Mooching bums

[Gravekeeper]

I am utterly immune to sob stories. The second one starts I tune it out completely. In my experience honest people don't give you sob stories. Only losers do. I don't care how hard up I am or what my situation is, that situation is my responsibility and there's no way I'm going to bother some completely unrelated person, especially a store clerk, about it. They aren't obligated in any way to help me with said situation and asking or expecting them to do so is both rude and completely audacious.

Just my 2 cents.

[Dreamstalker]

Draft - Well, you're kind of on your own with this one.

Magic tournament formats. Look under Limited Formats. I have yet to participate in a booster draft; my game store has them on Friday nights but I'd need to ensure I can get home at a reasonable hour.

[Tigress]

Okay, draft:

8 people, one box of 36 boosters.
Each person gets three booster packs. Everyone opens the first pack, picks one card out of the pack and passes the rest to the left. This process continues until all the cards are distributed. Repeat for the second pack, only you are passing to the right. Then for the third, only passing to the left again.

After all the cards are distributed, you have a pool of 45 cards to choose from. Then you build your deck of a minimum of 40 cards, including lands. (Lands are the "currency" you have to pay to play the cards.) The deck can be as big as you wish, but it's generally better to keep it as close to 40 as possibly.

Traditionally, it's single elimination. First place gets 5 packs, second gets 3, and third and fourth get 2.

And bomb rares are called such because it's like a bomb goes off in the game when they are played. When you play something like Akroma, Angel of Wrath, you will see what I mean.

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I also have another moocher story from last night. A woman drove up in her car after the States tournament ended. She asked my fellow judges and me if we would give her a few dollars so her son and her could "get a little food and some gas for the car." She claimed that her car was already past empty.

What's wrong with this picture? It was almost midnight. What is she doing driving around that late with her son? Never mind that the only places still open that late would be the Wendy's down the street and McDonald's (maybe). And why was she circling the parking lot in her car if it was almost out of gas? Before I could offer to call AAA for her to get her some gas or inform her there was an ATM in the bar next door, my husband called me away.

Then I watched her drive to the other side of the parking lot, get out of the car (it was still running) and talk to some guy in a pick-up truck. If she was really down on her luck, she probably would have waited for people to come out of the bar instead of the game shop. Something tells me that she (or the guy she was talking to) knew about the tournament and was waiting for us to come out, knowing we would be laden with the day's takings. I'm glad I didn't give her any money.

[Broomjockey]

I am utterly immune to sob stories. The second one starts I tune it out completely. In my experience honest people don't give you sob stories. Only losers do. I don't care how hard up I am or what my situation is, that situation is my responsibility and there's no way I'm going to bother some completely unrelated person, especially a store clerk, about it. They aren't obligated in any way to help me with said situation and asking or expecting them to do so is both rude and completely audacious.

Just my 2 cents.

And that's why I hate to give out the reason I'm asking for something. Even if it's a story sure to get anyone to help me, I figure deep down, they don't care, it doesn't affect them. If I ask, they'll either help me or not, as they will. I also figure, I usually got my dumb ass into a situation, I can get it out.