A Fresh Breath of Thirty-Year-Old Air.

Three words, just three words combined to make the name of the game released on August 5, 1993, that I, alongside millions of others, have been playing for nearly three decades, “Magic the Gathering.” Think about that for a second and think about what those three words mean to you.

We’ve all had the looks and heard, “You play what?” when trying to tell someone about the game, and when I say game, I mean the first word; Magic. The physical cardboard in your hand with images depicting self-healing, sacrifice, ritualistic spells of good and evil, and creatures from beyond the neither void. Or the smell of a freshly cracked booster pack that can take you back to a simpler time in your childhood, to the first game store you walked into as a kid. Mine was Game Keeper at the Meadows Mall. This is the game we all know and love, and with the game for me come these memories. But there’s something more than the game, something bigger than Magic, and the reason I believe Richard Garfield made the game in the first place, The Gathering.

The Gathering is what has kept me in this game for so many years and has never been more prevalent since joining the Old School community at the beginning of 2020 because I rarely acquire cards printed after 1994 anymore. Before I understood the gathering, I was a kid buying cards for the art. I started collecting Magic in 96, and as I said, I was walking past a store called Game Keeper in our local mall and noticed a chess set in the window I liked. While in the store, I saw the booster packs for Magic the Gathering in the glass display case at the cash register; the store owner, seeing that I was interested, explained the game to me. Learning that I could summon demons amongst other creatures, then destroy or resummon these creatures from graveyards with spells in the game to attack my opponent, I was sold and purchased a few packs because the art was incredible and well, I was a goth kid in the ’90s. My older cousin Jeremy played the game and was who I looked up to at that age. Jeremy lived with my grandparents, and when he came down from California for vacation, he taught me how to play over a couple weeks Between games of Golden Eye on N64 and street hockey.

I continued to mainly collect until just before 1998 when I saw a group of kids playing in the lunchroom at my middle school, and this is when I discovered the true meaning of the game, The Gathering. I still remember it like it was yesterday, building up the courage to approach this table full of kids yelling and pointing at the cards their friends were casting. Screaming in excitement when creatures went sideways and evermore so when a combat trick would resolve on either side. None of them hesitated to bring me in to join in when I asked either. 25 years later, I’m still playing Magic with one of those kids from that lunchroom in middle school.

Ryan on the left, and I 25 years later

Magic has had its ups and downs over the years, and I find that it primarily relates to one of two reasons for me. I experienced the downs when I focused too much on being competitive. Even when I was doing good, I wasn’t enjoying the game to its fullest potential because the games were mentally exhausting; I didn’t want to know my opponent; I just wanted to beat them. I experienced the ups when I focused more on the quality of the people I spent time with. Winning or losing didn’t matter as much as enjoying my time with my friends did. Old School might play a factor in this too. I don’t see all my Magic buddies each week, considering they are spread across multiple states and countries, so we really try to maximize the time spent with each while playing games during events. When I started putting the experience of knowing my opponent and the people who sat around us at the same table first instead of the grind of competing. I find myself back in that lunchroom in middle school, looking at the game with wonder and excitement again.

Now in my mid-thirties, I prioritize my time differently. I have a family, and I’m incredibly fortunate that my wife understands the importance this game provides me in my social life. Traveling is a big part of playing 93/94, and having a spouse supporting my hobby makes it much more enjoyable. She has gotten to know many of my friends from this community from the couple of events she’s attended and has made a few friends during the process. I love this game and have made some of my best friends through it and look forward to the next 30 years of playing Magic and experiencing The Gathering. Who would’ve thought one day in middle school would set me on this path 30 years later?