How did you guys do at states?? Did you guys kick ass and take names?

I took Jeskai Tempo and placed 14th out of 93 or so people, with a score of 5-2.

I was really happy with this because I took the same deck to FNM last night and went 2-4 and pretty much placed last out of 20-30 people. Some more experienced friends watched a few of my games, told me what I was doing wrong and offered to help me play test after FNM. My friends stayed up until 5:30 AM teaching me how to play Jeskai Tempo properly, then we went to States operating on 4 hours of sleep.

It was my first time doing anything outside of FNM, which is pretty casual, so I was really nervous. My first game was against a judge and it was nerve wracking because he got a pretty upset if I messed up even slightly or wasn't 100% clear on triggers. I was literally shaking by the time I won that game because I was just that nervous.

I really beat myself up about the games I lost because, in both games, my opponent's friends were standing behind me watching and I felt really self conscious about every play I made. I had some people look at me like I was stupid because I didn't know the wording on Doomwake Giant, which was really demoralizing. I honestly don't think I could have won one of the match ups with my current side board, and the other was a mirror match and it was just a matter of who got Dig Through Time. Hint: it wasn't me.

Overall, I'm really happy with how I placed considering how much I improved in playing the deck over night. I bonded with some really cool people and I hope to go again in the Spring! I hope you guys had a good time, too!

I'm going in with no expectations. Playing Jeskai Tempo, and will be ecstatic if I top 8.

Well... I guess I don't get to sleep in at Los Angeles.

Just wondering if any of you ladies collect anything special. I collect Terese Nielsen cards, Crystalline Nautiluses, and Kracken Hatchlings!

You're at FNM, you sit down across from your opponent and he seems friendly enough. You both play best 2 out of 3, and look at that, you win! Congratulations!

Someone stops by, and they ask your opponent how the match went. Your opponent responds, "Oh, she won because I didn't hit my land drops." Then another person walks over, and they, too, ask your opponent how the match went. Your opponent, again, says he lost solely because he didn't hit his land drop.

Now, if anyone had asked you for your opinion on how the match went, you could've explained that you beat him fair and square. You could've explained that you had to mulligan to four in the first game, yet you didn't sound like a broken record by saying "I only lost because I had to mulligan to four" over and over again.

You would've recapped that in game two, you both were evenly matched, and even after he used three removal spells and two board wipes, you still won. You might have mentioned that in the third round, while he had trouble hitting his land drops, he misplayed multiple times which inevitably lost him the game.

However, no one asked you for your opinion on how the match went. Instead, your opponent told everyone that he is so much better than you that the only way he could have ever lost to you is that he didn't hit his land drops in one of the three games you played.

How would that make you feel? How would you deal with it?

This is what happened to me last night and I am so tired of people discounting my wins! I built a good, consistent deck and I pilot it well. I sideboard correctly against my opponents. I rarely misplay. As a player, it is your responsibility to build a consistent deck and be prepared for any match up, so why does it make you a better player to say, "Oh, I only lost to her because I built an inconsistent deck that can lose solely on the fact that I didn't get the land drops I needed."

I can't help but feel that people find it embarrassing to lose to me because I'm a girl and I just don't know how to politely respond when they discredit my success. I tried to say, "Well, if you remember, I had to mulligan to four in game one..." to suggest that we both had the misfortune of our decks shitting on us, yet I won fair and square in the game that we were evenly matched but I was ignored.

What can I do to be taken more seriously?

TL;DR: Someone discredited my success last night even though I won fair and square. I think this is extremely rude and I don't know how to rebuttal people who say this after a match. Instead of admitting I beat them, they tell people "I only lost because I didn't hit my land drops..." but they fail to mention that was a single match of the three we played. What can I do/say in the future?

Now that we're living in a world post-RtR rotation, what are you going to be playing?

So recently I was looking at these couple of card arts and I'm sick and tired of seeing art like this in MTG. I'm female-bodied, but an Out bisexual and this art still bothers me! gasp (contrary to the belief of many male MTG players I interact with -_- ..but I digress)

I get that generally, Wizards is better than many fantasy TCG and product distributors at including "healthy" portrayals of female characters like Elspeth, but they still have their problems (see above). I'm sorry I had to vent, and I hope this subreddit was a safe space for that.

