So me and a couple friends have decided to start trying out competitive magic, and were heading up to the SCG open in baltimore in july.
i was just wondering if there is anything i should know ahead of time, or keep in mind during the time im there.
ive already googled this and i found a couple general things like:
~ Remember your triggers and announce them, once there missed, there missed (minus some exceptions)
~ Dont drop if your doing badly.
~ Bring a Drink and snacks/light lunch.
but is there anything else that first timers should know to make the experience more enjoyable?
Absolute allways call a judge if you have any rules questions, just do it, no bad feelings, thats what a judge is for.
If in doubt, call a judge, allways, especially as a newbie, some opponents might try to pull some very questionable rules on you, so call a judge, let them explain it if necesary.
Dont expect to win, its the experience you gain. Might be a downer, but its just being realistic.
Ask your opponents about their decks, their plays, what you did wrong after the game. This starts nice dialogs quickly, and you learn the fastest by this questions, you might discover new rules and you can directly ask ahead of them accuring.
If you want to trade at a tournament, never let the cards stay on a table, ALLWAYS have an eye on them, and just trade with 1 person at a time, make sure they dont pull out cards out of your collection, unless you found some cards aswell and you really want to trade.
And finally, if in doubt of ANYTHING, ask the judge, allways, just do it and you will quickly get the hang of it.
Especially as a newbie, try to make it a fun time, its not about winning at first, that comes with experience and when things get more competitive.
Just some general things, and mostly non-gameplay related
1) Get a good night's sleep the night before. That's a general life rule, but good to mention nonetheless
2) You'll be asked to submit a deck list. Try to do this the night before. You should be able to find a sample deck registration form online so fill that out.
3) Bring drinks and snacks. I try to bring water and nuts, but nuts can be dangerous in bigger environments (I know that no one at my LGS is allergic). Something light and healthy to keep you going through the day.
4) Bring enough money! Forget the potential of needing or wanting to pick up a card, you may need money for food, a cab, or to pay off a roaming band of theives (kidding). Make sure you bring enough money to get you through the day
5) Make sure you bring everything you need. Sounds silly, but make sure you have your deck, dice, and the appropriate tokens. Don't be that guy who uses his dice to represent Soldier tokens for his Elspeth. You know your deck, bring the tokens you need
6) Don't be hard on yourself. If this is your first competitive event, then make it a learning experience too. It's easy to tilt when you lose, or make bad plays, but if you're too hard on yourself then you won't have a positive experience
7) Minimize what you bring. If you don't intend to play side events or trade, don't bring extra decks or a trade binder
8) Don't be afraid to call a judge. If there's any disagreement between you and your opponent, or if something goes awry in the game, stop immediately, politely explain to your opponent that you're calling a judge and why, raise your hand, and yell JUDGE!!!!
9) Always shuffle your opponent's deck. Give if a good 3 or 4 riffle/mash shuffles when he or she presents.
10) The most important....have fun.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Follow me on Twitter
Check out my blog and help me improve my game
Currently playing:
Standard BUG Control
Modern :UAffinity, GNyxWave
Legacy UBTezzAffinity
First off, have fun. But beyond that, the minimum you want to bring to any DCI sanctioned event is the following:
1. Your deck in sleeves(and make sure all the sleeves are in the same condition, as you don't want to get any kind of warning for having marked cards,etc)
2. Dice or paper for accurately marking changes in life(I prefer paper a lot of the time, because you can show to the judge the different changes in life total if a question comes up)
3. Some kind of objects you can use as creature tokens or counters, such as extra six sided dice, etc
4. Print up a decklist ahead of time, including the maindeck and sideboard. The event will likely require you to submit one, and you can simply submit your printed decklist if you wish. Make sure the list is accurate by checking your deck with the list
5. Bring more cash than you think you need for snacks and meals. Food can be somewhat expensive at an event, but don't be afraid to perhaps walk outside the event center and see if there is something relatively close by that is cheaper
6. If you plan on bringing trade binders, bring them in a duffle bag or some other sort of bag large enough to hold them all. While most Magic players are very honest, make sure you keep all your cards in sight at all times, as there are some less than honest people out there, and who knows which ones they are.
7. As was noted, if at ANY time during a match you have a question, raise your hand and call a judge. Do not ask your opponent rules questions as not only does your opponent have a vested interest in how the match turns out, he or she may not know the proper ruling. Simply put, just raise your hand and call a judge if you are ever unsure about something. Don't worry about if the question seems stupid to you or your opponent, that's what the judges are there for.
8. Finally, be very careful when checking on where you are supposed to be for a match. Check and double check the table number listed for your match and when you get to your table, if your opponent is there, verify the person's name.
Ultimately, remember you are there to have fun. Don't get too nervous, don't take anything an opponent takes too harshly, as many people will behave extremely seriously at these events.
