#scg article

[sempermemoradastraperaspera-blog]

I am so grateful that a Pro Player decided to speak up about this!! I don't know how many times I've been looked down on for being a woman. Guys who play against me assume an "auto-win" because I am wearing pearls and a cardigan. I even had a Store Manager LOOK DOWN MY SHIRT! There were no chairs at this shop so every time I played a card I was bending over. I realized what he was doing when he complimented me on my necklace. I was so disgusted. And it wasn't like I had come to play Magic by myself. MY BOYFRIEND WAS THERE. I'm not playing Magic to be your eye candy either.

I hope TONS of people read this article and realize that some of the things they do (even unintentionally) are impacting female Magic players. 

[mulldrifting]

  I really, really want to play with this card. 

[mulldrifting]

It's very frustrating to watch yourself play worse Magic and know you are doing it. I've not felt like I've been playing terribly over this past month of events, but I've for sure been off my game. I even know why: it's fear. Everyone knows what happens when the fear strikes. At first, it's this little voice in the back of your head, doubting what should be a natural decision to make. You start asking yourself, “Wait, what if they have card X and card Y?” or “What if they ripped that one card in the past three turns?” Sometimes you are an innate master, and this voice is an angelic sage that follows up with directions to the nearest supermarket where you can buy cottage cheese to dip your Doritos into. Sometimes you are enlightened, and there is no voice but instead just total awareness of all existence and the true path of the universe. For the rest of us, it's not so straightforward. I've definitely run the route of dodging these scenarios for years by playing decks that either just never cared, like Jund, or cards like Vendilion Clique to spill the beans, but recently things haven't allowed this, and I've become painfully aware of how awkward it is to just not know. What I've found is that way more often than you think, that voice is just wrong.

--Ari Lax, Fearless (SCG Premium)