Magic: the Gathering as a metaphor for life.

[iamfishman]

Last year, I had an experience that left me nothing short of floored.  Many of you have read it either when I posted it, or the many times I have linked to it in posts.  Well, this year was no exception.  I had a match of Magic, the first round of the Vintage Champs no less, that basically was one of the most monumental in all of my time playing magic.

Background Story #1:
Well, I guess background story #1 was just mentioned.  If you want to read about my last unbelievable trip to Gencon, here is the link: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=24424.0

Background Story #2:
I sit down round one for the Vintage Prelim tourney.  I turn to my left while shuffling my deck and who do I see sitting opposite Tommy Kolowith at the very first table: PHIL SPINELLA.

“Phil, who?” you are saying.  Phil Spinella is a magic player from yore.  He was one of the first magic players I ever played with when I picked up the game way back in 95.  We had many good times including huge Ice Age, Fallen Empire Drafts.  I hadn’t seen him in about 7 years.  “HOLY *#(^%,” I yell, “Look everyone. It’s Phil.”  Everyone looks at me weird.

I catch up with Phil after the match.  Turns out he came down with Lou Fernandez, another old timer from 95 who actually owned a store called Wizards that I ran some of my first few tournaments out of(pre-waterbury).  Magic wasn’t the main reason for them coming to Gen-Con, but Phil wanted to try his hand at type 1.  Turns out he was playing an aggro deck with Ball Lightning, Berserk, Icy Manipulator, and Lightning Dragon.  Then I am surprised more to hear he beat Tommy.

During the next round, I found ICBM members, including Tommy, sitting at a table.  I made some obnoxious jokes to roast Tommy.  Something to the effect of, “Tommy, how big is a berserked Ball Lightning.”  It was the kind of ribbing that was funny to me at the time, yet totally unneeded. 

Background Story #3:
I feel I am an under evaluated player.  I have won countless Mox tourneys in the northeast, yet have not had a breakout performance in a big event.  The reason why I have not done well at a Waterbury is obvious, but I have missed top 8 at SCG 5 times by one round.  I have also done well at other Gencon events, except the main event.  For example, this year I top 8ed the Vintage Prelim, 4 way split the $500 event and won various packs in other Vintage Side events.  I told Steve M, however, I REALLY wanted to well at this years Champs…I needed it, or so I felt.

Ok…so here goes…the main story:

I sit down round 1 of the Vintage Champs.  My opponent wins the die roll and play:

Mountain
Raging Goblin
Attack
Go

I’ll repeat that for any of you that might have missed it.

Mountain
Raging Goblin
Attack
Go

I look at my hand (I’m playing Staxless Stax)of:
Goblin Welder
City of Brass
City of Brass
Mox Emerald
Tinker
Crucible
Tangle Wire

and I smile.

My turn, I draw a second Crucible and play City, Welder, Mox.
He goes attacks, and plays Goblin Lackey.
I go, draw something else useless(Sundering Titan??) and Tinker out:

Nope…Not Triskellion, for you see my friends, that would be the play I would make against a player who I had more respect for.

I get Memory Jar, planning to be explosive and over the top to this Raging Goblin Newb.  I proceed to crack it, because OF COURSE I’m going to get one of my many 0 casting cost artifacts (Moxen, Lotus, Chalice, Mana Crypt)or something to play at least and because knowing this guy he has main deck Shatter.

I whiff, nothing, nada, I dump it all.

Next turn he proceeds to play Mogg Fanatic, killing my Welder, and continues beating.  I draw Academy(good with no artifacts) and die a few turns later to Lightning Bolts and Goblin Grenades.

I begin to go on tilt.  What the hell just happened?  I look next to me to Rich Shay for hope…but am still really concerned.  “Wait, no you’re not,” I tell myself, “He is just some newb.  These next two games will be cake.”

I side in Fire/Ice x2 and Darkblast.

My opening draw is:
City of Brass
Mishra’s Workshop
Gemstone Mine
Mox Emerald
Mox Saphire
Demonic Tutor
Mana Vault

Now what is the right play?

