Must we live up to the cliche that all gamers are sweaty, unwashed weirdos by making the first piece of advice: "have a shower"? Seriously, who goes out to spend the whole day with other people without undertaking proper personal hygiene first?

Magic the Gathering players

*shudders*

To be fair, the nose is quite adept at ignoring one's own funk, so I can see how some people get to the point of reeking without noticing or caring.

I mean, you ever encounter a smoker who smells so bad you can taste the tobacco in the air around them?

And most GS's I've been to haven't been exactly the most climate controlled areas in human existence.

You'd be surprised how many people leave a reeking trail of sweatfumes. *shudder

But showering beforehand also freshens your mind, especially if the tournament is in the afternoon or evening after a day at work.

So the tournament was an absolute blast! All my opponents were extremely nice and respectful, even grabbed a beer with one of my opponents afterwards. I got absolutely stomped but it was yhe best time ive ever had losing lol. A few games were close but there were a few mistakes I made that made a difference. I definitely leatned a lot and walked away with some cool prizes. The only people I came out on top of was a 9 and 10 year old, which was really cool to see kids so young enjoying themselves so much.

Great to hear. Especially if you feel you walked away from each match having learned something.