The Observer: MDS

Back when I was younger, like all kids my age, I loved the Mighty Ducks. My roommate and I actually watched it and D2 just before heading out to a Roller Derby meet last weekend. Anyway, when I watched it as a kid, it always filled me with this insatiable desire to go play street hockey, which I find a little unsettling because I really don’t like hockey (sorry Canada and Canada South!). Since then, I’ve referred to this as Mighty Ducks Syndrome. Basically, anytime you are watching an activity, and you just have to go do it afterwards, you’re suffering from MDS. Unfortunately, the only medical cure for MDS at this time is physical therapy, usually by participating in the activity in question. If you think you may be prone to MDS, please consult your doctor before watching movies such as Cliffhanger, Backlash, or anything involving parkour.

As far as Magic goes, after watching people play all day, I get the MDS really bad. Nearing the end of the day, I start getting uncomfortable in my own skin. I start scratching at itches that aren’t there. I hover around the feature match area hoping to get a huff of the card stock to hold me over until I’m done for the day. It’s a harrowing experience. It’s like telling a heroin addict to do a movie review of Trainspotting. Luckily for me, our days do eventually end, and the other writers and staff suffer from MDS just as badly as I do. Here’s how we cope.

I don’t know if I’ve said it here or not, but I love drafting. To me, it’s the pinnacle of Magic. To be a good drafter, you have to keep track of a number of different things, all at the same time. It’s like writing an entire short story in your head, word for word, before committing anything to paper. For me, being a part of coverage for Draft day is like a second grader getting a field trip to the zoo. I always try to snag the best drafter at the table as my coverage subject. I always think of it more as a test for myself than anything else, really. I want to know that, were I the one in the chair, I would make all of the same decisions. I have to say, that after years of doing this, I’m actually getting quite good. Unfortunately, knowing this makes the MDS just a little worse. Now, I want to prove I’m as badass as I apparently think I am. Unfortunately, I’m at the Pro Tour to work, so I have to get out the leather strap, bite down, and just weather the storm. At every Pro Tour, our days are fairly long, beginning at about 7 am and ending at near 9 pm. Usually, I’m able to distract myself with another coverage assignment, but every so often, I find myself back on the ropes, looking for a good spot to watch a game or two of Magic, once again scratching that itch. You can tell when the day’s coming to a close. As soon as the first person whispers anything about drafting, all of the writers disappear from our press room like extras in a David Copperfield act only to materialize a few seconds later at a table across the room, halfway through pack two. It’s our Pro Tour.

These drafts are special to me for reasons beyond my simple love of drafting. After all, look at the coverage team and the R&D members that frequently make the trip to these Pro Tours for gunslinging and the like. In Rome, I took part in a draft featuring Randy Buehler, Mike Turian, Tom LaPille, Brian David-Marshall, and Aaron Forsythe. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s 460 lifetime Pro Points, four current or former R&D members, and even two Hall of Famers! These drafts are about as hard as they come, though these guys admittedly take it down a level since there isn’t anything more than winning or losing some cards that they already have access to at stake. Still, going 4-0 in a Draft, having to pound your way past Pro Tour winners, and holding your own through it all is a pretty big boost!

One thing I’ve always found interesting, and yet in light of my MDS not at all surprising, is that even after playing a grueling day of mistake-free Magic, the Pros still want to draft after all is said and done. In fact, it seems to calm them down. It’s like when you see a person smoke a cigarette after a stressful day at work, only considerably better for them. After the day is finished, it’s impossible to walk more than fifteen or so feet without running into a draft. Everyone is fairly welcoming, too. I remember wandering around with BDM in Memphis on the first night, before any of the other coverage crew had arrived, looking for something to do. Somehow, we ended up in a draft with the Mexican and Dutch National Teams. I’m not sure how it happened. Someone mentioned drafting and I kinda blacked out there for a minute. Next thing I knew, I had a sick little 40-card concoction in front of me. It goes like that sometimes.

Once we’ve sated our drafting fix, it’s time to address our other main addiction: Elder Dragon Highlander. For those of you unfamiliar with it or Commander on Magic Online, EDH is probably the best version of casual Magic in existence right now, and certainly the most popular. Decks follow stringent construction rules. First, you choose a legendary creature to be your general. Once you have your leader, you construct a 99-card deck using Highlander rules. “What are Highlander rules,” you ask? Well, what’s the tag line from the movie Highlander? “There can be only one.” That’s basically it. There can be only one of any card in your deck, with the exception of basic lands. The only colors you’re allowed to include in your deck are those represented in your choice of general. Ergo, if you choose Momir Vig, Simic Visionary as your general (which is a lot of fun to do), you are limited to Blue, Green, artifact, and land cards. No cards in your deck are allowed to have an ability producing or requiring a color other than your general’s. Basically, you can’t play Bosh, Iron Golem or Stomping Ground in your Momir deck.

With that in mind, you can build your deck from any card printed that doesn’t break one of these rules or appear on the banned list for your group. I like the inclusion of a group decided banned list. Basically, EDH is one of the rare formats that, due to the social nature of its play, polices itself. The games are usually played as four player free-for-alls. If someone in your playgroup is rocking a deck that is sporting unfun or overly powerful cards, you just gang up on them. Eventually, for the sake of not wanting to always be the target, they remove the offensive elements. It’s really a wonderful system for keeping things fun, which is what EDH is supposed to be. Unlike most Magic formats, the goal isn’t to “break” the format. The goal is to have fun.

I’ve always got a deck or two around with me. I’ve got a mono White deck led by Mangara of Corondor that uses Armament Master and other soldier lords to overrun people. I’ve got a Karona, False God deck that takes advantage of allies and changelings to generate some pretty cool effects. What I really enjoy doing, though, is just grabbing a random deck that someone else has brought with them to play. It’s always more fun to me if I don’t know what’s hiding beneath the surface. It makes every draw step a surprise. I always manage to find a chuckle or two when I flip over a card I didn’t see coming, like when I drew an Akromas Memorial in Kelly Digges’s Multani, Maro-Sorcerer deck against Aaron Forsythe’s Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder deck. The format always offers a good time, and I try to jump into every game I can.

Despite having to work at like 7 am the next day, I can’t stop until the game breaks. My MDS just won’t let me stop until I can’t find a game. If I hadn’t been forced to live with it for as long as I have, I don’t know if I’d be able to cope. Luckily, I’ve found a great support group that meets every Pro Tour to help me get through some of the roughest days of my life. I really appreciate all of the hard work these guys go through to make sure that I am immersed in gaming from the time I get up until the time my body is so tired it literally shuts itself down. Thanks to these gentlemen, these angels in disguise, I am able to…

Wait a minute.

Did someone just say draft!?

I’m coming!