One of Magic's greatest strengths is its flexibility. It can be many different games to many different people. As I leave you today, I want to bring up an important point. Magic doesn't have to be just the game you know now. Always play two player? Try a multi-player game. Never play outside your house? Travel to a local tournament. Always play the same cards? Make a deck full of cards you've never played. The point is that too many players never take the time to see if there are other aspects of the game they might enjoy.
To make my point, let me relay a story from the Magic Invitational in Kuala Lumpur. It is quite popular in Asia to hold tournaments in shopping malls. The Invitational therefore was held in a large shopping mall next to a resort. During one of the breaks in play, pro player Dave Price and I decided to walk over to McDonald's for a bite. Now, Dave is a vegetarian and he was constantly on the look out for new vegetarian dishes he could eat.
When we get to the counter, Dave sees an item called McEgg. As McDonald's always leads its names with the meat, it seemed clear that the McEgg was vegetarian-friendly. But Dave wasn't sure about it. I told Dave he had to get the McEgg. Here was my reasoning:
“One of two things can happen if you get the McEgg. First, it's good. In this case, you have a whole new vegetarian dish you can eat throughout the week. If it's bad, you get to tell the story about how you went to the McDonald's in Kuala Lumpur and ordered the horrible, horrible McEgg. For $1.72, you either get a good meal or a cool story. How can you go wrong?”
The new way to play Magic is your McEgg. If you like it, you have a whole new way to play Magic. And if you don't? Hey, it will make a great story.
That's it for this week. I hope you enjoyed my little jaunt into the crazy recesses of my mind.
Join me next week when I put all of you under the lights.
Until then, may you enjoy your McEgg.
Mark Rosewater