Its early June 1994, the weather is beautiful in Fort Worth Texas and a 13 year old William(me) succeeds in convincing his father to take him to the local comic store, C&T Comics, just before he takes William with him on a business trip out of town. William takes his time looking all over the store. His father Freddy is growing impatient but humors his son. Finally the mystical design on a particular item catches his eye. "Magic The Gathering" he reads aloud. The clerk chimes in "it's a fun multiplayer card game, plus that box set includes a sack of glass beads in a pouch for counters to keep track of things in the game and a small pewter statue of a wizard that sits atop a dial and turns to show the number your health is at."
(Image Source: https://www.wizardscupboard.com/reaper-minatures-scrye-life-counter-gold-plated-p-45862.html)
One look at the statue and William is sold. The game is secondary but a pouch of what looked like magic gems and an amazing little statue of a wizard summoning a monster from between his hands was enough to ignite his interest. William shows Freddy and despite the price($30USD I believe) he acquiesces on one condition: that he never be asked to play the game(A stipulation he later broke on his own).
The rest, as they say, is history folks. This was how I discovered the single greatest game known to man. Magic is like nothing else for a litany of reasons but what I love most is, it's what each person wants it to be. Some people want breakneck competition, some people want a social gathering, some people want to see the random chaos unfold, and others want to see their delicately laid plans come to fruition. No matter what they all want to have fun and that at its core is what's magic about Magic(I had to do it). I often pitch it to people I meet as a union of the strategy of chess combined with the randomness of poker.
A few years ago I rekindled a friendship with someone I went to high school with. Ryan had been playing magic as long as I had, we didn't really hang out in high school but when we started hanging out recently he was deep in the tournament scene of Magic and there is a certain mindset that comes with that. Being that you must extinguish your opponent as rapidly as possible. The goal of the game is to win but it was made to be fun and the deeper down that line of thinking you go the less it maintains its fun essence and the more it becomes almost a chore. So when I met him again later in life I had lived all that time playing casual games with friends and had pretty much avoided the tournament scene. When he played me the first time a few years ago he was blown away. After all those years of playing opponents who derived pleasure exclusively from crushing their enemy, here was a person who still managed to play sheerly for the love of the game. He later admitted to me that I had saved his interest in the game and had I not showed him how to take it easy and just enjoy it for what it was then he would have surely cashed out his collection and quit all together.
Now I have a tight knit group of regulars(whats known as a play group or pod) that I play with every time im home. We lovingly refer to ourselves as "The Circle of Doom" and you never know who will do what, it's always a great time. Add some beers, snacks, and a few other recreational materials ;) and you have a recipe for just about the best time you can have with friends. If you've never played I highly suggest you find your local comic shop and look into learning how and if you do play but you find yourself in Ryan's old line of thinking I implore you, take a step back and try to think back to the fun you felt when you first began.
Now get out there and have a fantastic day!