Pen and paper is a must. Between keeping track of life, tracking mana that floats, and writing down revealed cards, you end up with a lot of information floating around.
If you play a deck that creates tokens, bring those tokens. It again helps avoid confusion and is easier than having a bunch of dice around, which are hard to show as tapped. Bring more than you expect to use too.
Bring spare sleeves, sleeves split. It just happens.
-Don't bring what you don't need. I wouldn't bring a binder at all if you don't plan on selling stuff. I've found that I rarely have had time to trade between matches, and that asking a person that you just smashed to trade feels sort of bad.
-Side events. There's standard win-a-box, drafts, 2HG, modern, and EDH pods. Also sometimes qualifier events. EDH is going to be hyper-competitive probably, so keep that in mind. If you do early standard events, it's probably people who go 0-4 drop so that's not a bad idea if you have a decent deck. Side Events do end at a certain time as well, I think it's like 5 PM.
-Can't use dice or phone apps for keeping track of life totals. SCG sells a pad and pen for $1.
-Unforseen expenses. Sometimes parking costs money, or you forgot a card and need to buy one last minute.
Write down everything. If there is ever a conflict where a Judge is called, the best written record tends to win.
Always call a Judge. If you're unsure about something, or your opponent does anything questionable, get a judge involved. Cards go below the table, call a judge. Some people make honest mistakes, some people make intentional mistakes throughout the day to grind out some incremental advantage. Multiple warnings throughout the day are how you stop those players, try to do your part.
Verbalize everything. Don't make hand motions, don't point, think about what you want to communicate and say it. After a few hours of playing magic you might point at the wrong target, or pass priority before completing your turn.
remember: you can always call a judge is you think your opponent is playing slow or behaves unsportsmanlike
once i was playing with this very slow player (he was very experience, like the bad player of the pro team), he really take too much time on thinking. when there was like 10 minutes left for the round HE was rushing me (some people bully you if they dont know you) to play faster and dont go into a draw.
at the end, the game was a draw, i could pull a win (or a loss, the draw was no good for both of us) if i call the judge earlier.
Something my friends are doing is that after we get done playing, we're going to watch each other's matches. Mainly to watch and see if there is some shady things going on, such as card manipulations, slow play or any other questionable things. At a somewhat recent event my opponent was slow playing but I didn't know because he was shuffling cards back and forth, but because my friend had come and watched he noticed my opponent had nothing but lands in hand and went and grabbed a judge to watch him and make sure he didn't stall for too long.
Since there are several Detention Sphere and Nightveil Spectre type cards running around, I would make sure before you and your opponent leave that you have your 75 cards.
One tip that I didn't see yet (apologies if someone already mentioned this) is always check your sideboard before the round starts. Make sure you have 15 cards there and that they are the RIGHT 15 cards, do this before shuffling for game 1! I like to pile shuffle before mashing so that I can count the number of cards in my main deck as well.
This is great advice. Also only keep your deck and sideboard in the box you are using. Not thinking about it I tossed some unsleeved cards I had traded for into my deck box as to not have them in my trade binder and got a game loss during a deck check for having an oversized sideboard. Even though I could not have played the cards that were extra and my sideboard was sleeved and they where not.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
i was just wondering if there is anything i should know ahead of time, or keep in mind during the time im there.
ive already googled this and i found a couple general things like:
~ Remember your triggers and announce them, once there missed, there missed (minus some exceptions)
~ Dont drop if your doing badly.
~ Bring a Drink and snacks/light lunch.
but is there anything else that first timers should know to make the experience more enjoyable?
thanks ahead
If in doubt, call a judge, allways, especially as a newbie, some opponents might try to pull some very questionable rules on you, so call a judge, let them explain it if necesary.
Dont expect to win, its the experience you gain. Might be a downer, but its just being realistic.
Ask your opponents about their decks, their plays, what you did wrong after the game. This starts nice dialogs quickly, and you learn the fastest by this questions, you might discover new rules and you can directly ask ahead of them accuring.
If you want to trade at a tournament, never let the cards stay on a table, ALLWAYS have an eye on them, and just trade with 1 person at a time, make sure they dont pull out cards out of your collection, unless you found some cards aswell and you really want to trade.
And finally, if in doubt of ANYTHING, ask the judge, allways, just do it and you will quickly get the hang of it.
Especially as a newbie, try to make it a fun time, its not about winning at first, that comes with experience and when things get more competitive.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
1) Get a good night's sleep the night before. That's a general life rule, but good to mention nonetheless
2) You'll be asked to submit a deck list. Try to do this the night before. You should be able to find a sample deck registration form online so fill that out.
3) Bring drinks and snacks. I try to bring water and nuts, but nuts can be dangerous in bigger environments (I know that no one at my LGS is allergic). Something light and healthy to keep you going through the day.