I get cocky and stupid and instead of making the right play, I cast first turn Demonic Tutor for Ancestral and cast it.  What do I see, Chalice, Land, Sensei’s Top.   I play Chalice at one AFTER he plays his next turn Lackey and I have put my top on the table.  My next 8 cards are Lands and/or Goblin Welder while I get beat to a pulp.  I sign the match result slip without a word and my opponent leaves.

I have not scooped up my cards.

I have in front of me(give or take a card): 3 Workshops, 3 City of Brass, 2 Gemstone Mine, 3 Moxen, 1 Top, 1 Mana Vault, 1 Chalice of The Void, 1 Gemstone Mine, 1 Sol Ring

I proceeded to sit, motionless, barely speaking, for the next 37 minutes(the entire time from the end of the match, to the posting of the next rounds pairings).

“How the hell did this happen?” ran through my head over and over and over and over. I could not believe it.  It was like some surreal experience. “He was a scrub, how did I lose?”

I though alot during those 37 minutes.  They say that sometimes we are prone to great moments of insight where we see things more vividly than we would when we are to confidant or comfortable to be detached from a situation.  I feel like this was one of those moments.  To reach that point, though, I had to detach myself from the game of Magic.

When Steve M, and I played at last years Gencon, I told him something that I do whenever things aren’t going my way…I think of a bum.  That’s it.  A bum. 

What I mean by this is that we as humans have such a hard time with relativity(not the Einstein version, the comparative one).  We have a hard time looking at situations out of context with others that we know.  For example, how bad was that game in comparison to things that happened to me that day…probably the worst.  How about that week? Not really.  The year? Definitely not.  Mox Lotus said it best in his thread about how he lost his deck at Gencon saying that he would be much more angry if his dog was stolen than his deck.  Stop for a second and think of all the things you have in life that are more important than this card game: A family, a place to live, clothing to keep you warm, food, loved ones, friends, other hobbies, your job, etc.  The list is nearly endless.  Now, imagine yourself being homeless and destitute.  Would you trade places with a bum.  Would you give up all you have and be homeless living on the streets, just so you don’t lose that match of magic.  Would a bum trade with you when you lose a game of magic or stub your toe, or lose $30 playing poker to a bad beat, or when you lock your keys in the car…In a freakin’ heartbeat he would.  Relativity, my friends, relativity.

Now detached I stared at my board more.  But I began to see through the cards and look for what life lesson I was to learn from this, as I try to find logic in all that happens.  What I came up with was this.  That game, and probably every game of Magic we play are filled with metaphors for how we should behave in life.  Fitting because as I said, Magic is a microcosm(sp?) of the greater scheme of life in general.  I saw the following:

1.)   Karma is all around us.  Why did I rag on Tommy about his match loss to my friend Phil? Was it really so significant? People lose matches of Magic all the time; I would be so bold as to say that about half the people in a tournament lose each round.  Did it change the situation to act the way that I did to Tommy? Not in the least.  Here I was making light of a situation that I would not want to be the butt of.  Little did I know that not only would I have a similar loss in round 1, of an even more important event, but when I was explaining to some people what happened in that round I expected people to laugh, but Paul Mastriano took it to a whole new level.  While it upset me, I deserved every chuckle Paul had.  Lesson learned.  I have always lived my life trying to be a good person believing full well that karma governs us, and whether you think it is silly or not that I believe this, you can’t debate the fact that I could live a worse lifestyle than always trying to do things as I would want them to happen to me. How does this a metaphor for real life? Live by the Golden Rule! I know I will think twice before I laugh at someone stuttering or honk my horn at an old man walking slowly across a street after my light has turned green.
2.)   Underestimation is the start of defeat.  I feel as though this should be some chapter from that book “The Art of War.”  What I ultimately did wrong began when I first saw that Raging Goblin.  I immediately pegged my opponent down as an easy win and played like a Timmy, instead of a Spike.  Could I have won that match?  Absolutely, but I was my own worst enemy.  I implore you all out there…never underestimate someone.  You will instantly be on equal footing again.  View all opponents in magic and life as skilled adversaries, and never let your guard down.  Real life metaphor? You bet.  Never will I go into a job interview where the person interviewing me looks like a complete schmuck and blow the interview because I am overconfident.  I will think twice before taking anyone’s ability for granted.
3.)   Life is much more than a few shallow rectangular pieces of cardboard.  Can things always be worse? Absolutely.  That match was simultaneously the most devastating and least devastating event of the weekend.  What a bizarre parallel into one considers that it takes something dramatic happening to have a profound effect.  Perhaps, I was meant to have that match be so significant(yet part of something as insignificant as Magic) to have a significant impact on my set of life philosophies.  In that sense, was the match not a positive one?  Metaphor for life- take the good with the bad, find the good that comes with the bad, and move forward, not backward.  Among stumbling blocks in my life that resulted(indirectly of course, but with a clear progression)
-My childhood diagnosis that I was to die or be mentally stupid within the year, leading to my mom’s efforts to overeducate me.  I’m applying for a doctorate program in December.
-The passing of my father leading to the birth of my nephew(long story)
-My initial rejection from the Education program causing me to reevaluate my reasons and priorities which I now attribute to being a better teacher than I would have been.

