Trigger Warning

This article is going to be about the use of “rape” and other references to sexualized violence in our community. In lieu of a formalized all-encompassing trigger warning, I believe it is more productive to be transparent about the direction in which I am leading this discussion. If you feel you would be traumatized or re-victimized by reading details of a sexual assault case or general conversation about rape, I recommend you avoid reading this article. If you decide to march forward any way and end up feeling upset, I am sorry for your pain. Please know you are not alone, and you will endure! May I direct you to these resources.

The Impetus…

Just over ten years ago, Zachary Jesse plead guilty to aggravated sexual battery, a felony, due to charges resulting from non-consensual vaginal and anal contact he forced upon another undergraduate student. Why is this relevant? Because this past Sunday, on May 10, Zach Jesse was a top-eight competitor at Grand Prix Atlantic City.

He was featured on screen without comment. In response, Drew Levin distributed news media links alerting other viewers to Jesse’s history and the coverage team’s oversight in including him. Immediately and unsurprisingly, Twitter erupted in a flurry of conversation. While many professional players and Magic: The Gathering talking heads displayed their disgust at the coverage team’s decision to feature Jesse, much of the playerbase involved in the conversation rejected the notion that Wizards had erred.

…and the Broader Problem

The Zach Jesse debacle is not isolated. Many of you may recall when Lucas Florent threatened to rape Director of Global Organized Play Helene Bergeot in 2011. His “lifetime” ban lasted all of six months. Jackie Lee has also been vocal about the rape threats she has faced for daring to be a woman who plays Magic well and visibly.

Each of these three situations are extreme examples of a problem I believe the MTG community faces regularly: alienating potential participants and active players through threats or relying on outmoded, offensive language that associates being defeated in a card game with a grave crime.

While it may be tempting to cast aside my concerns by attributing this disgraceful behavior to the social distance the internet provides, the players who tweet ferociously in defense of Zach Jesse or sling rape threats online patronize local game shops, too. I routinely hear players in my LGS and at tournaments say things like, “Oh, you just got raped!” usually with a gleeful smile on their faces. I am tying together a common trend and exemplary incidents because I believe the former cultivates an environment in which the latter can occur.

You may inquire: what does this have to do with women playing MTG? Women are disproportionately affected by sexualized violence. If you have more than a few women in a room, statistically, it is likely at least one of them has encountered rape or sexual assault. When you are flippant about your utilization of language or—as I saw repeatedly on Twitter this weekend—you defend a convicted rapist’s “right” to play a game, you signal to those present that you are not a safe person from whom to seek solace. You are not empathetic. You are not deliberate with your actions. You have not achieved a level of emotional maturity where you can be conscientious and distinguish between governmental censorship and a care-centered ethos that builds community. Now, if you would like to continue to reproduce these patterns of behavior and erect strawmen decrying a fabricated vision of institutional enforcement that very few MTG players have ever seriously endorsed…that’s fine. But I don’t want to play with you. I do not trust you. And you shouldn’t be surprised when other women [Editor’s note: or men!] don’t want to, either.

Fostering a hostile environment toward rape victims can dissuade women from participating, but it also has implications outside of exploring women’s limited role in Magic. Men experience sexualized violence at stunning rates, too.

Imploring fellow players and MTG community members to self-examine their behavior isn’t borne from of a desire to stamp out difference, eradicate fun, or be a wet blanket—it is about compassion and breeding an environment where the highest number of people can maximize their enjoyment. It is a matter of acknowledging that others have experiences that differ from your own and which may have lasting impacts of varying degrees. It is an issue of mutual respect and appreciation.

MTG is necessarily a social game, which means our interactions within the context of playing constitute the gaming environment. If it were not, you would be solely satisfied with emulators that mimic decision trees. Reducing the harm we enact against others is a complex process rife with competing interests. In this instance, however, I think the mental calculus is a simple weighing of costs and benefits. It costs you very little to be purposeful with your language. For someone suffering with PTSD, your failure to exert what will ultimately be a negligible effort for you, this seemingly small mistake can cost a great deal.

