I am a fan of the keep it simple school until you get a few smokes under your belt. The 3-2-1 method is as good as it gets if you can somewhat control your smoker temps. Buy, or make a basic rib rub, spread a thin coat of yellow mustard (you won't taste it later) on the ribs so the rub has something to hold it on the meat and smoke for the 3 hours . Foil them with just a bit of apple juice for 2 hours, then unwrap and back on the smoker for another hour, or until they pass the "bend" test and the meat has pulled well back on the bones. Forget the competition cooking thing and go for fall off the bone on the first batch or three. As you gain experience you can start making small changes to tweak them to your liking a bit better. Good luck and keep us posted