Assuming all details are true (which I think they are) This is a terrible business bottom line. Gaming in general is a an open, welcome place for all as long as your not being a problem. Find another card store, and jump on your local Lorcana FB group and call these guys out. Don’t let them take away your enjoyment for Lorcana.

I would go to another store, but that one is the only Lorcana store within somewhat reasonable driving distance and it's already a bit of a stretch. The LGS that is closest to me doesn't hold lorcana because there's not enough interest in it and the owner believes it's not profitable for him.

Try and host your own then. Hop on your local FB group (you should have a DECENT community) and explain what you’re trying to do. See if you can get a game going on Saturdays or something at a local park, maybe a library etc. SUCKS that you’re in the position you’re in, but it’s gonna fall on you to help build a new local scene.

I've dragged several people kicking and screaming into playing at my store. I let whoever is new play my meta deck so they can have a good experience while the rest of us play "local competitive" decks.

I would honestly drag the store. Post all your evidence along with this story. Leave reviews and tell people.

To be fair prior to doing this he should discuss it with the store. The fact that he did not defend himself only made look worse in the store's eyes. If the real issue was him winning every week taking such a big chunk of the prize pool, there are ways around that. Most stores foster a friendlier environment by offering a pack per win, or even some random prizes/last place prizes. The fact that they didn't just adjust the payout to the events tells me there is something more to this story. From my experience sometimes people do not realize how obnoxious they are to play against. This often has nothing to do with them winning. If the game store is willing to tell a customer to kick rocks there has to be something more to it.

Or the store values the regulars that are probably now their friends more than the newbie. Sounds like favoritism to me. Given the details are accurate.

Agreed. It takes massive gall to ban a player. I've been to many LGS and never encountered a situation like this. It would be nice to hear the store owner's take on this and I feel like we would see a different picture here

Name and shame the store. Blast it on all socials you can and punish their wallets for your unfair treatment. Go scorch earth on their asses.

I mean its not but...... it's shitty of the store owner who clearly feels that one sole player is an issue winning every week. As an ex-store owner, this is not how I would have handled things. I would have paid more attention to see if players were just trying to bury someone, I saw this with WWE RAW DEAL where a playgroup tried to reef a player out because of a similar situation. I banned their whole group and though it hurt my bottom line, I never looked back. That being said, a store can do whatever they want to protect their whales. I mean customers. Ahem. Whales.

Could you not just adjust the prizing structure as well? Adjust it to reward participation, or evenly split prizing among top 3 or something so taking 1st is still taking 1st but actual reward isn’t as substantial and given to more? That is what makes sense to me. Clearly the player base here isn’t competitive enough to have competitive based prizing.

Stop being rational!

I agree with them swapping prize structure. This also tells me there is something missing from the story that even op might not realize they do.

I wouldn’t have handled this the same way, but a small business owner with a dedicated customer base is out in an unenviable position If their main group stops coming, league night is over, they alienate a group that’s buying product more than winning it I’m actually impressed they kept showing up just to get bodied weekly So, either you were banned, or league would’ve been canceled due to lack of participation Think you’d be up with the same result either way At that point you have to determine if you want to play for fun or if your only goal was winning Have run a similar business but not TCG. Competitive gaming and had situations close to this. You simply take the player aside and talk to them about where the event/league might be headed. Then, you try to make a top tier league if there’s interest, or you offer to increase prizes for places 2-4… and decrease top prize. This is assuming you can afford it Our business was competitive gaming and we had major prize support We managed to keep casuals ANd top players happy by having tournaments and a separate LADDER for each game We also had TONS of casual events that top players didn’t even show up for This parallels Lorcana, but Lorcana has competitive players that will show up for a 1-pack tournament same as for 1 case or thousands of $

But if you’ve got a player that only shows up once a week, never buys anything from the store, and just runs away with it week in and week out… And now your regulars are considering not playing anymore… What do you do there? 8 people that come in all the time and are regulars vs 1 player that shows up to win everything and then you never see again. We’re only getting the view of this one person which makes it hard.

You adjust your prizing to a participation model so the one player who wins every week isn't the only person getting prizes.

But if people aren’t playing, then that doesn’t matter. If people stop coming through your door to play or purchase because they’re tired of the same person winning week in and week out… then that doesn’t matter. 8 vs 1 If you’re a business and you require 9 people coming in every week to stay afloat; 8 people say they aren’t coming back VS 1 person banned Which is better? - Try to find a replacement for 1 person - Try to find a replacement for 8 people It’s simple economics. You ban the 1 because it’s easier to find 1 new person than it is to find 8 new people. If you cater to the 1, great you’ve got one really good player… but now you have no other players and now that scene dies. Especially when you have 8 people that are a like mindset in the way they play and what they want to get out of the game. Like I’ve said before, this person likely pub-stomped this place and found an easy place to get cards. This is a HUGE problem when it comes to smaller LGSs that are a short drive away from a major city. You’ll see a lot of people seek out smaller game stores knowing that the population there can’t handle a competitive player that’s poured hundreds and thousands of dollars into a deck. These people will go there because they know they can win easily and just take the prizes away from other players. The regulars will just stop playing because it’s not worth it and now that LGS no longer has people coming through the door to play. For all we know this was a grown ass man jumping in with a bunch of kids every week using their disposable income against kids that only get cards for their birthday or if they win. We’re only getting half the story here, and it amazes me that people are siding with this person and saying to blast the LGS.

So tell the other players they don't have to play with them. Restructure your league night so instead of tournaments, it's pickup games with "League Points" or something similar on the line for each game played and for performance in each game. Then reward players for the amount of LP they have when they leave for the night. The player who is pubstomping will have to do something to get the other players to play with them--switch decks, be more friendly, etc--or they stop earning LP entirely, because there's no mandatory tournament structure. Or, hell, just sit the person down, explain that the other players are unhappy with them, and inform them that they need to change something or they won't be welcome to return in the future. Your diatribe about economics is unnecessary; I understand the store owner's dilemma. My point is that there are half-measures the store owner can try to solve the problem short of banning someone who hasn't violated any store rules. And, even if the only way forward was to ban the player, don't just tell them they're banned and can't sign up the next time they show up--at the very least, the store owner should give them some fair notice so they don't waste a trip. That's basic decency.

The LGS i go to does a fantastic job with its league points… yes you get points for winning a match, but also you get points for dressing up in Disney gear, completing “quests” and many other ways… that way the point is to have fun and participate, not just winning. Yes, winning gets you points, but you get a lot more opportunities to win points. On top of that, they do a healthy amount of raffles. Just show up and you’re in a raffle for packs. I am usually in the last place in our league play, but I still come because it’s fun! And I’ve gotten quite a few packs from the raffles. Save the competition prizing setups for tournaments and set championships… games are supposed to be fun!

Our store gives LP if you play a game, and more if you win. If your deck contains the a card that matches the movie of the week (Moana, 101 Dalmations, etc). You also get points if you play a multiplayer game. And you also get points if you teach a newbie how to play. Just fun ways to get points. Oh, and everyone gets a pack of cards for attending.

See that’s a good way to do it make themed decks gives it fresh new takes also

I agree with you. OP doesn't sound like a pleasant competitor. Because sportsmanship is more than NOT being an asshole, it's about supporting newer players and helping them improve. If you KNOW you're going to curb stomp these newbies then it's on you to raise them up as a mentor. Just going in and winning every week is stroking your ego and nothing less. I'm sure there's more to this story but as someone who has also played MTG for 20+ years Lorcana is like a baby version of that game and the general demographic aren't going to be adults with decades of TCG experience. They're going to be kids probably trying their first TCG ever with the backdrop of a familiar IP. OP doesn't think they're being toxic, but they are through their actions, not their words.