“Free Speech” and “Being Offended” versus Community Cultivation

To those whose fingers itch to unload on me, whose internal cogs whirl like a cartoon character’s feet before they again gain traction and dash forward, as a bastion of “PC culture,” please evaluate what made you so bitter and eager to incite pain.

If your only line of logic is, “They’re denying my freedom of speech,” you are willfully misunderstanding the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. To those detractors who would reply with a slippery slope argument of, “If I can’t say ‘rape,’ what next?” I ask that you appraise why you are so analytically lazy. If you would like to relish and praise your inability to identify gradation between institutionally imposed bans and self-inspection, you have only fulfilled the claims of those who accuse trading card players of being stunted.

“Oh, does this mean next we can’t say ‘kill’?”

Typically, murder victims are unable to hear jokes surrounding their abuse, because they are, well, dead. Unfortunately, they are not able to participate in the massive multiplayer game we call life or the MTG community any longer. Furthermore, rates of murder are notably lower than sexualized violence:

Source

It is rather unlikely you would encounter an attempted murder victim in your LGS, while the same cannot be said of victims of sexualized violence. Lastly, people do not generally attribute murder to the behavior or past actions of murder victims, while rape survivors are routinely blamed for their victimization. There is no cultural ambiguity about the nature of murder, but confusion over the “boundaries” of consent is still regularly levied as a legal defense.

Rape victims are not figments of “misandrists’” imaginations. We exist. You play with us at LGSs, online, and around your kitchen tables. You trade with, buy from, and sell to us. We are members of the MTG community and we deserve to reap the rewards that a solidified subcultural environment can provide—camaraderie, fun, support, and growth—just the same as those who have not had to endure sexualized violence.

Drew Levin posed some questions on Twitter on which I would like all naysayers and doubters to reflect:

Possible Solutions

Of course, it is misguided to identify a problem without proposing a solution.

What language should replace the offending language people are currently employing?

Some replacements I have heard recommended are “owned” and “rekt.” I would encourage you to be even more creative! May I point you toward a Shakespearean insult generator?

Now, I have heard claims that “rekt” or other variations are at risk of becoming substitutes that maintain the original meaning of the offensive language in question. You know your own intentions. If your trash talk is a loosely-veiled allegory for sexualized violence consider revising your statement before you speak. If your trash talk relies upon cultural scripts surrounding gendered patterns of dominance, reevaluate! Ask yourself why you would wish to inflict that sort of trauma on someone with whom you are playing a game. Hell, remove the final qualifier of that sentence. Why would you wish to inflict pain on anyone?

What should you do when you hear someone else use this language?

Speak up! Be polite but firm. In most instances I have personally experienced it suffices to say something along the lines of, “Hey, could you please not use that word?” Rarely have I encountered negative responses to that request, at least in person.

As for online play, I have no suggestions that have proven efficacious. Once in an online MTG interface, I asked nicely and at least four of the draft members proceeded to independently message me grotesque and detailed rape threats. Social desirability bias of in-person interactions obviously renders some techniques less effective online. As to what will rectify this beyond programmer-inserted chat filters, your guess is as good as mine. We have to be accountable to each other. The buck needs to stop somewhere.

I look forward to reading your responses to my thoughts, to the Zach Jesse scandal, and to the issue of the use of “rape” in our community.

You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.

-Harvey Dent/Two Face, The Dark Knight

When I began playing Commander, [card]Azami, Lady of Scrolls[/card] was the bane of my card store’s existence. To this day, it’s her fault that all infinite combos in that store have been eliminated and why I’ve stopped going there.

Before she got combos banned at that store, I got fed up with losing to Azami, and decided to try the deck out myself.

I could see why everyone wanted to play it. The deck was super consistent and easily won out against huge pods of player, even when ganged up on.

The deck is a pure mono-blue combo/counter deck. You play a bunch of wizards, draw a bunch of cards, and win. Simple as that.

Important Creatures:

[card]Azami, Lady of Scrolls[/card] is our Commander of Choice due to the fact that she provides the most advantage for her cost. At 2UUU, she at a minimum will draw you 1 card per wizard as long as she resolves – which is not difficult to due between [card]Cavern of Souls[/card] and all of our many, many counterspells.

