Melancholy sets in once again-

You've been play testing the same deck over and over, and now you're finally

bored with it. Bored with the card pool, bored with the players, even bored

with the metagame.


Everyone is getting ready for the big tournament, you know, the one that the

small pool of people who congregate at the local card shop play. Mainly because

it cost too much to drive to a big city like Springfield or Kansas City- And

there you are, stuck between a rock and a hard place. You, of all people, have

the resources to get to Springfield, but you don't exactly want to leave your

pizza parlor/coffee shop/ Nerd-Ville completely behind...So what can you do?

T here are several players

facing this dilemma every day. The simple answer is to car pool with a small

group of friends and get out of the mundane, even if it’s just for a day. It's

safer to carpool over going it alone too, because you can switch out drivers

periodically, it's cheaper on gas, but it’s a lot more inconvenient and slower

than normal (Mainly due to more frequent Taco Bell and bathroom stops). But

despite these minor cutbacks, traveling in groups, in the end, seems to be

"much more beneficial in the long run," said John Davidson, owner of

the "Changing Hands Book Shoppe," in Joplin, MO and veteran magic

player.

Blaine Smith, a player from the shoppe, agrees that "when you travel

with friends, you end up having a lot more to trade in when the time comes, and

even more fun."

Blaine and his card pool (friends) have been traveling up to Springfield to

visit "Meta games," and "Dragon's Den," for quite some time

now. "It's a whole lot of fun to actually get out of the 'pizza place

rut', and get to a place where players come every day to play test for serious

tournaments. I think it makes a better player out of you if you can extend your

testing that far," said Blaine.

Sydney Ward, one of the Joplin players in Blaine's pool, said that

"Going to different scenery is always worth the cost. Whether it's just

eating different food than the everyday junk, getting new cards, or even just

sitting around with friends play testing like you would back home - It all

seems much better when you step out and do something out of the mundane."

Going out of your average

parlor or nerd shop and into the unknown isn't exactly a
invigorating thought, considering the cost of gas and what-not; But
when you start thinking like this, go to your local vintage stock, you
know the one that everyone has already raped of all the

decent stuff, and most of the new stuff. Check out your collection of Moonlace,

Sunrise Sovereign and Ravnica Dual Lands, and remember- The grass

is always greener...on the other side of town.

- Steve Rose