Subject: Send in "Masked" Decklists Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 11:05:24 -0400 From: Dorian Anders To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi Frank, I was wondering if it would be appropriate for me to send in a followup response to all the replies to my "Stop printing Decklists" post.. To the honorable opposition: I have listened to your ideas that the Dojo should print decklists because: (1) If the Dojo doesn't, someone else will (2) They actually stimulate creativity (I'm still having trouble with that one) (3) Its good business and attracts people to the Dojo (4) It helps new players catch up (5) It teaches players how to make a good deck And I would like to offer the following compromise - based upon a concept in one of the old magic cards, Illusionary Mask. Let us "mask" some of the cards in each published decklist and leave those cards to be filled in by the reader. I would suggest "masking" support cards (perhaps 8-12 cards). The category of the card "masked" could be given (as a clue). For example, The Godzilla deck 4 Animate Dead 4 Verdant Force 4 Necromancy 4 Mana Leak 2 Living Death 3 (creature) 4 Dark Ritual 2 (creature) 4 Hidden Horror 4 (creature control) 4 Merfolk Traders 2 (?) 20 Assorted Land With the outline of the deck and the main combo cards listed, any player could fill in the "masked" cards, thus truly learning some deck construction principles. This should also stimulate interest in deck construction, as players tried to guess what cards the original deck builder had actually used. Needless to say, the variety of decks resulting from this approach would be greater. If this meets with approval, all you need to do is to start sending in partially "masked" decklists along with your tournament reports. I think that the Dojo will print in whatever lists you send. So MASK your decklists and let's start a new trend. Thank you for considering this approach. Dorian Anders Level 3 Judge Tournament Coordinator, Philadelphia suburbs DCI Policy Advisory Committee member played in the NYProTour '98 (got trounced) (and in this case "Dorian" is a female name:)