Which way do you tap?

[Mr. Nightmare]

What I find more interesting is whether a person sets their deck to the right or left.  Personally, I'm right handed, hold the cards in my left hand, and place my deck horizontally in front of me and on the right side.   My experiences tell me that this isn't the norm, however.  Most seem to place to the left.

I do the same, only my deck is slightly diagonal, with the yard extending down from it (cards horizontal) and the RFG above it.

[The Chosen One]

What I find more interesting is whether a person sets their deck to the right or left.  Personally, I'm right handed, hold the cards in my left hand, and place my deck horizontally in front of me and on the right side.   My experiences tell me that this isn't the norm, however.  Most seem to place to the left.

I do the same, only my deck is slightly diagonal, with the yard extending down from it (cards horizontal) and the RFG above it.

I set my library to my right vertically, grave horizontally above the top of my library. RFG to the side of my grave

[yespuhyren]

Ok, here's my analysis:

Right Handed

Library on Left - Vertical
Graveyard to Left of Library - Vertical
RFG above Graveyard - Horizontal
I draw cards with my left hand
I hold my Hand with my left hand

Play Cards - Right Hand
Tap Cards - 90 Clockwise - Right Hand
Cards to GY - Left Hand

So I do the majority of the work with my left hand, and only play cards and tap with my right hand, even though I'm a righty

[Bram]

When I saw the title of this topic, I sorta groaned, thinking this would become a hugely uninteresting thread. For some inexplicable reason, it's not. Hooray for us!

[Guevara59]

Clockwise, it just seems natural!

[Norm4eva]

Usually my deck is on my left side but sometimes it ends up on the right.  I'm not sure why, but I know that it happens and I always feel weird about the game while I'm playing it and I'm like "wtf is going on here... why do I feel out of joint, and why the hell didn't I counter Sylvos just now??  shit"
In any event I keep my 'yard "south" of my deck and the RFG is always on the side of my deck that's furthest from the playing field.
This might be a matter of procedure, I'm not sure, but usually if something's Imprinted on something, or if like Mesmeric Fiend takes a card, it should be in the RFG zone but usually I put it under the card responsible for RFG'ing.  Some people despise this but I think it just makes sense.

[Mr. Nightmare]

This is like my favorite thread ever.

Wonders of MS Paint, strike again!  Here we go:

[Matt]

Mr. Nightmare, that is supremely fucked up.

[Moxlotus]

Always counterclockwise.  It's just easier to move my wrist that way for some reason.  I also have the tendency to move my elbows out (aka--i'm rude), so who knows if that has anything to do with it.

[JuJu]

I tap it twice, etc.

In all seriousness, I tap it right-handed (I learnt it that way, thought maybe there was a reason for it being that way, etc, so I stuck to it.

I know someone at TML (I think someone from the source, I don't know his username, he was a great guy, played High Tide) had his islands with bottom faced towards the opponent, I'm not sure why.

[zeus-online]

I tap it twice, etc.

In all seriousness, I tap it right-handed (I learnt it that way, thought maybe there was a reason for it being that way, etc, so I stuck to it.

I know someone at TML (I think someone from the source, I don't know his username, he was a great guy, played High Tide) had his islands with bottom faced towards the opponent, I'm not sure why.

Although i'm not the guy you're talking about, i've done the same move a couple of times..usually when my opponent is picking up and reading every card i play - Which i find a bit disruptive to my play, but ofcourse my opponent is allowed to know what my cards do.

/Zeus

[Bram]

This is how I roll (check out the insane play I have next turn, by the way )

[Twaun007]

I tap my cards clockwise, but sometimes in the casual circuit I tap my cards like I'm scratching records on a turntable.

[The Chosen One]

This is like my favorite thread ever.

Wonders of MS Paint, strike again!  Here we go:

you know, I actually had to pay attention to the way I was doing everything to be sure. I tap mana clockwise, attackers counter-clockwise, anything I activate clockwise. I draw with my left even though my library is on my right side. How inefficient is that? Might as well do some stretching and mild exercise while sitting on my ass palying cards....

What weird mannerisms have people seen while playing against people? I played against this one guy(younger in his teens I would think) that was VERY figgity and made very abrupt movements when drawing his cards and such.. (MADE A NEW THREAD JUST FOR THIS!!!)

[Ephraim]

I tap all cards counter-clockwise.  I usually pick up any card that I tap rather than rotating it on the table.  My library is usually oriented horizontally and resides toward the "lower left" of my play space.  My graveyard is oriented horizontally and resides "below" my library.  RFG is vertical and left of my library and graveyard.  Land and other mana-generating permanents occupy the "bottom" of my place space with other permanent residing approximately one card-length "higher" in the space.

