Behave Yourself: On Bad Gaming Habits and Proper Play Etiquette

[Amon Amarth]

We are really genuinely talking about different shit here. I don't need someone to pull on my dick when I lose; but you know what, I just want to play the game with people that act, in my view, as adults.

The last time I played Magic I lost more games than I won, and I did so enjoying myself because I was surrounded with people who had a similar attitude towards the game. It's not even about "competitive vs. casual", or anything similar.

That's the neat thing about being a grown-ass man, is I do decide the company I keep on my spare time. And so it follows that if I don't feel like putting up with immature fuckwads at a certain kind of Magic event, I get to weigh the pros and cons of being there against doing other shit, and if cons > pros I go elsewhere. I don't understand what's so difficult about this idea.

If I was a chick I'd straight up love you. As a man, however, ya got my respect.

[BWM]

Missed one big point in the article (something I get annoyed with a lot):

* Personal Hygiene! I can understand that you don't feel like taking showers at all, but please do not sit next to me when the last shower you got was for christmas. A little deodorant goes a long way.

Please don't eat during a match with me, or if you really really have to do, try to eat with your mouth closed and don't spit random parts of food in my general direction (or on my cards).
Also, don't smear ketchup on my cards.



Also, something that's probably more a problem in Europe than in the States:
Don't talk to your friends in a language your opponent does not understand, especially not during the match. I don't care what you're telling him, to me it's outside assistance all the time!


In the case of long drawn-out slow games that make the rounds go longer. I'd like it if in the IPG there would be a section saying:
"If two players are still playing in their match when time is called, and neither player has any chances to get any type of prizes. Those players do NOT receive their five extra turns, because both of them are out of contention and they just slow down the entire tournament"

[Julian23]

In the case of long drawn-out slow games that make the rounds go longer. I'd like it if in the IPG there would be a section saying:
"If two players are still playing in their match when time is called, and neither player has any chances to get any type of prizes. Those players do NOT receive their five extra turns, because both of them are out of contention and they just slow down the entire tournament"

lol. Not gonna happen ever. And I'm glad it won't.

[Hof]

Don’t play Turbofog. It’s bad, and if it’s the type of deck that you enjoy playing you should feel bad. You are worse than the guy playing Battle of Wits. At least they can win in turns.

I can't tell how serious this part about Turbofog is meant, but if it is seriously meant I would like to turn it around and say: Don't get upset by your opponent's choice of deck - for any reason. Playing against many different types of decks and sometimes random, possibly 'bad' decks you did not expect to face is just part of the game. You may complain about your own deck choice, and about pairings, randomness, and bad luck. But complaining about a particular deck your opponent has chosen for some reason, because you consider it 'bad' or 'not fun' is not proper IMO.

[xfxf]

I think he was trying to be funny and gain readers' sympathy on the assumption that majority would share his sentiments towards this deck.

[catmint]

Good article. Made me realize that 'I got all deez' is something i did once or twice. My intension was to comfort my opponent, since he was thinking a lot and really feeling that the game was very close. I felt by showing him what I had, he could just accept that it was a clear loss with this draw.

[csy]

I just want people to stop smelling like 4H clubs when they go to events. Wash your damned everything, you know who you are.

[rxavage]

I just want people to stop smelling like 4H clubs when they go to events. Wash your damned everything, you know who you are.

Yes. People usually just stop at shower and deoderant but what good is a shower when they put the same crusty clothes they've been wearing for days/weeks.


I personally hate the players keep their left over takeout food with them and put it on the table while plaing, that shit nauseates, I dont want to smell your kung pow chicken or italian with everything.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Now, it might be true that I made a called shot that I wanted to “ruin that kid’s day” at the very beginning of the tournament, and it also might be true that I giggled uncontrollably as I shuffled up for our match in round four, but I’m not trying to make myself out to be a hero here.

What I’m getting at is that there is a lot of rudeness going around in the world of competitive Magic and that it would be great for the game as a whole if we all worked harder at respecting our fellow competitors. I’ve frequently heard many players saying that they can’t stand the competitive nature of even an FNM, which is pretty much supposed to be casual Magic with promos.

Why are these two paragraphs next to each other? Way to set yourself up for failure.

Listen, I know that you like your friends a lot. I’m sure that they’re great people and all, but they should have to wait in line just like everybody else. Not to mention that by turning around to call to them you are either taking up more space and preventing somebody else from seeing the board or yelling in somebody’s ear.

This is just stupid. By calling out your friends' pairings you're reducing the traffic flow, this is just an idiotic, "Oh, I want you to suffer too" attitude. Buck the fuck up, chuck.

I’m not even sure how this one even happens, but it tends to happen to me at least once a tournament. When you pick up your opponent’s deck to shuffle it, you should make sure you put it back facing the same direction as when you picked it up. Honestly, I don’t know what part of shuffling has anything to do with changing the orientation of the deck, so this one is really baffling to me.

Is this bad etiquette or a minor confusion you should get the fuck over?

This one isn’t especially rude, but it just eats time off the clock. If your opponent is a documented cheater then this is acceptable. I can also see doing it at very high level play when both players are otherwise playing at a crisp pace. For the most part, though, a simple cut should do the trick.

Really?

Shuffling is a good habit to get into. Part of being in that habit is being able to do this quickly. I mean if you're pile shuffling everytime then sure.

I strongly recommend that everybody familiarizes themselves with this piece by Michael Flores on pile shuffling.

Basically, the point of his post is that pile shuffling is inefficient, not random and only useful in terms of counting a deck. Performing two pile shuffles before one game is a fantastic way to eat clock and will increase the number of unintentional draws you receive overall.

