Today's article is brought to you by Ron Mackenzie! A good friend of mine and a regular at the Wizard's Tower.
[header type="h4" align="left"]How to Have Fun and Make Friends on Magic Online[/header]
Magic Online (MTGO) is the flagship software by which Wizard’s of the Coast (WotC) enables eager planeswalkers to sling spells and cast creatures online. If you haven’t used it before, have a look at the product of over a decade of development and refinement:
On MTGO you can play every magic format, from limited drafts to constructed legacy events. You can even play everyone’s favourite format, EDH (Editor's note: Is that so?)! If you’re not interested in small stakes, WotC organizes large tournaments for qualification into big paper Magic events. Lately we’ve seen a lot of discussion regarding these events from high ranking professionals like Brian Kibler:
Now, I understand that jumping into playing Magic Online can be a bit daunting. Despite the user-friendly interface, learning the etiquette on MTGO is the key to making friends and having fun. And after all, isn’t that why we’re playing Magic?
The first and most important point to learn about playing MTGO is to communicate with your opponents, and to communicate often. Magic is an interactive game, and so we should interact as much as we can! MTGO even makes it easy so you don’t have to stress yourself with complicated personal greetings.
People appreciate feeling connected to their opponents, so even if you don’t get a reply at first, keep talking to them. They’re sure to reciprocate.
It’s also important to share your ideas with opponents. We all want to become better planeswalkers, so be sure to share your insight and advice with your opponents. They’ll be sure to thank you for it! Did you notice that your opponent’s first three lands were exactly what they needed in a three color draft deck without mana fixing? Nicely played! Did your opponent draw a Supreme Verdict on turn 4 to wipe you out of the game? Next level strategy. Or how about finding a one-of bomb every on curve every game you play? Excellent shuffling!
Being humble is another key factor to excelling at MTGO etiquette. Make sure your opponent knows how far ahead you were when after the game ends, and remind them of the clutch play you executed to lock the game away. After all, there’s nothing worse than losing to a bad player! The humblest action is to remind your opponent how good you are at the game so they don’t have to feel bad about losing.
One last piece of advice to leave you with before you start enjoying MTGO for yourself: Magic is all about having fun, not about who wins. Make sure you tell your opponent Good Game (or GG) after each match!
Enjoy!