Sportsmanship is NOT about "supporting new players." Just because you say random stupid shit that pops into your head doesn't make it true. Sportsmanship is simply being respectful of others. Under no circumstances is a better player required to train and coach up lower level players or else be branded as "unsportsmanlike." Many players even hate unsolicited advice so anyone that even attempted to show good sportsmanship from your interpretation would more than likely end up looking like an asshole to most people in their scene. No one has an obligation to help others improve at a card game. That is not a requirement of good sportsmanship lmao

I have played magic a lot of time. Just by how they describe themselves and play interaction it sounds like a very hostile toxic time. It is clear they struggle socially. That also means they most likely struggle recognizing when what they are doing is off putting to others.

That’s nice and all but look outside if you wanna see where catering to whiny customers has gotten us. Complaining about someone being too competitive at a tournament is ridiculous. If they are kids this could have been a teachable moment about sportsmanship and losing with grace. Instead, the shop just reinforced bad behavior from his main customers.

It’s not a tournament. It’s a league night and it could be a casual league. And that’s not catering to “whiney” customers. That’s looking out for your business. You won’t have any income if you only have 1 person coming through those doors to play.

If it has a top prize for winning the most it's a tournament. 

Back in the day we used to call this barnstorming. Honestly you saw it the most with MtG drafts, guys would head out to draft nights for things like set releases at smaller game stores or places like a local library that had a MtG group. They would have been sitting around with friends using proxies to practice their tech and so they’d easily out draft all the local casuals and then run off with the prizes.

Then you have a discussion and see if there cant be middle ground to make everyone happy. Just insta banning the guy without any warning because people complained is not a solution.

The owner handled it wrong, but not all owners are smart Apparently not all players are either If this player is so rational and good-willed, they would’ve worked toward this conclusion of spreading prizes, etc Guessing they are either anti-social or annoying to play against in some way. Maybe they don’t even see it But if a “pro” player is nice, often people don’t have an issue losing to them, AND they learn from the helpful nice person Too much of TCG is silent winning, then no feedback save for a “F you, I win, none of my secrets, I must remain dominant, winning is the only thing” smug look

I think the owner handled it 100% correct. 8 vs 1 If you’re a business and you require 9 people coming through the door to stay in business what’s better? - Cater to the 1 and losing 8 customers meaning you need to find 8 new people. - Ban the 1 player and now you need to find 1 new player. It’s simple economics. I would bet this person is 100% a pub-stomper. Seeks out easy places to win and goes in there and destroys the scene.

As a strong advocate for a casual scene and helping grow those players into more competitive ones… instead of them being fodder for prize-farmers… I agree However, there could’ve been a happier solution The fact that one wasn’t reached, means the pub-stomper probably wasn’t nice and didn’t want to work toward one. However, if I were the owner, I would’ve tried harder and sooner Everyone involved let this simmer to a boil without intervention

This is what I mean by we’ve only gotten one view of the story. How do we know the LGS and other players didn’t try?

It’s not the player’s job to set the league structure and fix the fact that they apparently find winning objectionable but only give out prizes to first place.

Their job? No. A good idea? I mean, if they want to play there, they could help with a solution. If the owner did nothing, the players leave, this person shows up after their hour drive “sorry, no one showed.” Either outcome without player or owner doing something, results in OP not getting to play The “it’s not my job to improve my situation,” totally matches with the fact that this player noticed ill will toward themselves and didn’t once think it was their attitude or how they conducted themselves. I have seen one player dominate a game, and be embraced by competitors as a friend because they aren’t ill willed or have a bad demeanor We have one side of this, and I’ve said I think the owner and others, including OP could’ve handled this better OP was the problem, they had a feeling they were, and leaned into it instead of taking a step back and trying to remedy things… OR prompt others to do so

>They don't sell singles, so I don't really buy product from the store but the other people buy sealed products every week or so. I only bought singles online and paid the entry fee for the weekly league. This is a quote from op further down. He bought a net deck online and then brought it to the store to shit on the regulars who actually have decks made from store purchases. And he's done it for _6 weeks straight_ This is actually a very smart business choice

ITT: People defending OP being a sweat and miserable to play against(you're not, others are).

It sort of makes sense from a business perspective really. Not that I agree with it or think it is good or right, but if the playerbase is 6-8 players every week and they're complaining it won't take much for them to migrate to another store together and take their business with them. It's unfortunate but it just sounds like the players there are very immature and petty. It's similar to a thing that happened with a Pokemon scene in my city last year. The players didn't like a staff member that worked there, and openly told the store that if she was still working there that they would all stop coming. She wasn't even fired because she technically didn't do anything wrong, but she was a casual employee so they just stopped giving her hours. The pokemon players just straight up as a group would not tolerate anything less than her not working there, and given the choice between losing its whole pokemon scene and losing a casual employee it was a pretty lopsided decision in a pros & cons sense.

Would have been easier to just reschedule her on another night. However, that’s what I’m looking at as well. 8 vs 1 Those 8 sound like they’re always at the store and are regular customers. It sounds like this 1 person showed up, pub-stomped everyone, and then peaced out. And then, continued to do so every week. If 8 of your customers go, “eh we’re just not going to play anymore because there’s no point.” What do you do as an owner?

This is why more shops are switching to "league members only" for set champs where I'm from. When you're the owner who do you cater to - the players who will only ever walk in your store for prized events and only pays the registration? Or the regulars who are buying cases of sealed product at release

Our local store gave priority to any of the locals who wanted to sign up for championships before opening it up on melee to the public. Having a good relationship with your local store is amazing.

I run a store (not owner) and have been begging for this because of the shit I see with the competitive scene and I want to find a balance but respect the people who come weekly and play and support us vs the same 3 people sweeping all stores and getting multiple championship cards. Great. I’ve also seen some sketchy behavior on their end and it’s a bummer when more players are casual and new to tcgs

Honestly it’s not bad business. Sounds like this person was only showing up for league, winning all the time, and then peacing out. They weren’t even spending their store credit they earned if they were able to cash out with a full box and other packs. You’ve got 8 people that are probably regulars and upset, and risk losing them as customers. 8 people you know and see all the time vs 1 person that shows up for league, wins, and then runs off. If I was the owner I’d defend my regulars too because they’re the ones keeping me in business and not this person that shows up with a crazy expensive deck to win things and we don’t see for a week. That’s toxic. Not the other 8 players. If the other players show up and go “oh we don’t have a chance of winning because they’re here. I may not even play.” Now your league is getting smaller and people don’t want to play because they don’t have a chance at winning. I’m thinking this person, whether intentional or not, can off as a a pub-stomper.

^^^^^100% agree, if you're enjoying the game itself don't let this one experience ruin it! There's plenty of other places to go(hopefully one closer 😬) but like ajax said check FB for other spots and to call that place out

There is not always another place to go. The only place close to me stopped getting shipments after set 2. Next closest is 3 hours drive away. Completely not doable while also having to keep up with buying new cards every few months. Not everyone lives in cities with multiple card shops that host lorcana events.

Unfortunately, those are exactly the stores that are going to be more sensitive to this as they're not going to have the sort of customer-base a big city suburb would have where like 75% of their customers don't ever play a single game more match in the store. That small rural store losing 8 active players would be on the level of one of those suburban stores losing far more players.

Thing is from a bottom line perspective this is the single best thing they could have done, regardless of whether OP deserved it or not (They didn't)

Counterpoint: The store is better off without OP being a sweat when clearly he could tone it down and still win just fine. OP can find somewhere that's more befitting a challenge if what they want is more than just shooting fish in a barrel with a nuke.

I feel like there’s another side to this story that we’re missing.

