What’s your “dick move” moment?
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Sept. 7, 2021, 5:02 p.m. by Daveslab2022
It could be something you did, witnessed or had done to you.
Mine was something I did. It was an FNM, I was 2-0 and got paired down into a guy who was 1-1. This guy was a known hot head when things didn’t go his way, but it never bothered me. It was amusing to watch him rage sometimes.
Anyways it was KTK Standard and he was playing some sort of 4 Color deck. I wasn’t really sure tbh, he had only cast 1 copy of Abzan Charm and 1 copy of Siege Rhino with some blue mana sitting on his side of the field. So again, wtf was this guy playing?
He was at 1 life after my attack step. It was game 1 and I had 2 cards left in hand.
He untaps, draws, and casts a siege rhino.
“Trigger, I go to 4?”
“In response I’ll cast Crackling Doom”
“Oh alright, so I go to 2?”
“… No you’re dead. I cast it in response to the Siege Rhino”
He flipped out. He was like “wtf dude why didn’t you just kill me on your turn?! Wow you’re such a jerk!” He then put his deck away, dropped the tournament and left the shop.
I felt a little bad in hindsight, but it was game 1! I had no idea what he was playing and wanted a little more information before I killed him. I didn’t happen to get any more information, because he just cast a 2nd Siege Rhino instead of a new spell.
I honestly just wanted to know how to sideboard against them better.
What’s your dick move moment?
RNR_Gaming says... #3
This guy kept targeting my stuff because I won a week prior. I had cast Genesis Wave using all my lands. He asks how many lands I have open and I tell him I have tapped all my lands. He casts Syncopate for 1 and what he didnt realize is that i had a Birds of Paradise untapped and ready to go - it was in plain view I wasnt hiding it or anything he was just all in on being an annoyance to me specifically. So, I tap the bird and pay for the syncopate and bash in with a hoof and a few other thing.
September 7, 2021 6:09 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #4
This is something that I only witnessed across the table, but it's too good not to share.
We were playing some casual 5 player commander, with me on Reyav, Master Smith, and my opponents on Marwyn, the Nurturer, Nethroi, Apex of Death, Blim, Comedic Genius, and Otrimi, the Ever-Playful/Umori, the Collector-creatures. This pre-HBer ban, and the Otrimi player has a commanding boardstate with both Opposition Agent and Hullbreacher. The Blim player has a Steel Golem, though, and he gets it through--shutting the Otrimi player out of the game entirely for about 5 turns till he gets a Murderous Rider off.
This Sultai player is one of the most level-headed people I know, but he kept shaking his head and saying "dude, I'm on all creatures..."
September 7, 2021 7:39 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #5
Doesn't seem too bad. Sounds like an appropriate level of salt for a casual game. The Blim player definitely picked the correct target for the donation though I don't think I could be mad at the play but I would be salty lol.
September 7, 2021 9:17 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
Razia's Purification into Blatant Thievery in Narset, Enlightened Master. Make everyone sac down to 3 permanents then steal the best thing they kept.
September 7, 2021 10:23 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #7
1v1 EDH.
This guy was being a total asshole. He was playing Phenax mill, which is meh whatever. But he himself as a player was just being a giant piece of shit.
He didn't like the fact I was winning, because I'm a Timmy and my deck has more creatures than your deck has spells. I was Gruul Stompy running Xenagos. He kept trying his best to win but the problem is, he had no protection on board. So sure you mill me for 10 or 15 or 20 but my army of creatures are still in tact and swinging.
When I closed the game out, because his deck could do literally nothing other than mill and a bit of discard, he got furious. He knocked the glass of water over on purpose that was on the table. Like swatted it.
My cards were sleeved and my playmat soaked up the water. Still, fuck that noise.
So I took his entire EDH deck and whipped it across the LGS and told him to go pick his shit up.
September 7, 2021 11:52 p.m. Edited.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #8
TypicalTimmy: Wow, that escalated quickly...I'm not even sure how I would react. That reaction sounds teenage-level of impulse control.