I think that I tend to hold my cards in my left hand and to perform game actions with my right hand, but that's not constant.  Sometimes, I hold my cards in my right hand, usually when it's not my turn.

[Disburden]

Clockwise, the way the symbol on the cards intended it to be.

[Englishman_in_NH]

Can I be very British and complain that I am unable to tap counter clockwise?
I tap anti-clockwise.

Can I have that added to the poll for non-American speakers?
(Yes I live in the US, but that doesn't mean I have to like the words they use  )

[Yare]

I have always been a clockwise tapper, for all my permanents.  This goes for tapping my opponent's stuff too (when I feel like touching his cards, which isn't very often).

That being said, my weirdest two things are my layout of permanents and RFG pile.  My library is on my left, although I'm right-handed.  The graveyard is to the left of that and the RFG is to the left of that, which I know is disconcerting for some people.  However, that's how I've always done it.  Of most note is the fact that I play with all of my mana producing permanents at the top of my board (that is, farthest away from me) and my other permanents closer to me.  I do this because when I was learning how to play over a decade ago, that's how my teacher did it.  So, I still do it that way to this day.  I remember in a tournament one time I opened with a Volcanic Island and put it (admittedly) too far out in the middle of the table.  My opponent was like "could you please move your dual back?"  I thought it was funny, anyway.

Oh, I also keep my hand in my left hand, in spite of drawing from the left with my right hand.

[gotinput]

  90 degrees to the right as depicted.  I'm OCD to the point that if my opponent doesn't tap 90 degrees, I ask if i can fix their cards.

[Norm4eva]

Oh yeah, I put my lands in front of my creatures, too.  I'm not sure where the habit came from, but I like it.
What I can't stand is people who keep their lands in one "north-south" line on either side of the playing field.  I have weird little groups I put lands into, usually of two or three... it's like people who keep UU clearly untapped to signal Counterspell even if it's not there, only I'm playing shitty cards like Magma Jet.  Seeing RG untapped is not nearly as intimidating as seeing UU, but this is how I roll. 

[wethepeople]

I have weird little groups I put lands into, usually of two or three... it's like people who keep UU clearly untapped to signal Counterspell even if it's not there, only I'm playing shitty cards like Magma Jet.  Seeing RG untapped is not nearly as intimidating as seeing UU, but this is how I roll. 

I do the same, I use it as another method of bluffing. If I were to bluff a Drain, I would make my open  obvious to my opponent. When my opponent who is going off for a Tendrils win, I will pretend to furtively pull out an Underground Sea, as if I were ready to tap it, my opponent sees it, and expects Stifle. If I were to actually have it however, I would do just the opposite.

My library is always placed nearby to my right. Lands directly in front of me, but behind my line of creatures. I place world enchantments like Planar Void up in the top-left corner of my field, so it is visible to both players. My 'yard is placed to the right of my deck, and the RFG pile is to the right of that.

[Bram]

When my opponent who is going off for a Tendrils win, I will pretend to furtively pull out an Underground Sea, as if I were ready to tap it, my opponent sees it, and expects Stifle. If I were to actually have it however, I would do just the opposite.

Thanks for the info! I hope we face eachother in a tournament soon That's the whole problem with doing things consistently, even if it's consitently "the other way around". It's probably better to do what you just described randomly so as to REALLY confuse one's opponent.

[Necrologia]

I've always tapped clockwise. I used to only tap 45 degrees back in the day, but I do the full 90 degree tap now. I blame the change in the tap symbol entirely.

For my playfield, I have my library to the left, my graveyard to the left of that and fanned downwards. I keep my RFG pile above my liibrary, and sideways, as though they're tapped.

I keep my lands in piles of 2 or 3, and for some reason I still don't remember to leave room for creatures until I play one. In every game of Magic I've ever played, I start with the lands closest to my opponent until I drop a creature. At that point I slide everything back a bit so the dude can be closest to my opponent. I guess it comes from playing lots of combo, and not much draft.

[wethepeople]

When my opponent who is going off for a Tendrils win, I will pretend to furtively pull out an Underground Sea, as if I were ready to tap it, my opponent sees it, and expects Stifle. If I were to actually have it however, I would do just the opposite.

Thanks for the info! I hope we face eachother in a tournament soon That's the whole problem with doing things consistently, even if it's consitently "the other way around". It's probably better to do what you just described randomly so as to REALLY confuse one's opponent.

