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There are plenty of analogies that have been used to discribe players. The one most people are familiar with is Timmy Johnny, Spike (Link to the article by Mark Rosewater) and another is the Blackborder.com personality test (Link to the test). I have come up with another way to discribe players that has more to do with what we do and why rather than how we do it.

Before I get into the details I have a little test for you too. In fact I shall use the results of the text to better explain myself.

In this test please record the answer for each question (a piece of paper and a pen, Windows Notepad, an html editor, search bar of your browser - any way you want to record answers). The results will be given later in this article.

The Test

Question 1
You are invited to a casual Magic night at a friend's house. How do you feel about this?
a) Why aren't we playtesting or drafting instead of wasting our time with casual Magic?
b) Any chance to try out my new deck is good. Hope I win some games!
c) Alright! Time to take these suckers to school!
d) A chance to play? I'm there!

Question 2
Your opponent wins a game by abusing a technicality in the rules you didn't know about until now. How do you feel about this?
a) How can you do that! Thats not in the spirit of the gam - how unfair!
b) Hmmm, that tactic may be useful to learn. I'm sure I can break it.!
c) You win some, you lose some. I don't like losing but at least I've learned something new.

Question 3
You win five boosters at a tournament. Do you -
a) Crack open the boosters now.
b) Sell the boosters.
c) Save the boosters to use in draft.
d) Play 'Minimasters' for fun with the boosters now.

The next two questions are based on this information -

There is a pre-release tournament for a new Magic expansion. From reading spoilers online you know the set contains a couple of bomb rares but little else that is worth any money. Very little will be constructed playable and the expansion looks pretty average for limited play.

Question 4
Assuming you play constructed heavily do you go?
a) No. Its not worth going to the pre-release.
b) Go regardless of what the cards are like.
c) Go and try to pick up the bomb cards cheap before prices settle.
d) Go but you're hoping you open or win valuable cards to cover your entry fee or more.

Question 5
Assuming you play limited heavily do you go?
a) Yes. I like seeing new expansions and its more fun to play than open a boosters on my own.
b) Depends on my chances of winning and the prizes on offer.
c) Its worth playing because even if you screw up the lessons you learn are important for future limited play. Besides its only an 8k event.
d) Yes - any opportunity to practice limited is worth taking.

Question 6
You have lost a tight game at a PTQ in the last round. If you won, you would have made top 8. How do you react?
a) Annoyed that you lost. There's still a chance of winning a good prize but its a shame you didn't make top 8.
b) Badly - you just lost a top 8 spot! The world is ending for you.
c) Don't care - its only a game after all.
d) Happy - I did well today and it was fun.

Question 7
A new player wants to trade with you. How do you view this situation?
a) He might have something I want or something cool.
b) I'm going to take this sucker to the cleaners!
c) Any chance to trade is with it.
d) I may be able to trade off some rubbish for something good.

Question 8
You are currently 0-3 at a big tournament that lasts six rounds. There is no way you can possibly make top 8. Do you -
a) Keep playing - I can still win a good prize for 3-3. If I lose next round I drop though.
b) Keep playing - Time to take some rating points back. My skills and my deck can't be that bad.
c) Drop now - time to go into damage control and preserve whats left of your rating.
d) Play it out to the end no matter what. I came to play and thats what I'm going to do!

Question 9
What best discribes the information you access regarding Magic on the internet?
a) I like reading about all aspects of the game. Its good to be able to check card prices as well as read articles.
b) I can access the latest tools and ideas to win.
c) If it concerns Magic I'm reading it!

Now we have that out the way - on with the article. I shall reveal the answers a little further down.

A coin has two sides and so does every Magic player. In fact many things have two sides. There's love and hate, chaos and order, good and evil - you get the idea. But what are the two sides of a Magic player? The two sides I came up with are the Fan and the Hunter.

The Fan

The Fan is involved with Magic for the sheer experience of it. A Fan will play whenever they can just for the sake of playing. The same can also go for trading. A Fan may trade even if they don't need or want anything just for the sake of trading.

Fans like to collect cards. This includes sets, single cards and certain types of cards. When it comes to buying or trading for cards for a collection, a Fan may place more value on certain cards than they are worth. Often a Fan will treat a strange card like gold that the rest of the world sees as rubbish. One man's trash can be another man's treasure.

When playing tournaments a Fan may set rules upon themself - usually what they consider to be honourable ways to play. A Fan may refuse to netdeck on principle or a Fan could refuse to ID (Intentional Draw) in later rounds at tournaments because they don't see it as morally right.

Ultimately the Fan values the flavour of Magic over most other things.

Some aspects of Magic players that are Fan based include casual players, collectors, rogue tournament players and casual tournament players.

