I had the possibility to go to a magic tournament on the 15th of May, and i went deep into thought on if i should go or not. I mean, think about it. I just started playing magic early March, and I love the game. However, i was wondering if i was good enough or if i could even compete. This left me with a choice. Go and watch, or Go and play. I decided to play because of my love for TCG's. I cant just sit back and watch, even if my dci rating would fall 20 points afterwards :D.

So, here I am. A Pokemon player at heart, standing in a small, stuffy room, with 30 or so magic players. I was actually dumb enough to bring my magic deck in a pokemon box (BIG MISTAKE!!!) but i eventually made a joke about it, and they let it pass. I sensed a big hate towards pokemon from these people, and it made me cringe in fear. (Not really, but it sounds good!) So, I register, about 15 minutes early, sit down, and talk to a few people i knew. In my honest opinion, I believe right now magic is getting more converts from pokemon then ever before... because most of the people who started playing pokemon were 11, or 12 when it first came out. Now, we're starting to begin to want to "Play with the big boys".

I hang out with a kid about 16 or so, and watch him drool over my deck with 4 ball lightning. He wants one really bad, so i offer him a trade (which i figured starting high was the way to go...) for 2 blastoderm and 2 saproling burst, figuring he would deny. He accepted, and it was a friggin beatdown ball lightning!!!! What the heck!!! However, i would feel that wrath soon enough. This isnt a kdr, so i'm not giving you my deck and details, but i will give you enough to understand.

My deck was a burn/fires type of deck. With the burst and blastoderms, it worked even better.

Round 1: Vs. 16 year old that traded earlier.

YAY! I would feel the wrath of ball lightning and thorn elemental! I'm so happy! :P First game, i burn him really really bad. I bolt first turn, bolt/shock 2nd, play llanowar elves 3rd, along with a sonic burst, play lightning elemental 4th, and beat him 5th.

2nd game, i burnt out early, and thorn elemental whooped me.

3rd game, i was stalling with a couple elves and stuff, but he got 2 thorns, and 2 rhoxes against me. OW!!!!!

0-1 (1-2)

After that game, i'm like... "Oh boy... i suck." He was a player that never made it to the top 8, and was playing what he called a fun deck. That scared me. Anyway, i was thinking that i would do horrible, but i still went on with it! :D

Round 2: Vs. Kid with black weenie style deck

um... ow? :/ I won the first game, easily getting a shivan dragon and a rhox out, equaling defeat for him. I still hadnt gotten the burst out, or blastoderm, and i was like, COME ON!!! I traded good for ya! :P (I think i said it out loud, because people were looking at me queerly...)

2nd game, he rushed me and i couldnt do a thing. He got those random unholy strengths out... :/

3rd game, was funny. A turn 4 kill for him. He rushed again, then on his 4th turn played not 1, 2, or 3, but 4!!! 4 unholy strengths on a 1/1 when i had nothing. I took 9 damage plus 3 from the others hurting me extremely.

0-2 (2-4)

Round 3: Vs. =/ kid who hadnt ever won a game in a tourney.

He'd played in 3 tourneys, this being his 3rd, and he said he'd never won a game. Another black rush, and another defeat. I lost soundly, in 2 games.

0-3 (2-6)

I thought of withdrawing, because i assumed i was getting a bye. Instead, another did that for me. Whoever that was, thanks! :D

Round 4: Rushwood deck with turbo green

I dont like these decks, they scare me. But a 4th turn rhox followed by a yavimaya wurm did the trick. Easy win 1st game, 2nd was tougher with him getting a thorn elemental, but my shivan wurm (My only one! :P) was played with fires in play, and he had nothing to block with.

1-3 (4-6)

Well, i enjoyed the tournament, and hope to go again. I believe magic is a great game, and has certainly brought me to enjoy both games. Pokemon is a game where you must be fast, and so is magic. Magic is a game where you must have balance, and so is pokemon. Both games are only good when the players are having fun, and that is accomplished as well. To anyone who hasnt tried both, i reccomend it. Wizards has been smart to adopt/make these two games, and maybe harry potter may be the next big card game, and we'll see. Until then, have fun with the two card games we do have.

Jonathan Schweppe (RaNd0mLaMeR)

rand0mlamer@hotmail.com

All mail welcome, except porn. Thanks!