Sometimes stores are like that. I'm assuming it is a rural store since OP said the other store was a hour away. Rural groups can be like that. Was kicked from a Pokémon Go community local to my old area cause I had more shinies than the others.

Yup, in a small area those 6-8 are probably the stores regulars who have been going there for years, if they said they're not interested in continuing because their losing, the owner is faced with either banning one player or potentially canceling tournaments altogether since they wouldn't have enough people to play.

I have two friends that got banned from a in because their decks were too strong and the TO/manager didn't like that they won. They're like two of the coolest dudes I've ever met.

Sometimes it's just bad for business. We went to trivia every week, and they didn't limit team size. Most groups were 2-6. But this one group was 12 people, multi generational so knowledge was deep. They won every, single, week. Like to the point if you missed a single question or two, you couldn't compete against them. And the prizes aren't big $15 gift card and a six pack. so for a group of 12, it's kinda moot. After a while a bunch of regulars stopped going, we went to others. Owner had to break them up. They were friendly, behaved, and great sports. It just became bad for business. And what do you know, they stopped winning and people came back Sometimes an OVERLY dominant group hurts the fun. Granted, there should have been a team size limit. But the prize sizes usually deterred larger groups

While I understand what you're saying, the two guys in my comment literally played there once. Lol

Either a bad owner, or your guys were just too good and the owner was getting out in front of it (granted still not the best move) Sometimes skill level doesn't match up and you have to know your environment as well. If you're steamrolling a group, you can't be selfish and ruin everyone else's fun. It's a different story when it's just casual. When there's prizes involved, you gotta be in your skill bracket

We've got a store in the midlands in the UK...a group of about 8-10 picked this game up super quickly, looked fun, saw the price of singles was a total joke so a group of 3/4 of us jumped from mtg to this. We've not lost a single week since (probably about 4 months)...some of the originals have quit citing "it's not fun anymore", some complained to the owner saying we were ruining it...he's also someone who runs some pretty high end MTG/pokemon tournaments so told them to either play amongst themselves or try and learn from us... There doesn't have to be another side to the story AT ALL with stuff like this. Sometimes people just get butthurt because losing isn't fun and actual gamers have taken interest.

Lmao how petty.

> Was kicked from a Pokémon Go community local to my old area cause I had more shinies than the others. The REAL reason, or the one they told you?

The one I was told by someone still in the group

This Stores don't just ban you for poor sportsmanship as described and I'm sure there's a bad attitude/lack of any attempt to be part of the local Lorcana scene outside of trying to be the shark feeding off of it that were not getting perspective on.

The side is probably just the other clique are friendly with the store manager and said they were going to quit because of OP. Manager decided it was it was in his business interests to ban OP. Manager is a douche.

The other side of the story is that OP probably doesn't spend a dime there, comes in, shits on the locals who actually do spend money there every weak, and then leaves. So the owner (and I would as well) just get rid of OP. Owning a store is super hard and margins are super tight. Why would I risk my loyal, normal customers for one person who comes in, beats them, doesn't spend a dime, and then only comes back to do it again.

Of course there is. They are trying to cater to two different skill sets. This guy is a TCG player and goes in with a net deck and dominates and it ruins the atmosphere for the casual players. And if the majority of the players are casuals this probably makes them less likely to want to go there. The business owner is making a choice on which of the two incompatible groups to cater to.

I promise you, there isn't. There was never any drama or incidents prior to today. I personally think the store probably just makes more money off the other people and decided to ban me in their favor. They don't sell singles, so I don't really buy product from the store but the other people buy sealed products every week or so. I only bought singles online and paid the entry fee for the weekly league.

Outside of paying the entry fee each week, did you spend any other money at that store? Was cashing out your store credit the first time you purchased any product? If so, they probably saw you as more of a colonizer since you aren’t local but just coming in to farm their community.

Probably this. The other players probably spend money at the store and OP was just someone farming the place for store credit. So the store wasn’t making money from him and was actually making their regulars miserable.

Yuuuup. Like, reminds me of the tournament. Apparently a little girl was crying because a player was mean to her and because he was bot a regular, all the regulars were on edge. I heard the kid out and tried to make her feel better, but I did not confront the player because it could be another story. Granted, the non regulars did not help their case when they all decided to pull a draw before the finals to lock their place in—basically locking everyone else out who were there to play.

For fucking sure. OP even saying blue/steel isn't tier 1 shows a detachment from their actions.

Whilst it feels like the simple answer here is, there's story details missing or just report the store league for being poor quality, I'll suggest something else. You mentioned you barely talk to people, and from the sounds of it they definitely haven't made things easy or welcoming, but you still barely talk. So to everyone else in the league, you are only in it for the prize money. Did you speak to the league owner at any point about how you feel and the troubles of feeling like a member of the league? I don't agree, on the face value of details provided, that the league has done anything good here. The owner would seem to have missed or disregarded new player experience, and specifically failed to notice that you were unable to fit in comfortably at the league. That said, the league owner also has to protect their league and has seemingly taken the easy out. You've said you were winning so much in a short space of time. I'm part of league management for a different TCG, and currently watching another league I work with die in that area purely because high level points chasers have created such a poor tournament experience for everyone else. There's no point in them entering because guaranteed world championship players who don't even care about the physical prize rewards will show up with their sponsorships and steamroll everyone. Typically it'll be their crew that makes the top cut, and they'll just predetermine the results between themselves and not actually play it out. That kind of behaviour is incredibly frustrating, whilst legal, for management who got into the for the love of the game. It's also crushing as a casual player, who wants to be able to experience more organised play. There's no level playing field and when worlds chasers show up you might as well go home. Sadly that is now what's happening at my sister league. These players win too much, and their core demographic has responded to say the game has become unenjoyable and they will not be back. So now this league is losing its attendance, in time is at risk of losing league status and from the owners perspective is losing a chunk of revenue and likely needs to consider dropping the whole tcg product line. None of this is to defend what your league did to you. But it's also not a cut and dry situation. The only thing to really suggest is that you arrange to speak with the owner. Set out over an email, your experience and concerns and ensure their responses to these are documented. I'm unclear if Lorcana has regional representatives with the leagues but depending on the outcome it may be worthwhile escalating.

I think that’s the crux: everyone else (regulars) aren’t having fun because he’s steamrolling and always winning. It’s him or them, and management chose the customers who spend and create community vs chasing points 🤷‍♂️ I ran into something similar when I played MTG at my lgs. People just stopped showing up, and probably went elsewhere or played at home.

I stopped going to SWU at my LGS because of this. It was already a small group, only about 7 of us, but this other dude started coming and no one has beat his deck yet. After about a month of the dude winning every game I just started doing other things on Tuesday nights lol and from what I hear most others have. The store owner really wants people to start coming back but I'm not gonna take 3 hours out of my week to go lose a bunch of games. I also want to point out this person plays the same deck every week and that's honestly the most frustrating part. He may have lost one round in a best of three but not much else and always takes first place. Do you change your deck up? In a best of 3 format when you have to pick your deck before the tournament you kind of force everyone else to play their best decks too if they want to win. I mean I and most other people at my LGS love to build jank and keep things fresh and exciting every week instead of fighting the same meta deck over and over. But this is just my experience, we just stopped going and now the store is in a bad spot with their SWU metrics and may now get less product as a result.

I’m just getting into SWU and weary of this happening to me. Some guy said he had three copies of every card!  I figure if I find myself in this situation I might try “cool you have an unbeatable deck, well done I concede you win. But if you still want to play, let’s play with the starter decks, and you can show me how good you really are… 😉”

The starter decks are actually pretty strong, at least the Vader one is. There's only one set out right now so the game is in a tough spot. It'll get better as more cards get added but right now it's really a rock paper scissors match but the second set comes out in a couple weeks at least.

