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They're all there: four cats, two dogs, two beautiful little girls, and their even more beautiful mother. They all want something, whether it's food, a walk, help with a puzzle, or just a good old fashioned hug. I spend the time on my long walks home from work just picturing their faces and wondering what new and interesting things we'll talk about each day. I thank my stars for having such a wonderful little brood and such a warm and welcome home. Sometimes it can ease the everyday angst I feel living in modern America and its fast-paced, dog-eat-dog atmosphere. My heart lightens a bit when I turn the corner and see the light on the porch, and my loved ones at the door, waiting to welcome me back from a hard day's work. But they can wait. Because it's Friday, and the kid in me is busting loose and heading to the mall. "I'll be home in time for dinner!"
Some people ask me why I do it. Why do I play a kids game? Do I really need to set aside several hours a week and devote them to a... a trading card game? Do you really think you're a wizard? Well... no. But I am human, and for those two or three hours I am a powerful mage and no one can stop me. Well, except Jim. But his day is coming. In fact, my sideboards are mainly built to beat him and only him. I guess it's the downside of playtesting with a friend you see at the tournaments. Practice makes perfect, and that's one of the lessons I've learned in my recent run of consecutive FNM visits. Never giving up is another. I am not dominating by any means, but my decks are consistently winning. It's a good feeling, even when playing a net-deck because during this most recent run of FNM's I have learned the all important aspects of playing in a duel. Before this, my experience was mainly in casual kitchen table multi-player. I had attended a few Limited events and felt that those experiences helped hone my deck building skills, but it was out in the garage where I was pitting myself against several opponents at a time where my main experience lay. The duel is a totally different beast. So for my next event I have chosen to bring a net-deck. Oh, the controversy! But seriously, I have as much fun piloting a proven deck as I do a home-brew. Don't get me wrong, rolling some poor kid with a home-brewed deck is an awfully good feeling, but let's face it: winning is winning. Sometimes while building a deck I will often check the internet for ideas and realize that the deck I have been working on is already out there; and Net-deck or no, the sideboard is always all mine. Either way, as soon as my cards are in my bag, I am out the door and headed to the mall. I know what you might be thinking, "Ham, you sound like a twelve year old kid," but that's my point. I made a decision a long time ago to hold onto my youth at all costs. I turned down the opportunity to work on Wall Street because no matter how hard I looked, I rarely found happiness in the eyes of a stockbroker. I've never worn a tie to work. I built swimming pools out of high school, worked part time as a cook, and eventually moved onto landscaping. I still love the feel of dirt in my hands, and from cutting grass I evolved to trimming trees. Three years ago I traded my chainsaws for scrubs because of the painful realization that humans need more help than plants. And now I watch the old get older, and the older wither away. This life is fleeting, and the pressure we are put under to provide for ourselves and our families in this media controlled and money driven society can, at times, feel like a giant undertow dragging us down. We need to find things to keep us sane. We need to be happy, because without inner light there is only the darkness of empty dreams. That's why I play Magic. People are complaining about the upcoming changes to the game, but in my heart, I have accepted that these changes aren't up to me. When I'm building my decks I'll be adjusting to the altered combat step. When I'm explaining the game to younger kids I'll actually find it easier to use terms like "battlefield" and "exile". Isn't that what we want? To be able to pass on the legacy that is MTG to future generations? Do you imagine yourself an old man in the park playing chess? Or would you rather be a mage, casting spells and summoning creatures? With Magic, even losing can be glorious. To those in opposition to the upcoming release of M10, I can say this: change is inevitable. I learned that long ago when sawing up a 160 foot Douglas Fir that had blown over in a windstorm, and I believe it more as I look at the faces of the elderly. If you can't embrace it, you should be stepping aside. Of course, nobody can make you alter the rules at your kitchen table. So even if you are melancholy, there is no reason to be forlorn. As our shared journey continues with the release of each new set, there will always be combos that astound our friends and there will always be cards we'll trade our right legs for. It's a labor of love. The only worthwhile labor there is.
The "battlefield" is the one place I have where I can be invincible, especially when I have my Wheel of Sun and Moon/Energy Field combo out. The kitchen table is the one place where I can Molten Disaster everyone on my final turn and laugh at the guy running goblins or elves who's thinking the game is in the bag. The mall is where I can show No Mercy to a fourteen year old kid and watch his eyes light up like it's Christmas. So you may think I'm a bit weird or that my priorities aren't straight, but know that I do what I do to keep my mind from unraveling. And if you want to call me a nerd that's all fine and good. Me, I'll just tap my Mountain for one red mana and Lightning Bolt you for three. ~ hamsandwich
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Spotlights from 2009: |
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Out
the door with my binder under my arm and my dice in the pocket of my jeans and
it's pedal to the metal. I've got just under twenty minutes to swerve recklessly
through the traffic over the 172 bridge and up I-43 to the East Town Mall. Four
o'clock FNM at my local game shop is the best thing that's happened to my Magic
game in years. Finally, a time frame that doesn't interfere with my family life.
I can swing in, Jund Charm a couple of junior high kids, steamroll a couple of
my friends, lose in the finals and still make it home for salmon on the grill,
ball tag in the yard, and stories before bedtime. 
