Subject: Why I Play Magic Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 15:21:34 -0400 From: PERRY THOMAS To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com ** Low Priority ** The question has occurred to me several times recently about why I play magic. I am not your typical magic player. I am 39, and a scrub. I play as much as I can, but not really enough to satisfy me. But there is only so much time after work and family responsibilities. I do reasonably well at small local tourneys so I am not just blowing off stea. I play because the game is absolutely fascinating. It satisfies both competitive fires and intellectuall skills. It requires you to both think ahead long term when building and developing decks, yet think on your feet when playing matches in tournaments. There is nothing better than trying toi analyze something that did not work and trying to make it work after the fact. Or trying to fine tune that special deck just to see if you really can beat sligh. Add in the joy of playing with cards you don't usually see in sealed decks and drafts and it truly is versatile game. But the real reason I play is the fact that the games/matches can sometimes take on a life of their own. Real players know this. There have been many games that simply go back and forth. You never know what is going to happen. You never know what your opponent is going to do. These games are like epic struggles contested over an hour time period. Whatever happens, at the end, you are just pleased to have been a part of the match. You know something different has just happened. For at least a few minutes, you completely forgot who you were and where you were. You were focusing on your cards, your opponent's cards, what is in my deck that might help me, and how do I get to it. In short, nothing else really mattered. Its not even about winning. Then you think about the match afterwards, you replay every turn, and contemplate whether you made the correct decision. Unfortunately, very few matches turn out like this - most of the time, the games and matches are fun, but really are not truly memorable. But like a well struck 5 iron, those truly magic games are worth waiting for. That's why I play this great game. And it disturbs me when I read posts like Donnie Gallitz. If players are, in fact, attempting to gain advantage by being a rules lawyer, that really is beneath dignity. The money being played for is not that great in the grand scheme of things. It seems to me we are experiencing a pendulum effect. There was a problem. WOTC/DCI felt that the grass roots players (the ones who really buy all the cards) perceived a problem. WOTC/DCI came down hard. From now on, it should be clear that even slight mistakes will be penalized. To a large extent, intent has been removed from the equation. Intentional or negligent does not matter. Make a mistake, pay the consequences. Does not matter whether you meant to or not. This will have the obvious effect of cleaning up big tourneys. If players believe that rules will be strictly enforced, this will make them all more careful. That's good. What Gallitz describes, however, is not good. The pendulum has now swung to strict enforcement (or at least it appears so). Soon enough, judges will begin to exercise a little more discretion once the perception is that things are cleaned up, and will not buy into the ploy of give me a game win just because my opponent forgot to shuffle 1 card in his/her deck during a draft format. Judges will eventually, as the pendulum swings back, remedy this situation. Then, players will be themselves penalized for "unsportsmanlike conduct" in trying to "steal" a game or match based on some hyper technical ruling when the simple solution would have been to use common sense and fix the error without involving a judge. Just as in international soccer, a player who "takes a dive" in order to draw a penalty will run the risk of being penalized for thier own ludicrous behavior. Meanwhile, until the pendulum swings, grow up people, trying to steal games any way you can hurts only you. Play by the rules, by all means, just don't try and abuse the rules in order to win. It's not worth it. And for all of you who are going to respond by claiming that enforcing a rule is enforcing a rule, you know good and well when you have stepped over the line. It's just like what the Surpreme Court said about pornography, I can't give you a definition, but I know it when I see it. Perry Thomas