While it’s also a combo/counter deck, by it’s very nature it’s a wizard tribal deck, as well. They’re all pretty solid plays, either giving us more ways to draw cards or giving us utility until Azami hits the board.

[card]Glen Elendra Archmage[/card] is a fantastic card due to the fact it’s not one, but two or more counterspells on the same card, especially combined with [card]Sage of Fables[/card]. Since [card]Glen Elendra Archmage[/card] dies and comes back with a -1/-1 counter, and [card]Sage of Fables[/card] causes Wizards to come into play with a +1/+1 counter, Glen Elendra can sacrifice itself as many times as it wants and keep coming back.

[card]Sage of Fables[/card] also adds some more utility to the deck. It makes our usually tiny creatures a little bigger, and gives us the option to draw a bunch of cards in addition to Azami’s insane draw power.

[card]Laboratory Maniac[/card] is one of our main win conditions. It’s very easy to draw your entire library with this deck, and it’s a solid play against people that really want to play mill with [card]Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker[/card] or [card]Phenax, God of Deception[/card].

[card]LIghthouse Chronologist[/card] is the most expensive creature card in the game with Level Up, and for good reason. While he doesn’t do anything special until level 7+, when he does get there it’s well worth the 1UUUUUUUU mana that he ends up costing in the end. After every turn that isn’t your turn, you get another turn. While this isn’t a huge effect in 1v1 (though you still get two turns in a row constantly) in multiplayer, you get a turn after every other player’s turn – giving us access to 4 or 5 extra cards and land drops against all of your opponents. Of course, he’s still easy to get rid of – even at level 7 he’s still only a 3/5, but you have counter magic to keep him on board for long enough to matter.

[card]Patron Wizard[/card] is probably one of the best wizards in the game. When Azami isn’t in play, this guy is the big player – countering spells or at least adding taxes is ridiculous when it’s scalable to the number of wizards you control.

[card]Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir[/card] shuts down your opponents during your turn, letting you just combo off without too much interruption if he’s in play. Alternatively, you can play him as your Commander if you’d rather go with a more control-oriented build rather than the combo build that I’m suggesting. You can just add cards like [card]Erayo, Soratami Ascendent[card], [card]Arcane Laboratory[/card] or [card]Knowledge Pool[/card].

Personally, I haven’t gotten a chance to play [card]Vendilion Clique[/card] but the value is clear. 1UU for a 3/1 Flash and Flying wizard lets you get rid of immediate threats in player’s hands. It’s better in 1v1 than it is in multiplayer. If you  have one, play it. If not, it’s not necessarily worth the investment for this deck.

Counterspells:

The counterspells are probably the most important thing in the deck – it protects all of your combos, and keeps your opponents from winning in the mean time.

Hard Counters:

• [card]Arcane Denial[/card]
• [card]Counterspell[/card]
• [card]Cryptic Command[/card]
• [card]Desertion[/card]
• [card]Spelljack[/card]
• [card]Swan Song[/card]

Permission spells aren’t nearly as powerful in multiplayer, so we generally stick to Hard Counters.

Manaless Counters:

• [card]Disrupting Shoal[/card]
• [card]Force of Will[/card]
• [card]Pact of Negation[/card]

These are spells we can actually play even when we’re tapped out, which is perfect for protecting yourself long enough to win the game. [card]Foil[/card] is another option, but i personally don’t play it due to being strictly worse than [card]Force of Will[/card].

Tuck/Bounce Counters:

• [card]Hinder[/card]
• [card]Memory Lapse[/card]
• [card]Remand[/card]
• [card]Spell Crumple[/card]

While tuck is no longer nearly as powerful as it used to be due to not tucking Commanders any more, sometimes you just need to get rid of something permanently, or at least make your opponent waste a tutor to get it back. [card]Remand[/card] is probably the best card here – at just 1U to counter a spell for a turn, it’s pretty solid seeing as it always draws you a card.

