Player interactions, what is too far?

[thefreakaccident]

What is too far? Now, I am talking only in regards to the people involved in the game; this discussion has absolutely nothing to do with the game itself. Now, assuming your opponent doesn't want to concede the game, they will have to put up with you, the player sitting across from them.

The only example I had from IRL was a guy I knew who ran PTQs regularly, usually showing up at big events smelling horrifying. When he showed up to the minor local events around town, he would smell fine. He would arrive at the qualifiers, so pungent, he was able to not only derail opponents into making misplays, but sometimes the guy next to him, or two seats down. This is an extreme version of what I am talking about, however much less direct or wacky. What can you get away with to mess with the mind of your opponent?

I hope you guys put some thought into this. Just like poker players who grow thick beards and wear hoodies/sun glasses, so too will magic players take advantage of the fact that their opponent has never played against Chewbacca from star wars. What can you do to make your opponent/s feel uncomfortable without getting kicked out of the place?

[Tormod]

About a month ago I played against an guy who had a nasty habit of exhaling deeply out his mouth right into my face. I tried avoiding it, but I caught a mouthful once which sent my game into a tail spin.

[ESG]

Is this really a thread? If you reek bad enough to distract players two seats down, I'm going to call a judge on you, and if he has any sense of smell, hopefully he will be able to rectify the situation. The intimation that someone would intentionally be unclean and work up body odor in order to disrupt opponents' game play is ridiculous, and I really hope it isn't true. Also, if you smell that awful, you are a failure as a human being and I hate you.

Edit: This would fall under Unsporting Conduct -- Minor in the IPG.

Philosophy
All participants should expect a safe and enjoyable environment at a tournament, and a participant needs to be made aware if his or her behavior is unacceptable so that this environment may be maintained
Additional Remedy
The player must correct the problem immediately. Subsequent Unsporting Conduct — Minor infractions, even for different offenses, will result in a Game Loss. If a Game Loss is issued for repeated infractions, and it occurs at the end of a game, it is acceptable for the judge to apply the penalty to the next game instead.

So if someone smells like rotting fruit, he's going to have to leave and shower or otherwise eliminate the odor. If he doesn't, hopefully he'll be game-lossed into oblivion and won't stick around.

[thefreakaccident]

without getting kicked out of the place?

My last line. This is not the smelly guy thread. This is the mind games thread. What can we do, without getting kicked out, to get into the minds of our opponents? The goal is to tilt them before the games even begin, with an odd and unique experience. I leave this thread here for people to speculate details about such events. It'll be a hoot.


EDIT: I am a strong advocate of bathing.


Hoot.

[luckme10]

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about sexual harrassment.
Anyways, it's best to make your opponents feel at ease.
For starters, I like to go around offering people a hot stone massage.

[CaptainTwiddle]

Philosophy
All participants should expect a safe and enjoyable environment at a tournament, and a participant needs to be made aware if his or her behavior is unacceptable so that this environment may be maintained
Additional Remedy
The player must correct the problem immediately. Subsequent Unsporting Conduct — Minor infractions, even for different offenses, will result in a Game Loss. If a Game Loss is issued for repeated infractions, and it occurs at the end of a game, it is acceptable for the judge to apply the penalty to the next game instead.

I'm really glad you shared this. I hope I never have to reference it, but I'm glad I know that I can if needs be.

Personally, I find that calling people on their BS is often a good way to put them on tilt. Just being calm and having a solid poker face goes a long way. If an opponent is engaging in obnoxious behavior (e.g. tapping their pen on the table during your turn), just calmly and politely address it. If they have an unreasonable response, then call a judge and explain the situation.

As for the original intention of this post, that being determining what we can "get away with," I have no interest in contributing to that discussion.

[Jankwolf]

Simple way to deal with this too...
Everyone should ask me about my book "Keeping friends and beating enemies". Reference that and you'll never go wrong in life.