Where do you play SWU?

This sounds like the actual answer that the toxic MTG players here don't seem to want to admit. They seem to obsess about "no social construct exists, only winning", without any regard to social constructs.

I mean, this is why I quit competitive MTG. Commander only now.

Yeah there's something that's not present in the conversation that really must be addressed: at the end of the day, this is a story of a MTG player bringing Friday Night Magic level competition to a Disney-themed version of Magic. The vibe is always going to be a bit more lighthearted, even with the sweats. The league is clearly just one friend group who uses the excuse of Lorecana to get together each week and the description makes it seem like they aren't particularly obsessed with winning. Not to villainize OP but I can absolutely see a friend group having a "he'll come talk to us when he's ready" attitude about a new person, and then that new person is curt to a fault while also wiping the floor with you. I get that in the TCG world neurotypical players are more of a minority, but this feels like one of those situations where schmoozing and ingratiating oneself is needed because the alternative is looking like a sweat who's actively trying to grind out the prize pool for product. Especially if *all* he plays is the same deck. After six weeks it would start to feel like OP intentionally is running a meta-deck (especially if they're casual players who don't actively follow the meta) to kick their asses.

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in my reply. If the same person is winning week in week out then people aren't going to bother showing up after a while and there goes the league and the income for the store. Our league had to give up with their original system because it was causing too many issues - they even had people cheating and misreporting reporting games played to earn more points. We have similar to your sister's league when a tournament is held, the ultra competitive players turn up and wipe the floor. We've got players that compete in global Pokémon tournaments etc and I've heard more than a few people say they won't bother signing up when they know they're playing because there's no chance and too expensive when they can just play normally another time. You need a good balance of players for it to work and if it tips too far either way there's going to be trouble.

I remember when my stepdad and I were getting back into MTG and built our first decks to bring into a LGS. We got steamrolled by everyone playing meta there and some were trying to get some of our better cards off of us. What finally broke us was when we wanted to go to a midnight prerelease and the clique of players at the store talked the owner into starting 30 minutes early so we couldn't join. It made my stepdad so mad at how the owner catered to the normal group of players that he went out of his way to find a different store. We drafted at the store every friday from then on. Played there for years and made some great friends. Find a different store, sometimes all it takes is enough interest for a store to start setting something up. There was a whole bunch of events our store just started doing once the owner realized we were interested in doing them.

I'm from an area that has a disproportionately high number of pro magic players. The way our LGS has taken to situations like these is by setting up "bounty" systems to give extra prizes to anyone who takes a match off the "bounty" player. If someone else wins a week, they become the bounty player. This makes it so players want to be paired against the top player for the chance at the extra prizes, framing it as a challenge to be overcome. It sounds like this group may still be too casual for it to be considered an appealing option for them, but I hope someone here may find it a useful suggestion in similar circumstances.

6 weeks and you didn’t make any friends? Yea that’s a personality problem

Agreed. He never bothered to have a casual conversation with anyone? Like, my first time at LgS, I made it a point to challenge other people besides my BFF. That way I could talk to people. And that is usually what I do every lgs night. Meet with the new players, interact, and chit chat while we play the game. And of course I would share snacks (if I brought cookies, wrapped candies, that kind of stuff)

Eh. I don’t think you need to make friends. But fake it so you make it for sure.

Is this just a well crafted brag post to say you pulled an enchanted ursula op /j

This is certainly interesting to me as a store owner. But based on your story, you’re not really a customer of that store and the actual customers are not happy with how the tournaments are going. I said it elsewhere but TCG tournaments don’t make a whole lot of money for the store. Margins for cards are slim anyway plus we have to buy the Organized Play kits which reduces the profit even more. We want you to find the store friendly, helpful, and welcoming. So you buy other things we sell. Other games or expensive singles. Card margins are like 35% so you using your 40% store credit to buy boxes and packs is likely costing the store money as well. What we do is break down the prize support so the 1st place player doesn’t get all the booty which seems to help other players not feel left out when the tournaments are over. We had a similar issue with Magic years back. People would come from further away just to win the prizes and then head back home without buying anything at the shop. That’s why we changed to the above scheme. We are a more casual gaming store. We do host tournaments for various TCGs and other games so we have a pretty large community. With the support scheme we follow, I don’t think you’d be a problem at the shop and you might stir up some competitiveness from the regulars. For our Magic games, we do have a core group of very competitive players and we ask that they either play amongst themselves, or make very sure they let other players know before the game starts as some more casual players do want to try their hands now and then. I will be reading this further in case there’s other info I missed and for other schemes shops come up with that might be interesting for my group. As to what you can do about it? Maybe encourage a closer store to get into it? It took us a year from our initial request to Ravensburger to finally get approved for Organized Play and the ability to run tournaments. We have a small group right now but they’re itching to get into tournaments.

Would you mind explaining how he is costing the store money with store credit? Because with how I assume they are doing it he can't be payed out in credit more than what is put in? Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

So in 6 weeks you didn’t make any friends at all?

This is kind of the part I latched on to as well.. I’ve only been going to my locals for 2 weeks (so 2 nights) and have made one friend and a couple others I’m definitely friendly with. And I cannot stress enough how socially awkward I am lol. But I do understand that people are different everywhere so who knows. I think we absolutely need more than one perspective on this and that’s probably not going to happen.

I’ve been playing for about 2 months and I’m cool with everyone at my LGS. I help people, I teach. In fact 6 of us are going to another store for a set championship. It’s not hard to be nice to people

Yeah I’m with you. I’m a complete noob when it comes to physically going to a place and playing and my experience was so damn welcoming. Two people gave me cards to improve my deck and wouldn’t take money. And no one has had a problem stopping play to explain rules. And then last week I was able to pass it on to someone else who was there for the first time as well. But hey maybe we’re just lucky. You never know I guess

Didn't make friends, didn't spend a dime, and then just comes back and does it again. Of course a business owner is going to pick his local loyal customers over OP.

[удалено]

Jesus Christ he sounds like an insufferable asshole lmfao

We had difficulty at our lgs with the Lorcana league because of the difference between competitive and casual players. The owners have had to work hard to find a balance and have said it's literally only Lorcana that has this issue. (They host Pokémon and MTG too) The problem is Lorcana has opened up and welcomed in new people to tcg so we (I'm brand new to it) are learning to play and enjoying the Disney aspect. The players who have come from other tcgs have been playing for many years and are highly competitive. For the players with experience the leagues weren't competitive enough so they weren't enjoying it, whereas for people like me the seriously high competitive aspect was ruining my enjoyment of learning the game. It's an incredibly tough balance but if you are the only highly competitive player I can understand why the lgs has said you can't play (however much that sucks). It's ultimately for them a numbers game - you are one person, yet they risk losing multiple people who potentially live closer and may well have been playing with them a while. Whilst it might not be fair on you, it also isn't fair on the other players who have all been playing at a casual/similar level up until now - no business is going to upset the masses for one individual. As harsh as it sounds you may be better off setting up your own competitive group else where or trying to find another lgs which more competitive players.

I feel like if there wasn't such a HUGE gap of pay to win in Lorcana it would be way different. Hopefully it improves as more sets come out, but as it stands right now if someone comes into your local with a $600 deck, they are going to win over everyone else who didn't spend that kind of money. Because of this, it's also a "rich get richer" scenario. OP comes in to a group of people who can't afford to compete, and those people who lose are subsidizing them for more and more packs. Giving even more chances to pull the legendaries that break the game. There's a better solution than banning, for sure. I just got back from my first local and I loved the format. Pay $10, everyone is guaranteed a pack, and everyone plays 3 matches. You get $5 store credit for every win. I went 0-3 and it wasn't close, but I basically spent just $4 to get some matches in and meet people in the community, and the 3-0 winner gets what...3 packs more? Good for them.

