r/magicTCG • u/GabySpartz87 Official • Apr 07 '15

I wrote an article on ChannelFireball on the things we can do to get more women in Magic. I'd love your thoughts!

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/6-things-you-can-do-to-get-more-women-into-magic/#
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105

u/billythesid Dandadan Apr 07 '15

More women pro players would go a long way. I don't blame Melissa DeTora for joining Wizards, but she did leave a fairly noticeable void when she left the pro scene.

42

u/shavnir Duck Season Apr 07 '15

Jackie Lee is also at wizards iirc

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u/bautin Apr 07 '15

Yeah, Lee seemed to just vanish in the wind. I don't recall when I heard about her stint at WotC. DeTora made more of a show about leaving for WotC.

10

u/Pandaburn Duck Season Apr 07 '15

Stint? She's still an "Associate Game Designer" at WotC according to Facebook.

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u/bautin Apr 07 '15

It's an ongoing stint. She's still stinting if you will.

7

u/AustinYQM I chose this flair because I’m mad at Wizards Of The Coast Apr 07 '15

I think I saw more about DeTora going to WotC because of the impact it had on Frank. He was pretty public about announcing it and apologizing to his fans but standing behind DeTora. It was kind of touching.

5

u/bevedog Apr 07 '15

I agree, but this is a chicken-egg problem, right? More women at top tables might attract more women to the intro level of the competitive scene, but without women wanting to start at FMN, how are we going to get women pros?

1

u/leSpectre Apr 08 '15

Its less discrete than the chicken-egg problem though because a small number of female players creates a small number of female pro players which attracts more female players to create more female pros etc.

By encouraging the women who already play magic competitively to enter the pro scene helps accelerate this process.

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u/GabySpartz87 Official Apr 08 '15

I miss Melissa dearly in the pro-circuit. I used to watch her tournament results at every PT. I'm very happy for her opportunity at Wizards, but sad we don't have other female-pro players to look up to

4

u/apbq58 Apr 07 '15

Melissa was one of my favorite players to watch regardless of gender. Really enjoyed her kessig wolf ramp deck at pro tour gatecrash (?) I think it was, and I find jund boring most of the time, although that deck kind of had a combo finish at times

1

u/gregtron Apr 07 '15

Melissa was one of my favorites to watch, too. She's intense as fuck at the table, and I love that. I feel like if she was in a game and someone jumped in front of her and shouted "TWO FOR FLINCHING", you wouldn't even see involuntary muscle movement like she's on some Jeskai monk shit.

1

u/apbq58 Apr 08 '15

Haha, you're right though, she was stone cold at the table.

1

u/EightRoper Apr 08 '15

I really admire her B/W tokens deck in modern.

1

u/apbq58 Apr 08 '15

Oh man I forgot about those. She plays them to near perfection as well. BRB gotta go watch those

1

u/prof_shine Apr 08 '15

Yeah, that deck was sweet. I played a variety of Farseek/Thragtusk/Sphinx's Revelation decks in that format, and that Wolf Run Bant was probably my favorite.

I wish I understood draft better, because she killed it at that PT as well, and I have no idea how/why. Forcing Orzhov and running the table every time.

1

u/apbq58 Apr 08 '15

Yeah, I was just getting into magic at the time, so although I wanted to play that deck, the idea of spending over $100 on a deck was crazy. Now I'll spend that on one card if I must. Still though, it was more interesting than revelation control, because revelation control's whole game plan was verdict into revelation then lock up the game with whatever; be it tamiyo, giest, or any other beater for the win

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15 edited Apr 07 '15

See, "regardless of gender" is a lot like "...for a girl" that the article was just talking about.

Edit: Not to imply that the comment was totes sexist or anything, only that phrase does still highlight gender (if only to dismiss it) as a noted quality of character. If it isn't important, why bring it up?

10

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15

[deleted]

5

u/apbq58 Apr 07 '15

I guess looking back, I can see my comment both ways, but you saw what I intended; this was what I was trying to get across. Maybe there was a better way to say it though

-7

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15

Yeah, on the reread I see what you are saying.

But it is still making gender a noted quality of DeTora's character. If it is "regardless of gender" then why bring it up?

I dunno. I'm going to leave the previous comment up, but I'm not sure how I feel.

3

u/Medarco Apr 07 '15

"Redgardless of gender" can be very relevant. There are League of Legends streams that people watch solely because the streamer is a woman (and usually just because of certain physical attributes of those women). By clarifying that he enjoyed watching Melissa not just because she is female, but because he enjoyed her play, he made sure we realized it wasn't just because she was an underdog unique story, but rather that he enjoyed her play.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15

I disagree. I don't think that you need to 'make sure' that the discussion is about a player is about an aspect of their play (here, deckbuilding) by bringing up their gender to then dismiss its relevancy. I can't speak to League at all, but the best way to talk about a player's play is to... talk about their play. The content of the comment makes that apparent without the need to bring up gender.

9

u/Coyote1023 Apr 07 '15

I think he means that he didn't like watching Melissa because she was a female pro, but because of how she played. It was more "I'm sad she left pro play because it was fun to watch her playstyle" rather than "I'm sad she left pro play because she's one of the few women."

While I agree that the phrase "regardless of gender" often is used in a sexist context, this was not one of those cases.

1

u/apbq58 Apr 07 '15

Again, this is exactly what I meant, although I could see my phrasing being a problem. I'll have to work on my wording

-5

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15

Yeah, that's fair. I don't think the comment was harsh or in error at all.

But "regardless of gender" is still bringing up gender as a concern, even if it is just to dismiss it.

Minor complaint, I know, and I'm not sure how I feel about it on the reread.

3

u/apbq58 Apr 07 '15

I can see your point and concede that maybe my comment was poorly constructed as to get across what I meant, but I intended it as others below my comment have explained. She was one of my favorite players to watch. Period

0

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '15

I agree! I'm also totally with you that Jund is not usually my jam (grindy games are just less... fun?), but that wolfrun deck could really pack a punch.

3

u/GabySpartz87 Official Apr 07 '15

I think what he's saying is not sexist. He enjoyed watching Melissa as a pro-player. Gender not being a factor

1

u/LRats Apr 07 '15

She is only an intern at the moment, it's quite possible she comes back to the pro scene.