The Combos!:

Of course, the entire purpose of the deck is to combo out and win. Azami supplies us with the card draw to give us answers and draw us into our combos.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls + Mind Over Matter

This one is pretty simple – [card]Azami, Lady of Scrolls[/card] draws you a card, and you discard that card to untap Azami with [card]Mind Over Matter[/card], and then tap to draw another card, etc. Then, you either win by swinging with a gigantic Azami with [card]Diviner’s Wand[/card] or win by drawing your entire library with [card]Laboratory Maniac[/card] on board.

Palinchron + Any Mana Doubler

[card]Palinchron[/card] is another one of those cards that automatically draws hate due to existence of this combo. [card]Caged Sun[/card], [card]Extraplanar Lens[/card]. and [card]Gauntlet of Power[/card] are the easiest way to do this. [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card] also works this this, as long as you have 7 lands including Nykthos plus having a devotion to blue of at least 6. This is pretty easy in a mono-blue deck with a lot of cards that have 2 or 3 colored mana symbols.

Once you have infinite mana you can play whatever you want. [card]Diviner’s Wand[/card] easily wins you the game at this point.

In addition to being a Wizard, [card]Diviner’s Wand[/card] is one of your win conditions once you get infinite mana. You can draw as many cards as you want for 4 mana each, and that creature gets +1/+1 and flying for each card you draw.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls + Venser, Shaper Savant + Omniscience or Infinite Mana

[card]Venser, Shape Savant[/card] is one of those cards that breaks the rules of normal magic. Instead of countering a spell when he comes into play, he returns a permanent or a spell to it’s owner’s hand. Generally Wizards doesn’t print cards that actively interacts with the stack, but they made an exception with this one guy from Future Sight (aside from [card]Lightning Storm[/card] – that card is an active attack on the stack, and that was Coldsnap and not Future Sight). As [card]Omniscience[/card] lets you cast anything for free, you can use Venser to bounce himself back to your hand. In response to his triggered ability, you tap him with Azami’s draw ability, allowing you to draw your entire library by just repeating this process, and all at instant speed during any player’s turn. Again, this wins you the game with Laboratory Maniac.

In addition, this combo also turns [card]Patron Wizard[/card] into a hard counter for every single spell your opponent’s play – And Venser himself can [card]Remand[/card] uncounterable spells.

Etherium Sculptor + Future Sight/Magus of the Future + Sensei’s Divining Top

This is one of the more obscure combos that I personally like playing because I generally play all of the cards regardless. [card]Future Sight[/card] hasn’t always made the cut, but [card]Magus of the Future[/card] always does in this deck for me at least. [card]Etherium Sculptor[/card] decreases the cost of all of your artifacts by 1, which makes [card]Sensei’s Divining Top[/card] free. With [card]Future Sight[/card] or [card]Magus of the Future[/card], you get to play Top for free from the Top of your deck after tapping it to draw a card.

[deck title=Azami, Lady of Scrolls]
[Creatures]
Aether Adept
Archaeomancer
Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Consecrated Sphinx
Cursecatcher
Daring Apprentice
Etherium Sculptor
Glen Elendra Archmage
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Laboratory Maniac
Lighthouse Chronologist
Magus of the Future
Master of Waves
Palinchron
Patron Wizard
Phyrexian Metamorph
Sage of Fables
Shapesharer
Snapcaster Mage
Spellskite
Stonybrook Banneret
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Trinket Mage
Vendillion Clique
Venser, Shaper Savant
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
Arcane Denial
Beacon of Tomorrows
Blue Sun’s Zenith
Caged Sun
Capsize
Counterspell
Cryptic Command
Desertion
Disrupting Shoal
Dissipate
Diviner’s Wand
Elixir of Immortality
Expedition Map
Extraplanar Lens
Force of Will
Future Sight
Gauntlet of Power
High Tide
Hinder
Illusionist’s Bracer
Long-Term Plans
Memory Lapse
MInd Over Matter
Mystical Tutor
Omniscience
Pact of Negation
Remand
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sol RIng
Spell Crumple
Spelljack
Swan Song
Temporal Mastery
TIme Spiral
Time Stretch
Time Warp
Treachery
Turnabout
Vedalken Shackles
Walk the Aeons
[/Spells]
[Land]
Academy Ruins
Cavern of Souls
MInamo, School at Water’s Edge
Mutavault
Myriad Landscape
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Reliquary Tower
Ridetide Laboratory
Scrying Sheets
Seat of the Synod
23 Snow-Covered Island
Terrain Generator
Tolaria West
[/Land]
[/deck]

If you like winning and being the only one having fun, feel free to try out Azami. Also, if you like playing Solitaire at your desk alone, try building Azami. Otherwise, stick to someone a little more friendly if you have a more casual play group.

