[003] Magical Gatherings, Maniacal Blatherings
An ode to joy, the fuel of resistance.
I am a Planeswalker, and I will protect my home.
I wave my hand and call upon the wild magic that lives deep within Lorwyn’s soil. The air crackles, brimming with energy drawn from sloped forests and shallow shores alike. The ground splits open at my feet. An elemental, a swirling cloud of lightning and vapor, emerges from the depths.
The creature lets out a mighty roar and immediately explodes.
A second form, identical to the first, emerges from the smoke and lunges toward the intruder.
“Evoke Maelstrom Wanderer with Ashling’s ability. I’ll cascade twice before it ETBs. Then it’ll immediately die, but I’ll make a copy of it that doesn’t cascade and gives my creatures haste.”
I am not a Planeswalker. I’m a 37-year-old man with a beard, a belly, and a bunch of Bernie Sanders books.
This is not Lorwyn. It is my living room on a Saturday night that is rapidly approaching Sunday morning.
Mark studies his cards. He doesn’t have an answer, but he won’t die this turn. Maybe next turn. If I’m lucky.
My phone vibrates once. Twice. I glance down just long enough to see headlines before I turn it face down. A breaking news alert at 3:30 a.m. is a guaranteed vibe killer.
His turn. He draws.
It’s a board wipe. I am not lucky.
The battlefield evaporates, casting me into the Blind Eternities.
[2011]
Adam’s dorm room.
“So you play one land a turn,” he says. “Then you can tap it for mana as long as it’s still untapped.”
“And then you play a creature?”
“If you want to. You can also--”
[Present Day]
It’s Friday Night Magic. We arrive at a Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease event.
I pull an Ajani and some great Kithkins, going 2-1 for the evening. Mark, who is attending his first prerelease, goes 3-0.
My final opponent wins a raffle for a booster box and opens some packs while I am still there. We trade cards.
The evening is FNM in one of its purest forms. Cramped. Raucous. Joyful. Veterans and newcomers shoulder to shoulder.
It snows that night, but we don’t care. We arrive at 6 and leave much closer to midnight. Those hours give us refuge from not only the storm outside, but from the heavier one that follows us everywhere now.
[Circa 2013-2014]
I am the terror of the Commander tables at Gaming Universe. 29 KOs on the leaderboard. The next highest person has 14.
Some nights I play. On others, I work. We run tournaments several nights a week. We move mountains of product. We give away so many prizes. We build something people return to, week after week.
Booster packs are 3 bucks a pop and Obama is President.
Life isn’t perfect, but sometimes it feels pretty damn good.
“What? Who has time to play Magic anymore? COVID, the elections, whole damn world’s on fire. It’s a cool game, but I don’t really do a lot of it anymore. I’ll play Commander if I know someone who has a deck. Played one of the new Ravnica prereleases a couple years back. 2018? 2019? That was a good time.
Anyway, wanna run for State Executive Comm—”
[November 15, 2014]
Grand Prix New Jersey. I attend the event to play, but I also attend to pay rent. Over the course of those 3 days I sell nearly everything.
It’s a rational decision. Shauna has just started medical school. I’m about to begin a much more stable job, but those paychecks are still months and an entire Christmas away.
I get on I-95 not long before sunset, driving home with lighter binders and pockets that feel almost as heavy as my heart.
I don’t know it yet, but 10 days earlier, the Democrats in West Virginia just lost control of the legislature for the first time in over 80 years.
[Present Day] (again)
I open my eyes.
It’s Sunday morning. Well…maybe closer to lunchtime.
I stumble out of bed, groggy but motivated to start my day. After all, it’s the last day of prerelease weekend.
We get a booster box. It’s the first one I have purchased in years.
We go home. We open packs. We play more Commander games. We watch football.
The world waits just outside the front door. But for a little while it does not get inside.
I still read the news. I still sit with what’s breaking. I still try to understand what’s being lost and who is paying for it.
But this weekend gives something back to me.
Not answers.
Energy.
-S