Hello Gentle Entities and Curried Competitors !
Today is National Urban Beekeeping Day and I am happy to celebrate here at the Hipsters of the Coast’s salon with my fellow city dwellers who keep us in wax and honey as honey is required for a proper tea. Although I prefer honey on toast with butter, one will find that many teas are enhanced by a bit of the best honey.
So thank you to our city based bee friends and their landlords. We should all contribute to the creation of hospitable habitats for our Anthophilan Associates in all available environments
As this is our twenty-eighth column, we at Mizz Mizzet’s School for Complicated Lifeforms would like to remind you that we answer between 1-3 letters from our interrogative entities across the multiverse each week.
If you missed our initial column, you may peruse it at your leisure at this location.
Content Warnings
Mizz Mizzet’s Guide to Magical Manners is pleased to provide Content Warnings, given that solving bad behavior often means describing bad behavior.
Dear Mizz Mizzet,
With the Middle Earth set, Commander Masters and Dr Who coming up there are so many products and boxes that I see folk trying to build decks and come to play at store events without really knowing how sets work. They think if it just got released or draftable it’s the “current set.” What is the most polite way to let someone who’s new to playing in person, that the cards they open in the two newest box sets aren’t standard legal?”
Paragon of Modernity
My dear Paragon;
Mizz Mizzet’s School for Complicated Lifeforms believes that concise clarity without condescension is the most polite option for complete comprehension.
There are two perfectly appropriate ways to handle sharing this information direct and indirect.
Direct:
“Hi, welcome to the LGS. We probably won’t be having a lot of standard since the Lord of the Rings and Commander Masters sets aren’t standard legal but we play a lot of eternal formats here too.”
Indirect:
“I love the Lord of the Rings set, but since it’s not legal in standard we’re only going to be able to add it to upgrade our eternal format decks” – this allows you to focus on how you will use the cards and what you feel about the set therefore bringing up the subject without possibly insinuating the person you are talking to is unaware of format legalities.
Both of these approaches allow you to open the conversation where the person you are welcoming into your space can either join the conversation with their plans for the cards they are opening or ask you clarifying questions about formats and legality based on your statements.
Do not assume they either do, or do not know about set legalities. There are many players somewhere between “new” and “experienced” that land firmly in the “new to gaming with entities other than known associates,” yet they have been playing at kitchen tables for years. Because information in the Magic community is seeded throughout the information forest in a system that bears a strong resemblance to truffle hunting, a player new to organized play can have all sorts of knowledge depths and gaps. The most mannerly thing to do is assume if you invite them into a conversation they shall share their experiences with you.
I am sure that as long as you are friendly and polite it will carry through when you broach the subject.
With warmest assurances,
MM
Dear Mizz Mizzet
Is it impolite to have a negative reaction to someone bringing a Slivers deck to a casual table?
-Not Again
Slivers Playing Poker by Tom Jenkot
My Dear Not Again:
All of your personal reactions are valid. It is not impolite to *have* the reaction. It *is* impolite to let others know you are having the reaction.
That said, the most recent spoilers for the upcoming Slivers release show a very standard themed pre-constructed deck, where once again the mana base is weak for no particular reason. The most problematic issues with a Sliver deck will be the amount of bookkeeping and board state clarity. You should give new Sliver players a chance to play, but I may recommend our two previous columns on commander group manners, and how to go about politely requesting a competitor keep their boardstate clear during the game.
Each new Slivers player should be treated with the benefit of doubt. Every casual playgroup should have an agreement on how to handle decks that unbalance the table.
It is best to handle oncoming invasions with aplomb and a polite board wipe.
Sympathetically,
MM
Thank you to Adrienne Reynolds, for her interplanar transcription services.
Mizz Mizzet Portrait by Andres Garcia
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Born a perfect dragon in an imperfect multiverse, Mizz Mizzet (she/her) is the pioneer broodmother of today’s multiplanar civility movement. She is now working to persuade Planeswalkers to participate in it.
Her tireless efforts to expand the understanding and exercise of etiquette beyond the stereotypical terror of too many pieces of silverware, and whether to use poisons or explosives at celebratory conquest dinners, have not escaped official notice.
She specializes as a consultant in seating arrangements for inter and intra planar political events as long as contracts include the option to eat the rude.
Out of respect for her relative’s delicate sensibilities regarding draconic rank, she does not reside on the plane of Ravnica.