The Like/Hate Thread

[Ashe]

Hate: People that get really fucking pissed while playing a game. I'm not talking about getting slightly heated and very serious when explaining their position. I'm talking about people that throw controllers, or rage quit, or start taking pot shots at people, etc.

Was playing the normal friend group Magic tourney tonight. This time the guy that is a judge wasn't able to make it so it wasn't sanctioned (this matters for what is to come. Sanctioned meaning it doesn't affect rating and the pairing system is manual and really doesn't mean much). So we are basically playing through brackets where (and I really think they make this much more complicated than it needs to be, but its how they like to do it, adapted from their fighting game tournies) when you lose, you go to the loser's bracket and keep going and the best placed winner of the loser's bracket plays the guy from the winner's bracket. I basically just read this as "fucked up way to explain double elimination".

So anyway, we are in the final round, playing for first place. I have already beaten this guy once, but he was the best placement of loser bracket. Others are playing to have fun at this point. So as I understood it, I had no losses, thus he had to win two matches against me. I only had to win one match (full match, two of three) since he already had a loss.

First match, he wins, 2-1. We go to second match, I win, 2-0. He immediately grabs the die and rolls, telling me that we have to roll for the third set of games. We were both tired at this point, I mean its 3am. I say "One sec, I thought that was our last game?" I then lean over to ask the guy doing pairings about it, but he was around the corner and a few other guys were watching us, so it was hard to ask. Well, he gets pissed and just starts getting really loud when I try to explain, yelling over me. "NO, ITS BEST TWO OF THREE MATCHES, HOW HARD IS THAT TO UNDERSTAND? JUST ROLL THE DIE AND LET'S PLAY, ITS LATE."

Everyone who had been trying to explain it at the time just shut up, since he was clearly not listening. My response was, quoted, "Fine, fuck it, whatever, *roll die*, I'll play first." That was basically the last thing I said for the rest of the match that was not me announcing something game related (I target this, I block this, play this, etc). Then Matt (who was running the event) comes up and asks the game count, and the guy says "I got 2-1 in the first match, he got 2-0 in the second match, now we are on the third match." I don't bother to say anything - guy's already made it clear he's not interested, I'm wrong, end of story.

Matt looks at him and goes "... If Tim won, you'd have two losses and the tourney is over." He snaps "That doesn't make any sense!" "Tim was in the winner's bracket, so he goes down to the loser bracket from the first loss of the matches. You are already there, so then you lose, leaving him there." "... That doesn't... Fuck it, whatever, I don't feel like arguing, *scoops cards*, are we ready to go? I'll be outside *storms out*."

I wait quietly till after, and everyone gives it a few seconds and then starts laughing about it. "Damn, Tim gets all serious, but I mean, I don't blame him, he was write and ____ was just having a tantrum for not winning." I don't feel that way, personally, but like I told them, I wasn't being angry or whatever (short of that one response). The way I looked at it was this - we were playing a casual tourney that wasn't sanctioned and thus it really didn't fucking matter who won, it was just for shits and giggles. It affected nothing. So there wasn't anything to get super pissed about.

However, I've built a reflex from tournaments that if my opponent starts acting like a raging dick about things, I'm going to basically just tune him out and focus on the game, win or lose the match, and leave and forget all about it. I don't want to get put on tilt and thus cause me to start fucking up a lot in that round or later rounds. Which thankfully, none of them took it as that. They just laughed because they noticed I went completely rigid from "casual joking around and playing" to "serious play the game focused on attempting to win and be done asap" mode.

To be honest, if it HAD been sanctioned, I would have waited till the judge actually said "You have to play three sets" before agreeing though. I won't let my rating get put on the line over even an innocent misunderstanding from either side. But since it wasn't, WHO GAVE A FUCK? WHY GET SO PISSED AND START YELLING?

Alright, finally I got to rant about that shit, since I've been in an annoyed mood the entire ride home. And thus, its over and done with.

EDIT: I think part of it stemmed off that a few times I made plays that he insisted made no sense but unfortunately for him, were legal and could be proven. Things like... I'm playing Goblins. He draws a card that gives all his guys Protection from Red and drops it onto the table, tapping one red and going "Good game." I just go "Hmm... In response to the spell, before it resolves..." "Ok" "I pay two mana and sac this goblin token to my Siege Gang Commander to do two damage to that one guy-" "Uh, no, they are Pro Red now!" "... The spell giving that hasn't resolved, its still on the stack. I'm responding before it resolves, as I said." *people have to explain it to him*. "Ok, I do this a couple more times to get more of your guys off so I'll survive this attack-" "How??? You can't just keep responding and do fifteen things all before my own instant resolves! It doesn't just keep lingering there!" Someone else speaks up while I facepalm. "Yes, the last thing on the stack resolves first, so he can keep responding to your spell and letting his stuff resolve before letting yours." "But why can he do fifteen things but I can't respond to his?" "You can, do you have another of that spell to respond with? You can respond to his stuff too." "I don't have anything to respond with." "That doesn't mean he suddenly can't respond either though." "You should only be able to respond one effect for one effect, not multiple things."

I basically sat back and let them take over coaching him through it, and he was just frustrated and even though no one was being condescending and everyone was trying to explain rationally, he was just raging that he should be right. So yeah, I guess that results from that, because he decides that afterwards he'll just suicide with his one guy at me to show how annoyed he is. I naturally just take the nonlethal damage, then swing right back for the kill next turn.