[MTGS Classic] It's Called "Class"

[JayC]

This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, [MTGS Classic] It's Called "Class". We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.

[billythefridge]

Did this really have to be brought back? It doesn't seem like it was posted that long ago... you ever see that girl at tournaments anymore?

[Istanbul]

Originally Posted by JayC

6. Win with class. It's just as satisfying and you won't create a weird tension between you and your newly defeated opponent. "Good game". Sincerely, say good game. It doesn't matter if they played well, or if you played well. It doesn't matter if you made mistakes or they made mistakes, say it. If your opponent is okay and wants to talk about situations, great. You might be able to make suggestions for one another on card choice, play choice, etc. If your opponent doesn't look talkative, be perceptive and let them be. Sign the slip and turn it in.

Actually, I've had plenty of opponents take offense to this one when they got mana-screwed, and some even when I got mana-screwed.

[Mephiston]

Agree with Istanbul on this one - had it happen at a pre-release (Dissension I believe) down here in Melbourne, Australia.

Third game in a tight last round and my opponent just got severely mana screwed; it's become almost instinct for me to say "Good Game" after any match but this guy lost it and basically told me to stick my "good game" in an anatomically uncomfortable spot

I was kinda surprised as he was an older player (35-ish, maybe older) and I guess I expected a little maturity. What made it worse was that he was there with his son, who would only have been 11 or 12 at best. It didn't look good, and I was slightly embarrassed for him (honestly, it's a pre-release )

Still, I've definitely learned to try and judge the mood of the other person after this incident. I think good sportsmanship is everything, no matter what sort of competition you find yourself in - be it card related or with some sort of ball.

Of course despite all of this, my group still rip heavily on any among us who lose to the little pig-tailed red-head girl who turns up to play with her elder brothers and parents...

[TeknoLink]

On the good game thing, I always say good game when I lose. Just because every player obviously did their best.

The opposite is true as well, when you're quite manascrewed, and you win while being stuck on 3 lands for the entire game. I mean, that really is a good game, and some people take offense to it, calling you a lucksack. Then again, I also call people lucksacks, but not to diminish them, only as a funny remark. Like when a guy topdecks the lethal spell from the top.

[SolonJhee]

I have to say this was a pretty good article that all magic players should read. My local shop is riddled with people who are arrogant pricks that think if a weaker player beats them they are complete 'lucksacks' and horrid sore losers. It makes the game not even fun to play when they just talk so much ****. A couple examples:

I am playing swiss rounds in a draft and am sitting next to another two people playing a match. One guy is clearly experienced and the other isn't. The unexperieneced player makes a bad play, and the experienced one exclaims, out loud, "That is one of the worst plays I've ever seen!". Comments like that and the fact that everyone hated the way this kid presented himself got him banned from the shop.

A swiss round had just finished on a later week, and I went up to one kid that is the current replacement of the afore mentioned banned guy (awful demeanor), to ask him how he did. As soon as I sit down he starts on a rant about how that guy was the worst magic player ever and the reason that he lost was only because of his 'lucksackness'. Then he ranted about some card (I forget which) but it was basically a Helium Squirter that caused him to lose.

Quarterfinals at the last city champ quals, I'm playing pred justice, opponent is playing u/b faerie aggro. He's one of those types that you already know when you sit down that he's going to be a major prick if he loses or you do something he doesn't 'approve' of. First game he makes a bad play, misreading what Stonecloaker does, thinking it targets. After he loses because of said misplay, he starts throwing his cards around, shuffling poorly, making remarks about how he can't believe he made that play. Second game starts bad for him, he elects to play and procedes to mulligan down to five, muttering how bad his hand is and how unfair this is. I look at my cards then and promptly mulligan to 5 myself. I have 2 Birds of Paradise in my hand with one land, and even though he Spellstutter Sprites one of them I draw into a third one and needless to say I run him over while he's stuck on 2 land really bad. He immediately loses his cool, saying how it's ridiculous. I keep mine and stick my hand out to shake him and say 'good game' (like I always do). He looks at me, doesn't extend his hand, laughs, and says, "That wasn't a good game." I look at him and say it happens to all of us in magic, and he just looks back at me like I am a horrendous idiot, and says, "Yeah, lots of luck involved here." Then I said don't be a prick about it, it's just a game, and he just ignored me and walked away. There were about six different people watching this match, and he just made himself look awful in front of everyone.

Pre-release for Lorwyn, my first pre-release ever. I did a flight of 32 with my friends. I manage top-8ing, and get to the semifinals. My opponent appeared like he'd be cool. After getting to the third game, I had a hideaway'd Fodder Launch at the beginning of the game that had been sitting on the board forever. I had brough him down to 6 and the board position looked extremely bad for me. He was going to kill me in a couple turns, so I attacked with everything I had on the last turn, just to see if he'd let one damage through by accident. Well he does, because I have no cards in my hand and he thinks it's just a desperation act. Well, after I declare second main he looks at me strange, and I point to my hideaway land, and he knew, I flipped it over, killing him and he immediately jumps out of his char, slams his fist on the table, and screams '*(&#$' pretty loud. Needless to say there were plenty of kids in the area, so judges swarmed the area and gave him about 3 warnings. He wouldn't shake my hand, and just walked away saying he couldn't believe he made the play.

---

I LOVE competition in magic, but it is simply no fun to play with people like this at all. I'm not saying I'm perfect and haven't been upset because I've lost, but I ALWAYS say good game, introduce myself, and shake their hands at the end of a match. It's just a game people.