Don't count on it, apparently, there is a massive body of water seperating the two of us. 

I don't really do it consistently, because the event rarely comes up multiple times in one match, even if it did, I doubt my opponent would pick up on it. When the time comes that I do actually have Stifle, I try to make sure my opponent is unaware, so they waste all of their resources, making it difficult to ever come back, as well as possibly forget to Duress.

[vartemis]

I tap clockwise, but I also play with the text of my cards facing my opponent. How many people do that?  I have been doing it since I started because I would use weird cards, or cards people in my area had never heard of (before internet lists), and I got tired of explaining what they did.  I decided I should just put them into play facing my opponent so that they could read it.

j

[LotusHead]

a former player in the local area (military, since moved away) used to play with cards facing opponent.

He also kept his cards in his hand upside down.  He said he kept his cards upside down in his hand because he got bored during some game sometime.  weird.

[Titanium Dragon]

I tap clockwise because I taught myself how to play during Revised, and the cards had the tap symbol slanted in that direction; thus I assumed that was the correct way to tap. Additionally, everyone I played with tapped that way.

My playing field setup is completely random. If left to my own devices, I have my library on my right, the graveyard to the right of that, and my RFG pile to the right of THAT. However, in cramped conditions, this has been known to change, with my RFG pile wandering above my library, below my library, horizontally above and below the same, and even sometimes my graveyard migrating in a similar fashion. Sometimes the whole mess is moved to my left-hand side.

Even more annoyingly, my creature-land setup used to be completely inverted, and sometimes I still play that way. That is to say, I put my lands ABOVE my creatures and other cards, between my creatures and my opponent. Strangely, this was the way everyone at my elementary and middle schools played, and I didn’t switch over to the “correct” way until I was in college.

I hold my hand in my right hand, but transfer it to my left hand sometimes randomly, and sometimes when I draw. I also often arrange my hand, or don’t arrange it ever. The downside is it gives away information, though sometimes I’ll bluff someone by shuffling my hand, making it seem important. I suspect a lot of people don’t pay attention anyway, and assume I’m shuffling my hand when they aren’t looking. In close games, I’ll shuffle my hand constantly though, and when I’m doing better (or am excited) it happens all the time just as a way to fidgit.

I think the best way to play is with all your cards inverted and facing your opponent; for some reason, this really throws a lot of people. I can’t play like that though; it drives me crazy.

Unless you have a HUGE body of water, it doesn't really work like that. Something like a sink or even a bathtub won't cut it.

Not entirely true. You can, in fact, observe the effect in a tub or a sink; however, you have to let the water sit in the sink or tub for a while before draining it to observe the effect. Why? Because the energy from filling the sink has a greater impact than the rotation of the Earth, along with other factors (geometry of the surface, ect.). I  rather suspect, however, that my results (and the Straight Dope’s results, which agree with mine) are biased; we only tried in a few things, and not in a large number. It is probable that the geometry of the filled vessel is the most important factor, and our results were simply the result of coincidence.

If any of you have sinks or baths, you could easily test this yourselves. I cannot because my dorm doesn’t have baths and the sinks can’t be closed.

[Kowal]

I'm outrageously anal retentive when it comes to the location of my cards.  I've seen people lose cards from their graveyard when crowds gather a bit too close, so I organize things such that I can keep the most efficient eye on it.

Library on the left, graveyard begins to the left of that, and extends in a curve below the library and across the closest edge.  Graveyard is laid out lengthwise, such that only the name of the card and maybe a small portion of the art are visible.  RFG cards make their way to just beyond my library (the top of it from a bird's eye view) and are sideways because they fit in a smaller area that way, making it easier to keep them separate from real cards.

You tap to the right.  The little arrow wouldn't lie to me.  I am also right-handed.

Also, if you don't tap the full 90 degrees, there's something wrong with you.  :p

[Daimao]

I am neither right handed nor left handed.  I do some things with my right hand and other things with my left hand (not just MTG, but everything in general).

For MTG I have my library to the left (so I draw with my left hand).  I tap clockwise because that is the direction  is going and I tap the full 90 degrees.  I don't use the same hand every time I tap, however.

[Klep]

I always tap to the right, always have.  I used to tap only 45 degrees, but when I started actually playing against people with some frequency, I realized how annoying that is and tap the full 90 now.  Like Kowal, I'm pretty obsessive-compulsive about the location of things.  My library is on the right, graveyard behind it (in proper order- people ignoring graveyard order is a pet peeve of mine), rfg above the library, lands and mana permanents behind other permanents, and similar lands get grouped together.