Next Level?

Well I would like to start by appologizing in advance for the crudeness of my first blog. My intention is just to share some of my ideas and just some random information. I guess I would start by telling you a little about me. I am 29 years old married with a beautiful wife and daughter and am working full time at Chase Bank. I have been playing Magic for about 14 years off and on. I am a huge fan of the game and love to spend my spare time playing it. In this acticle I plan to share my evolution as a person and player and how they relate.

I guess I should start by talking a little about my progression as a player. I started playing in Highschool when I saw some kids in the back of class trading cards and it got my attention. I started getting a few packs here and there and just built some decks and taught my step brother how to play. We really enjoyed it until my Aunt saw them and told my mother they were bad and convinced her to throw them away. I was really bummed but was happy I learned.

As a freshman in college, 3 years later I saw some guys playing in my dorm and decided to get back into the game. I was still purely a novice but started caring more about rarity since they added colored set symbols around this time. I began to learn from players better than me, but we were still crude in our deck building and play methods. I had no idea about type 2, extended etc. We just enjoyed the game and tried our best to beat each other.

Again as I transfered to another school a couple years later I found myself not playing. One day I found a local hobby shop near school and I began to meet more players and play FNM. Thats where my game really began to evolve. I learned how to build more competative decks and really grasp the rules and play against some solid competition. At this point I had my first taste of success, I attribute it to really having the time to focus on testing and having good test partners. I got 3rd place at a block PTQ in Houston for Los Angeles(2005). I played there for several years until I graduated and moved away.

Once I moved to DFW and got married I had to find another place to play, luckily there were several and I get to bounce around. I finally got to play regularly for a few years and have had the opportunity to tune up my game. I still have alot of work to do but I have gotten better thanks to some great competition and some skilled friends. I had my second taste of success as I got 3rd place at another PTQ Amsterdam here in Fort Worth (2010). Its a little tough to get to top 4 twice and never get that 1st place finish, but its hard to complain when I have only gone to 6 ptq's ever and have made top 8 twice. My plan is to go to more events but only if I am properly prepared. I asked myself what was different on those two top 8's and the answer I kept coming up with is that I had a deck I was comfortable with and had tested alot during FNM's etc. So my plan now is to only go if I have had proper testing.

Whats really interesting is I get my first shot at a sealed PTQ this weekend! And that is different from what I have ever done on this level but I am hoping for the best. I did get one good taste of it during the release event a few weeks ago and was very successfull 6-0 (100% MWP). But this is going to be far tougher with a higher grade of players. In fact what makes me nervous is that since then I have not had any practice with sealed or draft and I know the best players have been grinding and testing with friends and Magic Online. My only hope is that I run hot and play close to mistake free magic. But I am so excited and can't wait to try it out.

I will let you guys know how it go's and explain my experience and the reasons for eather my success or failure. Please comment if you have any questions etc. Thanks for listening to my story and I wish you "good gaming".