[Justin]

About a month ago I played against an guy who had a nasty habit of exhaling deeply out his mouth right into my face. I tried avoiding it, but I caught a mouthful once which sent my game into a tail spin.

I've heard a lot of excuses for losing over the years, but "I lost because my opponent breathed on me" is a new one.

[slave]

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about sexual harrassment.

But this is a dude-dominated sausage fest.
I assume to do this, you'd be talking about gay porn, how much you'd like to take him home and dress him up in pink, talking out loud about sexual positions, cockrings, probes etc.?
Um... no. I'd never do that.

But a chick-player could potentially put someone off.
....and going on some of the tragic desperate's I've met out in the mtg world, it wouldn't even be that difficult.

[thefreakaccident]

I've heard a lot of excuses for losing over the years, but "I lost because my opponent breathed on me" is a new one.

He was trying to be hilarious, and he succeeded.

[Nihil Credo]

Handling (i.e. throwing out) disruptive customers should be the responsibility of the venue owner, not of the judge, IMO. It has nothing to do with the game itself or the MtG rules, they would smell just as bad if they were trading next to you or watching you play.

[CaptainTwiddle]

Handling (i.e. throwing out) disruptive customers should be the responsibility of the venue owner, not of the judge, IMO. It has nothing to do with the game itself or the MtG rules, they would smell just as bad if they were trading next to you or watching you play.

I agree with this 100%. My old LGS (before I moved a few years ago) is run by this really nice guy who makes it clear that his store is a "family friendly" gaming place. As such, he does not tolerate obnoxious players (e.g. swearing, slamming things on the tables, etc.). He's lost a few customers because he called them on their shenanigans and they got embarrassed/mad, but I wager that he ended up doing himself a favor by keeping the majority of players happier than they would have been otherwise. I think that etiquette is important in a social game like Magic. It's a "game," which means its primary purpose is entertainment/enjoyment. Making people upset is obviously counter to the intent of the game, so it only seems to make sense to prevent those people that are upsetting to others from having that effect as much as possible (obviously within the limits of the game and without violating anyone's actual rights). Granted, some people will find just about any reason to get upset during a game/tournament, but I believe that actually puts people in the camp of the obnoxious violators, not the victims.

[Bed Decks Palyer]

There was a hot brunette in her early twenties visiting our lgs several years ago that regularly flirted with the guys during the games. She was famous for that behaviour and we thought that she's just having fun of us, but in fact she did not control herself at all. Married players disliked to play with her and the youngsters were easy prey. Esp. when she was losing, she started to breathe deep and fidget and touch her hair and such and of course speak the womanly nonsenses like "you're so good, I think you got me" and "I'm so helpless", etc., sending all kinds of sexual signals, you know the stuff. I think that she was a nymphomaniac. She played awful decks and imho she had shivers when she was losing. I'd say she used this horrible decks deliberately.
It was told she had lots of lovers, maybe bad ones (because Magic players), but still lots of them. I'm not sure if it's true, because no one knew anyone who'd have slept with her or who dated her or w/e. At the end she dated one guy with a big collection and she calmed down and stopped her sexual harassment. But then she just started to use him as a walking piggy bank of strong decks, gaining access to Vintage and Legacy power stuff like fully pimp Burning Oath or completely foil Miracles and whatnot. And then one day she just ran away with all his cards and left him with only the eyes to weep; of the money cards he just saved a set of japanese Goyfs that his friend borrowed few days before and some beat non-blue fetches. Other than that, everything dissapeared with her.
Maybe she was just another gold-digger or relationship cheater, or maybe she just had enough of him and needed her dose of untamed sex with Magic players, no matter what, she lives in a different city now and does her usual stuff of "oh boy, I can't win in this matchup, I really need more test games. My place or yours?"

[phonics]

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about sexual harrassment.
Anyways, it's best to make your opponents feel at ease.
For starters, I like to go around offering people a hot stone massage.

I thought this thread would be able in game interactions via spells. Dude that was smelling bad on purpose should have brought a hamburger to eat at the match to get that extra advantage.