The Hunter

The Hunter is involved with Magic because they want to win. A hunter sees Magic as something to be broken and beaten by themselves - its all about winning and personal glory.

Winning can also be in the form of profit. Profit can also mean a few things to a hunter - selling cards to make money, learning more about Magic, becoming a better Magic player and winning lots of prizes. Hunters trade to profit - either by aquiring what they need cheap or by uptrading bad cards for better ones.

At a tournament a hunter is all business. Nothing within the rules is taboo and a Hunter may even try to bend the rules to their advantage. A Hunter has no honor code like a Fan does - anything goes as long as it helps you to win. If a Hunter thinks a deck will win they will play it. Some Hunters may go too far and cheat in an attempt to win. Psychological warfare, Jedi mind tricks, distraction tactics - these are all tools of the Hunter.

The Hunter ultimately wants to conquer Magic and win.

Some aspects of Magic players who are Hunter based include serious tournament players, Magic card sellers and bargain hunters.

Every player is a combination of the Fan and the Hunter to some degree. The test at the beginning of the article was designed to test certain aspects of the Fan and the Hunter. Now to see the results and explain the answers.

The Answers

Each answer contains values for both Fan and Hunter. Some questions have values just for Fan or Hunter and others have the total points split between the two categories.

Question 1
a) Hunter - 3
b) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2
c) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1
d) Fan - 3

Question 2
a) Fan - 2
b) Hunter - 2
c) Hunter - 1, Fan - 1

Question 3
a) Fan - 3
b) Hunter - 3
c) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1
d) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2

Question 4
a) Hunter - 3
b) Fan - 3
c) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1
d) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2

Question 5
a) Fan - 3
b) Hunter- 3
c) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2
d) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1

Question 6
a) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1
b) Hunter - 3
c) Fan - 3
d) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2

.Question 7
a) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2
b) Hunter - 3
c) Fan - 3
d) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1

.Question 8
a) Hunter - 2, Fan - 1
b) Hunter - 1, Fan - 2
c) Hunter - 3
d) Fan - 3

.Question 9
a) Hunter - 1, Fan - 1
b) Hunter - 2
c) Fan - 2

I have no scale to base the answers on. Since the test is out of twenty-five, if you multiply each result by four you will see what percentage of Fan and Hunter you are.

Explaining the Answers

Question 1 - A casual night of Magic holds little to no interest to a Hunter. If they go they are going to win. Fans will play for fun and because they can.

Question 2 - Hunters will not like losing but will see the merit in learning from losing. If a tactic is good enough to beat them its worth learning. Fans are usually outraged by people bending the rules for their own game. It isn't fun or honorable to use obscure knowledge whilst playing Magic.

Question 3 - A Hunter is looking to profit from their prizes either by making money now or by saving money later. A Fan can't wait to break those boosters open to see what's inside.

Question 4 - A Hunter who plays constructed heavily will be wanting to profit from the pre-release by getting the cards they want cheap or by winning. If profit doesn't look likely a Hunter would give the pre-release a miss. A fan is there to play and discover new cards - no matter how good or bad the expansion is

Question 5 - A Hunter is there to learn about the new set and how to use it in future limited events. If things go bad then little is lost because the knowledge gained will be invaluable over the next few months. A limited Fan is there to play for the sake of playing.

Question 6 - A Hunter is playing to win. Not making top 8 is a disaster but they may profit from winning a good prize. A Fan is just happy to make it that far and enjoys the tournament regardless of making top 8 or not.

Question 7 - A Hunter is trading to profit - plain and simple. The Fan is trading for the experience of it, even if there is nothing they want.

Question 8 - AHunter knows when to retreat and does so by dropping from the event. The Fan doesn't care if they win or lose so they keep playing.

Question 9 - A Hunter uses the Internet as a database of information to help them win. A Fan uses the internet to experience other aspects of Magic outside of playing.

The explainations attempt to clarify certain aspects of the Fan and the Hunter as you read about both sides of a situation. I deliberately picked these situations because they would often invoke such opposite reactions. I hope they have helped distinguish between the Fan and the Hunter for you.

This test is by all means not fool proof and I'm sure someone out there will end up being a hundred percent one way or the other. The results aren't that important though - the test a tool to show that even the most casual player, most hardened tournament player or most avid collector is part Fan and part Hunter in their Magic participation.

Its the Fan that gets us into playing and collecting Magic, but its the Hunter who aspires for greatness within the game. Neither side is good or evil, right or wrong. They simply exist.

So remember next time you tell that tournament player to lighten up, complain about a seller's prices, tell a player they are a scrub or shake your head in disbelief that someone would possibly want to collect Gaseous Forms - a little Fan and a little Hunter is in all of us.

Joe Tobin (Aytakk2)

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