dinosaurs walk the earth

Nikki and I traipsed over to Makati last Sunday to compete in a Magic tourney. The last time we played competitively was years ago (Nikki’s peak was ‘98 when she became National Finalist and led the Philippine team – which included Rickey, hey Rickey! - to the World Championships in Seattle; I was champ in ‘95) so we weren’t expecting to do well – just get some new cards, see old friends and eat.

It turns out that the new set attracted not just us old-timers but other dinosaurs from Magic’s history. It was a blast seeing old faces – in fact, I wanted to request that the old folk be given our own bracket. Interestingly, in a field of about 60 players, there were 5 National Champions (mostly from Magic’s first 5 years).

In a way, it was like coming home. People were happy to see us (because when I left Magic, I made it a point to have nothing to do with the brand anymore – a new start) and we exchanged stories, catching up on the last 3 or 4 years.

I didn’t scrub out as horribly as I thought (if you’ve played Magic, then you know how rough competition can be). By the 4th round I was playing at the top 2 tables. Things didn’t end up quite as I wanted though, as I was handed a pair of losses from irreconcilably powerful decks, more than my speedy flexideck could handle. Nikki also did well, trouncing the opposition before succumbing to various time limits.

We love this new set of cards, enough to play casually.