I started to buy some packs and a 4th starter or two, but I was getting no where as far as learning the game, as I was by myself in this venture. Then one Saturday, (by this time I had turned a great deal of my attention away from sports cards and more to magic/goalie cards strictly)I asked the friendly dealer that I had purchased now many singles off of, if he could show me how to play. He said he had a killer bees deck that was lethal and won several tournaments. He showed it to me and I saw that the deck simply produced alot of green mana to pump his bees up to victory. He told me he coudlnt really teach me much now as he was working but his friend that stopped by every Saturday to buy cards and chat it up would be more then happy to as he was always in search of a game with someone that actually knew how to play it. So I waited around and sure enough, his friend came. Now, before I get too far into this, lets just say this isnt the ideal magic teacher for a newbie. He usually started and finished every sentence off with "f*cking". But, he was a nice guy dispite his coarse language and showed me the power of the mountain yeti, yeah, that wasnt a typo, I was new member. Anyways, the important part to remember here I suppose is he got me intrested in the game. Suddenly abilities like, Mountain Walk and first strike now brang new dynamics I didnt see, or really care about before. I took my cards back home and quickly made a green/red deck with evasion abilities such as flying and whatever walk. But, still, I had no one to play with so the deck ended up being put away for a good deal of time.

Then, later on next summer, I moved, and while I was making new friends, some of them I woudlnt consider frineds now, but, hey, new kid on the block thing, I was introduced to a kid named Ryan Johnson. We were all out talking about this and that, whatever 15-17yrds talk about. And I do not know how the topic started, but somehow ryan blurted out he had a Black Lotus and 2 Moxes. Now I rememberd hearing about the Black Lotus back when I was searching to see if any of the cards I had purchased in my Ice Age starter were any good(turns out I had a blinky). I told ryan that I had Magic cards and could play ok and had a goblin deck that was pretty solid. He asked me if he could see my cards and if he was intrested in any of them he would buy them from me. I was happy to obliege to this as I had no use for them. Well, turns out I had sold about 30 dollars worth of rares to ryan for a measly 2 dollars, which I still hadnt received as he promised he would bring it by next week. I got bored and looked up the cards he had took in my inquest and found them to be worth quite a bit more.

When I saw ryan I confronted him and wasnt too happy and he agreed to just give me the cards back, although half of them were not mint anymore, how he got them so bad in 2 days time I'll never know. Anyways, after that a certain friendship had formed, and we started going over to eachother's houses and playing with the decks we had. We didnt have a very good grasp of the rules, and it didnt help that he said he was a veteran of sorts so I just went along with whatever he said was ok. I remember fearing his red mana battery because the way we played you could put as much mana on it as you had available each turn, so I basically had 2/3 turns to live before he fireballed me to death. Also, we started playing ante. I remember one night I lost my gaea's leige to him in ante and I was super upset/****ed as it was both are favourite card at the time. The more and more we played, the more I became intrested in magic. However, eventually I became so skeptical of Ryan's rulings that I actually started reading the 5th edition rules book. To my surprise, and happyness as my gut feeling was correct, Disenchant wasnt the GOD card we had been playing it as, it COULD NOT KILL ANY CREATURE, just artifact creatures, artifacts and enchantments. I had moved by then, but not far away and ryan actually came over the day I did move to play with me and sure enough, he tried to disenchant won of my creatures and I told him he coudlnt. He aruged and I showed him the rule book. We both went over the rules and eventually came to a truce that we would play the card like the rules said we should.

At this time Tempest was coming out. I had been playing solely with Ryan for about a year now and it was fun and all, but I found myself learning certain tricks and gimmicks and interactions with the cards that he simply was not seeing. I craved a more diverse playing field and when he told me of the new set, I HADDDD to see it. We bought up Tempest like it was going out of style. I was still realitvly dumb to trading and remember getting ripped off bad a couple of times but, it comes with the territory. I started reading the deck articles in Inquest instead of just the price guide, seeing current "to beat" decks. One deck took my imagination captive. The "Buried Alive" deck, currently being played by Eric Tam. I LOVED the concept behind it, I had to have it I told myself. So every weekend I would go out, sometimes with Ryan, sometimes without, to all the local card shops in London trying to piece together my Buried Alive deck. Finally, after alot of buying, searching and trading, I had it. I played that deck over and over and over again. I started seeing little combos inside the deck and started understanding why now some of the cards I at first thought stupid were used and some highly priced. I played now every weekend at a local hobby shop downtown and found my Buried Alive deck pretty much cleaning house around there. Everyone of my friends was saying things like "wow man, awesome combo" or "that deck is gross, its totally unbeatable, I just cant get the creatures to stay dead". With my first taste of Magic confiedence, I deceided to try my luck at a tournament. I did some asking around and finally found one in my area. Type 2 on Saturday, $5 to enter. I remember my mom being semi excited for me as she knew a great deal of my time anymore went into playing Magic now. And I didnt do bad, before I knew it I was in the Finals, aganist then who everybody feared playing because everyone lost to him and he always won. His name was Mike Angelski, he was around my age, 17, playing white weenie. I shook hands with him wishing him good luck and we started. First game it was a battle of pro: creatures, and I got my first taste of Emperiral Armour...OUCH. Second game I ritualed out a 1st turn gloom and I was a good enough player to take it from there. "Wow, this is it, im actually one game away from winning my first tournament here" I thought to myself, and I rememberd hoping to see another 1st turn gloom as we both saw how much damage it does to ww. I drew my hand and sure enough, there was the gloom, but no ritual. I kept it anyways, as it had a nice mix of swamps and creatures. When my third turn came around Mike had a white knight with a crusade to make it sting, I dropped the gloom and saw his face give a slight frown. He took his turn and smacked me down for 3 more, putting me to 14, I had cast a black knight my previous turn so he was at 18. He still ended up casting a savanah lion and said "go". I took my turn and hit him for 2 more, puttin him at 16. Then proceded to drop 2 order of the ebon hands. His face gave another frown as I told him I was done. He drew his card and casted dienchant on my gloom. I looked down and made sure he had enough, and he did, so I put it into my graveyard.

