First-ever Friday Night Magic Tournament - a total newbie perspective

I've been intrigued by Magic: The Gathering for many years, but always hesitant to try it. With  no idea how to approach the game as a complete beginner, I was just afraid to jump in. Because seriously - who wants to purchase cards, then walk up to strangers and risk feeling foolish for not knowing how to play?

Well guys, I'm here to tell you, it isn't like that at all. I had a short learning session at  Comic Con in New Orleans back in January and took home a few promo decks, but I still wasn't quite ready. My fellow blogger and good friend Jackalope has been playing a lot lately, though, and encouraging me to try. After his last post, I decided to go for it. Oh, not at our ToyWiz retail location in NY, but down in Albany, LA at a shop called Chuck's Field of Dreams. Yes, a nice anonymous place to go embarass myself, I thought.

Just so you know, I'm a friendly, but cutthroat player in any game I pursue. Maybe I'll post another day about my history with MMORPGs, for example, but suffice it to say that I probably blow away any stereotypes you might have about female gamers! So jumping into something new is a big deal for me  -  There's no way I'm playing anything without making a serious effort to master it and to be a fierce competitor.

You can go home again.

Jackalope here with a brief trip down memory lane for today’s post. I loved Magic: The Gathering, I played it casually for many years and have few regrets. I got my start with a starter of Beta or Unlimited (I can’t remember other than one of my rare cards was Personal Incarnation) and a pack of Arabian Nights.

[caption id="attachment_770" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Ah, sweet memories."][/caption]

I didn’t really get into Magic until Revised when the rest of the geek world caught on that this game was something amazing. I played at the local game shop’s tournaments for about a year and soon began working there; any competitive aspirations were quickly dashed as I always had to work during our tournaments. Time passed and I played less and less, until finally my last constructed deck was a fun little Sneak Attack Deck built at the end of the Urza block.

YuGiOh 5D's 2011 Duelist Tin

Jackalope here with…Ohhhh New Duelist Tin!

[caption id="attachment_732" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Just sitting here on my desk, asking to be opened…"][/caption]

I’ve always been a fan of the duelist tin product from both a retailer’s and a consumer’s point of view. Why you ask? Value, this product has solid value to it and what means is you as the consumer get great value for your dollar. Let’s take a look at one of the tins (along with pictures of the tin I’m opening for this post).

 

 

 

As you can see you get several things in the tin: