Why I Play Magic

Since this is technically my first "article" on this heh site, there should probably be some sort of introduction. I am 24, a PTQ player, Spike/Johnny, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Every Magic player comes to a cross roads and one point or another over a very simple question; Why do I play Magic? When I first started playing Magic it was around when The Dark came out. I started play during a Summer Camp in Boy Scouts. Everyone there was playing and was curious as to what the big deal was. The first deck I ever played was a Mono Black Something or other deck. I have no idea if I won or I lost anymore, but what I do remember is that it was FUN. After that I would play as much as possible. Be if one on one against my brother. Or group games before school started.

Eventually people from our group stopped play. This was the first time I faced a decision on why I played Magic.

The time frame was right around when Mercadian Masques was released. I know my decision had nothing to do with the degeneracy of Urza's Block. I had never played in a tournament. Wizards decision to release premium versions of cards didn't have any relevance. I really didn't have an opinion either way. I also collected sports cards before coming to Magic, so I was used to the concept. Looking back on it now I don't really remember what it finally came down to. But my choice was to quit. I still played occasionally with my brother every couple of months. But it was never more than a couple of games here and there.

The problem was, Magic was still FUN. I was also routinely beating my brother. Which was another problem. I am by nature a very competitive person. I want to be better than everyone else at almost everything I do. Magic is obviously one of those things. Back when I was playing before school started, I was probably the best player. I just always understood the game at a fundamental level better than everyone else around me. By no stretch of the imagination would I have been capable of winning a real tournament at the time. But eventually I realized I wanted to know how good I really was compared to the rest of the world.

So I started to play again right after Onslaught was released. This time my goal was to play tournaments and see how good I really am. My first ever tournament was:

03-05-512936, U.S. Regionals 02-03: 2003-05-03			Finished395
4	Eric S. Klusman	Loss		1577
3	Lucas Wolfs	Win		1592
2	Humphrey X. King	Loss		1580
1	Gregg A. Seaverson	Loss		1593
Initial rating				1600

On an interesting note my tournament career didn't start off so hot obviously. But in round one against Ryan Seacrest I lost game 3 because I forgot to put a card back in my deck that had been removed with a Skeletal Scrying. Than proceeded to present a 59 card illegal main deck. I learned the main benefit to pile shuffling my deck in my very first constructed match of Magic. To this day I still don't always pile shuffle... somewhere in there should be a lesson.


14 tournaments later I managed to drag my rating back over 1600.

04-12-788787, Standard @ Games Universe: 2004-12-18			Finished6
4	Eric Knaak	Loss		1602
3	Daniel B. Ziermann	Loss		1610
2	Kelvin Guilbault	Win		1618
1	Jake Olsen	Win		1607

While my limited rating faired much better:

03-05-512936-004, U.S. Regionals 02-03 - Booster Draft: 2003-05-03
3	Derek A. Monk	Loss		1607
2	Timothy P. Gruneich	Win		1613
1	Amanda Kruger	Win		1600
03-05-512936-001, U.S. Regionals 02-03 - Booster Draft: 2003-05-03
1	Justin Montgomery	Loss		1592
Initial rating				1600

I have never had a limited rating below 1600 since that very first match I played. I had officially caught the bug. Despite my failings at constructed I still felt fundamentally understood Magic at a deeper level than most people. I knew what was going on at any given point in a game, even if that didn't always translate into me making the best play.

The very first PTQ I attended was:

04-10-741445, 14861 PTQ Nagoya 05: 2004-10-02			62
5	Barry M. Steiglitz	Loss		1650
4	Mike D. Youngberg	Loss		1662
3	Gerry Thompson	Loss		1676
2	Mark R. Roman	Loss		1681
1	David R. Lehmann	Win		1692

If I am remembering correctly this was a Champions of Kamigawa sealed event. I remember my pool being good and featuring a Keiga, the Tide Star. I also remember I miss built this pool horribly. Going 5 colors and trying to cram in all the good cards. I have admitted for a long time that sealed deck building is the weakest part of my game. While I believe I have gotten better at it, despite having two PTQ Top 8's in sealed, I still feel I am severely lacking in building correctly.

Later on I eventually became friends with people like our very own The Fugitive Wizard, Rhyno, and Owen and attended my very first constructed PTQ:

05-07-855432, 16192 PTQ Los Angeles 05: 2005-07-09			Finished36
7	Peter R. Jahn	Loss		1642
6	Edd N. Black	Win		1655
5	Will Ketchem	Win		1640
4	Samuel H. Black	Loss		1627
3	Brian L. Ziegler	Loss		1636
2	Sean Purtee	Win		1644
1	Owen Turtenwald	Loss		1629

This was a Champion of Kamigawa Block Constructed PTQ. Talk about murders row. To this day I still do not belive I have faced a tougher set of opponents at a PTQ. This was right when Owen got hot, Brian Ziegler was a PTQ mainstay in the midwest, Samuel Black has come into his own as one of the best unknown players in the USA, The Fugitive Wizards won a PTQ and Top 8'ed another (although he did scoop to me in this one), and the infamous Peter Jahn. This tournament also started a streak of mine. Not having a fully built deck before arriving at the event site. I was playing a very subpar version of Mono Black Aggro because I couldn't find all the cards I needed before we started.

Flash forward to summer/fall of 2007. At this point I have three PTQ Top 8's to my name many Legacy Top 8's under my belt, a few Vintage Top 8's and one win, a Grand Prix Trail win over Owen in the finals, and a oodles of FNM, SNM, and random.tournament top 8's/wins and countless side draft wins. At some point I realized how good I really am. But I also realized that my focus in Magic had shifted at some point without my knowledge or consent. I was having fun just playing Magic. Granted I don't play any casual Magic. I don't really enjoy sitting down and playing a game of EDH. I am to competitive for that. I need to have a goal that is bigger than just bragging rights to play for.

But I enjoy playing tournament Magic. I like the rush of being up at 7am on a Saturday morning and getting to the event site 5 minutes before registration closes, and having to scramble for a deck. I like playtesting, and theorizing about the metagame. I like the comroderience of my friends and I after a round. Hearing about the triumph and tragedy. Just going to a Magic event is FUN. Win, lose or draw I have had a blast just playing the game and enjoying the experiences at an event.

But I am still addicted to winning. I still have a desire to win and get on the Pro Tour and see just how I stack up against the worlds best. Every time one of my friends Top 8's a PTQ or wins a FNM I sit there and think I can do that. Or when Owen finished second at GP Flash, I thought why couldn't that be me? Or when he finished 18th at Valencia I thought I can do that.

Because when I returned to Magic in late 2002 I the reason I played Magic was to see how good I really am. No matter how many bad beats I take or near misses I suffer. I will still be there at the next event trying to win. Because the reason I play now is because I genuinely enjoy playing competitive Magic. And I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I play it with.