September 7, 2021 11:57 p.m.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #9
Back when I used to play Modern years ago, one of the brews I would pilot was a janky Midrange Infect deck. So during the first round of this small tournament, a player sitting next to me running Mono- Illusions admitted to me that he wasn’t any removal. Sure enough we were paired up for round 2, and I took full advantage of this volunteered information. I just slammed down a Blighted Agent, and then slapped a couple of Predator's Gambit and/or Deviant Glee on it, and swing twice for the win. Easy turn-4 Win. Game 2 he tried to race me, and I did the exact same thing again. He almost got me too, but when he attempted to AEtherize my Agent, it was met with a Mana Leak.. This guy then did the calmest Rage-quit I have ever seen in my life. He was so salty over losing to an Infect deck (janky brew be damned), that he just calmly packed up his stuff and left the tournament without telling anyone else..
The irony is that if he hadn’t have told me what he did, I would have played more cautiously, and he would’ve been able to just straight run me over... oh well...
September 8, 2021 12:04 a.m. Edited.
TypicalTimmy says... #10
seshiro_of_the_orochi, well, when someone purposefully knocks liquid all over your $600 deck, you shouldn't take that lightly. I can understand being salty for being on the losing side of the game.
I get salty. Everybody does.
Hit your 5th turn in a row with no lands? Fuuuck. Cast your Commander for the 4th time only to get it bounced and for SOME REASON no body else is having their shit targeted? Sure. Mulligan down to three cards and have no lands? Yup.
Things happen. It's part of the game. Just as it's part of the game to open with a Sol Ring into a Signet. Or it's part of the game to need a very specific card to pull out of the loss and you just so happen to top deck it. Just as it's part of the game that the entire table focuses on themselves and for some reason nobody is looking at you, so you can build and combo off.
But to be mad the entire game, lose and respond by backhanding a glass of water over the table directly at your opponent's playmat and cards, knowing full-well that can cause permanent, unplayable damage to them?
Being willing to cause hundreds of dollars worth of damage, because you lost a CHILDRENS CARD GAME ONCE?
Yeah. I'm going to get pretty pissed. So no, I don't think my response was unjustified. I'd do it again. And if it was a $3,000 deck, I'd probably do even more.
September 8, 2021 12:44 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #11
RNR_Gaming, that's not a dick move. That's called strategy. You could have sank Birb into Wave and didn't. I'm thinking you either forgot or were hoping for Hoof to land and held it up as an attacker.
Either way, if the blue player can't account for Birb, that's not your fault.
September 8, 2021 12:49 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #12
I'll let the community decide on this one.
Decks don't matter. I had blue and he had green. He sank probably 23 mana into Genesis Wave. However, he didn't exactly "tell" anyone.
He tapped out fully, put Wave into his graveyard, set his hand aside and began thumbing cards off the top of his deck.
-
"Uhh.. are you going to let us respond?"
-
"wut. You had your chance!"
-
"No, dude. You didn't tell us what you're doing."
And I Negated it. He shook his head and huffed, slapped his stack of cards back onto his library and dismissively waved his hand for the next turn to go.
-
"You gonna shuffle your library?"
-
"No, why!?"
-
"...because now you know what's on top and in what order. Shuffle your library."
September 8, 2021 12:54 a.m.
Story from a couple of years (and play groups) ago.
Had a game where I was playing a very janky Progenitus commander deck in a 3 player pod. Was playing against Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and another deck (can't remember the commander). My deck was this big, slow, battlecruiser deck (which is not the kind of deck I normally play) and was getting targetted by both players becuase I had some big beaters in play.
The Jarad player, who was a notoriously toxic player - the kind who people flat out refused to play with and eventaully was told he could no longer play in the group, was acting quite cocky about having me on the ropes. I top decked and hard cast an Iona, Shield of Emeria naming black (as both my opponents had black), to which the toxic player starts whining that every single card in his hand was black and that I had effectively locked him out of the game.
Proceeded to go on and win, but not without having to put up with a bunch of complaints (for toxic player, the other guy was cool). Didn't feel bad in the slightest.
