So if you’re wavering at all, I’d recommend you take the plunge and try a local tournament. Before you know it you’ll be planning your calendar around the regionals schedule and wondering if you can convince yourself that Minnesota in November is really a valid holiday destination.

Here’s the dirty secret, though. Tournaments are more fun when you’re winning. In fairness, this might not be the case for you. It’s possible that you go to tournaments just to hang out with your friends, or because you want to get your deck’s crazy combo to go off in a competitive environment so that you can see the look on your opponent’s face. Once again, that’s fine.

But most people go to a tournament with a hope or a dream of doing well. You want to win games, you want to hang around at the top tables, you want to make the cut and take home some sweet prizes. At the end of the day, you want to look around at everyone else and think “Yep, I beat them.” And that’s fine too. Wanting to win is completely natural. That’s where being a competitive player comes in. Your definition may vary, but to me a competitive player is someone who enters a tournament with the primary goal of winning, rather than just having fun.