Why I'm Going to Get Into Magic: The Gathering

“It’s like playing chess while also practicing law!”

That’s how my wife described Magic after an attempted game of two-headed giant at a local game store. Magic is loads of fun, but it feels like you need read several textbooks to understand everything that's going on. So why would I want to get into something like that when I have little to no experience and nearly no acquaintances who play? Good question. I'm glad you asked. The title of this post might have been a spoiler but that's actually what I'm about to write about.

First, for the uninitiated, Magic: The Gathering is a generally fantasy-themed collectible card game where players build decks from a massive number of cards and go head to head in a variety of different play styles. Magic is old (launched in 1993, the world's first CCG) and as such is deeply complex (the comprehensive rulebook is a whopping 207 pages!) with nearly limitless variations of strategy and customization possible. In short, it's awesome.

So why do I suddenly want to start sinking my time and money into buying pieces of cardboard with fantasy pictures on them to play a game? Let me count the reasons...

1. I need more positive social interactions.

I whine about this a lot. I am very lonely. I was recently asked what kind of friends I have outside of the people I work with and I sat for a minute trying to come up with anyone. I've been in Portland for 2 years and so far I have barely any friends to show for it. I don't have any close friends or even consistent social interactions. I have enjoyable acquaintances and passing friendships with people I spend real time with only once every few months but otherwise it's me, my wife, our, cat, and my computer. That's the friend network.

This really isn't helped by the fact that I am both super introverted and I have high standards. I feel extremely uncomfortable in most social situations and even when people do take the time to interact with me I'm terrible at forming friendships. Those high standards are one of the biggest barriers. There’s a good chance I don’t like you and you actually aren’t good enough to be my friend. My preference is 2 or 3 truly good friends as opposed to dozens of ones I don’t like all that much. Friendships are an investment of my time, emotions, and energy and if I don't think I'm getting enough of a return on that investment it's just not worth it.

Let me just go back to the high standards thing for a second. In my experience the geek/nerd community is generally made up of the kindest, most accepting, most laid back, and most fun people you could ever meet. I could use a little more of that kind positivity in my life. The following video tells a story that I find is typical of geek communities.

"But Chris!" you scream, for some reason thinking my blog transmits sound, "Aren't you heavily involved in the church? Isn't that where you go to find kind and accepting people?" Hey, sorry to break it to you but actually the church is generally where I find the most negative and most judgmental people (I've mentioned this before). The church is meant for broken people looking for grace and broken people are often total jerks.

2. I need more intellectual stimulation.

 Let me be straight with you. I'm pretty smart. Not a genius by any means, but smart enough that I enjoy a little bit of a brain workout. With it's massive complexity and deep strategy Magic is basically a giant strategy logic puzzle. That is exactly the kind of brain workout I need.

Why am I not getting enough intellectual stimulation? Well, first of all I'm a youth pastor. I work with kids and the majority of my time I'm focusing on things appropriate to the intellect of an eight year old. How about when I'm not focused on work things? Well, I wish I could say other areas of my life were giving my brain something to do but since I basically do nothing but work, play video games, and hang out with my wife and cat there's not a whole lot of thinking I have to do. I mean, my wife is considerably smarter than me so our conversations are usually pretty fantastic but as my only source of intellectual stimulation it's just not enough.

3.  I need some things in my life that are un-stressful, don't matter, and are just fun.

So, I mentioned my job earlier. Let's be clear: my job is one of the best things in my life. I love my job. But as great as my job is at the moment it's not balanced by any sort of equivalent relaxation. I love video games considerably more than the average person but there's only so much gaming you can do to unwind before it all gets a little tedious. "All things in moderation" is the opposite of how I would describe my life at the moment. I have way too much of way too few things. I need some variety in my life. Mostly I just need something that completely doesn't matter.

Did I pick up all the kids for my programs on time? Did I keep enough control of the kids' behavior at programs? Did I prepare enough? That stuff matters! A lot! And it get's super stressful.

Did I win that Magic tournament? Did that booster pack have the cards I was hoping for? Is my deck flowing well? Does that stuff matter? Well, not really. Big picture none of that is a big deal. I can just have fun. I need that.

Also, a minor thing under this category is that I need things to write about. I miss blogging regularly but at the moment I have very little to write about. Not only do I have very little interesting to share but the stuff that is worth writing about is confidential or inappropriate to post publicly. As much as I would love the opportunity to write all my thoughts and feelings about the youth I work with that seems to me like a really quick way to ruin my ministry or get myself fired.

4. I'm a geek and I need to be with my people.

Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one I'd like to announce that I am a geek. I identify deeply with that subculture and I love spending time with people who share my interests. I'm really not doing that much right now.

My roots in nerd culture, particularly CCG culture, run deep. I started with Pokemon in the late '90's, moved on to Yugioh in my teens, and now I'm making the switch to Magic. I recently became deeply interested in reconnecting with these roots when I was reminded just how quickly and easily I once made friends in the gaming community. I made a Facebook status about it:

 I would regularly blog about these Tuesday Yugioh tournaments (the time I mention in the status and my first time at a tournament are of particular historical interest) and it was the highlight of my week. I'm really looking forward to having something like that in my life again.

A cool bit of Magic: The Gathering art to break of from the list

So anyway, that's where I'm at right now. It's been a while since I've written a life update type post. I guess this is as close as it's going to get for the time being.

At the beginning of 2014 I made a New Year's resolution to make new friends. I've put in very little effort and, of course, have seen very few results. I'm hoping this bit of enjoyable effort will change that.

P.S. Also, not sure what to get me for Christmas? Hint.