In a near-future friendly FNM in a LGS where I have a good relationship both as a player and as a Judge, I plan to partecipate with a friend of mine who is absolutely new to the game. I would like to lend him my deck, sit down next to him, and explain / suggest / assist him during the plays. I plan to drop him after Round 1 or 2 (depending on his response), even conceding the match if things get too much closer to a lesson rather than a game; I also plan to describe everything to the TO and to the opponent(s) before starting the FNM so that the situation could be clear – sure, it could be a “customer service” scenario, but I'm well known as a Judge and I plan to be simple and honest with whatever situation may happen in that event, despite NOT being enrolled as a Judge in the WER in order to be close to my friend and allowed to walk out of the LGS with him after he drops.

On the other hand, last week I've also had a young teenager approaching its first draft, where draft picks can be quite challenging for the beginners. Since I was sitting and playing at his left, I described him the techincalities of the draft but I refused to assist him with the picks and he ended up with an inconistent deck where the only clear picks were the three rares. He obviously ended up having close to no fun playing the event matches, but I hope to meet him again.

So, the general question is: how do you deal with the new players at Regular Events? Is it even legal / allowed to “outside assist” their first steps into the game, regardless if this tutoring is done by the TO, by a Judge, by another player? Would you suggest other kind of approach for a newbie player who wants to step in its first tournament with a fresh DCI in his hand, very low knowledge and very hig desire to have fun? How much would you “deviate” from the rules to accomodate a very fresh player into a sanctioned tournament?

Thanks in advance! :)

If you ask me, I think a tournament - even a regular event like an FNM - isn't a good place to teach a player the game, or smooth over the rough spots in their knowledge. I would recommend something more like a Gateway or league event for that, or perhaps an unsanctioned casual event. The other alternative might be to enroll yourself as the player, and let your friend watch over your shoulder and ask questions (maybe after the match just to be safe) as to what they didn't understand.

There is a bridge between brand-new and Regular REL play: casual play. Gather the new players and work them up to Regular REL play that way. Once they know their way around basic strategy and rules enough to participate in FNM, put them into FNM. Should only take a few weeks.

WotC even supports casual play from time to time with various goodies. If I understand it correctly, the things that used to be buy-a-box foils now don't come with that string attached. Once could use those as prizes, I think. Check with the sign-ups in WER for details.
—– Original Message —–
From: Stefano Ferrari
To: wcc3@cs.oberlin.edu
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2014 6:31 AM
Subject: How to assist newbies into a Regular event? (Regular REL)


In a near-future friendly FNM in a LGS where I have a good relationship both as a player and as a Judge, I plan to partecipate with a friend of mine who is absolutely new to the game. I would like to lend him my deck, sit down next to him, and explain / suggest / assist him during the plays. I plan to drop him after Round 1 or 2 (depending on his response), even conceding the match if things get too much closer to a lesson rather than a game; I also plan to describe everything to the TO and to the opponent(s) before starting the FNM so that the situation could be clear – sure, it could be a “customer service” scenario, but I'm well known as a Judge and I plan to be simple and honest with whatever situation may happen in that event, despite NOT being enrolled as a Judge in the WER in order to be close to my friend and allowed to walk out of the LGS with him after he drops.

On the other hand, last week I've also had a young teenager approaching its first draft, where draft picks can be quite challenging for the beginners. Since I was sitting and playing at his left, I described him the techincalities of the draft but I refused to assist him with the picks and he ended up with an inconistent deck where the only clear picks were the three rares. He obviously ended up having close to no fun playing the event matches, but I hope to meet him again.

So, the general question is: how do you deal with the new players at Regular Events? Is it even legal / allowed to “outside assist” their first steps into the game, regardless if this tutoring is done by the TO, by a Judge, by another player? Would you suggest other kind of approach for a newbie player who wants to step in its first tournament with a fresh DCI in his hand, very low knowledge and very hig desire to have fun? How much would you “deviate” from the rules to accomodate a very fresh player into a sanctioned tournament?

Thanks in advance! :)


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If you've a friend who is absolutely new to magic, then fnm definitely isn't the place to teach them magic. Even the simplest constructed deck has a ton of different cards with multiple lines of text and complex interactions. Ask the TO for a pair of the free 30 card demo decks. They're mono colour and straight forward. Teach them how to play with that. If they're enjoying it then ask them what kind of cards they want to add and you can probably find useful cards in draft cards nobody wants, or from your own cards.

