My Magic career essentially ‘began’ when my friends and I started attending prereleases in Albuquerque, NM, run by Sunmesa Events. Quite a few times, Glenn Godard would give a speech during his events that he called “The Stuff Speech”, and that’s what today’s article is about. Basically what it boils down to is how easy it is for me to make your stuff, MY stuff. Theft at MTG events isn’t rampant, especially thanks to helpful TOs going to great lengths to keep your stuff YOURS, but you can do a lot of good towards that goal with just a little bit of effort.

The biggest tip I can give you is: Only bring what you need. I’m a judge, and I play EDH almost exclusively. I have decks full of foils, full of foreign cards and neat things. I have a lot of unique and somewhat expensive things that I’m very proud of, but I know that when I’m headed to judge a prerelease, I shouldn’t bring all of that stuff with me. Why not? Because I don’t need it! It’s going to spend the whole day sitting behind a counter, or in my car, and I’ll be too busy to watch it. It’s just way too easy for my stuff to become someone else’s stuff that way, so I don’t bring what I don’t need. I leave all my nice decks at home, and only bring along my dice, my deckbox for the sealed event on Sunday, and sleeves.

The next best thing you can do is to make sure you keep track of the stuff you DID bring with you at all times. Keep it near you, keep it in your sight. When you’re playing a game, keep your bag underneath your chair, and slide your leg through the straps. Periodically check on it to make sure nothing’s missing. If you’re going to leave your bag at a table while you go buy some sleeves from the vendors, make sure your friends are there, and make sure that they KNOW you left your stuff. Ask them to watch it! Better yet, take it with you. Your backpack on your back will tend to stay yours; your backpack laying unattended at a table can easily become someone else’s, and it’ll be your word against theirs on who owns what.

Which brings me to my third tip: name tags. Write your name and DCI/phone number on a label, and stick it inside your deckboxes, and on the inside page of your binder. Not only will that help clear up “Who does this belong to?” pretty quickly, it can also help honest guys who find your stuff laying around make sure it gets back to you. “Hey, who lost a black binder full of foils and duals?” isn’t going to help me get your stuff back to you, since lots of people might claim it’s theirs. But if you write your name and DCI/phone number on that binder, I can just call for you specifically to come to the judge’s area and give you your things back (after a stern reminder to be careful not to leave your things unattended!).

So, bullet points: Only bring what you absolutely need for the event; leave your other stuff where it’s safe [whether that be at home, locked in your trunk, or in your hotel room]. Keep your stuff with you, because otherwise it can easily become someone else’s stuff. Put identifying tags or cards in your binders and boxes, so that you can prove that the stuff belongs to you if points one and two don’t help. Remember, most Magic players are good and honest people, but all it takes is one jerk in a room of 2000 good people to ruin your day. Make sure your stuff doesn’t become his stuff.

Today’s Tournament Tip written by Trevor Nunez