First bullying and now hygiene has made it was into OP regulations. Yu-Gi-Oh! just announced new guidelines that could leave some people penalized!
Every person has their “stinky gamer story” if they’ve played in a handful of tournaments. Usually, people and tournament organizers turn a blind eye to the smelly players. However Yu-Gi-Oh! have taken a stand in their tournament guidelines.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Penalizes Smelly Players
It looks like things have gotten so bad in the card-game world that tournament organizers from Yu-Gi-Oh! have taken a stand and decided to penalize players that smell excessively bad or have dirty clothes.
Tournament Standing on Hygiene under Section II Duelist Responsibilities
Do We Need That Ruling at Tabletop Tournaments?
We’re sure everyone has played against a bad-smelling 40k player at some point. So should tournament organizers put a ruling in-place that penalizes players that don’t take their hygiene seriously? If you’ve played at some gatherings, you probably know that some hosts will try to squeeze as many tables into an area as possible.
That means that you’re bound to be shoulder-to-shoulder with some other players. The risk of finding a smelly person only goes up!
More often than not though larger events are run in spacious convention halls with good ventilation and space for not only larger-sized gamers but also ones that require a wheelchair as well. The risk of personal hygiene interactions may be a bit more of an issue at the local level.
Shout out to the tournament hosts like Warzone Atlanta that leave enough room for players all the way around the tables. While that is not always possible at every event it is nice to see. It is worth pointing out that Nova Open also includes deodorant in their goodie bags each year as well.
Do you think Yu-Gi-Oh! finally made a rule on something that everybody was already thinking? Should other tournament organizers follow suit? Does your local shop have anything in place to keep the smells to a minimum? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