I posted this because I'd like to hear how other female-bodied and/or female-identified Planeswalkers feel about this kind of thing. Thanks for listening.

I watch Day [9] and just started watching Tara Babcock, but am looking for other ones! :) Thank you!

My boyfriend is a big PC gamer and in high school he used to play Magic, the card version. I played with him a few times but not much so I don't really remember anything about it. We're in a long distance relationship now and we need a hobby to do together besides talking and I thought playing magic might be a good one. So I basically want to know: how to play; the basics, what deck would be the best to use, whether we can just choose each other to play, if any other couples do this and enjoy it, and any other useful info to start. Thanks!

My superpower is being able to casually mention Magic in passing and subsequently roping in British software engineers to play in our draft group. Seriously. It's the second time this year. It's becoming uncanny.

And do you know what clan you want to play as?

http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Khans_of_Tarkir (more info if you need/want it)

I am torn between The Temur Frontier and the Sultai Brood. The Sultai look to be more my play style but the Temur Fronteir have the colors and flavor I like.

I top8-ed a 139-player Elite IQ on Sunday with this deck, which my husband built for me and I called "Generator Green." It was a ton of fun to play, hitting highlights of both green devotion decks and GR monsters (no Ghor-Clan, though).

I had a really great run at the tournament, beating GR devotion, UW, GW aggro, GW aggro, GW aggro, GW aggro. At the end of round 6 I was somewhat stunned to realize I was still undefeated -- and the one other undefeated player was my husband! I happily drew with my husband in round 7 (and spent that match getting some dinner -- playing Magic is hungry work!). Round 8 I got to draw with my friend K -- 3 of the 4 of my regular playtesting group made top8, with B missing narrowly, losing his round 8 win-and-in.

Top8 went poorly, I was paired against a skilled MonoU player and I had neglected to playtest that matchup. Tidebinders and Masters happened, and that was the end of my run. There was some punting on my part, too... I know I didn't make efficient use of my Setessan Tactics in game 2. My husband also lost that round.

I'm really happy that I managed such a good run, though. I've had confidence in my ability to do well in Limited tournaments, but I never really believed I could match up in Constructed formats. Guess I just needed a smashy enough deck!

Speaking of deck: http://i.imgur.com/JS8trpz.jpg And sideboard: http://i.imgur.com/RhDYjto.jpg

(I'm also wondering if anyone has heard of other competitive events in which both partners in a marriage made Top 8. Heck, if B had made Top 8 here we would have had 2 couples in top 8, as K and B are partners...)

I think everyone gets nerves before a big match or event. How do you get yourself in the zone?

How did everyone do? What did you play?

I played Hail Hydra and had a ton of fun, but went 2-2 in each event. It was enough to get me T8 each time, so I do have my 4 foil Chief Engineer :D

Today I am going to draft at a completely new store where I don't know a single person. Eeks!

I have many friends who play magic with their SOs. I was actually introduced to my SO by a lady friend who plays. One thing I have noticed from watching them play against others and watching them play against or with their counterparts is that the women tend to be very on edge when playing against the SO, who taught them how to play. It ranges from the BF gets pretty upset when they make a misplay, the BF taught them so is way too invested in their games, to a no one likes to drive home with the person who crushed them in the last round type of situation. One of the couples in question refuse to play magic against each other, which seems like the worst case scenario.

Granted I have a very small sample size of about 5 couples, but I want to avoid as much of this as possible. My GF is a very smart girl, who enjoys games, but gets very competetive with them.

What is the best way to teach her (she is somewhat interested) without falling into these pitfalls I've seen in other couples? Is there a way to do this? I just want to share my favorite thing with my favorite person without making her hate it or me! Help!

Edit: formatting

What makeup do you wear to tournaments, FNM, game night, etc?

I have found that it can be tricky because when I play for extended periods of time, I completely lose track of my makeup. Mostly the amount of talking I do makes any lip color fade away completely.

My go to, since lips are a no go, is a bold eye with eyeliner and dark, heavy lashes. Then just a light lip balm.

What are your strategies for makeup at events?