Until next time,

David M. Rowell

This past weekend brought us Star City Games: Cleveland. The main event was Standard, with of course a side of Modern and Legacy. Let’s take a look at the results and see what happened.

Star City Games Open – Standard (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

Ross Merriam took down the Standard portion piloting Bant Heroic. Key players in this deck are [card]Favored Hoplite[/card], [card]Hero of Iroas[/card], [card]Seeker of the Way[/card], and [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] to bring home the versatility. I’m sure that [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] contributed a great deal to Merriam’s success and is definitely a card to watch out for the in future, in Bant Heroic and other decks. Other notable cards in the list are two [card]Monastery Mentor[/card] main deck and three [card]Encase in Ice[/card] out of the sideboard. In this deck we see some interesting innovations in the typical Heroic list that enabled it to come out top dog of the weekend.

The runner up was G/R Dragons, another deck we’ve seen cement itself in the metagame since Dragons of Tarkir was released. This deck was playing [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card] and [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card] as the main dragons, with [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card] backup in case the game goes long. [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card] continues to show up in these lists in order to help generate massive amounts of mana in order to cast the heavier dragons like Atarka or even monstrifying a [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card] for massive amounts of damage.

Rounding out the Top 8, decks of note include two Abzan Aggro decks and Bant Midrange. Boggemes’ list resembled past lists by featuring solid choices like [card]Abzan Charm[/card] and [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card]. Bowman’s list featured a playset of [card]Collected Company[/card] and main decked two [card]Grim Haruspex[/card] as a way to generate card advantage through a “surprise” [card]Collected Company[/card] during the combat phase. Another interesting choice was a full playset of [card]Herald of Torment[/card] and [card]Warden of the First Tree[/card], again to get the most out of those CC plays. Certainly an interesting list that could pick up more steam over time as more creatures that cost three mana or less are added to the Standard card pool. Finally, Bant Midrange features the best of the Heroic and G/W Midrange decks by playing [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card] along with beatstick [card]Surrak, the Hunt Caller[/card], [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card], and [card]Mastery of the Unseen[/card]. All in all just a solid deck choice that has pretty decent matchups against most of the field (though not quite at the level of Esper Dragons).

Rouding out the Top 16, decks of note include Mardu Midrange and Abzan Megamorph. Notable cards in Mardu Midrange are [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card], [card]Outpost Siege[/card], [card]Crackling Doom[/card], and [card]Mardu Charm[/card]. Notable cards in Abzan Megamorph are [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], [card]Den Protector[/card], [card]Abzan Charm[/card], and [card]Mastery of the Unseen[/card] out of the sideboard.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Modern (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

Moving on to Modern, Sultai Control took down the Premier IQ piloted by Matthew Tickal. Similar to the list first introducted by Gerrard Fabiano, again we see [card]Thragtusk[/card], [card]Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver[/card], and [card]Jace, Architect of Thought[/card] battling alongside of [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], and other notable Modern staples. Second place went to Amulet Bloom, a deck that was featured at the Pro Tour and is widely known in Modern at this point. McCoury’s deck featured [card]Grave Titan[/card] as another way to win in addition to [card]Primeval Titan[/card] and the [card]Hive Mind[/card] / Pact combo.

