MJ23, basically yes. I don't actually think collusion is allowable in competitive environments, but the rules you have to have to limit it here, you have to have in two player as well. People will probably think to do it more in multiplayer... yadda yadda I've made this point already. But yeah, the other stuff is part of the game, etc. etc. And of course, I think that it can be played competitively. But more importantly, I don't think anyone here is in a position to tell someone it can't be done, in the hypothetical case that people want to do it. And I don't appreciate people telling other people 'well, you think you're being competitive, but you're not. ' Especially when the people saying that DON'T PLAY MULTIPLAYER. And this isn't a hypothetical here - the only IRL dominion tournaments I've ever heard about, including the world championships, are multiplayer events.
Now, what JFrisch is saying is right on. Except, once again this little issue in his second paragraph. He talks about, in his first paragraph, that this stuff is part of the game. But then he says in the second paragraph that people who use it aren't as good at the game, because they're better at something that he acknowledges is part of the game. Now the issue is, I think, that he doesn't think it SHOULD be part of the game. And I mostly agree with that, actually. It's one of the major reasons I like two player better than multiplayer. He also claims that he thinks that tournament status is a bigger factor in multiplayer than two player. Based on.... really nothing but random instinct/guess. Now, I don't have a lot of experience here, either, but I have a bit more than anyone else I've seen commenting here, and so I disagree with them on points like this, and I could be wrong, but the point is, if people are comfortable with this, then I don't see why we don't let them. Anyway, he's probably right, the question is how much more of a factor it is, and how bad of a thing that is. I think probably it's not negligible, but not a large effect, if you have your tournament set up well.
Anyway, we're basically going in circles here, so I don't anticipate saying more on the subject, because I don't anticipate someone bringing up a point that's really distinct, new ground.