The start - and leaving the game.....
"It was not an easy choice, really.
I always have wanted to come back to the game even all through those years."😅
I started playing this game - the grand daddy of all Collectible Card Game CCG, then called also as Tradeable Card came or TCG - it was 1994, i was 2nd year into college and very much into Comic Books, NBA card collecting and Non-Sports card collector.
The one day i went to my favorite comic book store (there were no "LGS" then, just hobby stores mostly catering to comics and magazines) - I saw this "tarot" looking pack that piqued my curiosity.
Out of that curiosity, i went ahead and bought a pack of this Magic The Gathering instead of the "Boris" Fantasy Card pack that was my actual intent.
I cannot remember what i pulled from that pack tho, little did i know it was a REVISED Pack, and is actually a "toned down" reprint of an already established game and was the 4th installment thus the white border treatment,
What put me off was 1st) the layout and 2) NO CARD INFO AT THE BACK!.
As someone who has been a long time card collector, its a waste of space (and money) to have only one side and have the other side like a Bicycle poker deck. Little did i know yet, that this new paradigm in card collectibles is right around past the corner.
It was stashed, left to memory and months after, the next year, i saw a full editorial of the game in Wizards magazine. I have seen the ads before tho in passing, but that was the first time i did read about it.
From that moment my curiosity got a hold of me. In all actuality, i could not have started with the game if not for the common agreement between me and my two best friends who are also collectors in their own right - to test the water so to speak. We were also looking for other variance in our selection of already staling and speculative heavy NBA cards market and comic books.
Back to the store, armed with some knowledge, we picked up a 4th edition Starter Deck which was just recently released, a some Fallen Empires packs.
All i remember was a Dingus Egg and Mahamoti Djinn as my rares. I know i pulled another good one but i cannot remember as far back now since i was only half interested in those card rarity then.
It was all steamroll from then on.
My next starter was the anticipated Ice Age. And it was on that starter pack that began my affinity to Blue with the 5/6 flyer Sibilant Spirit as my rare. Blue with its Counterspell card, and an already legendary TimeWalk/Time Twister pair that i long wished to have back then, i knew i found my color.
It was also the same pack i pulled a Necropotence. It was not yet realized then, but that card will be the start of sort of a game changer in the MTG community.
From 95' to the early 2k, of the Masques Block, it was a blur of store visits, trades, buy-offs, tourneys both sanctioned and casual, the hobby took over my time and resources.
1997 was particularly amazing as it was the year that Star Wars Episode 1 rekindled the SW geekdom, and the first ever MTG event in the Philippines....the 1st MANILA GRAND PRIX.
I also became part of the fledgling Marshal program of DCI. It was not called "MTG Judges" then, just game marshal, and the local entity that was recognized by the Duelist Convocation International - the official sanctioning body for competitive play in MTG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCI_(Wizards_of_the_Coast)), - was Novelty, the same organization that helped get MTG Grand Prix to the local shores.
There were no perks things, just an ID and a measly paid service to impose the rulings and etiquette/House Rules on sanctioned FNM and toourneys.
The rule changes during the start of 6th Edition and pre-Invasion Block broke the camels back for me, as rule changes and the chaotic turns Wotc and DCI has been doing to the game has caused a lot of players to leave. I was also feeling disillusioned around that period as support seems to be dwindling in local game stores as well.
When the first Invasion Expasion dropped, I knew it was time for me to quit. The passion was not there anymore and the value for me was just not there. Coupled with growing responsibility and Overseas work, i have to put everything off, not just MTG, but all hobby i currently have.
From 2001 to 2017, i followed the game progress online. But it wasn't the only one i follow. During the whole period from 96' to 2K, i was into a lot of the CCG releases that came and went in between, hoping to capture the market created by MtG. One such is Legend of the Five rings. Its depth of story and uniqueness of gameplay has me continually facinated. What MtG lacked in story potential and interactivity - L5R has provided, but that will be for another blog post to fill.. 😃
So it was that for close to two decades, as i slowly released my interest on the game, it was 2002, Odyssey expansion, bought 1 pack, and that was it. the Magic of MTG was gone.
For the second part, it'll be the return to the magic of MTG, how i got hooked again, and the surprises that came with it. Frankly speaking, it was never the same game i left before, it was a whole new world that got me surprised and overwhelmed at the same time.
