Hacker News Reader

Does the author actually define "metagame" anywhere? He seems to use the term throughout the article to mean multiple subtly different things.

View on HN

The author's usage of "meta" doesn't match up with how I've seen it used elsewhere. He refers to the "metagame" when really he's just talking about the game itself.

He defines it when talking about Magic, where there's the two games. The match "game", once you sit down with your decks and draw 7. And the metagame, where you choose which decks to bring, what sideboard to pick, etc.

If there's a really popular rush deck, do you drop some cards which shut down blue control and put in some anti rush cards? That will help when you match against the rush deck, but if everyone does it, then when you reach the finals you might be against the control deck.

That's the metagame, at least how it's used in those circles.

yes, the author seems to use "metagame" to mean a combination of pre-game strategizing (including creation opponent specific strategy) and post game review (+ absorbing lessons learned into the pre game strategizing for the next game).

Yeah, this article is a woolly mess.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com