[Duscussion] How to re-enter the scene after 5+ years off.

[Nitelite]

Greetings!

As the title suggests, I used to play Magic almost exclusively in the mid 90s. As my friends went away to college, my interest in the game diminished to the point where I packed up my cards and forgot about them for 5-6 years (Mirage/Alliance was last set I bought, not sure when they were released).

About six months ago I almost sold my collection to my brother and his friend who had started playing again.  I thought it over and decided that I would much rather keep the cards then part with them because they had been so much a part of my teenage years.  Thinking of them kind of revitalized my interest in the game again and I have started to collect some of the staple t1 cards from the later sets and have considerably grown my collection.

Here is my dilemma: I don't know a single person that plays. I have tried to meet people, but I feel a little awkward at 27 hanging out at hobby stores.  I noticed in Worcester MA that there was a place (That's Entertainment) that is having a t1 tourney with 5 proxies in a couple weeks. The prize structure is nothing extreme, so I am assuming they usually get like 15-20 people.  My girlfriend says I should just go for it, but I don't know a lot of the newer cards and am not confident in my knowledge of the rules (I've read through them on wizards site a couple times, and am pretty sure I know whats going on, after all, I have played this before, but I am probably below average at this point, primarily due to the fact that I have no one to play).

I feel slightly embarassed showing up at something like this with p9, bazaars and a tricked out old deck, and having to ask people what exactly their Oblivion Stone or Morphling is. I also will not be able to recognize deck types, and am sure to make an ass out of myself in decisions on what should be countered and what shouldn't, duressed, etc.

What do you guys think of my predicament? Should I leave my pride behind and suck up a few embarassing tourneys, or should I not be contemplating entering one at this point? If I do play, should I maybe not play power so I don't look ridiculous? Comments appreciated!

Nitelite

[BrokenNut]

Definately play. Such a good experience. And if you keep playing, you will learn everything you need fast. Especially if you hang out here and Starcity Games and just read up on everything you can. Try and go over all the new decks, if there is a card you aren't sure what it does, look it up online at something like http://www.crystalkeep.com or http://www.mtgpics.com.

You will have to take the licks though for a bit. Expect to lose to kids, it happens. Especially if you are out of touch. And don't worry, if you are powered, you may even win a few matches based just on that and perhaps do pretty well in the tourney. Most magic players are pretty forgiving about age and don't mind playing with older people at all, so don't worry about it. You should go there whenever you can to play some games with people, see what the decks are like and how they work. Call some stores, see if they have times when people just play casually, or go in during a tournament and try to catch people that are just milling about for a casual game.

But above all, have fun and enjoy the game. You will realize why you started playing in the first place, it's a great and interesting game, so enjoy it.

[Mage of Dreams]

Welcome back!!
My advise, get over it. Hell I'm 40 and play at most of the local stores and T1 tournys. Hehe, I actually drag my son along alot of the time. Actually besides myself and Chris (my son), David Hernandez and his son are regulars also!!

I personally have never encountered any "geriatric bias", and if the youngsters wanna talk smack behind my back thats cool, I can always get a good laugh knowing all the fun changes in attitudes and changes in lattitudes coming their way.

Seriously though, even when I was playing T2 alot, there was the occasional guy up in his 50's/60's playing. MTG is a hobby that we all share regardless of age.

I'm sure you remember how it's done. Walk on in the local shop, go up to someone and ask if they wanna play. Just let them know up front your playing a T1 deck. It usually doesn't matter, as long as you don't surprise them with 1st turn mox, mox, land, lotus, ancestral, time walk etc.

Growing old the best I can,
Shawn


"Gather all around the young ones, they will make us strong...." RJD

[Shadow Ninja]

Definitely, definitely play, but you may want to make sure you have a clear understanding of how the stack works and all.

[skecreatoR]

Play. O, play! The only way to learn is to play, so it is pretty simple.

If you want to become a better player, play online. The best program for this is Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com/). You can play every format, and every card is available to you. Taking decks from the primers and the T1 forums give you some decks worst testing and that will give you the needed edge on the current "Global meta".

I would surely be willing to learn & play with you in MWS, and a lot of other people is very friendly too. So go get it, and maybe join the IRC channel on Efnet, #themanadrain - i'm sure more then person in there would want to play some T1.

[Garth One Eye]

Welcome back!  

I too came back after a long hiatus  

One thing to be very careful of:  The price of Power has gone up considerably, so please make sure that you hang on to your deck at these tourneys and don't let it leave your sight!!  

While I have met so many fine upstanding people at most of the tourneys, there is always that scummy element waiting to take your cards.  

BTW, I'm 32, married w/ two small kids and I'm finding more and more older players every week.  

Great to hear about another Type I player back in action!  

[bloodpuppy11]

First off, welcome back.

I, like you, started playing in high school (right after Antiquities) and quit when I got to college (right about when Homelands came out, which may have had something to do with my decision to stop playing =P).  I started playing again about a year ago.  Unlike you, I sold off all my power when I quit, so I was forced to reacquire it (damn inflation, god bless having a real job.)

I am very happy that I decided to start playing again, and would suggest the following:

1)you're on this site, which is a good start.

2)go to the tournaments and lose.  I certainly did.  Your playskill will return in time.

3)I would strongly suggest downloading the free version of Magic Online.  While you can take or leave actually paying for an account, playing MTGO is useful because it displays "the stack" very well and can be very helpful in illustrating how timing works in the new rules.  Trust me, it helps you to understand better when someone says something like "OK I'll put the combat damage on the stack and then do this..."  

4)try to find the better players in your area and talk to them.  My experience with the T1 scene is that T1 players are, as a whole, very friendly and interested in helping people play better.  When I got back in, I went down to a tournament in Hadley and got a TON of help from people like Kowal and ill_dawg (thanks, guys!).  Try to find the people in your are who are in the know.

Good luck!

->patrick
Team VT