Looking at the rest of the Top 8, G/W Trap seems to be a new brew featuring cards such as [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card], [card]Lotus Cobra[/card], [card]Nest Invader[/card], [card]Primeval Titan[/card], and [card]Emrakul, the Aeons Torn[/card] along with [card]Summoning Trap[/card] and [card]Mosswort Bridge[/card] in order to cheat an Emrakul into play without paying the mana cost. We also see a black splash for [card]Lingering Souls[/card] in the main deck, to help delay the game until Emrakul can come online or to help finish a game that seems stalled. Certainly an interesting build – I’m not sure how good it is on a large scale however it is certainly something to keep an eye on moving forward. The Affinity decks also featured some tech in the form of [card]Temur Battle Rage[/card] and and [card]Ghostfire Blade[/card].

Looking at the rest of the Top 16, Abzan Collected Company continues to showcase its strength and even Jund and Storm showed up to make the Top 16 in Cleveland. Nothing really new or innovative here.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Legacy (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

With results from GP Kyoto in, it looks like it has changed the face of Legacy. Again we see Miracles and Omni-Tell in the Top 8 however Grixis Control piloted by Jason Smith took down the event. Notable cards here include [card]Baleful Strix[/card], [card]Young Pyromancer[/card], [card]Dack Fayden[/card], and four copies of [card]Dig Through Time[/card].

Moving on to Miracles, key components of the deck include the [card]Counterbalance[/card] / [card]Sensei’s Diving Top[/card] package, [card]Terminus[/card], [card]Entreat the Angels[/card], [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], and [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]. Nothing innovate going on with Top 8 Miracles lists.

Omni-Tell shows up again, featuring a playset of [card]Omniscience[/card] and [card]Cunning Wish[/card]. Metalworker is playing two [card]Ugin, the Spirit Dragon[/card] these days which is cool. I’m surprised that it makes the cut over [card]Karn Liberated[/card] but it appears that a one-sided [card]Pernicious Deed[/card] with exile is superior [card]Vindicate[/card] with exile.

Rounding out the Top 16, Tezzerator makes an appearance in 11th place and Merfolk makes an appearance in 16th place. Notable cards from Tezzerator include [card]Baleful Strix[/card], [card]Dack Fayden[/card], [card]Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas[/card], [card]Chalice of the Void[/card], [card]Mox Diamond[/card], [card]Sword of the Meek[/card] / [card]Thopter Foundry[/card], and [card]Transmute Artifact[/card]. Notable cards from Merfolk include [card]True-Name Nemesis[/card], [card]Phantasmal Image[/card], a single [card]Mishra’s Factory[/card], a single [card]Thassa, God of the Sea[/card], and [card]Vapor Snag[/card].

That’s all from Cleveland! See you next time.

Fellow Magic: The Gathering players, we need to talk.

To continue to nurture the healthy growth of our community and to maintain a sense of accountability to those who actively participate (and to those who would like to!), we need to be self-reflexive and introspective about the status of women. Aside from attending GP Orlando this past fall, I am rarely ever in a room with more than two other women players.

This article (and those I intend to publish in its wake) is an attempt to sustain a mutually beneficial dialogue that has recently become more salient. I have ruminated on this issue for nearly as long as I have been playing Magic, but Gaby Spartz’s April 7 article “6 Things You Can Do to Get More Women in Magic” on Channel Fireball motivated me to finally organize and articulate my many thoughts on this topic.

While future writings will provide examples of the experiences I believe we should strive to minimize as well as explore specific areas for improvement, the goal of this article is to set a positive tone by praising existing efforts.

Who I Am

Before I commence outlining some areas where I see the Magic community succeeding at integrating women, I would like to briefly introduce myself. I purchased my first introductory deck during New Phyrexia and by Innistrad was drafting weekly. I have faded in and out of Standard, as no deck has captured my attention and excited me as much as [card]Nephalia Drownyard[/card] Esper Control during Innistrad/Return To Ravnica Standard, but the emergence of a viable Sidisi-Whip build may lure me back.

Limited formats and Commander are my true passions. In terms of Mark Rosewater’s psychographic profiles, I align most closely with Johnny Jenny (more on this below!) but like any competitive player, I have Spike streaks! Sultai is my favorite color combination, though I tend to enjoy any two-color pairing contained within that triad. Outside of the Magic community, I am a Sociology PhD student who studies social movements and mass media. Now, onto my primary purpose!