As for the person who's drafting for the first time, my recommendation to them would be to either (1) force their favourite colour and see how it goes, or (2) pick the strongest card in the first booster or two and stick to those colours. Avoid drafting 3 colours. There's not much more you can do for someone just starting to draft as it's all learning through experience.

Hi Stefano!

In my opinion, the best way you can help your friend is by NOT showing him a FNM as the first place where he meets Magic. As other have already stated, Casual is the way to go. Many stores run regular leagues or other casual events for beginners (usually capped by PWP lifetime total).

If your organizer does not do that, you can offer him a helping hand with that (if you wish). Generally, TOs want such type of tournaments, because it helps them to fulfil WPN level requirements.



William,
buy-a-box promo cards do not fall into the “FNM promo policy” and thus cannot be used for any other means than giving them to customers who buy a booster box. As far as I know, only the following surplus promos can be used as prizes at TO's discretion:
- FNM
- Gateway (only WPN Level Gateway stores receive those)
- Launch Party
- Game Day
Others must be destroyed if not used.

Hi all, and thanks for your advices!

On a pure theoric basis, I agree with the idea of joining a Casual tournament and start from there, and that TO runs them for sure – but only during afternoon hours, when boys and young adults gather to play after school lessons or (as it now happens) during school holidays. My friend and myself are workers, and the best gaming time is the evening period, when many shops are opens (if they do so) for FNMs.

There is simply no attendance and/or interest to have a Casual event next to the FNM: for constructed purpose, I will try to walk down the path of the demo decks and see how that pans out.

If there are other suggestions, feel free to report them. Thank you!

Originally posted by Stefano Ferrari:

So, the general question is: how do you deal with the new players at Regular Events? Is it even legal / allowed to “outside assist” their first steps into the game, regardless if this tutoring is done by the TO, by a Judge, by another player? Would you suggest other kind of approach for a newbie player who wants to step in its first tournament with a fresh DCI in his hand, very low knowledge and very hig desire to have fun? How much would you “deviate” from the rules to accomodate a very fresh player into a sanctioned tournament?

Remember that even at Regular REL, you are not allowed to “provide strategic advice during a match or draft” (JAR, General Unwanted Behaviors). I can sympathize with wanting to help your friend or a new player, but this is not something that is permitted at a sanctioned event.

When you get to an FNM you will likely be able to find players that are willng to play against your mate while you coach him, either between rounds or maybe you can ask someone not participating in the FNM.

I wouldn´t suggest to let your mate play in the FNM, because his opponents could dislike playing against him while you coach him, as well as it might take too much time. Besides that I would be concerned about how pleasant this way to learn magic will be for your friend.

Learning to draft is another thing, I suggest sticking to the very basics, try to be 2 colored, try to pick a lot of creatures (always prefer creature above spell if not sure which card to pick), try to pick strong cards (this can be hard to decide as a new player) and try to not get stuck with too many expensive spells.

When I see “Brand New” players come to my regular events, I try to take 15-20 mins before the start of the event to give a crash course in drafting, tournament procedures, ensuring their constructed deck is legal, etc. Its good customer service to do this before the start of the tournament. However, during actual gameplay, they are on their own. I will answer any judge questions they have, but I dont think we can go beyond what we would do for other more experienced players.

I just want to underscore what Vincent has said here, because it is important - while we encourage players to be more helpful at Regular REL, we do draw the line at providing strategic advice to someone during a draft or during a match. Players need to be able to make their own decisions at this time, and other players in the tournament shouldn't be left feeling like they are having to play against two people by themselves.

Even at Regular REL, judges are meant to be impartial. If you are very well known as a judge in your area, coaching a player during matches would definitely damage that impression for the other players in the tournament. If he is playing in a later tournament where you are a judge and you are called to a ruling on his table, how can they trust you to rule fairly if they know that previously you have bent the rules in order to help him?

The advice given here of teaching your friend to play by coaching him in ‘friendly’ matches alongside FNM or playing casually just to teach him the basics before launching him into Regular REL play by himself is pretty good :)

One tactic I have seen is to have a separate table for the new player.
Instead of putting him in with the FNM, inform the judge of the situation
and ask him or her make an announcement at the start of the round along
these lines: “We have a new player today, who is learning the game. If you
have a bye, or your match finishes early, we encourage you to stop by Table
X and help us teach a future member of our Magic Community.” As a judge, I
have taken the time to help the new player out when other duties didn't
interfere, and since this wasn't a sanctioned event, I was able to offer
strategic advice with full knowledge and blessing of the people involved.

Dominick Riesland, aka Rabbitball
Creator of the Cosmversal Grimoire
“As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then
their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to
destroy.”
- Christopher Dawson