Subject: MISC submission Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 03:59:46 PDT From: "Luis Buenaventura" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com (This is written in reaction to Dorian Anders'article about stopping the listing of decks on the Net.) The relevant passage: >The practice of publishing constructed deck lists >on the Dojo is very bad for Magic as a whole. (No problem with >sealed deck lists here - just constructed). >Fine- publish the ideas behind the decks. >Fine - publish the combos that make the deck work but >DON'T PUBLISH THE COMPLETE DECKLISTS.. PLEASE stop doing this. To put it simply, I don't agree with Mr. Anders. The solution he puts forth (i.e., stop publishing decklists) sounds a little too simplistic to me. A lot of people use decklists from the Dojo. A lot of people win tournaments with these decks. A lot of people are lazy and unimaginative. That's the real problem. Not publishing decklists doesn't solve anything. Because if they can't get it from the Net, they'll just get it elsewhere. Who's to stop them from rummaging through their friends' stuff to find some tourney-winning deck? I mean, c'mon. The problem is in the people. The presence of decklists is coincidental. The Dojo was made for Magic players to talk about their deck designs, their tourney experiences and, most importantly, to learn from each other. Although some people will often take this a step too far by copying a deck outright, it isn't the Dojo's (or any other websites') responsibility to restrict access to this information. That's the user's lookout. Besides, the Dojo effect is a two-way street. Anybody who's knowledgeable of the metagame (or the perceived metagame) will be able to predict what decks he will be going up against. The disadvantage of playing with copied archetypes is that it makes you very predictable. Granted, it's a lot easier to copy a deck than to metagame against an archetypal environment, but at least there's a way to get back at those deck copiers. Luis Buenaventura luis_12@hotmail.com luis@pinoymail.com Quezon City, Philippines ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com