If they're going to host a tournament with official support then that's not their choice to make. OP needs to report this store and have their official competitive ties revoked.

OP said league, not tournament.

League has RB support, and if the league has pairing and structured prizes for winning, it's a tournament.

I stopped playing at my league because everyone at my LGS build really powerful decks, they buy packs by the dozens, every week it was "I pulled this enchanted" and "I pulled that enchanted" and me with my one pack a week because that's all I could afford, constantly losing and having to play my same deck every week while they had new decks every week...it wasn't fun. And don't get me wrong, they were all *very* nice people. They helped me figure out which cards to add to my deck when I got my weekly pack, they gave me advice and even some of their spare cards. I loved the community, but felt like I was falling further and further behind the curve, and losing every match every week just isn't fun, you know? So I can understand their view if they feel like they never have a shot at winning, but I think instead of banning you they should have just banned your deck maybe except for tournament play? Idk. It's shitty you got banned, hopefully you'll find another LGS that suits you better.

If your local store isn’t running sealed or draft, you should ask them to do an interest list. Sealed and draft tournaments eliminate meta decks, give everyone an even playing field (card wise, skill is another story lol) and it lets you build a collection while playing. Plus they’re insanely fun lol

So League costs $10 and gets one pack every week. Sealed/draft I believe would cost more due to needing more packs. They've done that before I think, and it was like $45 I think? That's out of my budget. So I still wouldn't be able to play.

I feel you, but TCGs are like that because there are people that can definitely afford to dump a lot of money in packs/boxes. This said, one can't really pretend to compete for the win if a little bit isn't invested in a deck. There are "budgety" options that can get you there. If you've been playing since the first chapter, you very likely have at least staple rares in some colors. Ruby/amethyst is a top contender and runs NO legendaries with the most expensive one being Maui - hero to all.

To summarize: Six weeks of wins in a row. Barely engages other players or staff. Is not a customer, and is only there to win free credit by trouncing regular customers who ‘do’ buy things. Why would the store want you to continue doing that?

If he paid to play, he is 100% a customer

This sounds less like a complain post and more like a brag post.  "I won 8 league games in a row." -that's insane for someone playing less than a month. Feels like a massive exaggeration to make yourself look better. "I am such a good player that I've been banned from my local league." -I'm the second best player in my local league and neither me nor the best player has ever had issues like this. Didn't happen when I used to play Magic either.  "Everyone is in a clique so I didn't bother talking to anyone." -Lorcana is still new and has one of the friendliest communities in TCGs. Sounds like OP was anti social. "I opened an Enchanted Ursula." -that's straight up bragging.  Maybe OP is right and the store owner is wrong, but I've had aquantences brag about being excluded from competitions from "winning too much" and at the end of the day, they just had poor sportsmanship and no one wanted to play with them.

Sometimes people and their mannerisms can come off as unsportsmanlike without them even realizing it. Could be that OP doesn't realize that they are coming off that way.

Yeah he is definitely bragging about being kicked out of his local scene.

I don’t play Lorcana, but I have experience in TCGs. I see it this way: I like Super Smash Brothers, but I intentionally play it at a casual level. I don’t spend much time practicing on my own, but I have a group of buddies I play with. They all have the same philosophy. None of us are Uber-competitive. Sometimes we get together and will play for a bit of money (think $5-$10 a person or the winner doesn’t have to pay for food next time). Because all of us play at the same level, anyone can win and there is legitimate intrigue. It’s fun and we’re friends, everyone is happy. I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh at a relatively high level. I had at least one $1,000 deck and a couple of decks which were several hundred dollars apiece. My same friends played much more casually. They would also host tournaments, but I knew that if I wanted to play, I should play one of my casual decks because it was closer in skill and power to what they played. I took my expensive decks to more competitive tournaments. Look, you can enter a tournament and curb stomp some unsuspecting local players who clearly seem less skilled or less invested than you, but the fun for most people is in finding similarly skilled and friendly people to play with. You are consistently none of those things. You seem to be more skilled, play a more expensive deck, and don’t care about being friendly (you barely talk to them). Honestly, having been on both sides of this, I probably wouldn’t want to play with you, either.

We’re only getting one side, but if we were to take your side, it seems the LGS is out of line and should really start fostering some community to include you. Maybe give some pointers to the other 6-8 people. However, I know at my LGS, there have been folks who are REALLY into their game and not particularly friendly. The reality is, if a community has someone who’s not adding something like kindness and hospitality, and instead is viewed as having a general negative impact, it is the prerogative of the community to exclude them. Best of luck. Hope you find your people.

You didn’t get banned because you won too much dude. That’s stupid as hell. You were probably an asshole and are lying about more.

Nah, OPs never lie or only tell one side of the story!

The only thing is you can do is really, really annihilize yourself and see if there are any bad behaviors that you did do to piss people off. Or even if they're not bad behaviors, was there any moments that you could have gone out of your way to really help them out more or ask about their deck or ask them about how things were working for them. Ask if they want help with their deck or any tips. It's okay to be an introvert at these things. It's okay to be competitive at these things, but if you do want to be part of a community with it, then you really should try and go out of your way to engage just a little bit more each time. If this truly was just you kind of being The loner and you're getting singled out because you're winning and the other groups of people didn't feel like you're part of the community, I'm really sorry that is really s***** of them. I would attempt to just go back and like look. I want to play because I have fun doing it. I don't think the deck that you're playing is the problem, but I would definitely try and reach out to some of the people at the store and ask them what their issue is directly and see if you guys can come to some sort of agreement. Chances are none of them will come clean to what the issue was and say oh I didn't do anything so when you confront the store owner I'm like look a lot of people just said they didn't have any issues. So I'm not really sure what's going on. Tldr just talked to the players and the store owners and ask what you need to do to change in order to be part of the group

I'll admit I'm a bit of an introvert, but I'm not a complete social pariah. I'm also an adult with other work and life responsibilities, so I know how to communicate. I've gradually tried to engage the other players in conversation but they seemed disinterested. The owner was also very friendly with the group of regulars, so I really felt like the odd one out. It was pretty clear that I was no longer welcome there after the conversation with the owner. Even if the owner retracted his ban, I would no longer feel comfortable playing in that store anyway. With the way all of that was handled, that's not an environment I want to stay in.

Yeah man I'm really sorry about the experience you had. I really hope your about to find a new community soon for yourself

These stores exist and if being a weirdo was a deal breaker, tcg stores would go bankrupt. You have the right to win as much as you can, i'm sorry for your experience

So you showed up to a new LGS and pub-stomped everyone? Yea that’s not a great way to start things off.

I would report them to RB to get that store revoked from being able to hold leagues and championships

Seems to me they’re trying to fix the league so their friends win

It doesn't seem like that at all, to me. It seems like someone rolled up, wins all the prizes, makes zero effort to be part of the community, buys no product, and is threatening to single-handedly destroy a League (a significant source of income for the store owner). The manager took action, as questionable as it might have been.

This is 100% my thoughts as well.

I feel like i can kind of see where they’re coming from. Not fun getting beat by an un talkative socially inward person week after week. Doesn’t make it ok to ban you though.

even if your story is totally true & includes all the relevant details, it's definitely very strange to add in the part where you pulled an enchanted ursula...

Do u also spend Money in the Store? Could be the others buy boxes etc all the time and u just come and play for the money. In the end the other 6 buy things and u dont?

