What Makes Someone an Excellent Competitive Player?
I think it’s safe to say that matched play has become the “default” style of play for most folks in games like 40k, Age of Sigmar, and Kill Team. A lot of players, especially newer ones, are being drawn in by symmetrical game formats where the expectation is to bring an optimized all-comers list (not to mention an explosion of participation in member-organized leagues for Sigmar and 40k).
That being said, as someone who watches a lot of games because of my job, I often see a disparity between folks who are “competitive” and those who play competitively. The former are often having a suboptimal time, and the latter are some of the most sought-after opponents at our club.
It’s hard to fault people who struggle, though—for a community that generally identifies as not socially savvy, our hobby maintains a vast trove of unspoken rules about etiquette and what is permissible. You’ll sift through hundreds of list comparisons and tier-lists on YouTube or Reddit before you can find anything resembling a helpful explanation of competitive expectations or mindset.
So, I set out on a quest to glean some wisdom from our community—polling players in our Discord server and sitting down for conversations with an array of experienced tournament-goers. Below are the results (along with our new Wych Pigeon Competitive Play Primer).
It Starts with Trust and Communication
While winning games was an important consideration in these conversations, a more powerful refrain had to do with how one actually gets there: You need to establish collaboration and trust with your opponents and seek experiences that are mutually challenging.
We often think of casual games as being “safer”, but the best competitive games also feel safe—you’re not constantly on guard against surprises, and all of the information is shared. —Chris H.
The buzzy nature of words like “trust” aside, it’s intimately tied to the nature of miniatures games because the rules and faction variety in these games are too vast for anyone to know the ins-and-outs of every opposing unit and ability. Working with your opponent to establish full transparency is the only way to maintain the integrity of the game and allow both players to make optimal choices.
Conversely, the worst memories my interviewees had of competitive play were of times when the trust between two players had completely eroded—either because one was using the messier aspects of the game to gain an advantage, or because they simply weren’t communicating.
Demystifying “Playing By Intent”
Intent is a courtesy you extend to your opponent, not something you exploit to protect yourself. —Alex S.
A concept that I really hoped to clarify through this project was that of “playing by intent”. Playing by intent is often cited as an essential component to competitive play, but in my nine years or so as a player, I had yet to see it explained in a clear, concise way.
Given the way folks typically “play by intent”, my impression was that it meant excusing clumsy mistakes or “declaring your intent” in order to speed up the act of measuring things out.
Instead, the players I talked to arrived at a definition that has much more to do with demonstrating what is or isn’t possible ahead of time and reaching an agreement with the person across the table. See the example below for what I mean.
Recognizing Choices, and Letting Dice Be Dice
“You might see the birth of universes over the course of five dice rolls. Over the course of your life, though, you’re gonna see that they all average out.” —Brandon C.
Almost every player I interviewed discuss how focusing too much dice rolls can totally de-fang someone’s competitive play.
The dice are completely outside of our control, and can be a distraction from the choices that led to them, or the risks we accepted before the roll. It boils the results of a game down to luck, and often leads to unintentionally discounting the skill of the other player, which feels bad and prevents you from becoming a stronger player yourself.
A big takeaway from this experience overall was just how easy it is to fixate on things that prevent us from becoming truly amazing players—especially bad luck, the strength of our rules, or simply the overwhelming need to win.
I love that I got to connect with folks over these conversations while deepening my appreciation for competitive play. There can sometimes be tension between players who see the competitive mindset encroaching on what they believe should be narratively focused games, but mismatched expectations and salty attitudes are to be found in both. I’m hoping that by illuminating some of the do’s and don’ts of high-level play, we’ll all be empowered to have a better experience.
We want to have a blast with our little turds and hope you have a blast with yours, too." —Sabrina S.
All the best,
Dustin
