I have a player that I have never seen or met before show up to play in FNM. Awesome! Except, he plays very, very slowly and does not respond even in normal communication and conversation in a timely manner. I believe there may be some sort of handicap he is dealing with, but I (of course) am not going to ask about that.

My problem now is that he is playing SO slowly that he is sometimes only going to game two or even game one so hitting time. His opponents so far have been really great about it and are helping him and being super helpful (I love my community!) but it's still frustrating. Also, if he happens to play against someone that is not so patient some really bad problems could occur.

SO. I bring my problem to you, judges. How do I handle this situation? What should I do, or what should I not do?

Thank you so much!

-Megs

First of all: your community sounds great, and kudos for bringing this topic up her ebefore it becomes a problem!

My advice would be: talk to the player. He knows what's going on, and he best can answer you about his needs and limitations. Maybe he isn't aware of him being slow, maybe something else is going on, but I;m always a huge advocate of talking with people instead of about people.

Good luck, and keep us informed about any progress or other questions you may have!

We have something similar in our meta with a player with down's syndron. We found the best solution was help them build aggressive decks which means faster games. They went 3-1 last FNM and even did 3-6 at a gp.

Dustin- Thanks for the post! Our community is truly awesome at my store. I love it!


At the point of this post I had definitely talked to him about needing to play a little faster. He said it's hard for him sometimes to finish more than two games per round. I told him I understood that sometimes making moves is hard and requires some thought, and gave him some tips for when he would be able to cut some time out of his turn (like when his opponent passes, if he has no plays in his hand to just untap and draw, then once he's drawn to re-look at the board and make decisions from there.)

After the first round he ended up playing a bit faster. Every game went to time, or almost to time…but he finished them all. At the last round, however, he didn't seem to understand how the ability “regenerate” worked. Saying he could quote the rules back and forth. We looked up the rule and I sat down with him for about 7 or 8 minutes during the round explaining how regeneration worked. His opponent was very patient and let me talk and explain, but I still don't think he completely wrapped his head around it. I told him that after the tournament or during the week he could come in and we could sit down to chat about stuff, but he didn't seem to into that. It's okay, though! I'm sure if he comes back we can work through it.

Robert- That sounds like a good idea! If he comes back I'll see if I can push him towards that direction. He was playing a grixis control deck tonight and I believe that was part of the problem. Thanks!



Thanks for your guys' feedback!

I've have a disability myself (although not physical), and you're definately handling this case correct. As Dustin also pointed out, it's good idea to speak with him about it.

You might also to speak with some of his family/friends is that's possible. They may be able to tell you more about him.

You're doing very good work so far, and please continue working with him. Take your time to explain anything he might need. He will gain a lot from this.

Edited Gilbert Hedegaard (Aug. 29, 2015 03:56:59 PM)

Thanks for the positive reinforcement, Gilbert! I just want everyone to have a good time and play some magic. Tonight he's back and is playing a little faster. I think the talk I had with him last week was a good one. He's playing faster this week and although it's sometimes frustrating for some of the other players they're working with him as much as I am.

Unfortunately he doesn't come in with any family or other friends, just him. I'll have to ask around to other shops in the area if he's shown up to events and chat with them, too.

Matthew Shephard has an amazing presentation on working with players with disabilities.

I don't think I have ever learned as much as I did in his presentation.

If you (or anyone reading) has a situation similar, I recommend checking out his presentation. (I'm trying to find a digital copy now, I'll update post with it when I do).

EDIT: As promised, here is the link to the presentation. LINK

Edited Bret Siakel (Sept. 10, 2015 08:32:15 AM)

Bret, thank you for the link. Needed it regarding my stores fnm.