What is your profession? (An introduction to me)

So I got this message from our local Mtg hero, Marco that he wants me to write about T1 for our site Magiciloilo.com. As he is the best player in our area and a friend as well, I couldn’t refuse.

Because I know that most of the readers of this site are not into vintage as much as I am (this is not really a vintage article by the way), I’ll try to write this piece as entertaining as I could. This is an excerpt of an interview a friend of mine did a while back. I hope you enjoy it.

Preface

So one day I met an old friend of mine, let’s call him by the initials K.L., He’s also a fellow Mtg player. He asks if he could have some of my time for a quick interview. As I didn’t have anything else to do, I oblige his request. So let’s get started.

K.L.: Hey man.

Rei.: Yo!

K.L.: For those of us, who don’t know you, please tell us who you are.

Rei.: Let’s just call me Rei., is that cool?

K.L.: Sure thing man, no problem.

K.L.: So what have you been up to man, still playing “The Game”?

Rei: Yeah, it’s not just a game to me, it’s a way of life.

K.L.: A way of life huh, how so?

Rei: I wake up in the morning (Untap), take breakfast (Upkeep), get ready for the day (Draw), go to work (Main Phase), get the work done (Attack Step), party a little (Second Main Phase) then get back home for the night (end my turn). LOL. When I get anxious, I tell my self to calm down. I go “calm down man just, Untap, Upkeep, Draw…” Mtg has taught me patience.

K.L.: That’s a good description of a Magical life. What can you say about the stereotype that gamers are losers or nerds?

Rei: That definitely is not true, at least not around here it isn’t. Players I know have social lives, girlfriends and others are already happily married with kids. We even have our own version of the famous Don Juan, “El Magikero”. Watch out for his columns, they’re going to be a blast to read. Let me just reiterate that not all gamers fall under the stereotype “nerdy loser”.

K.L.: Good answer.

K.L.: What format in particular are you most interested in?

Rei: For me it has to be Vintage, Type 1 for all you old schools out there.

K.L.: Cool. I like standard myself. I once tried to play Vintage but it seems so hard to build a good T1 deck right? I mean the P9, Drains, Shops, Zaars and dual lands cost like an arm and a leg. So how do you do it? Acquire all the powerful cards I mean.

Rei: A couple of things. I already own most of the essential cards to start a T1 deck. Duals, Forces and other stuff that’s not the p9 or the big 3. I got them from way back when they were still cheap. I am still saving up for my first piece of real power and hopefully this Christmas I will be able to own one.

If you are just starting Vintage, the first thing you have got to do is, get a job. Magic is not a cheap hobby, it will drain your budget like a hot girlfriend. Secondly, vintage is not as pricey as it seems, you have to remember that vintage has no set rotation, whatever you buy, you can play with forever or for as long as magic is still alive. Third and most important, most vintage tournaments are non-sanctioned and have an X card proxy limit, usually 10-15 cards, so you can just proxy those power cards that you don’t own yet.

The hard thing about vintage is the getting in part, but once you get that over with you no longer have to spend much every time a new set is released.

K.L.: I see what you mean. So what is it exactly about vintage that you like?

Rei: You see, I started playing around 1995. My favorite set was Alliances, it still is. I think it was the set where I bought the most booster packs, mostly searching for Kjeldoran Outposts, in the process acquiring myself a lot of Force of Wills. Let’s just say that once you have played a spell for free, you never want to pay for spells ever again.

I just can’t seem to wrap my head around a format where I am not allowed to play spells for free or just at a cheap price at least. First they take away my Swords now they replace my Counterspell with a dumbed down version? GTFO man, no way! So it is Vintage for me.

K.L.: To each his own eh?

Rei: Yep.

K.L.: So it’s just Vintage for you? No other formats?

Rei: No, I do play other formats. I’m a student of the game, I like all formats, be it Standard, Extended or Limited, just not as much as I love Vintage. Standard is the most played format in my area, so sometimes I have to get with the program.

K.L.: So you do play standard. Any noteworthy accomplishments?

Rei: For as long as I have been playing this game most of it was spent playing casual. It was just recently when tournaments here became sanctioned. When that happened a couple other hardcore Mtg players here started joining big events such as Regionals and the recently concluded Grand Prix Manila. I guess my biggest accomplishment DCI wise, so far would be placing second in the 2008 Visayas Regionals which qualified me to play in my first Nationals event. But as a whole, I am most proud of my angel collection which only lacks an alternate art Chinese starlit angel. I am now in the process of trying to foil out all of the angels possible.

Lets stop right there, I think that’s all the information you need to know. From there you can deduce that my name is Rei, I’m a magic player, my favorite format is Vintage and that I like angels. So until next time…
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Audience: Hey, we’re not done yet!

Rei: Wah? Why?

Audience: Who the f**k is K.L.?

Rei: Oh, sorry. The “K” stands for “King” and the “L” stands for “Leo”. There, now satisfied?

Audience: Hell no, King Leo as in Leoric the Skeleton King from Diablo or Dota?

Rei: No not that one, it’s our favorite king, form Sparta.

Audience: GTFO man, Spartan kings don’t play Magic. This article is a sham. I’ll organize my own 300 and hunt you down.

Rei: No, no. I can prove to you that he really does play Magic.

Audience: Oh yeah? This better be good…

Rei: Look no further.

Rei: Now do you believe me? That was the time when he said he tried to play Vintage. That was the time when he and Xerxes first became enemies. That was when he first discovered MADNESS!!!

So there you have it boys and girls, me, my friend Leo and his nemesis Xerxes. We don’t care whether you play vintage, standard or limited. When some one points to you and asks:

“What is your profession?”

Be proud and reply:

“I’m a Magic Player.”

Parts of the above story (me knowing Leonidas, come on that was a dead giveaway) was definitely made up, but so are most good stories right? Anyway that’s it for me. Ciao.

This is Rei, playing spells for free since ’95.