Not a real post

Today I slept in, did some dishes, shoveled a lot of snow, and did a bunch of research on Magic the Gathering decks for the coming weekend. That probably sounds silly to a lot of people, but with the strategy changing on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis, there is a lot to stay on top of. I feel good in my knowledge of what's going on, but there is a lot I can't predict. According to the sources I've looked up, four or five particular strategies should be the most popular, and I feel okay about most of them, but two things can happen. The first is that my deck could show up on everyone's radar, in which case I will need a plan for their plan against my original plan. This is what's referred to as the "metagame." My deck has a powerful strategy. Other decks have ways to stop it after the first game they see it. So I need to decide whether I need to have a second plan, or whether they will not be prepared for my strategy. If they are prepared for it, things get worse quickly, because then I have to decide what ways they will prepare for it and be ready to not only execute my original plan, but stop their counter-plan. This is one of the main reasons for choosing a deck that people aren't expecting. Then you only have to worry about your plan and their original plan. It's a one and two level system rather than a three, four, or five level system. At some point it may even be correct to assume they are ready for your plan and completely change plans in the second or third game. Or change plans for the second and revert to the original for the third. Or if you're playing someone you know, and they think you're changing things drastically for the second, leaving everything as-is could be the right move. It's not easy to figure out. So that's the research I was doing. And I feel okay about it, but my deck has been showing up a lot more places recently, so it's a bit unsettling. Hopefully this weekend is just early enough that people aren't quite ready, because I'm pretty sure it's too late to switch. Acquiring new cards at this point would be a pricy endeavor, and I'm really the most comfortable with my deck so the switch would take some serious reconfiguring of my play style. Unless something changes seriously in the next couple of days (which could definitely happen), I'm staying the course.

I just typed this on my phone, so there could definitely be some fascinating typos. Sorry in at advance, and thanks for staying tuned. I'm not sure when I'll be posting normally again, but I'd like to think Wednesday.