Magic: The Gathering

I played the shit out of Magic The Gathering with my older brother from about 1996 to 2001. We got into the game while fourth edition was the newest line of cards. During that time, Ice Age was still on the shelves, but it was soon to be out of print. It was weird because the only opponents we had at that time were each other. We weren't going to game meets or anything like that, we just sat down on the carpet in one of our bedrooms and started playing. It was a good time.

Since it was just the two of us, it created this race to see who could get the best cards (I.E. who spent the most money) which was really ironic since both of us were broke all the time. I think in the end just before I moved out my older brother had 6 binders full of cards and we both had 4 to 5 decks each at least. (Although my brother had the cards to support many many more.)



I have gone back a couple of times to buy cards since I moved out, and my older brother and I have sat down to play a handful of times, but Magic The Gathering to me is something that hit it's peak in the late 1990s. The new line of PC games that have the deck building element completely removed is a load of horse shit. I vivadly remember staying up late at night with my older bro just building our decks - not even playing - and in MTG Duels of the Plainswalkers, that element is gone from the game. I know you can open a deck and edit it, but revising a deck and building a deck aren't the same. Not by a long shot. On top of that, now there is a new game coming out every year.

On top of that, take a good look at this photo of a Shivan Dragon. Cards don't even look like that anymore. And yeah I know that's just an aesthetic thing and it shouldn't be a big deal, but I feel like something is lost now. It's kind of like that Social Distortion song where Mike Ness sings about his favorite pool hall as a kid now being a 7-11.

But I guess that's how it goes. Games need to evolve. They need to change. No matter how much MTG changes though, I won't change with it.