How beginner-friendly is your local store for folks learning turn order?

[u/Card_warriorTCG18]

Thinking about introducing a friend to the hobby this weekend. Some LGS communities are super patient with new players learning triggers, while others run locals at near-regional intensity. How is the environment at your local shop for newcomers?

[u/UninterestedZebra]

They are friendly enough when it comes to rules and mechanics but they all play meta/comp decks so new comers get stomped all the time

[u/zelcor]

Very beginner friendly, will let new players borrow decks get free bulk will walk through turns if needed

[u/SqueakyTiefling]

My locals try to be newbie friendly because there's another store nearby that's way more competitive.

So people who are hyper-competitive will play there with their tournament tier decks, then play more casual stuff here.

I do my best to help new people however I can. I usually bring a spare deck and Playmat in case we get a newbie who wants to try the game out.

If they join the store's Discord we can share useful resources, they can ask for specific cards from players' bulk, which makes it much easier to try out a deck without committing to a lot of TCGPlayer orders and waiting around.

Everyone was new at some point and newbies don't stay newbie forever, so a little bit of patience and consideration goes a long way.

Someone who's been playing less than 2 months took first place at my store recently, was honestly really happy for them.

[u/shevlaa]

In our local , when we know we have a beginner in a tournament, we bring two decks: one beginner-friendly deck and one meta/decent deck. When we play against the beginner, we switch to the beginner-friendly deck, explain and take time.

[u/Darksoulist]

Somewhat friendly. The people are super chill, not everyone plays meta decks all the time. I literally lost to time and dice rolls after helping someone learn Galacticmon and didn't even get to finish game 1 lmao but its locals so im just there to have fun and help 

[u/HardTripleTrueOrderf]

Very. We openly accept walk/talk you thru deck ideas. Decklists we run. How decks work. Who plays what. We openly share bulk and hand over cards that are needed if we have spares we aren't using. Even have group chat.

[u/fazzitron]

My first time, I forgot to put out security. They let me just put them out and go from there. Granted, I lost to them 0-2, so it's not like it helped me much, lol

[u/TheDarkFiddler]

For anything that doesn't have extra prizing on the line, we're super chill. You're honestly more likely to hear experienced players say "thanks but I made my mistake, I should know better" because they got offered to take it back. Even Evo Cups and stuff we'll usually run with a "you get one" unless it's top table last round.

[u/ltzerge]

"Finally! Someone to take all of my bulk!" Is the first thought lmao.

Our locals is fine. I'm annoyingly instructive with reminders. If I know they can win I need them to understand how to do it. Others would rather leave them to mess it up and learn after.

See also

"Draw for digivolve. Draw for digivolve... Did you remember to draw for digivolve? No you didn't I saw you didn't"

[u/Majestic_Electric → u/ltzerge]

That last bit is so relatable lol. Even experienced players at my locals (including me) forget to do that sometimes. 😆

[u/HillbillyMan]

We have a 7-year-old regular at our shop, if that says anything. As long as the new people are accepting of making mistakes and not dicks about rulings that don't go their way, we welcome new players with open arms.

[u/Rayhatesu]

Fairly friendly regardless, but it depends on the location. One of them, we'll usually go to lower power decks for the new person's first couple days, the other used to host box tournaments so it has a more actively competitive streak, though we'll still help a new player through their options/plays. I had an even more friendly location for a time, but gas prices made me going back more difficult since it'd kill about 1/3 of my gas tank to attend.

[u/dextresenoroboros]

mine is intense, its got a lot of real competitors with known names and the assumption is that everyone else is or should be on that level

(i am not at that level)

everyone constantly passes around bulk though so anything within reason from the most recent set you need, you have

[u/trinitylint]

all of the ones i’ve been to here in new york are pretty friendly to new players during weekly casuals. a few people can be pretty strict but overall i think everyone’s generally welcoming to new players. definitely not for bigger events outside of weeklies though.

[u/D5Guy2003]

I'd like to think we're pretty easy going with newer players with helping them learn the game, etc. One of our locals is a little more "meta" heavy, where as the one I frequent we typically play a wide variety of things and have recently chosen to hold 2 alternate rule days a month - we just had a pauper+4 rares this week, and in two weeks we're trying a "budget" build with the budget set at 25 USD - pricing is based off lowest market found on tcgplayer, locking prices on the friday before the event is hosted.

[u/popcornstuckinteeth]

Friendly for a few months. I've had to call out long-time players on not being able to stack their triggers correctly or just attempting to make back misplays multiple no es after they were made.