As my next turn came i found myself at 11 from that stupid knight. But I had 3 pro: whites on the table to his one pro black, I remember feeling I was in a ok situation if he didnt drop too much more in the next 2 turns. I hard casted a ashen ghoul and attacked with everything. He blocked the ghoul with his kittie and took 6, puttin him at 10. On his next turn he tapped 3 white, and I remember suddenly thinking "oh ****, he has a hand full of cards and he is going to drop a Armour on me the bastard". And sure enough, out came the Emperial Armour, he then looked at the board and cast another lion, and then layed a plains for his turn. He kept looking at the board and I remember wondering what the hell he was looking for or at. He then tapped the one plains and I thought "great, another stuipd kitty", unfortunatly for me, I wish I had been right and it WAS a kitty, but it wasnt. That very moment I was introduced to a card I have NEVER LIKED, spirit link. SMACK, I take 9, putting me at 2, and he gains it, going up to 19. "How in hell can I win now???" I remember thinking to myself, its like he is starting the game over and Im on my way out. I shook myself from the beating and drew my card, wondering if they was anything i could draw to save me and put these 2 rituals to use. And there it was, drain life....ooo soo soo sweet drain life. I layed my land and proceeded to drain him for 10. Putting me at 12 and him at 9. I then hymned him giving him 3 cards in hand. Then attacked him for 8, with the aid of 2 Nether shadows coming back. "****, I cant finish him off" I remember thinking. But he didnt have enough damage to kill me now, so I was happy. I told him my turn was done and remember feeling very happy about the whole situation. He drew his card and then did what Ive come to know as his staple "reviewing of the board". Great, he had drawn something good again. He finished surveying the area and tapped 3 again, and cast ANOTHER Armour on this knight. "oh oh" I said out loud, as he proceeded to smack me for 9 with the knight and 3 more with the kitty, so 12 total, and I (gulp) wat at 12. I looked at him as he gave a big sigh of relief and shook his hand.

Second place for my first tourney ever, not bad. After we had claimed our prizes I remember him saying to me "That was intense, first time Ive had some real competition around here, you play much?".

Since then me and Mike have become great friends and formed our own team with some other great friends we met through magic. I do not play much anymore, and neither does my team, but I have several thousand dollars worth of cards..(some p9, set of duals, 4 of everything good at 4th and up).

In closing, Id just like to say a couple of things:

1. Magic is a great game. But the sterotype given to it and the players which is "if you play Magic, your a nerd" is bs. I absolutly LOVE THIS GAME, but could easily kick anyones butt on here and most of the other people that try to give us this sterotype at basketball in a flash.

2. Ive met and made some of my best friends playing Magic, and none of them either were and are "nerds". Well, except maybe for donovan.

3. I miss those forever lost days when I was just learning. Every card had a million possibilities in it and every game seemed just that much more funner. Even now, when I have a extensive knowledge of the rules, which seemingly are ever changing in at least 1 area, every good card to make just about every good deck, and a nice plump dci rating, although it was alot higher when I use to care about it and play alot, I still have the most fun and usually only play big multiplayer games with my friends, when we can all, if we want, if just for a second, relive those AWESOME moments when we were just learning this great game and have real "fun" again.

Thats my story, it may suck, but, its my story.

I love it

Youri.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers/M:TG :
'Give it away, give it away, give it away, give it away now...' :D

Also, about the blue mana battery thing, I did the exact same thing!! But in our games (me and my cousin, we were both learning), I would get a Telim Tor's Darts out, and sink 10 mana into it to do 5 damage, or sink 15 mana into a rod of ruin to do 5 damage...those were the good times

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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died. - Stephen Wright

Email: mlava@flash.net

MaCkBo

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Until ... we were hit by the dreaded Maze of Ith/STP deck! Agh! Direct creaturekill!

-MagicGuy52

i started back in '95 when ice age first came out. a lot of people just got in real quick cuz it was the fad at the time and got out, but the game kind of stuck with me.

i dont know what happened, but the feeling is gone now. i wish it would go back to the old days.

NICE story by the way

UP!

I used to have this deck that I played with my buddies (multiplayer), that had crypt rats, pillar tombs of aku or stuff like aether flash and the blue one that makes you pay life (5) if u want to cast a creature. Those were really fun to play in multiplayer.

I too had an embarassing stumper, hehe its too funny thinking about it.

I started around ice age and I really loved my polar kraken (I like the polar bears falling down most of all...hehe) It was like my pet creature.

I remember building a deck that was geared to get him (the kraken) out no matter what. Even when I was down to 1 life the satisfaction would come when I lay my 11/11 trample MaMa and my opponent would just drop dead...hehe those were the days.

Oh yeah my stumper......misintrepeting what coming into play tapped meant...my polar kraken had haste most of the time...:0) which meant whenever it came into play I always told my opponent it was already attacking......embarassing but fun nevertheless.

and i havent found one yet grrrr
course i live in arkansas
in a kinda rural area
sooo its kinda hard to find them
i'm still hoping to find
where the old womans kids went off to college
and she found his mtg cards and decied to sell them
and there are blotus es and moxes :-)
:-)
hehe i wish