Subject: re: Publishing Decklists Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 17:10:01 PDT From: "Britt Adams" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Ah, the infamous "Dojo Decks". The debate will rage for eons. On the one hand, you have the "Traditionalists" who feel that the Dojo is killing a once proud game of thought and skill by bypassing one of the most important parts of the game, deck building. The great decks of the time are listed for you. There is no need to come up with anything yourself. On the other hand, you have "Dojoites"(cool name, huh) who could care less about making a deck themselves. They just want a tournament level deck with which they can be competitive. They love to play, compete, and win. Who is right and who is wrong? Should the Magic world fall on the side of the "Traditionalists" and deprive players the opportunity to see and copy the best decks runnings today? Should we file behind the "Dojoites" and copy the "hottest decks" to run in the next tournament we play realizing that no deck plays by itself. There still has to be someone shuffling, tapping, casting, and attacking. Deck building is half of the fun of Magic. When most of us first started the game we thought that one of the coolest parts of Magic was that you yourself got to create your own deck. It was yours from the start and you could tinker with it and tweak it to your heart's content. The only way that you could copy a deck was to copy a buddy's deck that had won the last tournament or one that had beaten yours to a pulp. Now, with the advent of the Internet, decks are only a few keystrokes away. You cannot uninvent something. Deck lists will be out there no matter what anyone does and Traditionalists must adapt. I have a few suggestions and ideas to help Traditionalists adjust. Deck building is a process of trial and error. There is no one "unbeatable" deck. The deck that may give your deck fits may be easy pickings for another type of deck. Traditionalists need to remember this fact of Magic. In Standard play today, Counter-Sliver can almost always beat Blue-Bounce, while White Weenie can do very well against CS but not BB. Just because someone got a deck at the Dojo doesn't mean that they will win. Furthermore, people still have to play the deck. Practice is very important in tournament level Magic. There are very few people that can sit down with a Pros/Bloom Deck for the first time and win. There are many things that you need to do and not do to the get the combo working. Even simpler decks like Sligh and Stompy require a player to practice to be able to know what to do. Traditionalists also need to remember that not everyone has the cards to play a "Dojo Deck". Many people do not have four Cursed Scrolls, or four Tradewind Riders, or four Armageddons just laying around( I sure don't). The cards still need to be bought are traded for before you can play the deck. The trading part of this should rekindle a little hope for Traditionalists. Trading is an important part of the game, too. All in all, I think that Traditionalists need to hang tough. Keep building decks, that is part of the fun for you. If Dojoites grab their's from the Net, so be it. Let them play and compete. Competition is what games are all about and this game is chalk full of it. B. Ames stack94@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com