Why we play
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jacelightning
12 May 2011
1458 views
12 May 2011
1458 views
Sorry for the delay on this second part of the articles about my trip to GP:Dallas, as I went to work on this article life got in the way so this is article has changed probably no less than 10 times from the original explanation of all the cool things a Grand Prix has to do other than play in the main event. Ill pick up where I left off from my tournament report, but I want to end with the lesson I learned in Dallas.
Picking up from last time where I had just dropped out of the tournament with a 2-2-1 record and out of contention for Day 2 and was looking at an entire weekend ahead of me to spend playing magic. I took a minute and walked down to a subway a couple of blocks away and got some lunch and took a slow walk back to the hall to get myself calmed down from bombing out of the tournament. Right after I dropped I was honestly just ticked off at myself and angry at all the time that I used to prepare for the tournament and all the trouble I had gone through to get the cards I wanted and was really regretting having made the trip. I got to the subway and let me tell you that Magic players can wreck a subway. They were out of all the breads that werent white and most of the meats and vegetables as well, but I managed to get out of there with a meatball sub with pepperoni (taking the last of both). I walked back to the site and ate the sub and just watched the people milling around the site and figured out what I was going to do for the weekend. I kicked off the rest of the weekend by going to the side event table and signed up for a draft. The rest of the weekend was spent winning some packs and playing a copious amount of magic in win a box utilizing standard and legacy, draft, Commander/edh, and a really fun sealed format utilizing Mirrodin, Scars of Mirrodin, and Mirrodin Besieged.
I had debated about using this article to detail all those games I played after dropping from the tournament, but ultimately decided against it as the actual games are not what made my weekend so great. I had a fantastic weekend not because I played extraordinary magic or any format that you cant play at your own local game store, but because I experienced the best part of our game and its even in the name, the gathering. A gathering can be defined as an assembly of people and when that group comes together over a common purpose or experience I believe there is an inherent connection between a random group of strangers that gives them a common language and ground on which to approach each other. This shortcuts the introduction process and allows people to interact directly more quickly and without the awkward get to know you phase. You might be saying what is so great about this, but let me explain while I was in Dallas I talked with people from all over the country and even the world and even among such a diverse group of people I had a basis to start communicating with them and it shortened the process to conversation and experience so much that it lead to a very enriching atmosphere and an experience Ill never forget. You might say thats nice but it only happens at big events like a Grand Prix,but I think that if you are anything like me then you take it for granted as you gather to play at your local game stores with the people that you know and are already friends with. After I got back from Dallas and I went back to FNM, I actually looked around at the group that plays at my store (which is Daves Clubhouse in Reynoldsburg OH if you are in the area and need a place to play) and saw how diverse the group in attendance and it was then that the second part of the name of the game really hit me. We were a group of people that had so little in common apart from magic, but yet here we were dedicating our Friday night to playing the game we love. I hope that you will experience that part of the game whether around your kitchen table with the guys youve been playing with since Beta released, sitting down to play at FNM, or at PTQs, Grand Prixs, or hopefully at the Pro Tour. Its that assembly of people to enjoy one activity that makes our game so great and its a consequence that I dont believe Richard Garfield saw when he designed the game, but its a consequence that makes me proud to say I play magic and proud to be a member of this community.
So that in a nutshell is what I learned from Grand Prix Dallas. This article is shorter than my normal work but I hope you take the lesson I learned and enjoy the people you play the game with, as they are just as important as the game itself. I hope you all have fun this week at FNMs and Good Luck this weekend at any PTQs or at the Star City Games open event in Orlando. As always feel free to email me at [email protected] and check me out on Twitter @jarrodkwilliams.
DeckBuilder345 says... #2
Also why not add in some details of any particularly epic matches in another article? Maybe one about some draft of sealed work you did? could be interesting.
May 13, 2011 4:54 p.m.
DeckBuilder345 says... #3
"YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!" - Herm Edwards
Feel free to stop listening after 10 seconds.
May 13, 2011 5:03 p.m.
jacelightning says... #4
You do play to win the game. I'm quite familiar with that quote from Herm Edwards. I think that it's quite different for a game like magic than something like football. You do play to win the game, but there is so much more depth to the game that if you don't look beyond the surface you'll miss some of the beauty of the game.
I do thank you for reading!!!
May 14, 2011 2:26 p.m.
This is a great article it sums up exactly how it was titled ''why we play''. Sure anyone could say we play to win if you didn't why would you play in the first place but it is all about the experiences at a FNM or a bigger event that makes it all worth wile. I finally went from someone who knew of magic and dabbled in it to a full blown fanatic and that was at the beginning of this year. I am getting into it in my mid 20s but (better late than never) and have been astonished as to the depth of the game and the people who frequent the gatherings. I still have allot to learn about the game but that is just it I am at the beginning of a great journey. Even though the cards can get pricy it makes you want that one card sometimes like a kid at Christmas and when you buy a pack and see that rare gem you wanted there is no drug that can compare to it. Keep on writing your articles I will defiantly keep reading them!
May 18, 2011 9:46 p.m.
A well written article and an often overlooked viewpoint. Yes, we DO play to win, but there is a social aspect to "Magic: The Gathering" which makes those wins, and sometimes losses, a more fond memory. One of the best times I had was at a Midnight Madness pre-release tourney with about 600 people in Boston. What I did away from the game table makes this a great memory of a wonderful 12 hours of social gaming. I don't remember the games, my record, or how many packs I won; I remember the people and the non-game things we did together.
May 20, 2011 7:21 a.m.
The whole social reason is why I play and also hate to play. Yes, I am one of "those players'' that spent way too much time and energy building a deck that makes Leavenworth shower time a truly desirable alternative; but that deck only comes out if the yard stick is also required. Some of the best times I've had playing MTG, have taken place in a Denny's outside of Petaluma Ca.
The reason I hate to play this game, are those players who build 2 or 3 ''unbeatable'' decks and proceed to only use those decks. Yes I have an ''unbeatable'' deck, but I also have other decks that can be readily torn apart, without getting mana screwed.
Definitely keep up the articles, and I'm always looking for a better place to feed my addiction in the Columbus area, without having to go online or to Dayton
DeckBuilder345 says... #1
"you play to win the game" - herm edwards (least i am pretty sure it was him)
May 13, 2011 4:50 p.m.