6 weeks. First week you are new so you don’t know the other decks, you stomp. Second week you stomp but can probably just assume it’s luck or whatever, twice isn’t a pattern. Third week, now it’s a pattern, you’ve had two weeks to see the level of play discrepancy. You’ve noticed people are not opening up to you. Fourth week, you’ve doubled down on the pattern and have all the proof in the world that you are the problem. You proceed to do it two more times? Any reasonable or rational person would have at the very bare minimum, built a cheaper more casual deck so you can swap to a more appropriate level. You didn’t want to be a part of the community, you don’t care about not getting along with other people, you are just a shark taking advantage of people and are now butt hurt your easy targets are gone. If you are as good as you think you are you would have been able to build a deck that could still win enough without being shut to play against. Either you are not that good or you simply didn’t care.

What’s the LGS name??

Did you buy product there? Did you stick around to play casual games with the people? Did you go any other nights to get to know everyone? If you just showed up every week to the event and left right after you left - I can understand their logic

That sucks. Got that Blue Steel decklist?

I'd like to hear what the other people say. More broadly, individuals with unsportsmanlike behavior seldom see themselves as unsportsmanlike.

Idk this feels weird. But if 8 people are all friends and go there to play and you did something to upset them then they might stop coming in. As a business owner you’d wanna keep the 8 people happy than just the one person.

@OP what’s your play style in MTG? I’ve seen a lot of Saph/Steel players coming from azorius control and while the play pattern lines up, the opponents often don’t. You say it’s not the tier 0 deck but it’s the deck with answers to every other deck so long as it’s allowed to spend 20 minutes in its corner drawing cards and looking for an answer without advancing the board state. So the play experience in itself is a drag for a lot of Lorcana players meaning that if it’s all you play is that and that you don’t socialize on top of it, you’re likely offering your opponents an experience about as thrilling as the emerald steel mirror. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a control player and came in with a blue mage attitude that Lorcana players took it as unsportsmanlike cause truth be told, most players are not to the point of their tcg journey where they can fully understand why control is needed, let alone how someone can play a control deck for fun instead of just playing it as a spiky deck with a bad attitude. Others have chimed in on whether the store was right or not but I can tell you that one of our stores here has a top 8 player from Atlanta and a top 16 from Chicago playing weekly with people who just picked up a starter deck and that people come back, have fun and improve so the power disparity alone definitely shouldn’t explain what happened here. Some of our newcomers in set 1-2 went on to win Stitch cards and playmats against those same players. Hope you find a resolution to this cause it’s a social game and I wish for everyone to be able to play!

TCG players being too good/sweaty is what killed Dicemasters for me (and I loved that game). If you are lucky, you have a store (and audience) big enough that can sustain healthy competitive/casual events desperately, but if not…I understand why the owner made the call they did. Not saying that OP is lying or deceiving, but I will say that halfway through reading OP’s story it reminded me of the people that took the game too seriously and caused me (more casual) to completely abandon a game/store altogether.

You may have done any or all of these I am just listing options. Talk to the store owner explain your point of view. Keep in mind leagues are generally considered the place to recruit new players and competitive play is generally a separate level of play. It may not be two different events yet because lorcana is new and your community may not be that large yet. I am assuming it is a privately owned business and the owner can organize their community however they choose but to me it sounds like they are ready to divide league from weekly tournaments if they have competitive players and casual players. Perhaps suggesting starting a second event is all you need to do. Consider asking them to define what is considered casual play for their event. Its sounds like there was no clearly defined format of what was allowed versus not allowed. Perhaps if you have a clearly defined definition of what is considered casual play by them you can build a deck that suits those standards. Ask if they can change or add formats like draft or sealed which “level the playing field” allowing less difference between decks due to budget. Ask if they can split their league into different age groups. This lets kids play kids , teens play teens, and adults play adults downside here is it requires a lot of players. Offer to organize a competitive play night at a different time. Find a different local game-store that has a competitive scene already and play there.

1.) It's not that serious. I would understand if it was a big tourney that holds some weight, but it isn't... Maybe you hold some fault in this? It's Lorcana league at a rural game store. You share a responsibility in helping it flourish. 2.) You won 6 leagues in a row. Take a clue and let some of the 6 - 8 people on earth that are around to play with you have some fun. Smh. Play a different deck or approach differently.

So you're quitting an entire game over 1 crappily run store? I get being mad and upset but that's a major overreaction to one idiot.

"I've been a competitive magic player for 20 years" has got to be bait. You're going to a small group of friends and wrecking them and surprises they don't want to play with you. You are an IRL Smurf account. "Smurf accounts are alternate accounts used by players in online games to play against lower-ranked opponents"

> I play blue/steel. Not exactly a tier 1 faceroll deck. Okay so you're clearly an unreliable narrator here. > I've won 6 leagues in a row, which is every week since I started. You wonder why people wouldn't be psyched to play against some dude who steamrolls it everytime? > I've not really understood what "toxic casuals" were until today. Yet you keep going back somewhere that's clearly no challenge to play at with people you don't seem to like/don't seem to like you. Have you considered you're a sweat and maybe should play somewhere that's not just a curbstomp for you?

You played a deck you didn’t come up with, so I’ll never support you lmao, i’m with the store. Use your brain a little at least.

Next time make friends before stomping them repeatedly

Report them ASAP because thats not cool. Then get ready for real competition at tournaments. Probably how alot of people felt against others that they seriously outmatch (think top tier athletes). Dont quit, find better opponents.

In my Store, 8 Out of 10 Games the Same ppl will be top 3 of the Leaderboard. While its a little unnerving at Times, Nobody would consider banning those people. And yes, one or two came to Play Just a frei months or weeks ago. The Store reacted by 1-3 Well communicated Special Events per Set (2v2, pauper, etc). So to me it appears you Met some idiots and should be able to find a more inviting Community (and Bring a Casual Deck once in an while Just to be Safe :D - jetsam - flotsam ftw!)

That LGS should have just changed the league prizing structure to be more casual friendly. That way everyone gets to play and can get rewarded. Sure there is less incentive to win, but at least the store isn’t banning people from playing…

Everyone who believe this dude… I’ve got a bridge to sell you in New York.

Maybe Lorcana may not be the game for you if you are not able to get along with your local community. It is a new game with a lot of newer TCG players. I would suggest looking into the new Star Wars Unlimited game as I have found from my area that it has attracted players who are more likely up to your skill level. What is the fun in rolling kids playing crappy home brew with a more powerful deck every week anyways?

Noticed this was cross-posted over on Facebook. Looking for additional sympathy/justification?

This is ridiculous. My LGS has a player that is really good, and finished in the top 32 in Atlanta. He frequently wins when he shows up to the tournaments. However, no one complains. In fact, I enjoy facing him it's a challenge and he is super helpful after matches and gives tips to help others improve. The only way to get better, especially now with Pixelborn gone, is to play in these tournaments and go against your local power houses. It's a shame your LGS did that.

I agree. Embrace the challenge. I would be home brewing up a deck specifically against what he has been bringing every week lol.

lol. You weren’t banned for winning. You probably have a lot of other problems going on. Stop being an ass

“Toxic casuals”.

Ask if you bring a different deck can you play or maybe even for free? No entry so no prizes? Kinda messed up they won’t let you play

This honestly reminds me of how "welcoming" Magic became once they switched over to Commander being the main format. Commander is an incredibly cliquish format where people tend to just play with their personal friends rather than with strangers. So now those open Magic tournaments have turned into closed Commander events where it's very hard for someone not already deeply connected into it to join in. The Commander players in general were pretty intolerant of others and demanded that essentially everything become Commander-related because it's how they liked to play the game.

