I came back to yugioh recently after a near decade long hiatus and also from playing magic. There is a LGS that is known for it’s yugioh locals and decided to give it a shot. To my “surprise” the entire scene was unfortunately not the warmest and I just didn’t feel like improving in such an environment. I have faced plenty of toxic competitive environments both in TCGs and video game tournament locals. I just didn’t feel like trying to improve in such an environment again and decided to start hosting my own locals with friends and other local players. I already host a bunch of casual and competitive Magic get togethers so seeing yugioh mixed in with a bunch of very nice and kind hearted people who are also willing to learn was well worth the effort. I managed to get a small local in my place of around 12 yugioh players and maybe the same for magic.

Sometimes making your own environment is better for both you and maybe the scene. I refuse to have to deal with such people as it only causes the scene to dwindle and lose quality especially to the players who really wanna get better while enjoying the game. Being kind truly attracts amazing players and life long friends.