How Magic is Different

I firmly believe Magic the Gathering is a unique gaming environment in that sexism and misogyny are not endemic to the game itself. Unlike videogames, which sometimes are structured in such a way that exclusion is built into the design, Wizards of the Coast employees have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to fostering a welcoming community. High-profile designers and directors like Doug Beyer and our beloved Mark Rosewater routinely discuss the issue of women in Magic. Most recently, throughout the week of April 13, MaRo featured a different woman employee, each representing distinct departments, on his Tumblr Blogatog. In March of this year, MaRo expressed that he regrets labeling the player archetypes he pioneered with male-gendered names and proposed alternatives (Tammy for Timmy, Jenny for Johnny, Mel for Melvin, while Vorthos and Spike remain gender-neutral).

The culture of inclusion extends beyond a few public figureheads, too. Some of you may recall the controversy surrounding the [card] Triumph of Ferocity [/card] art, which portrayed Garruk looming over Liliana and forcibly pressing forward between her thighs. Though Wizards initially fumbled, they swiftly acknowledged their error, apologized, and pledged to prevent similar mistakes in the future (and, as of yet, have maintained that vow!). When the card was reintroduced in Duels 2015, new art was even commissioned.

While employee composition and responses to mistakes are solid indicators of WOTC’s dedication to constructing a gaming environment where women can comfortably participate, what is most notable, in my opinion, are the cards throughout the history of Magic featuring depictions of widely-varied women in diverse roles with rich characterization. Across all segments of the color pie, women are regularly featured as warriors, priestesses, bureaucrats, sorcerers, healers, necromancers, spies, leaders, followers, and more. Recently, Wizards has even introduced a trans woman ([card]Alesha, Who Smiles at Death[/card]) and an agendered character ([card]Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver[/card] )! As I stated above, the presence of all of these factors leads me to believe the issue is not inherent to the game itself.

Community Figureheads

Professional players and commentators have contributed to keeping the conversation about women in Magic alive, too. Patrick Sullivan, Luis Scott-Vargas, Drew Levin, and Marshall Sutcliffe all cultivate productive and interactive conversations on Twitter, in their articles, and on their streams. I am also fond of Sam Black’s Facebook group “Story Time with Sam Black!” It is filled with passages where he genuinely reflects on gender. Even though many of the writings are not directly relevant to the Magic community, it is encouraging to see a professional player with high visibility exhibit sensitivity to the inequity commonly faced by women and the negative consequences of restrictive gender norms and roles for all people.

Even amongst those of us who constitute the average player base, there are those who have established enclaves for women players. The Lady Planeswalkers Society (started by Tifa Robles), the MTG Diversity Twitter account, and the FEMtg and Lady MTG Tumblrs are all spaces intentionally created to facilitate women becoming more involved as well as commiserate and process negative experiences. The internet’s ability to connect people across time and geographic space reveals a consensus: current players acknowledge women’s relative absence and want to rectify it.

So What’s the Problem?

The dearth of women who play Magic competitively does not seem to align with WOTC’s informal and direct efforts to broaden the appeal of the game, the attitudes of tastemakers in our community at large, or the overall tone of the conversation online. So why does the issue persist?

Anecdotally, I have the perception that there are many women who restrict themselves to kitchen-table casual play. I do not believe the gulf is attributable to women’s interest in Magic or in table-top gaming more generally. I am inclined to refocus my attention on the micro-cultures of local game stores and the average player base. Accordingly, in future editions of this column, the avenues for improvement I will explore (including but not necessarily limited to: general “othering” of women in Magic, the way we discuss female professional players, exclusionary language, and sexual harassment) will be overwhelmingly oriented toward the environment in which many of us are playing Magic: smaller-scale tournaments like the FNM you may attend weekly. The standards we collectively set in our respective LGSs inform how people behave when they attend Pro Tour Qualifiers and Grands Prix.

Being deliberate and conscientious goes a long way in terms of alleviating potential concerns. The examples I have described above make that much evident. As my title suggests, I am hopeful about the future of the status of women in the Magic community. I look forward to reading your responses and I am confident our discussions can be respectful and constructive.