[Pyron]

Was a great, if not controversial, article when it was first published and has not lost its relevance. The only things I have ever had to deal with at the two stores I play at is people getting mad about screw but it could be much worse obviously. People are just pretty cool where I play.

[depolarization]

Nice confession with your female opponent. I was squirming in my seat at your rudeness...it's pretty scathing.

Nice to know you're looking out for the nice guys in the MTG community...though I have to admit, it is a joy to knock down the smug players by beating them with suboptimal cards in limited. Even more so, handing them their hat to eat it, by playing a well tuned rogue deck.

[gypsieking3280]

25 is not old, JayC. But jerk players are eternal. I don't attend constructed events much anymore but I would add for the limited world, that openly proclaiming "I can't believe I am getting passed this" toes the line of being rude to your draft partners. Anything beyond that is just being an &*^. Please try to remember that the rest of the table obviously has not had the extensive drafting experience that you had so we mere mortals can't comprehend what works in a limited draft environment. But despite our limited knowledge you can keep your thoughtsto yourself and the rest of the table can enjoy their experience too. It's really quite amazing.

[MadMageQc]

A very good article indeed. Every Magic player should read this and then look at him/herself. I consider myself a sportsmanlike player, but I must admit I have my jerk times. I have a draft tonight and I'll try to keep my thoughts for myself, as gypsieking3280 says, because I realize now that I say things like "I can't believe I am getting passed this" a bit too often. In a recent draft, I said out loud about my neighbor, "Wow, I must remember that this guy doesn't understand" because he obviously didn't get my signals of the first pack and was passing me a color in the second pack that I thought he would most certainly be in instead of the colors I thought I had cut well. I didn't even say that directly to him, just to everyone else on the table. I immediatly felt guilty and apologized, but still, I should have kept my mouth shut. I have this problem of being sometimes rude... it's a bad behavior I've developped in reaction to being rejected during my school years. It happens less and less with time, but I still need to watch myself.

By the way, Helium Squirter was a pretty good card in RGD draft. Far from a bomb, and far from the best common of its color, but emminently playable nonetheless. It's a 3/3 flier for 5 with a lot of versatility thanks to Graft. The cost to give it flying is negligible in comparison to the possibility of pumping and giving flying to one or two other creatures. Being a jerk because someone beats you with such a card, that you don't understand is good, is much worse than cursing his luck.

It's a shame that the players who need the most to understand these sportsmanship principles probably won't read this or will laugh at it with their usual arrogance. Well, we can't do much about it except ignoring them or banning them from shops when they cross the line.

[bobspil]

A very good article that a lot of people ought to read. I just hate those imature players who thinks that when the win it is because of their skills and when they loose it is only because they were unlucky. I recently started playing online and a lot of players simply can't cope with loosing to new playe with a rating of 1640 even if I might play better than them.

Well, at least we know who scared all the female players away...

[Guerilla]

It's kind of funny - I think the better I become at magic, the less of a jerk-off i am. My rating has slowly been creeping over the last few months, but back when i was sub-1700 I would complain about losing to mana screw, luck-sack opponent's draws, whatever.

I guess, one day I asked myself this: Does whining about luck-sack opponents and mana screw improve my magic playing skills? No. It just makes you look like a crybaby who will throw a temper tantrum whenever things do not go your way. Mana screw? Probably should have mulliganed. Luck sack opponent topdecked wrath? Probably should have held a creature or two back.

My point is, when you stop blaming everyone else and your poor luck for your losses, and start examining why you lost, you become a better player and less of a jerk.

[Bishie_Boy]

I quit Magic a while ago, in fairly large part to this. The biggest reason was that I moved from CA to FL, which has a much different type of people and lost all my Magic-playing friends and my then-girlfriend who was also a vet of the game.

But when I got here, I went to 1 Friday night event, and 1 Sat prerelease for Coldsnap (at the only place in 150 miles that holds DCI events). For such a small group, almost no one at all was friendly to me or the 1-2 other guests there outside their little clique.

It was very depressing... why would I want to spend each Friday night with a bunch of rude people? I'd be better off doing nothing with no one, so it was that day I quit Magic about 4 years after I'd started playing. I had to put away the games sometime anyway, but I did want to play another year or two.

[RickCorgan]

When I win a game against a mana-flooded or -screwed opponent, I say something along the lines of "a pity it had to happen this way. Good luck in the next round". Saying "good game" in these situations may be interpreted as rude, but really, people should definitely say it when it was actually a good game, doesn't matter if you won or lost. Friendly environment for the win, I guess.

I think lots of people could learn a lot from this article. I've had my occasions of being rude when I lost, but usually I try to be as nice as I can to my opponent in all circumstances. There's no reason not to.

[QmunkE]

When this article was first published (although I'm sure it's been on as a "classic" before as well...) I think I commented that I'd seen a well respected semi-pro being a complete *blank* by complaining about losing to a "scrub" (in less polite terms) to his mate while he was still sat at the same table as said opponent. This was really disappointing, but it's easily the exception rather than the rule...in real life.

Play Magic: Online for more than a few days/hours/minutes even, and you will come across a whole slew of people who behave like jerks. Invariably, they have "high" ratings (althought MTGO rating basically means squat unless it's like 1900) but still feel it necessary to get into a strop when they lose - especially if they lose when you make mistakes, that's always the best. The lack of a "judge" standing over your shoulder seems to make some players forget basic manners. Luckily, unlike real life, there is a mute button.

Good article.