This has become a Magic: The Gathering household. We resisted getting into the game for so long because we knew that once we started, we would not be able to stop. We could not have been more right. We went from having a small box on the shelf dedicated to Magic cards, to now having two entire bookcases dedicated to Magic cards.
We mostly play Commander (EDH) in our spare time. Those are the decks we maintain and play regularly. I play with friends at least once if not twice a week. It’s actually pretty cool! I go to a fairly local bar and they have a night dedicated to nothing but Magic: The Gathering players. We move the tables around, arrange ourselves into pods and play until they close up shop. It was in that setting that I really started getting used to losing.
I haven’t been playing nearly as long as most of the other players that I play against. They have been snorting the cardboard crack for 15, maybe even 20 years. Some have been playing for even longer. I’ve been only seriously playing for about a year. Sure, I’ve gotten pretty good in that year. I have some decks that are pretty solid when I sit down at a table regardless of who I’ve facing short of CEDH decks. Yuriko, Atraxa, Animar, Faldorn, and Inalla. They are all solid decks and can pick up a win on any given night, but more often then not, I’m losing.
Why would I be losing so much if I have pretty decent decks? Well, I don’t have the instincts of other players quite yet. I don’t quite have threat assessment down quite yet. Sure, I know theoretically and on paper what the threats are, but in the moment when I need to save or cast a counterspell or blow up one permanent on a board filled with three player’s worth of permanents, that can be an issue. I’ll sequence incorrectly from time to time. That specific issue even cost me a game the other day that I had in the bag.
I don’t know if I’d enjoy the game as much if I had it down to a science. CEDH doesn’t appeal to me as much as it does to some others. I don’t want my decks to be formulas where there is just the perfect sequence you play over and over again. Sure, could I build a deck to win on turn one or two? Absolutely! Do I want to? Absolutely not! I want a game to last awhile. I want there to be a give and take, some interaction, and have the possibility of anyone winning hanging in the air for a little bit.
One thing about Magic: The Gathering that I have found I really love is theory crafting and building decks. I love trying to find creative ways to pull off interesting combinations in Commander. I love trying to go a non-traditional route to building something effective. Could I go online and find a decklist for whatever I want to build? Sure, probably, but that isn’t as much fun as building it myself with my own supply of cards and making due with what I have. My collection isn’t huge, but it’s wide enough where I can usually pull out something that I want to use to fulfill a specific purpose. Do I have a Triumph of the Horde? Nope! I do have Overwhelming Stampede though and that’s almost as good!
My Magic: The Gathering journey is just getting started and so is Elaine’s. We want to bring you guys content that reflect our own experiences with Magic: The Gathering from our own perspective of exploring this game we all love. We won’t stop making the content so please don’t stop watching it!
So Kings, Queens, and Inbetweens, check out the video down below and hop on this Magic Train with us!