With these truisms, Sun Tzu arguably advises us not to be too complacent when we think that everything is under control in a given conflict (or a NetRunner game) - for it is he or she who can discern the _subtle_ things that will win.

In other words, don't be proud when you can hear the thunderclap as it crashes down on you, because anyone who does not happen to be deaf can do this. You may be proud, however, if you had known all along that the thunderclap was coming, and if you had time enough to prepare yourself accordingly. That is the difference between a dumbfounded tactician and a succesful tactician. In NetRunner terms, you might apply this to meat damage, for example: When the Urban Renewal hits you unexpectedly, that is not an indication of "acute hearing" on your part - if you deduced from the Corp's way of playing that it was using a tag-and-bag strategy and if you went digging for your Armored Fridge in time, however, it is. Likewise, if you as the Corp see a dedicated HQ-attack stack, it is a matter of icing the Archives early on ("acute hearing") or flailing helplessly when the Shredder Uplink Protocol hits the table. The successful player will have to use cunning, experience, psychology, and a good sense of judgement to get Sun Tzu's accolade.

"To distinguish between the sun and the moon is no test of vision." Neither is it a test of vision to notice anything that has been laid out into the open (i.e. installed and exposed) - it is a greater indication of skill to "see" what is hidden and not so obvious. When I thought about this, I was strongly reminded of the bluffing aspect of NetRunner. Is that advanced juicy piece of data an Agenda or an ambush Node (the same applies for Hidden Resources and other things)? If you can guess correctly, taking into account the current situation of the game and your opponent's propensity to bluffing, then you are a true master in Sun Tzu's terms. If you run right into them and end up being made a fool of, it's as plain as day and night what you _should_ have done (i.e., run the fort or not), but by then, anybody can see that. Well, as the Runner, you have a way out of this dilemma: You can use detection programs and the like to gather intelligence before you make your decision. That is as perfectly acceptable as it is sensible. However, it might constitute taking the easy way out: It costs bits and actions, and sometimes you just don't have enough of either of these (or you might even try to save you the expense). Then you are stuck again with the game of guessing, and you might prove a true master who knows whether he or she is facing the sun or the moon _with eyes closed_, as it were.

"To foresee a victory which the ordinary man can foresee is not the acme of skill, for to lift a rabbit's down requires no great strength." Again, if the Runner has no sentrybreaker installed and no cards in hand and hits your Bolter Cluster, it's as easy as lifting a rabbit's down to come up with the decision to rez it (although we might _still_ miss it, being preoccupied with our Tycho Moon base someplace else/in another fort). It is a bit more difficult to assess your opponent's chances of winning rather than your own. Still, if there's just too much Ice in front of that Agenda you have just exposed, and you just can't get through to it in this turn, you might accept the fact that you just have this one more turn for a desperate attempt to turn the tables upon the Corp - and run Archives or R&D instead. But even this is standard fare for somebody of Sun Tzu's caliber. The "acme of skill" would be to know whether there was a danger of your opponent winning even if the situation looked totally desperate for him or her. For example, if you have never encountered the "Faked Hit" stack before (which just saves up on bits and handsize until it can deliver 7 Faked Hits in one turn), you might wonder what the Runner might be up to: You go merrily along for turns and turns without being molested once (the Runner not wanting to lose all of those Top Runners' Conferences) and could well become complacent - but if you notice that this is a calm before the storm and can guess correctly when the storm will hit you, Sun Tzu will approve of you.

So, Sun Tzu's advice for us is: Don't be content with the skills you have, but strive to attain strategic and tactical skills that will truly make a difference, namely allowing you to see things that others won't have an inkling of. Then it's up to you to take advantage of this.

Best regards,

Jens.