Lore
No matter what outward appearances might suggest, MTG is not an obsession of mine. The game was introduced to me by Ghaida'a about a year ago. At the time, it was one of those things we would do after gym, when trying to beat each other at squash wasn't nearly enough so we had to engage in another competitive activity.
I inherited her 2011 core set when she moved to the US, and eventually, I met other MTG players at GeekFest Jeddah, played it with Ghaidaa over a Google hangout (with physical cards! *facepalm*), and then got the iPad version of the game. A natural progression, if I'm asked.
Naturally, too, I got sucked in to the lore. This was inevitable; there exists so much about the MTG multiverse that may not be ignored. Last month, I got my first physical books from Squeek, because Squeek is nothing if not an enabler of geeky pursuits.
And because I am nothing if not a challenge accepter and a constant prover of myself, I dove right in.
It was daunting, the reading list for MTG. Never having seen actual videos or read comic books or seen images except for the playing cards, I was afraid it was going to be a(nother) commitment I wasn't (am not!) prepared to get into.
That's a lie of course. I'd already committed. My Friday evenings in the past couple months have been dedicated solely to MTG with friends - I even got my non-geek friends into it.
Part of my motivational self-talk before each workout is the threat of a Garruk attack.
I inherited her 2011 core set when she moved to the US, and eventually, I met other MTG players at GeekFest Jeddah, played it with Ghaidaa over a Google hangout (with physical cards! *facepalm*), and then got the iPad version of the game. A natural progression, if I'm asked.
Naturally, too, I got sucked in to the lore. This was inevitable; there exists so much about the MTG multiverse that may not be ignored. Last month, I got my first physical books from Squeek, because Squeek is nothing if not an enabler of geeky pursuits.
And because I am nothing if not a challenge accepter and a constant prover of myself, I dove right in.
It was daunting, the reading list for MTG. Never having seen actual videos or read comic books or seen images except for the playing cards, I was afraid it was going to be a(nother) commitment I wasn't (am not!) prepared to get into.
That's a lie of course. I'd already committed. My Friday evenings in the past couple months have been dedicated solely to MTG with friends - I even got my non-geek friends into it.
Part of my motivational self-talk before each workout is the threat of a Garruk attack.
"Can you protect this house from Garruk's Packleader?! CAN YOU?!"
The books help me understand the deck I'm playing. The battles I fight become more of a story, less of a competition. I understand the motivations of each player, I can see what strategies will and won't work, I have a good idea of my opponents' (and my own!) skills and limitations.
I think that most of all, it helped me shut up about shitting on the fantasy genre just because I enjoy sci-fi.
Last year's binge on Doctor Who canon is now being balanced out by this year's binge on MTG lore.
Now, who knew.
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