Just wondering like what the exact difference is between playing with a technique in your playing symbol (AIR ROCKS!!!) and playing at a tournament event that demands staples to protect you so that you stand an absoloute chance. Reason being is because when I was playing at a tournament I was playing my RSVP deck and my roommate played with a standard Ivy deck, no promos or many difficult to get cards either and he washed everyone down within five turns... well not me but **** close. So I was just wondering what is the difference between playing tech or staples. If you can then please give examples.

Staples are cards that you absolutly must have to make a deck function properly in both offensive terms and defensive terms. Cards like Red Lotus and Chester's Backing are considered staples.

Techs are cards that are used to defend against a meta. If the meta is CC haxx, then Destiny or Ayame's Scarf would be considered a tech card (although IMO Destiny is a staple). If the meta is hand control, then cards like Big Cyclone and Will For the Fight would be considered tech cards. Tech cards alone usually aren't maindeck material and usually slapped in the sideboard, but they may be maindecked when defending against a proper meta.

Shaneth said:

^- troof. Tech is also run maindeck if the thing you're teching against absolutely wrecks your deck.

Example of Tech, as per Personal Experience:

Worlds 08. People running All decks started to make room for Mortal Strike and Multiple-eaters for splash, since Chaos got a big boost and people were seeing how much havoc Talim was unleashing. I ran into two decks using the two things mentioned above. Result? Losses to both players, because either A) Mortal Strike was out on Turn 1 or B) Cards like Mark of the Beast ate my Rolling Storm.

Tech would simply pertain to a card that's in a deck that would be a SEVERE hinderance to a specific deck archetype. Usually, the card is found in side boards, such as US Air Base for decks like Hanzo, since the use of the card would be VERY limited. However, when an extreme shift or emergence of a symbol occurs (as Chaos Talim did pre-Worlds 08), players will make sure that they can handle the issue from Game 1 on.

so then in a situation of two of the same character decks... we'll say Temujin, both played on air same strategy but the difference is one of the decks has the tournament needed cards while the other was just a tech-themed deck not aware of opposing cards that could be a hinder. which would stand a better chance?