History Main / StrategySchmategy

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': The main reason Tai Lung finds Po a frustrating opponent for most of the FinalBattle is because his moves are composed of a mixture of this and {{Indy Ploy}}s. The overall effect is similar to ConfusionFu.

Strategy Schmategy describes situations where a character's behavior is unpredictable because ''he himself simply has no idea what he's doing''.

[[CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions Subtly]] different from the IndyPloy, in that the IndyPloy is making it up as you go along. Example: Indy needs to escape. "Oh, hey, look, an open window! I'll dive through it and figure out how to safely land after I'm already committed to going through the window." Strategy Schmategy is about doing something without any plan for it to improve things. Example: Joe is trying to beat Mastermind at a game. Joe doesn't know the rules, or the scoring system, so he's just going to move pieces randomly and hope he wins.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': "Alright chums, I'm back, let's do this! [[LeeroyJenkins LEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY! JEEEEEENKIIIIINS!]]" Of course, the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard plan was idiotic and wouldn't have worked anyway]].

Likely to result in a SpannerInTheWorks if somebody is running [[ThePlan any kind of gambit]], because [[FinaglesLaw chaos has that kind of effect on carefully-laid plans]]...but it might have [[UnintentionalBackupPlan the opposite effect]].

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** This type of behavior can actually speed along [[GambitPileup deadlocked multiplayer games]], where you're [[SpannerInTheWorks sure to upset]] ''somebody's'' [[ThePlan carefully laid plot]]...[[KingmakerScenario most likely to the benefit of somebody other than yourself]].

* This also applies to multiplayer FirstPersonShooter games, where a random Johnny New-Game can confound an experienced player because all the things that the experienced player is used to seeing don't happen. For instance, in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', there might be various places on any given map that are the expected locations for sentry guns...but if someone doesn't tell this to the new player who just picked Engineer, they can put a gun in a strange place that can stymie more experienced opponents (at least until it's destroyed). The unaware newbie can keep placing their guns down in weird places, which can make the other team antsy or at the very least leave them confused as to what's going on.

* Likewise, a completely untrained fighter relying on instinct and athleticism is often better than a beginning martial artist or boxer. When the training takes effect, the reverse is true - becoming good means passing through a phase of drilling basic movements - and that makes a beginner highly predictable to an expert. This can be a difficult problem for an instructor. "You're really improving" sounds hollow when they did "better" their first time.

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* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': The main reason Tai Lung finds Po a frustrating opponent for most of the FinalBattle is because his moves are composed of a mixture of this and {{Indy Ploy}}s. The overall effect is similar to ConfusionFu.

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** [[SpoonyBard Elan's]] tendency to act like this sometimes helps, and sometimes [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes even more problems]].

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--> '''Scrooge:''' You were prepared for our best, but not our dumbest.
--> '''Flintheart:''' And I'm the dumbest you'll ever get! *laughs maniacally* *{{beat}}* Wait...

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* "Beginner's luck" may sometimes come from this -- in a game of moves, counter-moves and counter-counter-moves, sometimes the correct move against a professional is the most basic one. Until he figures out that his opponent IS a beginner and crushes them. It can also result in wasted effort. In TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering, for instance, there are a lot of mind games which are possible, but many of them will only be picked up on by sufficiently skilled opponents, making a new player TooDumbToFool.

** Mark Twain was a little off the mark when he described the threat to a MasterSwordsman posed by an unpredictable dunce with no training. In styles of swordsmanship based on the principles of a martial art rather than a sport, the context for which the techniques are designed is a DuelToTheDeath with no holds barred. Preserving your own life is more important than defeating your opponent no matter what, so there should be no TakingYouWithMe. You should try to win the fight quickly, since the longer the fight goes on the more it will be affected by variables outside your control, but you should never abandon your defense in your haste to make your attack land first. Beginners tend to leave themselves wide open without even realizing it, and once in a fight tend to either go completely on the defensive so that their opponent is able to keep attacking them until they get lucky, or to attack with no sense of self-preservation so that an opponent who knows what they're doing can run them through without much hazard to themselves. In other words, SturgeonsLaw applies to all the random moves an erratic, untrained person could make. Most of them are bad, and an expert familiar with beginner weaknesses will be able to take them apart.

* Maxwell fits this trope in ''Literature/TheWellOfMoments''. He's easy to predict except when he's in the middle of a "plan", where his tactics are anyone's guess and he never thinks ahead, but he's blessed with the luck of the stupid. Larnach the Mad Scot, however, takes the trope UpToEleven; his behavior is radically unpredictable at all times, and he'll blithely put himself in danger even when he doesn't have to if it seems expedient.

* Professional TabletopGame/{{Poker}} players can sometimes be thwarted by novices and amateurs, who make plays that no professional would be stupid enough to attempt and end up short-circuiting the professionals' expectations.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': "Alright, time's up, let's do this! [[LeeroyJenkins LEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY! JEEEEEENKIIIIINS!]]" Of course, the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard plan was idiotic and wouldn't have worked anyway]].

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': "Alright, chums, let's do this! [[LeeroyJenkins LEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY! JEEEEEENKIIIIINS!]]" Of course, the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard plan was idiotic and wouldn't have worked anyway]].

** Xykon is most decidedly ''[[AvertedTrope not]]'' an example, despite expressing disdain for strategy. In practice, he is ''very'' strategic in making creative use of every resource at his disposal, often catching opponents off guard.

* Quoth TheAdolescenceOfP1: "Burke, the ultimate spy, could kill a man in three languages, with one or both hands and/or feet tied behind his back. Kung Fu, karate and ju-jutsu were child's play to him. For those reasons, he found himself at a distinct disadvantage with such an adversary as Gregory, who, unschooled in the martial arts, was merely trying to bite off an ear or jugular, or gouge an eyeball. Burke compared it later to trying to peel drunken leeches".

* The TropeNamer is a certain ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card with a [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=9784 completely random (but powerful) effect]]. Amusingly enough, this type of behavior is guaranteed to end poorly for you unless your opponent is either very unlucky with their draws or just as bad as you are.

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* The TropeNamer is a certain ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card with a [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=9784 completely random (but powerful) effect]]. Amusingly enough, this type of behavior is guaranteed to end poorly for you unless your opponent is either very unlucky with his draws or just as bad as you are.

** It does work though (well, sometimes), when the master player is playing blindfold handicap: The position gets so wacky that he can't apply his chunking strategy, and a total n00b now might fare better than a beginner who already knows standard positions.

Strategy Schmategy describes situations where a character's behavior is unpredictable because ''they themselves simply has no idea what they're doing''.

[[CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions Subtly]] different from the IndyPloy, in that the IndyPloy is making it up as you go along. Example: Indy needs to escape. "Oh hey look, an open window! I'll dive through it and figure out how to safely land after I'm already committed to going through the window." While Strategy Schmategy is about doing something without any plan for it to improve things. Example: Joe is trying to beat Mastermind at a game. Joe doesn't know the rules, or the scoring system, so he's just going to move pieces randomly and hope he wins.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': ** [[SpoonyBard Elan's]] tendency to act like this sometimes helps, and sometimes [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes even more problems]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[SpoonyBard Elan's]] tendency to act like this sometimes helps, and sometimes [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes even more problems]].

* Many orkish units in various editions of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] and TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} have this as a special rule. The most prominent example being the Giant. But while it's true that they do have one very basic strategy (run at the enemy to chop him up while shooting and screaming), they have extremely bizarre and potent abilities that their opponents don't know about (even in-universe).