Performing a pile shuffle after a long game is behavior that I would argue borders on stalling, though in most players hands I am willing to admit that it is probably unintentional. Do everybody a favor and share the above Flores post though. It is beneficial on multiple levels.

This is another thing that I don’t think is rude, per se, but it is ungodly boring to watch my opponent pile shuffle while I actually randomize my deck.

So is this just going to be a list of irrational pet peeves, because you start off with some premise that this was about bad behavior in the Magic community I think.

This is something that is especially relevant in eternal formats. People near-constantly miss the life loss from fetchlands and Force of Wills. It takes all of two seconds to confirm life total changes as they happen.

I played against an extremely unpleasant individual piloting Merfolk when last I was in Indianapolis and he would never confirm when I stated life totals aloud. I don’t know if his intention was to tilt me or if he was just otherwise being a curmudgeon, but it made the entire match miserable.

I am baffled that he thinks there's a difference between taking a minute amount of time to confirm life totals and taking a minute amount of time to confirm that a deck is shuffled, incidentally.

Additionally, sometimes your opponent is just less experienced than you are. Just chill out and give the kid a break. When somebody is actually slow rolling you, it should be obvious.

Pace of Play

Your pace of play isn’t only important to you and your opponent. When you go to time, you cost everybody in the event hall a chunk of their day as well. Fifty minutes should be more than enough time to finish three games the vast majority of the time. If you’re going to bring a deck like lands to an event, then do everybody a favor and make yourself immensely familiar with the deck.

wut

Don’t play Turbofog. It’s bad, and if it’s the type of deck that you enjoy playing you should feel bad. You are worse than the guy playing Battle of Wits. At least they can win in turns.

Okay, so this is just a rambling list of pet peeves.

Fuck off?

There is no greater way to dagger your opponent than to show them how wrongly you sideboarded after you beat them. If you lost then it’s perfectly acceptable to ask what you did wrong. Most players mean well when they win and do this, but it really just translates to rub-ins.

Additionally, showing your opponent what you still had in hand (aka, still had all deez) is extremely rude.

Some of us like discussing these kinds of details post-game. I've had a large number of such pleasant conversations.

Again, fuck off.

This was a bad article and you should feel bad for writing it.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

So did people actually read this article or did they just compliment it because they want Magic players to bathe more frequently?

[xfxf]

I think the failure of the article comes from the fact that somewhere along the article (again I'm too lazy to find an cite) he mentions that it's wrong to try to impose our own sense of sportmanship and gaming ethics (something along these lines) to others but the whole article is his own view of gaming ethics and sportsmanship.

I think the universal rules that everyone can agree on are only related to hygenie, taking phone calls, threating other people's cards carefully and being a "reasonably nice guy" in the very gray area of verbal communications.

[Koby]

they want Magic players to bathe more frequently?

I think this should be mentioned everywhere, anytime. I read the article however, saw that Broverturf wrote it, then decided he's just being a troll again. Some good points were made, but it was lost in a wash of arrogance.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Overturf comes off really whiny in the article. Delivery wasn't effective.

[Jenni]

So did people actually read this article or did they just compliment it because they want Magic players to bathe more frequently?

I read it, a lot of the things listed are minor annoyances... yeah it's a little annoying if your opponent wastes time because they're really bad/slow at shuffling, or if it takes them a long time to make a play when you think it should be an easy ecision to make, whatever... It's not really a big deal and I think the article is just taking little stuff like that too seriously.

The riffle shuffling an oppnent's deck one I can relate too, since I honestly hate when my cards get bent or warped, I am very careful to keep my cards in good shape, I've still got a lot of cards from as far back as the original mirrodin set (when I first started playing) that barely look like they've seen play, despite being used in several decks over the years. So little things like that, which can damage or warp my cards, do bother me quite a lot.
Having a very negative attitude about your opponent or how the match went is very obnoxious as well. If you want to comment about how you misplayed or something, fine, but unsoliceted advice, or making excuses about why you lost is really annoying to me.

As for hygene... I honestly wouldn't mind if people showered and washed a bit more, but that seems more like general ettiquette than something related specifically to magic.

[kusumoto]

Don't be a dick.
Bathe.

You could have linked to a blank page that said just that and it would have been great.

[Justin]

Other than "belittling your opponent," I pretty much disagree with the author on every point. The author is way too hypersensitive and seems to be bothered by little things that the vast majority of players would not find offensive.

Here's some advice for Magic and life in general. Be more sensitive toward others and less sensitive about yourself. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't take yourself too seriously. Just try and have fun and you'll do fine.

[dahcmai]

Had a friend of mine say to an opponent quite rudely "Better Lucky than Good" after losing.



His opponent was a friend of mine also that the first did not know. Eric Taylor took it in stride. lol

[coraz86]

Eric Taylor took it in stride. lol

When I was a kid, I remember Eric Taylor making a questionable bet at Pro Tour: New Orleans--he stated to a Wizards reporter that he'd eat his hat if Kai Budde won the Tour (during the year Kai won three Tours, made the semifinals of another Tour, and made the top eight of some absurd number of Grand Prix). Though he demanded some unholy quantity of ketchup when the time came, he did in fact pay up.

Just so people know Eric "Danger" Taylor is a BAMF.

[Snap_Keep]

Wow... What in the world was that post for InfamousBearAssassin? So negative!

Also it's amazing to see how angry it got you considering how much you were swearing.

I liked it, I thought it was a fun read.

[Hardcore]

Anyone that smell that much is almost always a drop-out from society, with some serious mental problems. Since it hard to see how this could apply to magic players i think of it as unsportmanly conduct. IE a form of cheating.