4) Bring enough money! Forget the potential of needing or wanting to pick up a card, you may need money for food, a cab, or to pay off a roaming band of theives (kidding). Make sure you bring enough money to get you through the day
5) Make sure you bring everything you need. Sounds silly, but make sure you have your deck, dice, and the appropriate tokens. Don't be that guy who uses his dice to represent Soldier tokens for his Elspeth. You know your deck, bring the tokens you need
6) Don't be hard on yourself. If this is your first competitive event, then make it a learning experience too. It's easy to tilt when you lose, or make bad plays, but if you're too hard on yourself then you won't have a positive experience
7) Minimize what you bring. If you don't intend to play side events or trade, don't bring extra decks or a trade binder
8) Don't be afraid to call a judge. If there's any disagreement between you and your opponent, or if something goes awry in the game, stop immediately, politely explain to your opponent that you're calling a judge and why, raise your hand, and yell JUDGE!!!!
9) Always shuffle your opponent's deck. Give if a good 3 or 4 riffle/mash shuffles when he or she presents.
10) The most important....have fun.
Check out my blog and help me improve my game
Currently playing:
Standard BUG Control
Modern :UAffinity, GNyxWave
Legacy UBTezzAffinity
My Cube
1. Your deck in sleeves(and make sure all the sleeves are in the same condition, as you don't want to get any kind of warning for having marked cards,etc)
2. Dice or paper for accurately marking changes in life(I prefer paper a lot of the time, because you can show to the judge the different changes in life total if a question comes up)
3. Some kind of objects you can use as creature tokens or counters, such as extra six sided dice, etc
4. Print up a decklist ahead of time, including the maindeck and sideboard. The event will likely require you to submit one, and you can simply submit your printed decklist if you wish. Make sure the list is accurate by checking your deck with the list
5. Bring more cash than you think you need for snacks and meals. Food can be somewhat expensive at an event, but don't be afraid to perhaps walk outside the event center and see if there is something relatively close by that is cheaper
6. If you plan on bringing trade binders, bring them in a duffle bag or some other sort of bag large enough to hold them all. While most Magic players are very honest, make sure you keep all your cards in sight at all times, as there are some less than honest people out there, and who knows which ones they are.
7. As was noted, if at ANY time during a match you have a question, raise your hand and call a judge. Do not ask your opponent rules questions as not only does your opponent have a vested interest in how the match turns out, he or she may not know the proper ruling. Simply put, just raise your hand and call a judge if you are ever unsure about something. Don't worry about if the question seems stupid to you or your opponent, that's what the judges are there for.
8. Finally, be very careful when checking on where you are supposed to be for a match. Check and double check the table number listed for your match and when you get to your table, if your opponent is there, verify the person's name.
Ultimately, remember you are there to have fun. Don't get too nervous, don't take anything an opponent takes too harshly, as many people will behave extremely seriously at these events.
New to Commander? Read the Above article.
If you play a deck that creates tokens, bring those tokens. It again helps avoid confusion and is easier than having a bunch of dice around, which are hard to show as tapped. Bring more than you expect to use too.
Bring spare sleeves, sleeves split. It just happens.
-Side events. There's standard win-a-box, drafts, 2HG, modern, and EDH pods. Also sometimes qualifier events. EDH is going to be hyper-competitive probably, so keep that in mind. If you do early standard events, it's probably people who go 0-4 drop so that's not a bad idea if you have a decent deck. Side Events do end at a certain time as well, I think it's like 5 PM.
-Can't use dice or phone apps for keeping track of life totals. SCG sells a pad and pen for $1.
-Unforseen expenses. Sometimes parking costs money, or you forgot a card and need to buy one last minute.
Always call a Judge. If you're unsure about something, or your opponent does anything questionable, get a judge involved. Cards go below the table, call a judge. Some people make honest mistakes, some people make intentional mistakes throughout the day to grind out some incremental advantage. Multiple warnings throughout the day are how you stop those players, try to do your part.
Verbalize everything. Don't make hand motions, don't point, think about what you want to communicate and say it. After a few hours of playing magic you might point at the wrong target, or pass priority before completing your turn.
once i was playing with this very slow player (he was very experience, like the bad player of the pro team), he really take too much time on thinking. when there was like 10 minutes left for the round HE was rushing me (some people bully you if they dont know you) to play faster and dont go into a draw.
at the end, the game was a draw, i could pull a win (or a loss, the draw was no good for both of us) if i call the judge earlier.
Since there are several Detention Sphere and Nightveil Spectre type cards running around, I would make sure before you and your opponent leave that you have your 75 cards.
This is great advice. Also only keep your deck and sideboard in the box you are using. Not thinking about it I tossed some unsleeved cards I had traded for into my deck box as to not have them in my trade binder and got a game loss during a deck check for having an oversized sideboard. Even though I could not have played the cards that were extra and my sideboard was sleeved and they where not.