I stared at that board for 37 minutes, because I wanted to never forget that match.  I wanted to ingrain that match in the very front of my subconscious.  I want to have it in my memory as vivid as my phone number, or my brother’s birthday.  I want that game to help me make better decisions in the future, both in and out of Magic.

The next time you are in a situation in life, maybe you should consider a similar situation in Magic and ask yourself…what is the “correct play”.

[ELD]

If magic is a metphor for life, I think the most important lesson we can learn is from Yawgmoth's Bargain.

Cards are more important than Life.

[Whatever Works]

Very well written Ray. It takes alot of will power to deliver a message like that so clearly. I was there and I saw this actually happen, and the odds of the same thing again Ray calculated at 169 to 1 for game 2.

I have to say that I have probably been guilty (make that definetly) of underlooking players who I feel I am much better then. Its a magic lesson, and a valuable life lesson.

On a sidenote the goblin player finished with a record of 6-2 without power, but with 4 portal raging goblins.

Kyle L

[TopSecret]

     Thank you for delivering such an important message so well.

I too, have been on the recieving end of a sound magic beating from a 'newb'.
I agree that one of the most important things really is to not go on tilt or become overconfident.
This lesson, which I have learned though Magic among other things, is a life long lesson and something to strive for.

     It is refreshing to hear that you have learned so much from that game of Magic, Ray.
I hope you continue to learn just as much in the future, and apply it to your life as you have thus far.

     Good luck!

[Moxlotus]

I too, have been on the recieving end of a sound magic beating from a 'newb'.
I agree that one of the most important things really is to not go on tilt

So important.  That's how I lost my deck.  I went on tilt after losing to someone I thought was a noob (who actually went like 6-2 in the main event). 

[iamfishman]

I too, have been on the recieving end of a sound magic beating from a 'newb'.
I agree that one of the most important things really is to not go on tilt

So important.  That's how I lost my deck.  I went on tilt after losing to someone I thought was a noob (who actually went like 6-2 in the main event). 

OMG...was it the same Raging Goblin/Goblin Grenade player?

[Moxlotus]

I too, have been on the recieving end of a sound magic beating from a 'newb'.
I agree that one of the most important things really is to not go on tilt

So important.  That's how I lost my deck.  I went on tilt after losing to someone I thought was a noob (who actually went like 6-2 in the main event). 

OMG...was it the same Raging Goblin/Goblin Grenade player?

No, but it was a deck that had basic mountain in it.  I also got down turn 1 necro 2 games in a row and lost both.

[forests failed you]

Ray,

The next time I slow roll and completely pwn some newb at a Limited PTQ, I'm going to slam my Hex down on the table twice as hard for you.  I hate Goblin beatdowns.

[Darkenslight]

Fishman: if only many other people could see the world as you do.

It would be a much better place.  You have an open-mindedness that most people (including myself) lack.  You seem to take things easy, and accept that what's happening could be your fault.

Something I've noticed is that older CCG players tend to be the best people I've ever known.  It's one of the reasons I hope to ba able to get the cards to play in a Vintage tournament someday.

