> > Has anyone suggested or have you ever contemplated implementing a 'practice' mode whereby a player can test out different strategies on a series of randomly generated opponents?
>
> I was thinking about writing a program to do something like that, a sort of Monster Arena simulator if you will. With the lack of die rolling, it seems like it would be fairly easy to determine the result of a battle (at least versus the comps, people are less predictable) with something like that, maybe even figure out the right combination to defeat the other team and save the most gold (avoid damage, spend less on unneeded enchantment, etc.).
>
> Speaking of, does anyone know exactly how agility works and when characters attack when?
>
> -Pan"da"demonium

To me, the preliminary rounds are practice rounds. It doesn't matter if you lose them, so you can practice strategies at will.