Have Fun!

My previous post went a bit deep on the philosopher side of MTG Philosopher, so today I thought I’d have some fun.

To start, I created a creature card for Theodar, Heavy Metal Bird Man:

I once thought that I might enjoy designing cards and “living the dream” that many MTG players have of one day working for Wizards of the Coast. I’ve long since abandoned that notion because I prefer playing the game to making the game, but once in a while I get an idea for a card. For example, here’s one of my designs: Phobic Giant.

[Art on Phobic Giant via: furman]

Clearly I found inspiration from Boldwyr Intimidator when I made this guy. And my inner Vorthos loves when flavor and card mechanics intertwine. No matter how loudly my Spike side protests, I can’t deny Vorthos. Take Deathmist Raptor for instance.

Know why I don’t run Deathmist Raptor?

I hate the art.

I’m not saying the art is bad. It’s clear that Filip Burburan is a talented artist. It takes a lot of skill to create such a quality piece. I just don’t like it. Looks more like it’s dancing than attacking.

Dance-off Raptor!

But that’s a personal preference. I don’t enjoy looking at the card, so I don’t enjoy playing the card. I know the card is powerful. I also know the art has no bearing on a card’s stats or playability. But the game is more than just running numbers and calculating probability. And as badly as I want to win every tournament in which I participate, I can’t ignore the fact that this is a game – a fantasy game – and I wouldn’t even want to play it if I didn’t enjoy the theme and story behind the game.

I won’t do well with a deck if I don’t enjoy it. I’ve tried just playing the “best deck,” and it never worked out well for me. I tried that back during the days of Pack Rat/Gray Merchant Mono-Black Standard. It was the best deck in the format, but it bored me (the entire format bored me at that time, but that’s another story), and I didn’t do well with it.

Fortunately for me, Magic gives us plenty of options. And for as much as I dislike the raptor, I love the rogue. Whirler Rogue, that is.

Whirler Rogue by Winona Nelson

I suspected early on that she might be Standard-playable in the right shell. Then I watched the U/R Ensoul Artifact deck put on a show at Pro Tour Magic Origins. I tried it out, fell in love with it, built my own rendition of it, and took down Game Day with it.

I know I’ve already mentioned Game Day. I just really love the playmat. And I’m really happy about it because I am a big fan of Nissa AND Sword of the Animist (which is the art on the mat). And I’m bragging a bit (I never said I was humble). This is my point: we can’t lose sight of the fact that Magic is a game and games should be fun. If you’re not having fun playing Magic, then you’re doing something wrong. Magic is the best game in the world. That’s why we talk about it on Twitter. That’s why we write and podcast about it. That’s why we travel to events, cosplay, alter cards, and create images on the Internet.