We have all heard this game we love called "Magic: the Addicting" or "Cardboard Crack" and I recently started thinking about just how addictive this game truly is.

I started out like many of you. I was introduced to Magic by a friend who loaned me some decks and taught me to play. He even gave me some cards to get me started--Just like drugs, the first hit is always free. They know you'll be back!

I had never collected anything before. Some of my childhood friends collected everything from Pogs to Baseball cards, but I never saw any value in any of it. In fact, I don’t even have an obsessive-compulsive personality. I have never been "hooked" on anything before, no drugs, no alcohol, nothing. So, playing a game or two of Magic did not worry me. In fact, I really enjoyed the social aspect of the game. And, my friends enjoyed having a new player that they could easily beat. Everything was great.

I eventually made a trip to "Comics & Comix", the local Magic card shop. My friends had warned me that this game could be very expensive and after looking in the display cases I knew they were right. "I will never spend that much for a single card," I said to my friends. I had been playing a while and I decided that it was time that I built my own deck. So, being low on funds, I headed over to the common bins.

Magic is somewhat unique in that you can build a deck of all common cards and still have a lot of fun. I’m not saying that you can build an all-common deck and storm the Pro Tour, I’m just saying that you can have fun. Even on the Pro Tour a lot of the staple cards are common: Giant Growth, Lightning Bolt, Disenchant, Counterspell, Dark Ritual, etc.

I knew nothing of rarity on my first trip to the Magic shop and I was amazed that the common bin held so much power! Commons were only a nickel each and I spent over $20 buying four each of many cards that I play with even now.

My first deck was an all-common pile of crap. To give you an idea of how bad it really was, it was based around the Fire Whip/Marsh Viper combo. It was terrible, and I think that I only won one game with it.

Magic the Gathering is very competitive. This is what initially drew me in. I am a very competitive person and I do love to win. I felt that if only my deck had a few uncommons in it, it might do better. Off to the card shop I went. I discovered that the uncommon binders were not too expensive, only $1 each. After a little searching I found just what I needed: Instill Energy. It did wonders for the deck, but still something was lacking. I could never get the right color mana that I needed. So, back to the card shop I went.

There it was. Right there in the display case. The answer to all of my problems. Taiga. Only one problem left. They cost $8, EACH! The Crack Dealer (I mean Card Dealer) assured me that they were just what my deck needed.

I could not believe it.

I could not believe that I was actually paying so much for just four cards. "I will never spend that much money on a single card," I could still hear myself say. And, yet, there I was. Cash in hand.

Thinking back, it was those Taigas that committed me to the game. They did wonders for the poison deck even though it still did not win very many games. But, they did their job. They got me used to paying for rares. In fact, the next deck I designed was packed with rares. That deck didn’t do much better than the poison deck, but there was no turning back. I was hooked.

Looking over the cards that I own now, I see many binders, boxes and sets. Revised, Fourth, Fifth, Antiquities, The Dark, Alliances, and many others. I have spent hundreds of dollars over the years buying complete sets and piecing together other sets. Some day I would like to own one of each set ever produced. It may take a while to get those Alpha and Beta sets, but I am sure that I will own them some day.

Along the way I started collecting Lightning Bolts and my Foil Lightning Bolt is the most expensive single card that I have ever purchased. I paid $55 for it. This was at a time when they were going for $75. I easily justified the cost because of the deal I had gotten.

I am not ready to spend $450 for a Beta Black Lotus yet. Although recently, I bid $200 for a Summer Magic Lightning Bolt, so I’m sure that it’s just a matter of time.

Are you ready for a Beta Black Lotus?

I know how just you feel...never would I imagine I would pay so much just for cardboard.

although, I've never spent more than $10 than a single, it's just a matter of time I gotta start rationing my lunch money so I can buy packs everyday.

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That was the same way i started playing magic and i assumed that in a few months i'd forget about it but here i am, still playing and collecting after 3 years. You're right, it is really addicting.

quote:

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Originally posted by Leshrac:
Are you by any chance talking about the Comics & Comix in Berkeley?

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"Local" for me means Folsom, California. Unfortunately they closed their doors last month.

This is a real bummer because they would give Intel employees a 15% discount on everything in the store. This discount even applied to sealed product.

Later,
Corrupted_Crosis

"JUST HOOK IT UP TO MY VIENS MAN!!!!!!!"

Sorry that just sums up how I feel about it.

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Oh yeah Ill shave my butt in public for a black lotus

I was eleven and had about 6000$ to spend
and as well as most of you I was determined to build the best group game deck and the best dueling deck. So I spent 4000$ just making the things full of really rare cards or foiling it just to make it pretty. I still have those decks too. each card is in 2 inch screw-downs

I'll give u the deck list of the first one it's illegal now!

16 saga plains
14 saga mountains

4 grim monolith
4 voltaic key
3 masticore
2 black lotus
3 icy manipulator
4 thran dynamo
2 mana vault
3 serra avatar
4 covetous dragon
3 wildfire
2 mox diamond
2 mox ruby
4 fire diamond
4 marble diamond
3 shivan hellkite
2 shivan dragon
3 serra angel
4 beast of burden

that is the best damn group game deck I ever made but that little piece is in the box!

Newayz I'll shut up and quit bragging

Then I made Sligh, straight goblin, but it worked hehehe.. traded Vesuvan for tons of stuff.. heck Keldon Warlord.. nasty int hat deck.. LOL! Goblin Wizard, the olde Lacky.. ahhh.. Good Times, Good Times...

I got a shoebox full of commons and uncommons from a friend and was taught to play and was helped out a lot.

Later on I wanted to try to become better and keep up with the flow of cards since I didn't know what most IA cards were and wanted more of the older stuff I didn't get.

Going into General's games for fun was awesome since the last time I played a major game I was awarded with a set of Fallen, Dark, Homelands for being the winning General.

Then I saw how much people play and so I got hooked onto trying to finish each set just so I can say I did it and that I'm better than everyone else around me.

And nowadays I've tried to keep my addicting habits away from the cases I used to buy. I'm trying to keep them down from the 3 booster boxes that I oh so love to pay for.

Every time I hear someone mention Magic I'm the equivalent of Homer drooling over a can of beer... *drool*

On a shameful note, I'd pay $450- for a Beta Lotus. I need to be on layaway if possible.

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