This one is for all of you out there who used to play or are still playing Magic: The Gathering. Those who never did, well, hope you don’t get too confused reading this post, because I’m going to use a lot of M:TG terminology.
Been really strange the last few weeks, so many people have asked me either directly or via SMS about my involvement in the game. Well, let me say that it had a profound impact on my life and on what I am doing now. So here is my story.
My Magic “Career”
I have always loved reading fantasy novels, fantasy game books etc. When I was in primary 3 (1990) I started reading a game book series called “Way of the Tiger”. Its about ninjas; really interesting and really rare. I still have 2 books today, but they are in pretty beaten up condition.
I went one step up in Primary 6 (1993) when I started reading the “Lone Wolf” game book series. I still have the first 21 books kept in my cupboard. If I sell them on ebay, I can actually make quite a fortune.
But if that was not bad enough I got involved in Dungeons and Dragons. Not just the novels, but the RPG rulebooks. While most of it was reading material, I actually got down to playing the game towards the end of sec 4. Though only for a short while.
But the one game that I will forever remember is Magic: The Gathering. The very first collectible card game (CCG). It was released in 1993 and till today still has its legions of fans. Just some trivia for all of you, the Singapore Magic community was at one time one of the most powerful in the world. In my opinion, the mechanics of MTG are still the best in the business till today. No other game has lasted longer.
I picked up the game in Sec 2 (1995) while in Tanjong Katong Secondary School. It started of small, just 4 players in my class. Then it slowly spread to nearly the whole school. I was one of the pioneer players in my school. And you can say I was a pretty old school player all along.
I played the game at the height of its popularity, during the glory days of channel fireballs, mana flares and drop-hand decks. I started during the 3rd edition after Fallen Empires had come out and before Ice Age. It was during the days when basic land was actually in normal booster packs and the 10 Dual Lands cost less then $10 each.
My Decks
I started of playing with a “white weenie” deck; fast and almost unbeatable in my school. It worked by simply bringing out super low casting cost white creatures in the first few turns and dealing lots of damage before your opponent could bring out his larger creatures. Then finish him off with a serra angel or something big.
It was a pretty fun deck, but then my friend came along with a deck which worked on a much higher “technology” and soon everyone in school began to copy him. My deck started losing. Out of frustration I created a new deck, “Mass Destruction”.
It was white based, but used cards like Armageddon, Wrath of god, Balance, Neverynal’s Disk to destroy everything on the field of play. It had red for some destructive cards and combined white red defensive cards. It finally used an Island Sanctuary to stop drawing cards and prevent attacks. Then it was a long wait till the opponent ran out of cards.
Eventually, the Alliance expansion came out with pretty funky counterspells and I changed to blue white. White for the destruction cards, blue for the counterspells. It used a huge Ice Cauldron Braingeyser to run the opponent out of cards. That deck lasted till the end of sec 3 (1996).
I played Magic much less in sec 4, but I occasionally ventured out to buy some cards. It was during my sec 4 year that I began acquiring huge cards like Timetwister. But in sec 4, most of my friends had quit playing and most of us were pretty focused on studying for the O levels.
During my sec 4 year, during the times I played; I played a turbo stasis deck. 4 howling mines, 4 stasis, and lots of land. The whole idea was the run the opponent out of cards ASAP. It also had 4 black vices to kill fast. But around this time they restricted the black vice.
During JC, I more or less stopped playing. But I still played occasionally. I had returned to my roots. Spellfire deck; pure red; pure damage. 4 lightning bolts, 4 disintergrates, 4 chain lightnings, 4 fireblast etc etc. Get the idea? Unfortunately it had one major weakness, it lost steam too fast, if I did not win within 4 or 5 rounds, I was a sure loser.
It was during JC that I started to really acquire huge cards. Black Lotus, 3 moxes, many dual lands, 4 psionic blasts etc etc. I started to make a comeback towards the end of JC 2, just before entering the SAF.
And it was during my SAF days that I created my final and most successful deck, turbo counter-fire. It was a base red and blue deck. But it had a total of 4 colours; all except black. It used lightning bolts, disintegrate, shock, psionic blast, shock and chain lightning as its main weapons. Then 4 howling mines for card drawing; the addition of counterspells was a shock to many opponents who thought their stuff could not be countered.
The sneakiest part was the addition of 2 red elemental blasts which countered only blue cards. But since everyone has blue cards in type 1, I thought no harm done! It worked. The final part was 2 wildfire emissaries which had protection from white. In other words, protection from Swords to Plowshares, a standard in type 1 decks.
That deck stood its own and won me more matches than any of my other decks. It was fast and had the sustaining power. And when I finally quit in 2001, I had a final “ceremonial game” with my friends to end of my “career” so to speak. The deck worked perfectly, and it was the $300 Black Lotus which won me the game. I drew it along with a lot of damage cards to deal a whopping 10 points plus of damage in the final turn. (The final turn was like turn 3 of the game or something, and I and my opponent had less than 10 life combined)
Why I quit
I would love to say that I was convicted of the “evilness” of the game etc so I quit. But that was not the case. The real matter was that I stopped active playing in 2001 because I had joined the Youth Worship Team. And since the YMWT (as it was known then) met on Saturdays and my friends met on Saturdays for magic, I chose to come for YM practices instead.
But after a year of almost not playing magic, I did not feel the need to play the game anymore. I had no more interest in it. I had become more focused on my service to God. I realised then that Magic was just a distraction, I still kept my cards because of the “what if” factor. What if one day I feel like playing again? What if one day the cards would go up in price, and I sell it then! What if?
I finally decided one day in 2001 to give up the game for good. September 11 had just happened and I realised that there was more to life than just the “what ifs”. So I made a deal with my friends, I sold of every Magic Card I owned, save for a few that I still keep in my bedside drawer, for $900. They could keep the rest of the profits. It was a deal they could not refuse, as the cards were worth way more than that.
But with the money I bought my current Yamaha BB1500 bass as well as the Baby Taylor. I have since sold the Baby Taylor, but I used the cash to buy Isaac’s old Les Paul, so I guess it’s a good deal. The BB1500 still sees occasional service in church.
Those of you out there who still have issues in giving up the game, well, pick up a new hobby like me; I started to learn the guitar and the bass. I needed the money. That was a good motivation to sell the cards and finally rid myself of the addiction. It took me 6 years, but I did it anyway.
God’s mercy through it all
Is Magic The Gathering an “evil” or “satanic” game. Those who read my 20 page monster testimony will know the answer to that question. Many of you will disagree, but my answer is no. While it is true that the original set of cards did have demonic references and while it is true that it was one of the main reasons I strayed away from God, it is also one of the main reasons for what I am doing today.
Magic thought me a lot of things. Speed calculation, analytical thinking, exhaustive thinking, probabilistic calculation, logic etc. (Think of a game of chess but with over 6000 different pieces instead or the usual 16 per side.) All vital skills for mathematics.
Magic created by Professor Richard Garfield, a mathematician, and his Ph.D was in combinatorics. A branch of mathematics which relates to problem solving, counting methods (combinations and permutations etc), graph theory and algorithms. It is a very interesting branch of mathematics, and something which I began to have a great interest in lately. I am even thinking of doing an Honours project in this field if I am given the chance.
Although I had strayed away from God during those years, even though I nearly left the church, even though I messed with the “dark side” so to speak. God was still merciful and even when I played Magic, He used it to refine my ability in mathematics and brought me to where I am today.
My Magic years are to a large extent, one of regret. But it is an instance on God’s great mercy towards me. I have never had to ask those “what if” questions. And in fact, giving up Magic lifted a great big burden of my shoulders. I have never looked back since.
