Hi, I'm Josh. If you're reading this, it's probably because either I know you, or because you play Magic and are bored surfing around at 2am on a Wednesday. Either way I surmise you have not a lot better to do just now, so why not stick around?
Let's start with the what. What am I writing about? Well Magic of course. I have been playing Magic for many years now. I can't even remember when I first cast a spell, but it has to be at least eight years. More importantly I have only been good at Magic for a couple of years at most. Depending on who you ask, maybe I'm still not. About half a year ago I decided I was giving up Magic forever. I'm in college now, I have a real social life, and at the time was seeing someone semi-seriously. Time to move on. However it nagged at me, from the moment I decided to leave the game....I never tried to "make it". I read constantly about Magic Pros having the time of their lives flying from city to city on the gravy train, barhopping at night, sharing deck tech, and drafting till the wee hours of the morning before a GP. I wanted it, bad. Now I hold no illusions mind you. I am definitely not a good enough player to do that, and I try to stay very realistic about my potential. But what if....
It's a very elusive and haunting proposition, the What If. Historians have long pondered, world changing ideas spawned, and careers built, all on the back of What If. If I leave the game and never make a serious go at trying to be a real player that lingering What If would haunt me for years. I knew it. So it didn't take much coaxing for me to be drawn back in by the proposition of a serious testing Team. (The story on how that happened in the next entry) So now I have decided to give it a try. I'm going practice like my life depends on it, test as much as humanly possible, and hit every tournament from the local FNMs to, well if things work out Nationals. I am willing to go as high as I can. If it means an increased commitment to make the next level, if I feel like I can at all succeed there, I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I want to know that I tried. I gave it all I had, and I reached my ceiling.
So we're getting the Team together, we're testing like madmen, and we're driving obscene distances. All in the name of that competitive spirit. After going to our first event as a Team (I'll talk about it in the next entry) I thought about how serious this would be to me, and what it meant in my life. Silly as it may seem, this last ditch effort at "that silly game" as so many people have called it, actually means something to me. So I invite you along. I've decided to write about the whole ordeal as it unfolds. It will definitely last a year (a Magic year that is) but after that it will depend entirely on my success. I don't guarantee any level of excitement or relevance. I do however promise to try to be earnest, and to write something that goes beyond the superficial elements of playing a game. I will talk about Magic mostly, and try to stay relevant to the current Metagame, but I will also talk about the journey. Think of Anthony Bourdain's: No Reservations, only about Magic instead of food, and well...me instead of a cool, badass, published author.
Now on to the Why. Why am I writing this? To be perfectly honest, I cannot pinpoint an exact reason. It may be the sleep deprivation, or perhaps the sentimental and overly ponderous manner I get when I listen to music and read to much in a single night. However, both of these lead to the best explanation I can give. I want to write about this part of my life. Not necessarily for anyone to read. This is as much for myself as for anyone else. Writing has always been how I can best gain some sort of perspective on things I am thinking about. It is my outlet, my catharsis, my looking glass. While I will gain from this either way, I invite you to join me.
What's in it for you? Well there is always that most basic of wants, the desire to empathize and relate to someone. To feel that although the world is large and scary and you may sometimes feel isolated in it, in the end the people it consists of are surprisingly like yourself. I have also been told throughout my life that I am a pretty damn good writer. While I have always doubted this myself, and have never pursued an active interest in writing for others before, maybe, just maybe, you'll find my musings appealing. Also, I will pretty much spill all our testing results out here. (And I tend to be pretty analytic about these things. EI: Expect statistics) So if nothing else, perhaps I can be useful/good for laughing at when it comes to the Meta.
Here's hoping that if anyone reads this, they will like it.
Realizing He Needs a Signoff,
-Josh
