Tournament reports are a core piece of the Magic metaverse's content. They've been around since it existed only on Usenet, then the Dojo, and now on every other site.

Well, the truth is that most tournament reports suck.

Really.

They're long, tedious, occasionally informational, and often poorly written. Here is a five point guide on how to make your tournament reports better, if not actually good.

First, a tournament report must begin with a breakdown of your deck. Treat your reader as if they don't have any idea how to play it. Even if your tournament report is about Jund, the deck everyone knows in and out by this point. You're ignoring a potential segment of your audience by not explaining its core.

There is a very serious problem in that most strategy writers overlook new players. It is easier (and less tedious) for someone to skip the low-level parts.

So, begin your tournament report with an analysis and strategy of the deck you're piloting, discuss the card choices, their purposes, the key sideboard strategies and known weaknesses. The power tip here is that if you pre-write this much of the tournament, then you might still be able to turn a valuable article out of it even if you bomb out of the tournament.

Secondly, try not to do a split report. Sure big tournaments might need a multi-part report. But the bane of editors (myself included) is for a "Part 1" to arrive and for us to never receive the Part 2. ManaNation has had to institute a rule that two-part articles from guest authors won't be accepted in most cases for this reason.

If you are going to split the report into two parts, don't let there be any lag between working on the parts. No days off, no "vacation." This will cause you to lose momentum, get bored, and forget key details from the tournament.

Thirdly, just leave the fluff out of the report. Many magazines, or sites, may pay by the word. And the problem is that it encourages overly verbose prose (too many words.) Say what you need to say in as few words as possible.

Fourth, don't feel entitled. You may have some "new tech" in your deck, but if it shows up somewhere else consider that maybe you weren't the only one to find it. And if it shows up as you're writing your report (ie, before it's published) give credit. But you can also explain that you found this same tech independently.

Given the proximity of time, people will believe you.

Fifth, you don't have to dominate to write a good tournament report. We learn more in our losses than in our victories. And it takes a big person to step up and bear their beating for others to learn from.

Sure, a tourney report from a top finisher has an inherent draw as you know it's going to be an example of a successful deck, and indeed if your deck was the core problem of your tournament experience, then the tournament report may not be wise.

But if your losses came through misplays, bad draws etc. then a tournament report can still be beneficial and educational to other Magic players.

This is far from an all encompassing sheet, and it might have its own problems, but these five points are ones I find over and over again in my reading of the internet.