Was introduced to the game by my brother-in-law(who has been playing for yeeeaarrs - maybe since it's inception?? Idr cuz we don't talk much any more) right around the release of M14. Wow, I forgot that i was already 18-ish at that time... <{O.O}> Back to the story: with a handful of cards given to me and the help of my brother-in-law, my first deck was / that focussed on flying and deathtouch with Harvester of Souls as my "finisher" lol. Anyways my playgroup (my younger brother, my older sister, my brother-in-law, and myself), who would play board games all the time, began to play Magic, often playing either PvP or two-headed giant With the actual release of M14, I soon bought the M14 Fat Pack and Deck Building Kit, and we all pitched in for a booster box to get new card but especially: Draft. Draft, imo, is one of the best formats for getting to know new sets! Like yeaaa, you get to see the spoilers weeks ahead but, man... by drafting you just really get to dive deep into a set! But that draft aside, new cards! You know what new cards mean to a new player? Deck time! As such, I built my first very own Standard legal deck: Bogbrew Witch. As I'm sure ya'll are well aware, its a combo/control deck focused on sacing the Festering Newt to the Bubbling Cauldron to simultaneously take out a threat, drain the opponent's life, and gain all the life lost, with the Bogbrew Witch being a center piece that helped pull the strings together. Bruhh...! Like I was always just drawn to in general but THIS? When i actually saw these cards in draft and then actually got to play them?? Changed the game for me lol! With Sanguine Bond and Nightmare to assist and Corrupt as a finisher... I felt invincible!! Mwahaha!! (i was obviously proved wrong during FMN but my excuse is that i had no income to buy cards) But yea, anyways, anyways...! Friday Night Magic. So after playing just at home for awhile (getting to know the game, building a bunch of new decks, etc.) my brother-in-law suggested we try going to an FMN. He had found a LCS (geddit? Local Comic Store! lmao sigh. Point is, there aren't any LGSs nearby and as i grew up, there unfortunately became even BUT! back to the point>>>) called "Beach and Ball Comics" located on, you guessed it!, Beach and Ball. Which also -surprise, surprise- no longer exists. RIP. So long story short, my younger brother, my brother-in-law, and i would swing by Beach and Ball comics @7pm every Friday for FNM. I gotta tell ya, it was a small place but everyone was great. They were welcoming and patient to new peeps and always tried to help each other out. It was an overall blast despite my consistent 0-3/1-2 results (my younger brother usually got 1-2/2-1, while my brother-in-law naturally got 3-0/2-1). But... then I got a job at a sushi joint called Dami Sushi (no longer exists either, but good riddance) and my sister & my brother-in-law moved up north around Sac Town (they still call Sacramento that, right? Btw, is there any one else in Cali that keeps forgetting its our state's capital city??)) so i just struggled to find time to make it to FMN. With my younger brother not having transportation or anyone to go to, he stopped attending as well. I think this was around M15 cuz I don't remember playing Khans at all, tho sad I missed out. Between the LCS closing down, work, moving(for work), and a relationship(that also no longer exists smh. Theres a trend here. Fkkin cheating bh), there was a MtG hiatus para moi(tho i would still infrequently buy booster boxes/fat packs)! I did manage to hop back in for a short while during Battle for Zendikar (trash), going to the pre-release n all, while i think i missed Oath of the Gatewatch(?), but got back in again for Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon(ehhh)- tho i think in cards only, not events. Keep in mind, all this time i still played 1v1 with my younger brother but we were getting kinda bored tbh. Because of reasons, we had no real money to buy cards either so that was a big factor. ANNNYYYWAYS fast forward to 2016-ish: i finally have one of my dreams come true. Friends to play board games with! Game Nights! Coffee! Foood! Staying up till Breakfast and then Knocking the F out till Dinner n Do it All again!!!! Yesss!!! (See, prior to this, my group of friends were all rambunctious, law breaking, potheads. im still the former two but ive graduated to only vicing on cigs). But yea, the 5 of us would basically play board games all the fuckin time. Starting with "family games" like Monopoly n Uno to more strategic games like Catan and Betrayal at House on the Hill to long intense political ones like Game of Thrones. All this time, ive kind of talked about Macig: the Gathering but it never seemed like they were whole-heartedly interested. That was until one day, when my playgroup was over at my house and one of them asked about it. So naturally i had to bring out my BCWs that we all have stacked to the side (amirite?) and after a quick overview of the game, i whipped out my decks, had em choose one to play with and BAM! that was it. Catalyst ignited. It was on. Set in stone. We doing this!!!! Now this was right after Rivals Over Ixalan. So! I bought the booster boxes n we drafted. Man, we spent almost every night, playing, learning, building decks, etc, getting into the lore even. We hit Dominaria Pre-Release for the (their first time) did alright, soon moved on from casual to CMDR as M19 came around the bend and here we are today! Still at it! Guilds of Ravnica is about to come out and Im happy the way everything turned out. Well maybe not everything, but yeaaa. So maybe you'll see us at Kingslayer Games or Shuffle & Cut. Maybe not! LOL (Fri, Sep 21, 2018) [To Be Continued...]