Subject: To post or not to post (decklists) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 12:13:23 -0400 From: Justin Quarantello To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Decklists: To post or not to post, is that really the question? In response to the dizzying amount of articles that have been posted in the past few days about the dojo posting decklists, I thought I might inject a bit more wisdom into this enlightened discussion (read heavy sarcasm.) If there is one thing that players on both sides of this long-standing dispute can agree on it is that we all want to see the best players come out on top at the tournaments. Proponents of the "dojo effect" contend that the best players will use the information they get from the dojo to get an idea of what the competition will be like so that they can better prepare their deck. This makes sense: it is only natural to want to know what one will be up against. Let’s face it, every deck has strengths and weaknesses, and a deck type that is extremely effective against a particular deck type might be worthless against another. Only a fool would not want to exploit the weaknesses of the more popular decks out there, and devote much of his attention to formulating a deck to do just that. In addition, with the recent addition of the team to high level magic play, the dojo allows loners the same benefit as having a team to continually practice with. Opponents of the "dojo effect" content that publishing decklists has the effect of stifling creativity, and indeed they do make a valid point. Many players do not use the resources of the dojo in the manner in which they are intended, and directly copy a decklist and take it to a tournament. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that many-a-tournament has been won by a player with a Xeroxed dojo deck. This puts the creative player in quite a dilemma. If he brings his innovative deck to a tournament, he will get crushed. The problem with this is not just that the innovator does not have an even playing field: if this person has a deck idea that is truly superior to the competitive decks, that idea may never be manifested in a tournament level deck. Why? Because history has proven many heads are better than one, and even though he has an idea for a new deck, the competitive decks have been tempered to near perfection. This effect may narrow the competitive field to 3 or 4 decks. So the argument basically comes down to this: who is the better magic player, the innovator, or the savvy player? Is a good player one who can look at the competitive field and discern which deck has the best merits, and what weaknesses he can exploit in other decks? Is a good player one who knows the rules better than the judges? (A task I might add that is not too hard to accomplish for one with a three digit IQ, but that is an issue for another time.) Is a good player one who can go to a booster draft and formulate a strategy on the fly? Is a good player on who can go to a prerelease tournament and immediately pick out the most abusive combos and strategies that will appear in the coming months? I think we’ll all agree that these are all traits that a good player should have, and both types of players need to be rewarded. All this being said, the reason why the dojo has come under such heavy criticism is that the innovator’s job becomes that much more difficult with the most tuned decks so easily available. Another thing that has to be said is that the internet is a free speech media and that if the dojo does not publish decklists, someone else will. Critics of the dojo are really critics of one of the fundamental tenets of the constitution: freedom to share ideas. So perhaps the blame for the stagnating tournament environment is being placed in the wrong place. The real culprit is the DCI. The major complaint that opponents of the "dojo effect" is that copied decks are dominating the tournament scene. The whole reason for this is of course, that the pro tour qualifiers are spread out over such a period of time. With a month or more to publish decklists, the metagame has no real factor in the tournaments in the second half of the qualifier series. The simple fact is that WotC and DCI need to do something about the current condition of the tournament environment, to be sure that copied decklists are not rewarded. There are two major ways of doing this. This first is by changing the cards they print in new sets. Frankly, they are not powerful enough to significantly alter any strategies in classic or extended tournaments, and this causes a stagnation in these types of tournaments. The second way is to make sure all sorts of formats are used in qualifiers and pro-tour tournaments, to keep players on their feet. By consistently varying the tournament format, "surprise" decks and the metagame will one again be important, and these are critical factors in assuring that the creative player, and not just the savvy player are rewarded. Of course the dojo and other internet websites will still play an important role in deck construction, but more along the lines of their intended role. This article by Justin Quarantello Please send all your hate mail to quaranjm@draco.clarkson.edu