*mutters something about the difficulty of getting power in the UK*

[Harlequin]

Quick magic story that solidified by total belief in Karma. 


My very first waterbury.  I am playing Foodchain Goblins, My brother eric is playing W/B Discard (featuring the rack as the primary win condition) and Jer is playing EBA (or possibly mono-green).  For me to play FCG that day, we need to do some serious tradeing, we took a bit of a loss because we feel into that unfortunate catagory of "I need this card to play today... so rip me off."   I remember looking in the trade book afterwords and being disappointed about how little we had left.

This was one of the waterburies were the computer screwed over the round one results, so there was a good hour to kill between rounds 1 and 2.  Durring that time Jer played a few games against the guy who happened to be sitting across from us.  After they had played enough games, the 4 of us just chatted about magic and stuff.  We knew we were noobies and liked to absorb as much information as we could.  Pairings finally went up and the guy picked up his deck and left. 

As Jer, Eric and I were getting our belongings together, Eric pointed to a short stack of cards.  Jer picked them up and rifled through them.  Lotus, a drian or 2, fetches..... it was the other guys graveyard from the last game Jer and He played.  The guy was LONG gone, he was in the mad cluster of people looking for round 2 pairings.  We all were thinking the same thing ... well its highly unlikely that we will win a lotus today ...  But of course the angels on our collective shoulders won and we fanned out to find the guy.  He was actually at the round 2 table shuffling up, totally didn't know he was missing about a dozen cards from his deck.  Jer handed him the deck, and he thanked us.

Well 3 or so rounds later we scrubbed as predicted.  And it was time to go home.  But we could all feel warm inside knowing that we didn't ruin someone elses day.  We all pile into my 2 door Cavaleer and discuss where to stop and eat.  We pull out of the parking garage and around infront of the hotel, and stop at a red light.  The car next to us beeps at us and motions us to roll down the windows.  As I do, I hear them shouting "Hey, you've got something ontop of your car!!"  ---  I poke my head out and low and behold, right over my side of the car is my deck box.  At the time I used a 5-in white box to hold my deck, by bag of dice, and some of my favorite cards that were "not for trade." As I pulled the deck inside, the other card pulled away at the green light before I really got to say Thank you. 

I couldn't help but see all the things that had to come into perfect harmony for that deck to be recovered.  Had we stolen the guy's deck - Would we have left the garage at that same moment?  Would I have driven faster?   Would I have taken the turn different or hit a bumb?  Would the light have been green?  Would there be a nieghboring car who was as alert and cared enough to get my attention?  Would I have put the stolen cards in that white box? I most likely would have...

That is the exact moment were I came to understand that life is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Lastly, Had I never decided to play Magic at Waterbury ... Would I believe in this today?

[ashiXIII]

If magic is a metphor for life, I think the most important lesson we can learn is from Yawgmoth's Bargain.

Cards are more important than Life.

This is my favorite post on all of TMD. It's also the most true thing I've ever heard.

[diopter]

...life is greater than the sum of its parts...

Amen. The most true thing I have read or heard in some time - every action, every event and every story is interconnected. We never know the full consequences of our actions, so the best we can hope to do is to do the right thing and have faith that good begets good. It may not always be apparent to us in the crystal-clear way that it was apparent to Harlequin, but at the end of the day we will still have the knowledge that we did the right thing - and that knowledge in itself is already a good consequence.

The next time you are in a situation in life, maybe you should consider a similar situation in Magic and ask yourself…what is the “correct play”.

[Aaron]

This is one of the greatest threads on TMD - Really. The lesson it teaches is hard to learn, but invaluable once one has learned it.

There have been two recent tournaments in Arizona for a Bazaar. I won the first one with Gifts, beating nearly every tier 1 deck out there at the time. For the second, I was naturally very confident. I plowed through until the third or fourth round, where I got a stone cold beating by Food Chain Goblins. I drew just fine, but I thought I would just do neat things and win instead of actually playing my game. I was a dick to my opponent, who is actually a friend of mine.