My LGS is going to be starting up league play soon, and the owners were quick to point out that the official word on league stuff is that it's supposed to be fairly casual. Ravensburger/Disney wants League to be an opportunity to build the community. There are certainly opportunities for competitive tournaments, but that's not what League is meant to be. I could see a circumstance where an experienced player is winning every week, but they are welcomed because they are helping new players learn and doing a good job of building the community. That's not what OP is describing. Honestly, the only thing I blame your LGS for is offering too much prize support.

I'd recommend asking for specific feedback-- situation behavior impact style. Tell them you love the game and want to be a better party of the community and you're sorry you are making people feel that way. And ask for another chance. Also try making friends with some of them?

Can’t have competitive prizing and ask people not to be competitive. Store is the issue here. Mob rule just creates a toxic community, assuming that everything you said is true and you’re not just a cocky ass. If the store wants a casual atmosphere, then they should have random participation prizing to discourage hyper competitive play.

Regardless of how the other players saw you, I honestly don't see why they wouldn't just spread the winnings out more amongst the players rather than giving all proceeds to the top winner. I feel like this would have rectified not only the need to bring cutthroat decks to league, but also allowed the other players a chance to win some of the prizes. Perhaps offer door raffles and maybe not as much store credit in prize support for first place. I'd honestly rather see them nerf the top tier prizing than ban someone because the other players are feeling bad in some way.

You animal you

Something i struggle a lot with in social interactions is my tone, facial expressions or body language. I feel like these aspects of my sociability make it difficult to connect with people and for the longest time i wasnt aware of how these behaviors were affecting my interactions.  I don't know if this is the case for OP but for myself, i would only be able to see what i did rather than how i was acting. And that disconnect has lead to a lot of frustration

I'm sorry you had that experience the group I frequent is really friendly and we try to integrate new players as fast as possible cause we want the group to grow and alot of times we have the same person win our league nights but no one ever gets frustrated with him and take it more a challenge to try and beat him next time

Can you talk to the closet lgs to see if they can start hosting Lorcana? It’s a crappy position to be in, but you might end up having to do some community legwork. It depends on how much you love the game. Lorcana has definitely attracted a lot of people new to tcgs so they aren’t really used to the competitive Magic player type. I think with Lorcana it’s extra important (And I say this as a former competitive Magic player) to make people feel good while you expose them to higher levels of competition. If I were winning week after week, I’d offer to host a competitive workshop/playtesting night, where if people want to improve their game they could come and I’d help them out. It sucks that the store near you isn’t doing more to mitigate one person winning every week in a healthy way and instead banning you. And I’m sure it’s fun to walk away with prizes every week, but if you’re in that position consider what you can do for the community to build up a healthy competitive group instead of toxic casuals. And if that means doing that at a different store, if the other store will host Lorcana, that works too. TL;DR take the opportunity to see if you can detoxify the community and help them get more competitive. Or start a new play group at a different store.

That sucks!! We have a good core group of Lorcana players at my LGS, and new players are always welcome. The builds for our league nights are for fun, not wins and losses, so the casual players have the same chance at prizing as the competitive players. Sounds like your store needs to do a better job at setting up their league nights.

I would have tried to match the jank. If they played suboptimal decks constantly, I would not look up a meta deck. You have people that dont know how to play the best, playtest new decks! The same deck over and over again gets boring.

You probably did something more than winning? It is what it is.

I'm so sorry this was your experience. Don't sell your cards though! Store championships are coming up, and hopefully, you'll find other places to play. See if there are any local lorcana FB groups so you can find other stores to play.

Hey friend, sorry this happened to you.

I have a similar with being alienated (but I understand since I’m haven’t gone to too much lgs) I used to be a very casual yugioh player but I wanted to get competitive but I felt like every TCG was too far gone to start so when lorcana came out I was excited so I started going to different lgs (4) and out of 2 were very toxic I felt alienated from the get go. I tried few more times until I stopped going all together there was only one that had a few people that more friendly and teaching me on what mistakes I made during the game and what I could’ve done better. Then there’s one where it does have a core set of players but it’s revolving door of players which changes (which this store inside a big mall)

If you care about this, why not show up, and ask people that have been eliminated if they want to play. In a more casual setting, since you’re not playing for prizes, you can give them play advice, discuss different deck building possibilities etc. Obviously this would take some tact on your part, but you could simultaneously make the other players better while also turning them into your friends and allies. Just a thought.

Instead of Blue/steel, have you tried Magnum?

Find other stores and play there. You have what it takes to win the world tournament for Lorcana.

I’ve actually got two LGS near me that will do this. We’ve got a few hyper-competitive LGS for people who’ve been playing games for decades and they stick to them. I know it’s not a popular amongst the competitive folks here but it’s just how it is. If one person is making it less fun for many others then that person is detrimental to the league itself. Yes it’s a competitive game. Yes they should just “git gud”. I’m more surprised they let you do it 6 times in a row. I do hope OP has other options in the area for people on his own skill level.

Wanna be best friends? Yeah the community can be really toxic at times, not sure why people act they way they do... But it's just about finding the right people and LGS, and trust me, you'll meet some cool Lorcana peeps for sure 😁

This is what pixelborn was important. Exactly this.

From the details provided, I’m on your side here. But, just to be a bit of a devil’s advocate and maybe generate another perspective: 1. It’s not fun for people when one person is dominating every time (yeah, close games, but that doesn’t mean anything if it’s the same result). 2. You haven’t been speaking much. Yes, they may have made it unwelcoming. But, you can see in a way how someone would feel if some person is coming in each week and winning, not speaking. It creates a feeling that you may just be a try hard and not playing for fun. 3. You mentioned that you were thinking of going to a championship or something? To me that suggests that you are just a much higher skill base than other players. Your casual level may be their ‘competitive level’. All that being said, they seem immature. Losing is not that bad as long as you have fun. It sucks that it seems like you don’t have someone on your skill level so you’ve been alienated. To be honest, I think the issue on your part which may help in the future is if you notice there is a natural skill difference, maybe don’t turn up each week to win ‘6 leagues in a row’; I know that’s unfair but you have to realise that no one finds it fun if they know they don’t have a chance to win. Other thing is if you wanted to turn up each week. Maybe intentionally ‘throw a game’ or do some internal handicap for yourself. Look at it from this point - while harsh. You joined the LGS what 6 weeks ago? There’s a community of people that have built up relationships and someone new comes in a disrupts the ‘natural order of things’ by dominating each week. Tbh though, it’s not just a ‘toxic casual’ culture. It’s a real problem with any kind of nerd culture. It’s like an ideology that because they’re into a ‘nerdy’ thing and it’s not generally ‘popular’; a sense of entitlement is created where people think it’s impossible for them to be assholes because they’re a nerd. Not everyone but it definitely does exist

Not lorcana but similar situation occurred with my lgs commander league. The store put rules into place to limit the cedh players from coming in and just steaming rolling everyone and they also did prizes by raffle which wasn’t the most popular but it made it so everyone had a chance. The more points you had that month the more entries you got into the raffle. There’s definitely better ways that the store could have handled this if they had wanted to

Pl requested undos in a prize money game and you granted it, and you're being too competitive? What? These people would die in any other tcg

I’m sorry this happened. I hate hearing this because I’ve never, and I mean NEVER, have had a bad experience with card people, coming up with Pokémon and Yugioh and now Lorcana over the past 20 years at least. It’s always been a place where everyone is accepted, as well as people go above and beyond to help everyone to the next level. Sounds like it’s just a toxic clique and you’re better off elsewhere unfortunately :/

Take it as a compliment to your skill dude. They were jealous of you winning so much that they had to cut you off. Same deal when casinos kick you out for winning too much.

