[phamilton]

I'm not super well versed in MtG (I've played, but never competitively), but a similar thing is common in Dominion. Any discussion about strategy in a particular game is usually settled by running a simulator pitting two strategies against each other a few thousand times. Eventually, these simulators have made their way into play testing potential new cards.

At the end of the day, these are games sufficiently complex that no single strategy will be optimal. Dominion has something on the order of 10^15 possible game configurations. Simulations are just a tool available to prepare and test potential strategies. I suspect MtG would land in a similar space if an "optimal deck builder" surfaced. You still have to play the game and beat your opponent.