Cultivating Growth in TCGs: How to improve Teaching

It is no secret that learning a new skill is rarely an easy task. That is as true in the world of competitive trading card games as it is anywhere else. There are certainly those that take to the concepts of a new TCG like a fish to water, but for most, difficulties will be frequent and frustrating. These are unavoidable truths, but they can still be mitigated with the help of another, a guiding light to push a blossoming new player along their path towards greatness. A good teacher, one who can help the fledgling cardboard-slinger, is an invaluable asset to one’s learning experience, and can often be the difference between dropping a game after a few weeks or becoming a lifelong competitor.

Of course, that scenario comes with one major caveat: while someone experienced at teaching, can inspire a player to make great strides, a bad teacher can hasten a novice’s departure from the world of competition. Thus, in a sort of circular irony, the act of teaching skills is a skill to be taught. Simply understanding the concepts of any given game does not necessarily equate to an ability to communicate complicated concepts in a way that a new player might understand. In fact, it is a story I have heard all too often that a new player will reach out to someone more experienced in the hopes of learning, only to be berated for asking simple questions, insulted over minor misunderstandings, and generally treated in ways that leave them with little desire to play any further.

I can say, as a new player to the world of TCGs, I experienced these things myself, but I was fortunate enough to have good teachers to fall back on who gave me the support I desired. That is why I feel it important to create this article, to hopefully increase the number of good teachers in our space. As someone who, within the past year alone, has taken on both the roles of student and teacher, I’ve seen plenty of different approaches, and I have an idea of what works and what doesn’t. This will likely be the first of many articles on this subject, as this isn’t something to be tackled in a single passage, but I want to start with what I feel is one of the most important aspects of cultivating growth.

Avoid Saying “You’re wrong”

Perhaps the most common error I see among people teaching a TCG is the reliance on telling a player if they are right or wrong. Now, there are cases where this should happen. I’m not referring to when there is a rules error, that obviously needs corrected. I’m talking about things like when to defend certain attacks, when to use certain once-per-game resources, or even something as simple as telling someone, “That card sucks, don’t use it.”

My reasoning for this is twofold. The first, and more straight forward reason is that it is discouraging. While different people can react to these statements in different ways, it’s very possible that such a statement sow seeds of doubt in that player’s ability to choose the “correct” decision. The second, and generally more widely applicable reason, is that it isn’t constructive. When you tell a player “You’re wrong,” you aren’t telling them how to be “right.” The statement leaves nothing to be learned. The answers to a given situation is countless. It doesn’t tell the player why they should’ve defended with a different card, or why they should have waited to use their resource, or why whatever card they’re trying to use doesn’t fit their deck.

Instead, when teaching a new player, if they do or say something that you feel isn’t correct or you don’t agree with, change your reaction from “You’re wrong” to “Why?” Make the attempt to understand their thought process that led to whatever decision they made. This simple change does so much to help that player learn because it puts the focus on them.

It lets a teacher understand the student, rather than pushing their own ideas. If you ask why they defended the way they did instead of taking the damage and keeping pressure, you might find that your student is more interested in playing a slower fatigue-based game. Instead of berating them for using their one-time resource too soon, ask what made them feel they had to and address why that may or may not be the case. If you understand why they feel that awful card would fit well in their deck, point them towards something that does that job better.

I feel this idea is core to the principles of cultivating growth. It avoids telling a learning player what to do and instead offers them guidance along the way as they chart their own path. Too often, people fall back on harsh, direct criticism and see anything else as “hand holding,” but I’d argue the opposite is true here. The heavy-handed approach of telling a player whether they’re right or wrong gives them little room to make their own mistakes and learn for themselves. While it is the harsher method, I’d be willing to say it displays far more “hand holding” than the approach I previously listed. It is a gentle push in the direction they’re looking for rather than an iron grip dragging them along a preset path.

I’ll explore other avenues that someone could take to further cultivate growth in those around them in a later article. In the meantime, I implore you, dear reader, to consider what I’ve given to you and see how you may incorporate it, if and when you are in a teaching position.