Defining Strategy

[Warrior Rapter]

I'm sure most of us know what strategies are, whether it be in a game, on a board, hidden within cards, or something we use in our lives as a plan for the future. But how do you define it?

For me personally, do to much of my experience concerning different types of strategies having come from playing some type of game, it's that experience that I draw on for the this question when I say that I feel like strategy could be defined as an art - the art even - of being lucky more frequently, and I know that can be a little controversial, considering many people view strategies as skill based, but are they really?

Admittedly, experience can play a good portion as well. If you are in a position in a game where you are seeing others just use a similar strategy over and over, the next time you play you are going to expect it, right? But, at the same time, I feel like there are some people who misjudge how much like they could actually be using. Card games in particular are a good example, where the start of the strategy for it lies with what is in the deck. Odds in your favor of getting the card you are needing or not, you are still playing with luck. I feel like the same could be said with judging your opponent, too. You can plan for a strategy that you're expecting to see, you can play the odds in your favor if that's what they are actually doing, and like with the cards, the odds of seeing something different are just as likely as not getting a certain card.

What happens in the chance that you are unlucky once? You may try a move that shows your opponent that you are not out of the game yet, slowing them down via a more defensive play or a quick hit at a vulnerability, the end result the same: buying time. Divert their focus just long enough for you to improve your odds. Of you getting a luckier outcome.

What are your guys thoughts?

 

[Flushed]

From my experience (I feel competitive Pokemon actually relates well here), you try to come up with a strategy that is more reliant on your skill than luck. Assuming you have sufficient skill, you want to be able to control the outcome, as relying on chance isn't a guaranteed win. Obviously you're not going to win them all, but having a set strategy that works, you can be more confident in your ability to succeed, and you being the one in control is a rather advantageous position to have.

Of course your opponent (whether this be a game, life situation, etc) is going to, well, oppose you. A good strategy prepares for any possible roadblocks, and I guess the rest is up to your skill in being able to adapt and outwit the opponent if it comes down to it. You bring up card games, but those are pretty much luck-based to begin with, so really the best you can do is play to push the odds in your favor.

 

[Kanzler]

I can only discuss this in the context of military strategy :( because that's what I'm used to. Strategy is the fulfillment of main ends, the overarching goals. Tactics are the fulfillment of the means, how you conduct battles. Operations bridge and coordinate between strategy and tactics. I guess in terms of life strategy would be planning out which skills and things you want to acquire to fulfill your goal and your tactics would be the habits that allow this to happen on a day to day basis. Operations would be a plan of using the habits to achieve the skills and things you've decided will help you :P

 

[Golden Warrior]

I've always defined strategy as a plan. Not quite a simple as that since plans can be simple, but something more like a very cunning or complex plan with many steps and things to make sure the base plan doesn't go wrong. Something like what BlahISuck said, making sure you have all the right skills or tools to carry out a plan and also have multiple ways for the plan to go if something changes.

I'll use an example like... Er... Pokemon. I call planning against a specific Pokemon or team a strategy as I make sure all my Pokemon have the right moves to carry out the main plan and be flexible if something goes wrong in the plan. Usually in this case it's spontaneous since you have to plan against a team usually at the team preview, but it's still a strategy, I think.

 

[Aashutosh Kumar]

For me Strategy is the phenomena in which a person totally uses his mind to get some outcome from the situation!

 

[Beloved]

A strategy, to me, is about using everything that surrounds to situation to your advantage in an attempt to achieve a goal. For example, when I used to play Dungeons and Dragons, I would always ask about the area surrounding the characters. If the monsters were hiding inside tall grass that was slightly dry thanks to a drought, instead of rushing in, I would use that knowledge to my advantage, and set the grass on fire. If there was a nearby cliff, I would start the fire so that it would spread outwards, pushing the monsters to the cliff, cutting off their retreat, or giving my party time to make a retreat of our own.

That was very nerdy, but that is how I view things. And now I want to play Dungeons and Dragons again....I miss my insane Gnome Wizard.

 

[Puddle]

I think strategy is creating a complex plan to try and obtain the goal or objective at hand. Strategy can be used for anything, though. It's you trying to make your life easier by coming up with a plan that makes the task simpler.