OK, so I'm sitting at my desk doing my latest computer assignment (damn university...), when my stomach starts rumbling. "Dave," I say to myself, "it sounds like you're hungry. Better go get some food." I get up and head over to the kitchen, hoping to make a sandwich, or bust open a bag of nachos and cheese dip. But - zounds! - there was none to be found. In fact, I had little more food than a box of Tuna Helper (no tuna) and a can of apple juice in the fridge.

"What does this have to do with Magic?" you ask. Just bear with me...

At this point, I figured it was time to go shopping. I racked up a whopping $90 grocery bill, which really hurts me financially. I'm a student, you see, and like many other students, I have no source of income during the school year. This means I have a limited amount of money to spend each month, and lately I've been finding myself coming dangerously close to being over-budget. I needed money, and fast.

"OK, fine, but what about Magic?" Patience, please.

But where to get money from? I can't get a job while at school, because I don't have the time. I can't guilt my parents, because they won't fall for it. Ah-hah! I do have a bunch of old Magic cards and comic books! Why not sell those?

"Finally!"

So I bust out my old collection (2000+ cards) and head on over to magictraders.com, in an attempt to (a) complete some of the sets I was working on in the past and (b) get some money with which I can buy Christmas presents and the like. In the process of doing so, I began to remember just how much I enjoyed the game. Hell, I still do. Did I really want to officially eliminate this hobby from my life? I couldn't decide, so I compromised with myself. I am still finishing my sets and selling my collection, but I have downloaded Apprentice and Netdraft, and will continue to play online.

My first adventure into the online CCG community was a harsh awakening. I came out with my old decks asking for Extended play, and found quite a few games. I quickly got my ass handed to me, even while using decks that consistently cleaned up the competition while I was still in the game. There were three main reasons for this:
1) I'm out of practice.
2) New sets have been released.
3) Some cards have been errated and some rules have been changed.

Obviously, some research was necessary. So I hit the Web, trying to update my knowledge. Quite frankly, I was astounded at how much the game had changed in the time I had been gone. The "stack", threshold, flashback, split cards... had I really been out of touch for that long? Now, I know what you're saying. "Well, when you're out of the game for so long, things change. You just have to roll with it. You quit a few years ago, right?" WRONG! I quit just before Invasion was released! If I remember correctly, that was only a year and a half ago!

Currently, WotC releases 4 sets every year; 1 standalone, 2 expansions and a revision of the basic set. This accounts to approximately 600 new cards every year. This also means that the allowed sets in type 2 tournaments is completely altered every year. Therefore, every year, tournament players are forced to create brand new decks in order for them to stay valid. Can they trade off the contents of their old decks? Nope; their old decks are no longer T2 valid, and therefore useless. Until now, I have accepted this as "evolution." But this is more like "survival of the fittest"; every year, another generation of Magic players is left in the dust because they can no longer invest the time and money the formats require.

Personally, I pine for the old school days of casual play. Me and my friends used to bust out our old collections, rent a keg and just go nuts (I now know of several Magic-related drinking games, if anyone's interested). None of us had very good cards, because we just spent all of our money renting the keg. But it didn't matter, because it was never competitive and it was never about who had the most recent cards; it was about having fun, exercising our brains, being creative, and playing a game.

Face the facts, fellow card-floppers; this is no longer a game. Tournaments are always dominated by two or three decktypes, and everyone just picks up a decklist from the net and goes to town. The only reward for people who create original decks are comments like "How the hell is THAT supposed to win?" or "I can't believe I lost to that piece of garbage. It's just luck!" Frankly, I'm sick of beating players who lifted tourney decks card-for-card off of websites and claim it was their idea, and I'm sick of those same players whining about "bad draws" and "lucky bastard" when they lose. When did this get so serious?

I have never used a netdeck. I will search the Web for inspiration, but I usually find a concept that I like and find my own cards that work for it. Right now, I have a white-green Enchantress/Auratog deck, and a black-blue Fluctuator/Living Death deck. Neither are tournament quality, but I don't care. I have great games with people online, and I've seen some freaking incredible decks that I would never have even thought could work. I always congratulate people when they win, and my opponents always do the same. No one complains, and no one bitches about bad luck. I wish more players could act like that.

So I beg you, fellow casual players, don't limit yourself. We have a chance to make this a game again, and I think it's the only thing that'll keep the environment interesting. Look me up on NewNet; I'll be in #apprentice, under the nickname MasterNin. God forbid... it might even be fun.