I was struck by a line in Seth's "Two Cents" article.  Seth was lauding

the virtues of a certain deck type for "decimating* newbies."  It got me

thinking about the decline of Harry Potter and added an additional

reason to the factors I was already considering.  I would like to

respond, not directly to Seth, but to the concept that was voiced, which

is unfortunately wide spread among all TCGs.

I think one reason the game has declined because people have gotten too

good at playing and no good at sportsmanship.  When Harry Potter

started, everyone was more or less equal in skill and card stock.  You

could go to league and not get creamed in every game.  Everyone won some

and lost some.  Now that some people have their decks that are the

equivalent of Pokemon's "Haymaker" decks, attendance at existing leagues

has dropped off.  No one wants to get beat all the time, less so if they

are new to the game.  Kids who get beat mostly likely won't come back,

won't buy more cards, won't help keep your retailer in business. 

Sheez, keep a starter deck on hand and when someone new shows up, play

them with that.  I can understand being concerned about the win during

tournaments, but during regular play who cares if you win or lose?  Was

it a good match?  Did you learn something new from your opponent?  Did

you have to try a new strategy?  Did you share a laugh?  Yes, you can

feel good after a loss as long as you played well.

Hopefully leagues everywhere will pick up after the summer.  Players can

volunteer to run the league at a local store, like I did.  Tell all your

friends, give out promos to new kids and the kids who brought them in. 

Run DCI tournaments (we only need 4 players if I don't play, and 8 if I

do) and see how fast everyone climbs in the rankings because there are

so few players!

And while we're at it, lobby WotC for better card art.  I'm embarrassed

to own some of them!