diff --git a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/game_view.cpp b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/game_view.cpp
index b768c8317..4ab45272d 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/game_view.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/game_view.cpp
@@ -128,7 +128,16 @@ void GameView::resizeRubberBand(const QPointF &cursorPoint, int selectedCount)
 
     QPoint cursor = cursorPoint.toPoint();
     QRect rect = QRect(mapFromScene(selectionOrigin), cursor).normalized();
+
+    // Explicitly repaint the strip the band just vacated. When the band is a
+    // child widget, the viewport does not reliably receive the exposed region
+    // on all platforms (notably macOS), which would leave stale band pixels on
+    // screen until the next unrelated repaint.
+    const QRect previousGeometry = rubberBand->geometry();
     rubberBand->setGeometry(rect);
+    if (viewport()) {
+        viewport()->update(previousGeometry.united(rect));
+    }
 
     if (!SettingsCache::instance().userInterface().getShowDragSelectionCount()) {
         dragCountLabel->hide();
@@ -171,7 +180,14 @@ void GameView::stopRubberBand()
         return;
     }
 
+    // Same rationale as resizeRubberBand. Make sure the area under the band is
+    // repainted, since some platforms skip the exposed-region update of a
+    // hidden child widget.
+    const QRect bandGeometry = rubberBand->geometry();
     rubberBand->hide();
+    if (viewport()) {
+        viewport()->update(bandGeometry);
+    }
     dragCountLabel->hide();
 }
 
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.cpp b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.cpp
index 7a88acdff..729df75be 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.cpp
@@ -190,15 +190,40 @@ void PlayerGraphicsItem::paint(QPainter *painter, const QStyleOptionGraphicsItem
     const QRectF srcRect = computeArtSourceRect(playmatPixmap.size(), playmatParams);
     const QRectF dstRect = coverFitRect(combinedArea, srcRect.size());
 
+    painter->save();
     painter->setClipRect(combinedArea);
-    painter->drawPixmap(dstRect, playmatPixmap, srcRect);
-    painter->setClipping(false);
+    painter->setRenderHint(QPainter::SmoothPixmapTransform, true);
+
+    // Render from a down-scaled copy of the art so the full-resolution source
+    // pixmap is never re-sampled at a tiny device size (also much cheaper than
+    // scaling it on every frame).
+    const QPixmap scaledPixmap = scaledPlaymatFor(srcRect, painter->worldTransform().mapRect(dstRect).size());
+    painter->drawPixmap(dstRect, scaledPixmap, QRectF(scaledPixmap.rect()));
+
+    painter->restore();
 
     if (!playmatAttribution.isEmpty()) {
         paintArtAttribution(*painter, combinedArea, playmatAttribution, Qt::AlignRight | Qt::AlignBottom, 0.8);
     }
 }
 
+QPixmap PlayerGraphicsItem::scaledPlaymatFor(const QRectF &srcRect, const QSizeF &deviceDstSize)
+{
+    // Bucket the render size so the source pixmap is re-scaled at most once per
+    // zoom step instead of once per frame.
+    constexpr int bucketSize = 32;
+    const QSize target = QSize(qMax(1, qRound(deviceDstSize.width() / bucketSize) * bucketSize),
+                               qMax(1, qRound(deviceDstSize.height() / bucketSize) * bucketSize))
+                             .boundedTo(srcRect.toAlignedRect().size());
+
+    if (scaledPlaymatKey != target) {
+        const QPixmap crop = playmatPixmap.copy(srcRect.toAlignedRect());
+        scaledPlaymatPixmap = crop.scaled(target, Qt::KeepAspectRatio, Qt::SmoothTransformation);
+        scaledPlaymatKey = target;
+    }
+    return scaledPlaymatPixmap;
+}
+
 void PlayerGraphicsItem::processSceneSizeChange(int newPlayerWidth)
 {
     // Extend table (and hand, if horizontal) to accommodate the new player width.
@@ -372,6 +397,7 @@ void PlayerGraphicsItem::updatePlaymat()
     }
 
     playmatParams = params;
+    scaledPlaymatKey = QSize(); // the art crop depends on the params, drop any cached scale
 
     ExactCard card = CardDatabaseManager::query()->getCard(playmatCard);
     if (!card) {
@@ -409,6 +435,7 @@ void PlayerGraphicsItem::clearPlaymat()
     if (hasPlaymat) {
         hasPlaymat = false;
         playmatPixmap = QPixmap();
+        scaledPlaymatKey = QSize();
         emit playmatChanged(false);
         update();
     }
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.h b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.h
index 55e1d1cf1..e5ae59a61 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.h
+++ b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/player/player_graphics_item.h
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ private:
     bool handVisible = false;
 
     QPixmap playmatPixmap;
+    QPixmap scaledPlaymatPixmap; // down-scaled copy of playmatPixmap for the current render size
+    QSize scaledPlaymatKey;      // size bucket scaledPlaymatPixmap was rendered for
     PlaymatParams playmatParams;
     QString playmatAttribution;
     bool hasPlaymat = false;
@@ -160,6 +162,9 @@ private slots:
     void clearPlaymat();
     void updatePlaymat();
     void onPlaymatPixmapReady();
+
+private:
+    QPixmap scaledPlaymatFor(const QRectF &srcRect, const QSizeF &deviceDstSize);
 };
 
 #endif // COCKATRICE_PLAYER_GRAPHICS_ITEM_H
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/stack_zone.cpp b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/stack_zone.cpp
index 812271042..e9b14f13d 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/stack_zone.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/stack_zone.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ void StackZone::paint(QPainter *painter, const QStyleOptionGraphicsItem * /*opti
 void StackZone::onPlaymatChanged(bool active)
 {
     playmatActive = active;
+    // See TableZone::onPlaymatChanged for the rationale. Translucent overlay
+    // over a dynamic playmat should not be held in the device cache.
+    setCacheMode(active ? QGraphicsItem::NoCache : QGraphicsItem::DeviceCoordinateCache);
     update();
 }
 
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/table_zone.cpp b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/table_zone.cpp
index aba3dd1bf..88e9abe6c 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/table_zone.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/game_graphics/zones/table_zone.cpp
@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ void TableZone::paint(QPainter *painter, const QStyleOptionGraphicsItem * /*opti
 void TableZone::onPlaymatChanged(bool active)
 {
     playmatActive = active;
+    // While a playmat is shown the zone paints a translucent overlay over the
+    // dynamic playmat behind it. Keep it out of the device cache so the cached
+    // pixels are never stale relative to the playmat (and to avoid compositing
+    // artifacts of cached translucent content on some platforms).
+    setCacheMode(active ? QGraphicsItem::NoCache : QGraphicsItem::DeviceCoordinateCache);
     update();
 }