September 8, 2021 4:04 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #14
TypicalTimmy: I should have made it clearer: Opponent's behaviour was what I meant to be childish. Your response was understandable.
September 8, 2021 8:37 a.m.
Calling for a judge on day 1 of a GP as a player who tends to make day 2s always seemed in bad taste to me. Happens all the time but I never liked it. If you’ve got a 2000ish rating it’s rather likely you’ll wind up at least 4-2 and make the cut off, don’t be that nit picky guy who calls a judge against random players you’re going to beat anyways whether they make mistakes or not. Just let them take back a play or make the move they intend and at least have some fun. Save the uber competitive side of things for feature table matches and bouts versus other professional and semi professional players.
September 8, 2021 11:47 a.m.
Grubbernaut says... #16
At an FNM, I could agree, but if you go to a GP that's a pretty serious deal. I think having an expectation that for-big-money tournaments are going to be super strict is necessary.
September 8, 2021 11:56 a.m.
GPs and Pro Tours are very different day 1. 80% of the field at a GP on day 1 are going to be casual players who’ve often spent several hundred dollars in travel and hotel expenses, not to mention tourney fees. These players are there for fun, those of us who’ve had 2000 ratings in a particular format are going to beat them rather easily pretty much regardless of the situation, so let em have their fun I say. At a Pro Tour where it’s invite only and you’ll only be facing other high caliber players I’m all for the technicalities being observed. There’s a time and a place for Uber competitiveness and most of us who’ve played dozens and dozens of professional events consider it poor etiquette to call a judge on the 12 year old playing his first big tourney in round 1. If that player wants to call for a judge for a ruling, fine, but for players of a certain caliber it won’t be necessary to observe every technicality properly to win the match.
September 8, 2021 12:05 p.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #18
I disagree, slightly. GP’s while “casual” day one, is still COMP REL. Just because they are more casual players than you are (which… how would you even be able to tell who is casual and whose not? If they’re at a COMP REL event they’re automatically not casual players by definition).
Those players need to learn how to maintain a game state, and learn that you cannot change an action once you’ve reached a certain threshold. If you go to cast a spell but realize it doesn’t have legal targets, that’s fine. You can take that back, you get a warning and move on.
But if my opponent casts Hero's Downfall on my Sedgemoor Witch and forgot the Ward trigger; and they’re at 3 life… no. You can’t let that slide. They need to learn to be deliberate with their moves if they want to participate in COMP REL events.
September 8, 2021 1:18 p.m.
There’s a difference between ensuring players learn the nuances of proper technical play and being a dick by calling a judge to enforce proper technical play.
Most (and by most I actually mean unanimous amongst other pro players I’ve spoken with this subject on, we literally all agree) of us feel you can educate and enlighten less experienced players about technical aspects without needing to call a judge just by explaining and then letting the opponent make the call on if they need to hear the same info from a judge who might then enforce the technicalities in a way that won’t be fun or enjoyable for the player you were going to beat anyways (potentially handing out even a game loss).
It’s very easy to tell the casual players from semi pro and pro players day 1 of a GP. Particularly for folks who’ve already played on the pro circuit for some time. We know each other and see each other regularly at events.
If a kid makes a mistake against me on day 1 and realizes the error before any subsequent actions are taken that reveal any additional information I’ll always let that opponent make a more sensible play on day 1 of a GP. Part of my duty as MTG’s old guard is to be an ambassador of the game for newer players and ensure that folks are having fun. I’m always going to win my fair share of games at such an event and earn a profit for attending, not everyone is as fortunate, and I remember quite fondly my one match against Finkel in 2002 where he let me take back a number of misplays in round 1 before easily trouncing me in back to back games. If that caliber of player (that I aspired to be at that time) can be that much of a gentlemen, I can learn to be the same kind of class act.
September 8, 2021 1:45 p.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #20
You’re a pro? That’s sweet! What constitutes being a “pro”? And what other pros are you referencing? Just curious.
