I didn’t intend for the second half of August to slip by without posting a new blog entry. I’ve been trying to find time to sit and write, but I put in a lot of hours working at the martial arts academy as well as getting my training time in at both the gym and at said academy. Consequently, my schedule hindered my writing.
And I’ve actually been playing a lot of Magic (both online and IRL), which cuts into the time I would otherwise have to write about Magic. I’ve heard MTG writers and podcasters talk about how producing MTG-related content has led to less time for actually playing Magic. I simply don’t want to do that.
But writing is one of my passions, so I won’t neglect it entirely. To help me get back on track with blogging, I decided to write about something I know intimately: me. 🙂
This is my story.
I’m going to discuss how I got into Magic, and my history with the game.
I tell people I’ve been playing Magic since the beginning, which isn’t far from the truth. I started playing in 1994, in between The Dark and Fallen Empires. We had a rather large group of gamers in our dorm in college, and we spent every Friday crammed into my room playing Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs. Then members of the group started playing this new game called “Magic: the Gathering.” I was the last person in my college gaming group to start playing. I resisted the urge because I knew if I started I’d become addicted.
That was over 20 years ago, so…
The game eventually drew me in after I encountered this heavenly being:
Douglas Shuler’s art – and the story and flavor of the game – captivated my imagination. More than that, it served as a creative outlet. I could take these cards – the works of other artists (both card designers and the artists whose work graced the cards), and make my own works of art in the form of the decks I built. I was brewing long before it was called “brewing.” I identified with the decks I built as my own creation, as well as a reflection of my personality. I soon identified as Blue and White, and found that Counterspell was my preferred way of protecting my Serra Angel.
My friend Steve, who was my best friend since fifth grade, lived in the dorm room right next to mine, and he also started playing. Steve was, from the very first moment, a Black Mage. I can’t count how many times my angels and his vampires stared each other down on the battlefield. He loved killing his opponents’ creatures as much as I loved countering their spells.
Mmm Hmm.
After college we both ended up back in the Chicagoland area. Once a month Steve would drive to my house to play Magic. That was the only Magic I played in those days. Steve was my meta.
I didn’t know anyone else who played. I still ran my U/W deck, and Steve was unapologetically Mono-Black. I knew nothing of formats or pro tours or championships. I only knew the Magic we played in college with cards we found in the quarter bin at the comic book store.
I had heard stories of this Black Lotus which was ridiculously expensive for a piece of cardboard. I heard it was almost 100 American dollars! There was no way I’d ever shell out that kind of cash for a card!
In mid-2000 I moved away, and with that Steve and I stopped playing. My Magic cards went into a box in the closet, and I didn’t think about them much at all for a few years. From that moment till he died from cancer in 2008, Steve never played another game of Magic again. For Steve, Magic was “our thing.” It was the way we maintained our bond of friendship once we started living as adults with jobs and living in two different towns.
I got back into Magic in 2005 during the Kamigawa block. I saw my sister’s (now ex-) husband and his friend playing Magic at their kitchen table, and I immediately ran back to my closet and found that box of cards. I pulled out my old U/W deck, which by the time Steve and I stopped playing also had a splash of Green and Red. It was the good old days when I ran Tolarian Academy and Gaea’s Cradle to produce enough mana to power out Fanning the Flames to kill everyone at the table. I was at the height of my noob powers back then.
I decisively thrashed both of them every game we played. I was King of the Kitchen Table. After that, the thought occurred to me that I should see if anyone was talking about Magic on the Internet. That moment felt like stepping out of Plato’s Cave. I began to see just how much the game had grown, and how big Magic: the Gathering truly was. I learned about how people played the game professionally. I learned about formats and deck lists. I found websites where I could buy single cards. Considering how enamored I was by Serra Angel back in college, imagine my reaction when I saw… her.
(To be continued…)
Bud Johnson
MTG Philosopher 