MTG Salvation

Quote from Seppel »

You've missed one quantifiable variable that she wants, that without, makes Magic so infuriating to play at times: Social value.

She has been invited to play FNM with friends.

I've had to deal with many jerks who think that playing to win is the only thing that matters in a tournament. They come in all forms. There's the kind that threaten you with disqualification if you try to answer a cell phone call from your mother. There's the kind of people that grind in MMORPGs and ostracize their supposed "friends" because their friends' characters are not optimal. I had to deal with one of them at the Alara release tournament. He had a Carrion Thrash in play and I killed another one of his creatures. He tapped two mana and put the card back in his hand:

Me: "How did you do that?"

Him: "Carrion Thrash. Finish your turn."

Me: "Wait, I don't think that's how that card works."

Him: "Whenever a creature goes to the graveyard, I can pay 2."

I lean in to look at the card, politely giving him the benefit of the doubt, even though I know he's wrong.

Me: "Are you sure that's what the card says?"

He then tosses the card at me.

Him: "Read the ******* card!"

So I read the card out loud. He immediately snatches it back from me and reads it himself, as if I was lying. He then puts the creature back from his hand to his graveyard.

Him: "Finish your turn."

Me: "I would appreciate it if you didn't swear at me in the future."

Him: "Finish your turn or I'll call you out on slow-playing."

I didn't want to make it an issue, so I finished my turn. At this point I just wanted the game to end as fast as possible. With people like him and you playing Magic, it's no wonder all my friends who attend tournaments for the social value (5 or 6 of them) have quit Magic.

Do you understand what you're telling her?

You're telling her to sit in her room, alone, grinding, and playing catch-upuntil she can make an appearance not based on her urge to be social (a natural need in normal humans), but based on the quality of her deck.

Do you understand what you're telling her to tell her friends?

"Sorry, I'm not going to visit and play with you guys because it would just be a waste of money."

Yeah.

You know who says something like that?

Social rejects.

Congratulations, social rejects, you've won the game, but you're still losers in the real world.