A great player is a truly rare find. There are many good players out there, but few great ones. Why? Because nobody has tried to pinpoint the reasons why some players are great and others are just "good." This article is about enumerating the qualities that make a great player.
Know Where You’re Going
The first quality is determination. Why does determination matter? It’s the same as asking why goals matter. If you want to get somewhere, it’s fundamentally better to have some plan rather than no plan at all. A player who knows exactly where he or she wants to go in the game and why he or she wants to get there is the one who will accomplish his or her goals.
Determination is that stubborn refusal to give up on a worthy aspiration. In the face of all odds, with defeat fresh in their memories, these players will not give up. They still have the strength to continue on. I admire players who have that kind of conviction. One of them who always impressed me with his resolve is my old friend Richard Clarke from Tallahassee. He hasn’t given up on his goals in all the years I’ve known him. Some might accuse him of being stubborn, and even I doubted him at one point, but I never stopped admiring that refusal to give up. Never once when I spoke with him has he ever doubted the worthiness of his goals. Good news is . . . he’s finally done it. If I asked him if all the effort was worth it, I’m absolutely sure that he would simply reply, "Yes." Rich Clarke is a shining example of this quality.
A Little Thing Called Sportsmanship
One thing I don’t see enough of is good sportsmanship. What does sportsmanship mean? For one, it means adherence to the 
set rules of the game, playing it the way it was meant to be played. Put simply: don’t cheat. I think that sportsmanship is synonymous with honesty, which is in turn linked to integrity. There are so many disappointments out there in the sportsmanship department. Some of the players I used to admire for their achievements and skill turned out to be frauds. Not that this is the norm, but it’s indicative of a discomforting trend. Nobody wants to talk about it in the open and some players simply shrug cheating off as if it’s essential to being a major tournament winner. Let me be the first to say it publicly: I do not agree. That is the worst fraud perpetrated by those who sanction this kind of behavior.
These players are certain that cheating is the only way to the top because they’re too lazy to deal with calculating the odds and weighing the risks. They can’t deal with losing to a bad draw or unfortunate circumstances. They don’t have what it takes to be the best. It’s a card game folks: there’s a bit of chance involved. Every time I hear about a new way to stack or an absurd idea like "holo-stacking," I can barely contain my revulsion. A message for all you cheaters out there: any victories you gain are false. They’re worthless and your justifications are worse than a bad joke.
Loud and Proud
I admire players who take pride in their own achievements. Arrogance is one thing, but pride is completely different. If you accomplished something you set out to do, then celebrate it. If you do something better than everyone else you know, take pride in it. Acknowledge your own achievements. You don’t need anyone to do it for you. You don’t need anyone’s permission. You didn’t win at the expense of others. It’s not as if your skill was cultivated at the expense of someone else. I’ve observed the resentment from players who simply can’t stand to see someone else win. When a good player makes a mistake, he or she deserved it.†When a good player loses, it serves him or her right. I’ve heard all kinds of rationalizations: "he’s too good," "it’s not fair to everyone else," "she’s a cheater," "she’s probably stacking her deck," "he probably stacked me since that’s the only way these guys know how to win," or "why don’t they ban players who have already qualified for Nationals to give the other players a chance?"
This type of resentment is especially insidious in a team setting. My own experience with teams has taught me valuable lessons on how your own friends can undermine everything you do. Envy is a terrible thing and it does nothing but destroy.
To Think or Not to Think
A shining quality of a great player is his or her ability to think, and to do so with good judgment. Great players make mistakes like everyone else. One of the crucial differences between a great player and everyone else is his or her ability to focus. When a player focuses completely on the game he or she is 
able to plan ahead, think about his or her plays, and execute them with precision. Focus enables a player to put skill to good use. Your skill is useless without complete focus on the task at hand. It takes great concentration and mental ability to devise a great deck. It takes nothing to simply copy it, but to improve it and apply it to your play style takes intelligence.
A player’s level of skill and the ability to focus go hand-in-hand. The one depends on the other. Skill without focus is wasted and focus without skill is hopeless. The reason why I find skill to be so admirable is because it takes so much effort to cultivate it. Skill isn’t absorbed by watching other players or by copying their plays. It takes hard work and dedication to develop an intricate knowledge of relevant gameplay. Sometimes you’ll run into frustration and disappointment, and then struggle trying to develop the best deck or invent killer plays, but every ounce of skill you can build pays off a thousand-fold. To be very good at something is very difficult and you should be proud of it. Don’t apologize for your skill. You have to recognize and admire your own skill because it’s yours and you earned it.
When you encounter a player with an incredible amount of skill you should say,†"Finally, an opponent who will give me a challenge," instead of, "It’s not fair, he’s so much better than me." It’s exciting to play against an opponent who has equal or greater skill. You stand to gain a lot by playing against him or her. Skilled opponents bring out the best in you because you’ll need everything you’ve got in order to win.
Good Things Really Do Come to Those Who Wait
A great player has the patience to play through the worst possible situations. He or she can be patient enough to wait for a golden opportunity to present itself. If it doesn’t, then patience is required to slowly chip away at the opponent. This game is not always about fast exchanges of cards. Patience is one of those gaming virtues that’s too easily forgotten. When your opponent opens with a great hand and you have a bad one, then you have to rely on your skill and a little patience to eventually get a win. Never get discouraged because your opponent opened better than you did. Prepare yourself for these kinds of unfortunate events during testing. What can you do if your opponent opens with a perfect hand? Do you automatically lose? The answer depends on your deck and the opponent’s. Have you devised a way to get around the worst situations or did you simply not think about them enough?
Another Hidden Quality
Courage is that hidden quality that all great players possess. It takes great courage to be confident in your own ability and your own thoughts. It takes a level of bravery to have certainty in your ability to win the game even when all seems lost. Some people will tell you that you’re wrong or that you don’t know what you’re doing, but I say have confidence in your own ability. Not blind faith in it, but rational certainty gained by facts you discover. Don’t be afraid to put yourself to the test. What if you’re not as skilled as those around you? What do you do then? Take solace in the fact that their level isn’t unattainable if you really make the effort to reach it.
It all sounds so clichÈd, doesn’t it? It’s not. Don’t let anyone convince you that you can’t do it, especially yourself. If you put your mind to it, you can figure it out. Have the courage to believe in your own ability.
Closing Thoughts
Those are the seven qualities of a great player: determination, sportsmanship, pride, focus, patience, courage, and skill. Think about them. Turn to your own experiences and see if you’ve exemplified any of these qualities. If you have ’em all, then it’s only a matter of time before you become one of the greats.
Until next time, remember to focus and have fun!
—Bryan Camareno