Subject: Re: The War college, resource speed, card/mana
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 19:47:31 -0600 (CST)
From: Rick Poehling <kysersze@creighton.edu>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

        One of the oldest ideas since the beginning of the modern warfare
is the weighing of the usefullness applied to every type of resource
available to a general. In Magic, there can be no exception to this ideal.
The idea of resource and speed management have existed since the earliest
days of the channel/fireball, the ultimate sacrificing of resources. Life
is used in this case, allowing for the speed advantage that is
uncounterable in most cases. Indeed, the extreme speed in which this idea
can be mounted was the very force behind the banning of one of it's
pieces.
        In the very nature of Magic, there is a struggle that is
continuous. I believe that Dark Ritual may be the prime example of this
conflict, classic on both sides. We speak in terms of 'card' advantage vs
'speed' advantage. Yet this using of these terms requires some strict
examination of several principles.

        B       Dark Ritual- add 3 black to your pool.

        On the one hand, the sheer speed in which this card can turn your
game into a higher level is not to be denied. This is most prevelant in
the idea of the first turn Hippie, which usually spelled doom for the
opponent on the other side. Dark Ritual is the prime example of
sacrificing one thing, a card in hand, as a resource, to establish a quick
and often deadly advantage. It is in the other card that is played that
this card in most ideal- it exists as a fodder card in the first. This
should lead us to question the ideal usefullness of the card, in this case
quite ideal.
        Yet, one of the ideas in magic is that we need to create a deck
that utilizes a card that is ideal in all circumstances. Hence, the reason
for which Ancestral Recall is generally considered the best card of all
time. In no way is there a drawback to the card itself, even under the
threat of black vise, since you will likely play those cards drawn asap.
This card and dark ritual are comparable, yet they exist with dark ritual
being far weaker. The reason is of course, simple: there is a less
likelihood that the opposing player will deal with the recall, since you
have in actuality doubled your pressing threats in hand. While the hippie
can be bolted, or choose a life of farming with STP, that dark ritual is
gone forever. Yet, if the player who just Ancestralled is Hymned, he
retains the one card that he lost in playing the ancestral. In terms of
resources available, the Recall player has lost nothing. Although the loss
of the two cards drawn will hinder his deck, his actual card in hand count
has not diminished.
        The above is meant to establish the idea that a required amount of
risk is neccessary to play D. ritual. In this vein, I would like to point
out the idea of "knowing your enemy." For the player who plays a deck in
which he sees no early bolts or stps, it is fairly safe for that player to
play the ritualed specter in the future against said opponent. This is a
textbook example of the idea of resource management with a twist- to know
your enemy is to allow the most flexible and maximum use of all of your
resources.
        Any card in which the player must sacrifice a resource requires
the idea that the said resource must be sacrificed maximally. Block and
then sac the creature. Abeyance before going into pros-bloom. And so on.
The idea is that resource management is about the knowledge of your enemy.
This knowledge comes from both the play value and from the very nature of
your opponents deck.

Comments?

Yours in the Force,
Rick Poehling
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