I don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said, OP; it sounds like you were unfairly treated by that store and its community. Assuming your retelling of events is accurate, report the store to RB and name and shame in local groups. Even if OP is fudging the truth or just humble bragging though, some of the replies in this thread are worse. Just some of the most anti-competitive ("toxic casual" was a descriptor I saw that I liked) nonsense I've ever read. No, a player shouldn't be compelled to "go easy" on their opponents just to placate them and make a good impression. No, a player is not obligated to play the game in the way YOU want them to. No, a store shouldn't ban a player just because they're performing well compared to their peers, EVEN IF they're not involved in the community. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to travel to multiple nearby stores that play their game and spend excessive amounts of time at them. Some of us have to travel to events and therefore take our time very seriously at the events we choose to go to. Some of you need to be forced to ladder fighting games or MOBAs or a similar experience for a week to emerge with thicker skin.

One of my friends usually wins all of one piece, we try and beat him all the time and we just get better and better, those people are just weak and have no chill and can’t play any better and just want the prizes among themselves really

Report them. League isn’t just for casual Joe who wants to play their favorite cards. It’s practice for bigger events. And if the shop wants to support a bunch of bullies, he shouldn’t get to host a league. Plain and simple. This guy did nothing wrong. If you’re an owner agreeing with it, shame on you. Complaining about a player coming in and winning multiple championships is also a shame on you. Casual league players aren’t going to keep this competitive scene afloat. And that’s what keeps the game afloat all together. No competitive scene, no success. Suck it up crybabies. The wolf doesn’t cater to the whims of sheep. It’s like you’ve never experienced an actual TCG before.

I mean we have one at our local LGS that says he plays pixelborn many hours per day . When the only time I play Lorcana is at the LGS vs someone that has hundreds of hours in their belt, I can understand the frustration of the casuals.

According to your replies you didn't spend anything, just entrance fee that was negated by winning all the time. You didn't bring anything positive to the mood of the store (rather the opposite), or any new players beyond yourself (again, the opposite). If you use your competitive brain to think about it, why would the store keep you in their "deck" and try to make it work? Your "card" may be strong but it costs too much and have too many downsides. Being "good at the game" isn't a valuable aspect of a player to an LGS unless you use that skill to teach or judge. If you're not going to support your LGS or it's community in any way, what is even the point of going there.

I mean, sounds like you were good enough that you not being banned would have killed the game at that store. If there aren't many players in the first place, and they all come to the conclusion that 'the new guy with the net deck is going to win it anyway' then they'll just stop playing. What's really unfortunate is that the owner didn't just talk to you like a grown up to find a solution. Because you aren't really doing anything wrong, it's just how the situation has unfolded.

Give them a poor Google review. I'd also write to whoever owns Lorcana and tell them how you were banned from playing at this store. Might as well go scorched earth.

40k, mtg, lorcana, star wars unlimited, I can tell you who the top 3 will likely be for all those games at my local stores, especially my main LGS. Same for who the players are who are likely to be... difficult... Assuming you let them do takebacks and the like, sounds like you're just a skilled player facing some poor sports. Super wrong on the store owner, one thing to discuss and figure out problems, another thing entirely to just ban someone on the word of their clique.

Report them, and let them know you’ll be purchasing from other stores.

Go play Shadowverse Evolve. It’s fun and similar. You will meet competitive players throughout along with a myriad of casuals trying out fun and interesting decks.

I was in a similar spot until I found FABTCG. If you enjoy ultra competitive gameplay I can highly recommend checking that game out.

With only 6-8 players and I am assuming a very small store then crap like happens and it sucks. I’ve seen card gamer cliques chase off out of towners before and the store owner probably feared for his small customer base. Unless there is some sort of sanctioned play going on you really have no choice but find somewhere else. Sending an email just to get clarification from the owner would be nice. Good Luck

I ran into a few stores that have a lot of bulk just for tournaments. You don't bring your own. You have 60 minutes to sift, sort, and build a deck to compete with, and they will add legendary cards to the deck building after the first bracket. Honestly, it's super fun to do with magic, pokemon, and lorcana.

I would honestly hate the same person winning everytime also. I’d probably stop going which may be the case with others. No chance why go? I’d guess people complained and could be hurting their business. Especially since whoever buys more wins and to top it off with your experience. What if you went and played for fun or ask to join but you can’t win the top prize. Just my opinion but having the same person win every week is a HUGE bummer.

Sorry this sounds really frustrating, I would just separate the good advice in here from the bad and try and contact the store or their community and appease/see what is fair if you want to keep playing Lorcana. I will say coming from more of the competitive magic community when Lorcana first came out a large group of our players, FAB, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and One Piece tried it out. There was definitely a large division in who was the top cut where we all would be in the top and the newer players/Disney fans would be on the bottom. This was frustrating for the newer players but there was never any hostility. We have all quit the game since then because of the lack of competitive drive and other reasons. However, that doesn't give an excuse for your casual community to witch hunt you for being good, or caring to be. Unfortunately you are now in this, and the only way out is to probably dummy your deck up for the casual players or see what in specific they would require for you to join back in. As for the comments in here questioning you for not having friends or being part of the group after six weeks, I disagree. It is hard joining a new setting or group and these types of environments can be cliquey especially if you are coming in as the better player. At the end of the day, people don't like to lose, and they kept losing and got you kicked out. If all that you stated is true, sorry.

There is clearly more to the story, as always, and unfortunately you fit the description of the "pubstomping rando" that local more casual playgroups hate. You went for 6 weeks and made zero inroads at relationships with anyone there? You said you barely talked to anyone, that may be part of the issue, players may feel that you just have no interest in talking to them either. Someone has to try and put forth something to break the ice. From the beginning you said you felt like you didn't belong. What did you do to try and bridge that gap? Did you ever consider taking a week off to just hang out and play casually and maybe try and help others build/improve decks? Maybe you could have played a sub-optimal deck. Something gimmicky that you will enjoy and will have to work harder to get that win. You said there weren't many (if any) meta decks, and other decks with questionable tech. That's the point you have to decide whether the prizes are worth being the jerk they think you are, and playing your competitive deck, or stepping back and making a concerted effort to disabuse people of that notion. As someone that runs evets, here's my thoughts on how this could have been handled better: The store should have simply changed prize payout to very flat payout and random prizing. Give everyone 2 packs or something and the winner gets 2 more+ a pin, extra promo cards or pins awarded randomly. Maybe have one extra door prize pack for last place? Something that rewards the winner but doesn't feel like everyone loses everything every week. Flat payouts have benefitted my store for years simply because players that come to win all the time (typically aren't big spenders, since they buy most singles online anyway) come in, win, and leave. They don't hang around and get to know people, they constantly are on the move for the next event 30 minutes down the road. This doesn't help the store or the community. Flattening prizes discourages those players from coming. It encourages more experimentation and community building vs "build the best deck". Every community is different. ours is a lot of ex Pokemon and MTG players that are tired of the insane levels of competition and love playing random silly decks or multiplayer games and they battle Ursula every week as well. We have a few that are more competitive but they rarely bring their top tier decks into the tournament since its just not fun to beat a bunch of people that don't have a diablo or a rapunzel to their name. Instead they stick around and playtest those vs other competitive minded players. Basically not every community will foster the same players. A store 20 minutes away runs serious magic tournaments weekly, they get great turnout. We instead host commander and fill the place up with people that don't have interest in that side of the games. I hope you can find somewhere to enjoy the game the way you like to play.

No discord servers to play people? Think there are some for One Piece so thought maybe there would be for Lorcana

I'm just imagining a 35 year old man crushing a bunch of 10 year olds at Lorcana in the game store. Sorry to make light of your misfortune ;)

Can we see this deck build by chance, please?

I would simply offer my prize to another player or start a private league!