I have a quick question regarding community play and sportsmanship in MTGO leagues. For those of you unfamiliar, each league buy-in of 12 tickets or 120 play points guarantees 5 matches. Prizes are paid out if you finish 3-2, 4-1, or 5-0. If you finish 1-4, or 0-5, you don’t get any prizes.
Most players drop once they suffer their third loss. However, would it be better if players who were 0-3 or 1-4 played their final match or matches and conceded? The only downside is that your player ranking drops, but online rankings are meaningless, they don’t tie into DCI or grant any benefits. By playing extra games, you get more experience and if you concede, other players earn more prizes. My thought is, what goes around, comes around, so if more people conceded their “meaningless” matches, chances are, you would benefit from it at some point in the future.
First, I assume this doesn’t violate the MTGO terms of service. I believe conceding and even prize splitting are acceptable.
Second, I had a match where I was 2-2 and my opponent was 1-3 and he refused to concede, which is okay, but that costs me about $14.50 and him nothing, besides a possible drop in his online ranking (if I 3-2, I get 120 play points (entry returned) plus 1 Treasure Chest booster (worth between $2.20-2.50).
Putting more prizes into the system hypothetically reduces Treasure Chest booster value (higher supply), but should also lower single card prices, making it cost less to build decks and collections.
I’m curious as to everyone’s thoughts on this.
"Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference."
I have some experience with x-3s and play them if I don't want to start a new league but feel like playing some games to experiment with plays. It's difficult for me to take these matches seriously since I know nothing is on the line. I think your pairings are in a similar place so play level seems questionable more often or it's a brew. I always concede if I have the win and try to tell my opponent early enough so they don't end the game. Although I have asked what my opponent's record is, I generally do not and do not like to be asked as I feel it's a distraction from the game.
One of the recording programs displays users’ records. I’ve had opponents know my record without asking before. I never mind if people ask or I am asked.
Due to variance in Magic, especially Legacy, everyone 0-3’s eventually. There are times, due to your opponents’ good hands, that no matter how you play, you will lose. There are also times when when you will mull into oblivion or draw all lands / all spells, so it is bound to happen no matter what deck you play or how good you are. Even the best players lose 30-40% of their matches.
"Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference."
Is there a way to see this outside of using something like mtgbot on twitch?
If i'm 1-3 or 0-3 i'll usually just queue into the last 1-2 matches and concede giving folks a free win. I don't usually play it out unless i'm really keen on testing my deck out and i'll usually tell my opponent that I am out of the running for prizes. It seems really shitty for people to not concede even if they play it out if they're out of the running for prizes. EV wise I imagine that it just comes down to how much you value your time. If you're looking to optimize your EV I imagine that you want to queue back into the league right away so you can continue grinding. If you got a couple of minutes to spare, you may as well concede and help out the general EV of the legacy league community.
I can't even remember the last time I did worse than 3-2 in a Legacy league. It's just so easy to win on MTGO with Eldrazi Post for some reason.
- 'Pathy' on MTGO
- Eastern PA player
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