I agree that calling a judge is annoying and extreme. I usually would just explain why you can or cannot take back a game action (like if information were revealed as in your example), and tell them I’d be more than happy to call a judge to explain it.
September 8, 2021 2:08 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #21
I've been asked in the past about where I play Magic, to have the stories I do. The fist fights, grown 40+yo men screaming at highschoolers, one guy I know had his cards TORN IN HALF during draft, etc...
Where I live, we have three LGS within just a few miles of each other. Let's call them Shop 1, 2 and 3.
Shop 3 is more of a comic book shop first, and has maybe 2 or 3 tables in the basement and they host Modern, Standard and EDH. Very few people show up here. Mostly it's one guy getting his children into Magic. If you want some good old fashioned humbled magic where you play mostly $0.01 commons and basics, this is where you play. If you have even the slightest edge of competitive play in your heart, don't show up here. This is where actual children learn the game and you don't need to upset them.
Shop 2 is a boardgame store. They host a ton of magic events, but this is where mostly high schoolers hang out after class. Nothing wrong with that at all! But, let's just say it smells really, really bad. Hormones be what they are. And it's nothing against them, please don't get me wrong. It's high school. We all smelled kinda rank. I play there a good amount and the staff are lovely and the owner, Phil, is just a genuine teddy bear who gives to charities and is just the sweetest guy you could imagine. But, being high schoolers, there's relatively no challenge. Their budgets are limited, so their decks are cheaper and budget. So bringing a $900 deck is kind of like bringing a tank to a knife fight.
Then there's shop 1. The "competitive" shop where your $900+ decks can really shine and battle it out against similar power levels.
I'll say this about shop 1.
The owner hired a new 16yo boy. Overweight, depressed, socially underdeveloped. It's his first job.
The owner made fun of his weight, grabbed his chest, and even called him cute.
In front of customers.
...toxic environments attract toxic people. Now you understand why I have the stories that I do.
September 8, 2021 2:16 p.m. Edited.
Calling myself a “pro” would be a stretch, tbh. The other 3 members of my playgroup at least managed a top 8 at some point and earned at least 1 lifetime pro point. My best finishes were a couple top 32s. None the less I played probably 30 GPs in my career and attended a handful of Pro Tours, but the really good players always thrashed me pretty easily. I’d call that “semi pro” if anything. I went, I played (mostly on the losers bracket side of things), I earned a profit from side events, trades, sales, and occasionally promoting Strike Zone for Dustin, but as far as success at the professional level I didn’t have much (spoiler alert, real mtg pros are really really good at mtg).
Most of the other guys I’m referencing here are other folks at about my level that I’d see at tourneys, not really the name brand dudes if ya know what I mean. But yeah, we’d talk and go out for food after games (drinks too once we were old enough) and talk about things. Calling a judge and the circumstances where it’d be palatable was definitely a topic that got discussed regularly. The general consensus being you don’t call a judge to mansplain to opponents that you were supposed to beat 10 times out of 10. There’d often be a whole side discussion of “karma” and the “MTG Gods” to go along with it. I’d liken the discussion to baseball and the “baseball gods” debate if you’re familiar with that (Trevor Bauer this season is a good example, dude spent last 2 years nagging folks about ticky tack stuff that every pitcher does to get a good grip and control the ball so batters don’t get hurt, this “upset the baseball gods”, and now he’s suffering the consequences).
September 8, 2021 2:31 p.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #23
Hey man the best I’ve ever done was going 5-4 at and SCG Open. I also went 4-4 at a PTQ. (Besides my SCG Classic win, which I don’t count because it was less than 50 people). So making top 32 is nothing to scoff at. That’s impressive!
September 8, 2021 3 p.m.
Meh, a top 32 is an ok result. Not bad but not great. I definitely had quite a bit of fun traveling as a teenager and seeing new places though. We were all super jealous of Andrew when he qualified for PT Berlin in 2004 or 2005 because it was the first event any of us had qualified for that wasn’t hosted on US soil. I would have given an arm and a leg for the opportunity to travel to Europe for a week of fun and sightseeing. 20 some years later and I can hardly recall the games we played, just the fun times we had together eating out, trashing hotel rooms, and singing karaoke at random bars. So much life lived in the name of playing MTG.