I then plowed through straight to top 4, and had to face the FCG player again. This time, I wasn't going to make the same mistake, but it didn't matter anyway. I received the most severe case of mana screw ever (zero mana sources in any games until mulls to 5, then him drawing 2-3 strips & Goblin Vandal). Karma is a bitch. My friend proceeded to split the Bazaar with the other finalist, instead of me splitting it.

I wasted a lot of time moaning about these losses, until I realized I read this thread and realized it was my fault for being a dick and underestimating my opponent. Had I simply played the proper game during the swiss, I would probably have never run into FCG again, thus negating the entire situation.

Respect for one's opponent is not only the right attitude to have, but it will more than likely convert many of those l's to w's.

[Mr. Type 4]

when I was explaining to some people what happened in that round I expected people to laugh, but Paul Mastriano took it to a whole new level.  While it upset me, I deserved every chuckle Paul had.  Lesson learned.

Ray,

      I apologize if I was insensitive about your loss to the Raging Goblin guy.  I had no idea that you had taken the loss so hard, and if I did I wouldn't have cracked a single joke, instead opting for a pat on the back and some encouraging words.  Seriously, Ray, you've been due for a long time, and you're a good player.  You're going to break out of the box soon, and when you do, I'm sure you'll go on a tear and rack up a string of victories.  That always happens to people that miss the cut a lot of times in a row (myself included).

When I play, I rarely get emotional about the result.  Winning makes you high on life, and losing can feel pretty shitty, especially when you are left to agonize about what you could have done differently.  It's clear in this situation that you were beating yourself up not because you lost, but because you lost due to your own arrogance.  When you lose because you made a stupid mistake (I once decided not to Force of Will a Yawgmoth's Bargain vs. JDizzle in a TOP 8) it's the worst.  I came to many of the conclusions that you have come to a good while ago, and I often forget how seriously people take this game.  Honestly, there aren't too many things I take very seriously, and the things that I do are pretty damn serious.  

Instead of agonizing, I always focus on the fact that no matter what happens in the game, I'm going to have an enjoyable trip.  I'm going to hang out with my friends, get blazed, play Type 4, and laugh my losses off.  I've played a ton of tournaments where I finished just under the cut (the worst for sure was making 65th place Grand Prix Philadelphia and having to leave the tournament because my last round opponent made a death threat against me) and I understand the frustration. I hadn't really realized how important it was to you to make a good showing at this event, and when I heard about your loss to raging goblin guy, I didn't understand the context.  I didn't get the impression that you weren't at a point where it was ok to laugh about it.  I didn't realize that you had lost because you underestimated your opponent, I thought you just had a bad beat.  

I'm happy that the whole incident has made you realize that it's silly to go around being upset because you lost.  I hope that people that read this can use it to learn such a lesson without having to go through what you did to come to this conclusion.  I'm sure that from now on you'll always play at the top of your game

So, Ray, I hope that you won't hold it against me.  I was just bustin your balls a little bit.  Feel free to get me back the next time I do something dumb.  

                Sincerely,
                       Paul Mastriano

PS - This shit happens to everyone.  When I played Grim Long in Chicago I Necroed myself low and got killed by a that stupid burn spell with scrye on it.  Then that guy had Tormod's Crypt in game 2 and I couldn't hang with it.  I thought he was playing Slaver, lol. 

Two rounds later I lost to a guy that tried to Misdirection my Duress AND WHEN MY DURESS RESOLVED HE HAD FORCE OF WILL IN HAND.  Yeah, I LOST THAT GAME.  Don't ask me how, I've blocked it out of my memory.   

[iamfishman]

So, Ray, I hope that you won't hold it against me.  I was just bustin your balls a little bit.  Feel free to get me back the next time I do something dumb.  

No worries.  As I said, the loss was my fault, and I in no way am upset with you.  If anything I am just upset we didn't get to play type 4 together with my altered stack

[JACO]

Ray, great story and post. I wish I could have been there to meet you, but it was not 'in the cards' this year.

If magic is a metphor for life, I think the most important lesson we can learn is from Yawgmoth's Bargain.

Cards are more important than Life.

I swear this is the absolute funniest post I have ever read here. So simple, and yet so many laughs.

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

Im begining to tear, somebody hold me...

[forests failed you]

I'm here for you Ashok.