"Magic Pros are all arrogant cheaters." This is a complaint I hear a lot. People have a view that to be good at Magic you need to lie, cheat, and steal in games, treat your opponents like they are the scum of the earth, and generally make the game as unfun for everyone else involved as humanly possible.

The truth is that they are right. Or at least they can be. Magic Pros, and players of all levels, are not a single entity – there are some that are wonderful, caring, and enjoyable people, and there are some that are unbearable. That shouldn't be surprising, people are the same way, but what we often make a mistake of in the Magic community is valuing a person's playskill above all else.

This isn't the fault of the game, or Wizards, or the Pro Tour. It's our fault. We help to create the community around us. Our actions, or sometimes inaction, shape how the local Magic culture develops. If you've ever noticed that there seem to be certain areas of the country that have pretty consistently produced high quality Magic players, it isn't all random happenstance. They've had communities that were open to expansion, that have been supportive, and have been fun environments to be in.

A Tale of Two Stores:

There are several Magic shops in my area, but two in particular for the last few years have been the stomping grounds for the competitive Magic players. Perhaps the thing that most sharply divides the stores is the FNM that each store hosts, and the players that tend to frequent it. I used to spend most Fridays at Store A until work, a girlfriend, and a number of friends moving away after college put Magic on the back burner for me. When I got back into the game, I found that things around Store A had changed a lot. It wasn't nearly as much fun to play in tournaments anymore.

The issue is that the best player at Store A is the type of Magic player that casual people complain about when they talk about ‘Pros'. Part of the reason I put Magic on the back burner was that a lot of the regulars had quit or left, and this player was left as the most experienced player. He became the role model for everyone at the store who wanted to get better. He is good, though he is also incredibly arrogant, and has no problem informing his opponents just how bad they are, or just how lucky they were in a game. He will complain about everything that happens during the game, no matter how minor, to the point that it is uncomfortable to even lose to him. To give you an idea of just how bad he is, he once complained when I was mulliganing to 5 in a match that, "of course you WOULD mulligan to five the one time I get a good hand."

What do new players take from this? To be good, you need to act like this. It may or may not be conscious on their part, but as humans, we all tend to emulate the people we look up to, and as this player tended to win a healthy percentage of the time.

That isn't to say that he's a terrible person – outside of Magic he is great. Even in Magic, he has a very high moral stance to cheating and other shady play, and has done a great job of discouraging that. He does try and help many new players, and he did work on trying to make the community he played with better. The problem was that the players who wanted to be at the top of the heap didn't see all of that, they saw his outwardly obnoxious mannerisms.

There were countless new players who came to the store, drafted at FNM once, and were so disgusted by the verbal barrage thrown at them that they never returned. And many of them not just to that store, but to any other FNM in the area. It's quite possible that they gave up the entire idea of competitive magic level, because of just how bratty all of the players were. When I returned to the game, I found that the personality of the store had shifted dramatically.

Luckily one of my friends got me to start going to Store B, which I had initially viewed as being far more casual. While it was true that Store B's players mostly began as casual, the players started turning towards tournaments, the FNM remained more of a fun Friday night. Lots of goofing off, pranks, and various other hinjinks.The players were friends inside and outside of Magic. The staff and the players in the store heavily discouraged players from being rude, yelling, excessively complaining, or otherwise shooing off the newer customers. Instead, they tried to help newer players out and encouraged them to have a good time. As a result, the number of players every FNM at this store is at least twice of the first. The players helped each other out, and quickly started putting up results. Several have been to their first Pro Tour in the past year.

As you might expect, the players from store A have a tendency to get very angry at losses, verbally assault opponents, and throw tantrums when they lose (which is always to luck.) The players from store B are much more laid back, and while they will complain about losses, it is in the vein of the power level or cards, or matchups.

Which of these environments would you want to play in?

I found that when I played at store A, I didn't have as much fun. I found that I ended up frustrated, angry or depressed after most FNMs. If I won, great, but if not, I just wanted to kill myself. I didn't enjoy the game, and as a result, I didn't progress in it at all. I was interested in improving so that I could win FNM every week, not so that I could be a better player. Instead I wanted to improve so that I could show up everyone else.

Once I managed to find what I truly loved about the game again, I found that I wanted to be better for myself. Winning was important, but not as important as playing better Magic. Even though I couldn't attend as many PTQs, I was able to put in some time testing and talking to people about the PTQs they were going to. Each really good play I made gave me satisfaction in and of itself. Even days where I lost many more games than I won, I felt like I could walk away happy.

Create the World You Want to Live In

As a Magic player, you are part of a community, both local and international. While there isn't much most players can do to improve how Magic players are viewed across the globe, everyone can do something to improve their local conditions. If the individual communities can improve the attitude and friendliness where they play, then the over time the larger picture of who Magic players are can be improved.

Understand that if you are a veteran player, the newer players in your area will look up to you for advice and direction. If you want players to be polite, courteous, and good to each other, then you need to practice what you preach. If you can bring newer players into the fold and help them to learn good habits and social interaction, then they will teach other players the same.

If you are in an area that is populated with players who are harmful to the local community, then you need to either convince those players to change their ways, or to remove them from the community. I can't tell you how many times people have told me "Well, so and so is a real d-bag, and I hate playing with them, but they are really good." If you tell people that their behavior is unacceptable, and you make them understand that if they don't change their ways, they will not have people to playtest with, borrow cards, etc. As a community at large, we need to stop overlooking other player's harmful habits in the name of valuing a player for their expertise.

In the end, I think everyone plays Magic to have fun, and anytime someone goes out of their way to take that away from other members of the community, they are doing everyone a disservice. The more that we all look out for each other, and ensure that everyone else is given an environment that win, lose, or draw with dignity and respect, the better off we will all be

A Thank You

This is going to be my last weekly article for ManaNation. I appreciate Trick and ManaNation for giving me the chance to go from occasionally writing blog to writing a weekly column. It has taken my writing and commitment to the game to another level. I also wanted to thank all of you for reading my work, and the support you have all given me.

I just want to leave you with one word of advice.

Magic is about more than just cards. This is a game we love, but it's also a community that we have built together. Go to any large tournament and you will see the level of comrade. It's more than just the games that you play. At the end of the day, it's about the people you meet, and the relationships that you build.

Sam Stoddard