September 8, 2021 3:17 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #25
TypicalTimmy - I'd probably only play magic online and go to bigger events if that's what I had to pick from. I'd probably only play paper at bigger events. The moment someone damages someone else's property on purpose or bullies someone they'd be instantly banned from my lgs. I'm sorry yours is so toxic.
September 8, 2021 3:21 p.m.
Now a top 8 is impressive. Pretty much regardless of circumstance. Back in the day that would have earned a Pro Point and enough Pro Points meant automatic qualifications and sometimes WotC paying for various things or additional benefits. I hear the new systems WotC put in place are terrible in that regard and some folks are unhappy that the incentives and rewards have largely been nixed.
September 8, 2021 3:30 p.m.
TheVectornaut says... #28
If they didn't want me to use Rhys the Redeemed, Terastodon, and Mirrorpool to destroy their lands, my opponents shouldn't have Cataclysmed and Cataclysmic Gearhulked in back-to-back casual commander games played in a literal Arbys.
September 8, 2021 4:10 p.m.
As a Prison player, salt and ‘dick moves’ are a workplace hazard.
1) In response to a turn 1 Island into Aether Vial I played a Pithing Needle on Vial. That agitated the opponent but he scoffed and folded to a turn 3 Ghostly Prison. Game 2 went a bit longer but Sphere of Safety drew out a toss of the hands and a salty scoop. Not so much a story of a ‘dick move’ but lots of scoffing, eye-rolling, and shrugging.
2) Same deck going against Grishoalbrand. They went for a turn 1 Faithless Looting (back when it was legal). I saw enough to respond with a turn 1 Pithing Needle on Griselbrand. He stated that that ‘wasn’t how the deck wins’. Mkay. He managed to reanimate Griselbrand on turn 2 with Goryo's Vengeance. I responded with Runed Halo on Griseldaddy. I never got to find out how his deck wins. I’m my experience, whether it’s myself or my opponent, one player allows the other to dig their own grave. I don’t know whether he was trying to be condescending or throw me off my mental game but I had never had anyone give live commentary on my play.
3) Same deck against Bogles. I don’t want to dismiss this player but I wonder how locked into a solitaire mindset Bogles players find themselves in. I don’t recall the whole game as it had been years but I know I was 2-2 paired up against a 4-0 so perhaps this player thought they were sailing to an undefeated finish? They would be denied by what had to be the most interactive opponent they had on the night. They learned the hard way that Runed Halo and Porphyry Nodes in fact do not target. They stuck around long enough in game 1 to see a win-condition and then just folded game 2 after getting shut out by Sphere of Safety. They weren’t super salty but I had had a judge called over so many times in a game. I think they were just put out that a middling record stuck around long enough to knock them off an undefeated perch and likely top prize over a split. With a middling record, I got nothing but practice. Was that a ‘dick move’ on my part?
Lanzo493 says... #2
Mine was in retaliation to what someone else did to me in a previous game of commander. He Mental Misstepped my turn 1 Sol Ring, which is understandable, and then Strip Mined my only land. I was mana locked for the rest of the game starting on turn 1. And he didn’t even feel bad about it. No apology or anything.
So in a later game, I was playing slivers. It was a pod of 3. Me, the guy I wanted to get back at, and this other person I really enjoyed playing with. This was before Prophet of Kruphix got banned. I had it in play and was playing lots of slivers. The guy I liked played Insurrection and was obviously going to kill me with it. I was a huge problem. But he didn’t have enough firepower to kill both of us. That was until I used Sliver Overlord to tutor and flash out a Bonescythe Sliver. If I was going down, I was gonna get my revenge. I caused the other guy to leave the tournament out of frustration.
Yeah, it was done purely out of spite. I normally don’t do that, but when people get arrogant with me, I don’t handle it well.
September 7, 2021 6:03 p.m.