I own a small FLGS, i mean small. 1 employee, me. Sometimes my wife or son watch the places for me for a few hours. Small town too, <9,000 population.
I have had a player coming into the shop for about a year now, he was new to magic. He is one of those WAAC (Win At All Costs) players. He has recently decided he is no longer going to buy magic cards, only print them. A while back he asked me about doing this. I explained the difference between a proxy (when you own a card, but play with a fake because the card is valuable, or possibly damaged) and a counterfeit (you do not own the card, and play with a fake). It is against Wizards’ rules for WPN/Play stores for us to allow counterfeit cards for any sanctioned event.
Tonight was my shop’s first night hosting the new Two-Headed Giant Commander format. I was playing with a friend vs this guy and another customer. This guy was sitting diagonally from me (and my eyesight is not great) so i could not really see his cards. I cast something that allowed me to destroy up to two artifacts, so i was looking at his cards to decide what to destroy, when i realized every single card he had out was a fake.
When I kicked him out, he did the typical “but i buy a soda every week from you!” BFD, I make 50¢ off those, 75¢ if i get them on sale,
In almost 7 years of being open i have kicked out 3 players, and banned 2. This guy being the second ban, the first one shit himself and ruined a chair.
I fundamentally disagree that Magic is or ever has been pay to win. It’s pay to compete. If you can’t buy they best cards, you are at a disadvantage, but you still need game knowledge to win.
Yes, you need knowledge. But knowledge being equal, on average, someone playing with a $1,000 deck will beat someone with a $100 deck.
And budget being equal the more knowledgeable player wins.
Why should we be okay with decks of children’s playing cards costing $1000?
Luck is a pretty big factor as well. In my opinion it’s much easier to gain more knowledge than it is to have more money so money is always going to be the biggest factor.
You shouldn’t be okay with it. It’s one of the many reasons I stopped playing.
Fair enough.