned for 8-10 points by tapping out to lay
the Propaganda?  It is if that defeats their deck strategy.  If the
central idea of their deck is unknown to you, shame on you for not
perusing the Dojo :-)
If it is the case that your opponent is playing a <gasp> rogue deck or
you just don't know what he is up to, then you must resort to attacking
the synergistic elements of the deck.  You cannot allow both Propaganda
and Winter Orb to hit the table if you want to play a successful sligh
style deck.  You must know which card is worse for you.  The appropriate
response depends on knowing your deck.
The least effective reponse is to attack what cards are in play without
regard for the greater strategy.  You will find yourself having wasted
cards that you now desparately need.  'Gee, I wish I would've waited to
cast that Disenchant on the Cursed Scroll instead of the Marble
Diamond'.

The advantage in a battle lies with the warrior that is prepared.  The
Dojo is a great training ground for those seeking to improve their
intelligence and prepare for encounters with players outside their
immediate area.  That is all that it is.  No more, no less.

--
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines