...eat a breakfast of champion! (a MTG origin story)

This is a longer post than my usual because it is an origin story. I hope you enjoy it. If it is not your thing, don't worry. I'll post more of the usual later.

I've been debating about sharing this side of me out here on the web. I fear that is will label me or edge away from the usual fluffy nature of my blog. But in the end I figure that "it's all fun and games."


My breakfast looked so yummy this morning that I had to share it with the world. Maybe I should eat more often. Maybe the muffins baked up picture perfect. Maybe it's just a lame excuse to brag about being a champion.

Many of you may not know that I am a champion. However, most anyone that knows me at all knows that I am a nerd. I am also a gamer. I'm not into video games--although I've tried many things from Pong to MMO's. I just couldn't get into RPG's. My game genre of choice is the Trading Card Game (TCG). TCG-ing is like baseball cards you collect and play with in a format way more complicated than most chess matches.

I started out playing one of these TCG's called Magic: The Gathering (MTG or Magic). My husband was into it. I wanted to spend time with him. So, I learned how to play. It was a lot to learn. For example, there are five phases in one turn (Untap, Upkeep, 1st Main Phase, Combat Phase, 2nd Main Phase, and End steps)! I won't go into it more than that. Let's just say that Magic was a bit much for me. At the time, I had my priorities set on finishing college. I didn't have time to study for classes and study to be an effective gamer.

So, how am I a champion if I wasn't willing to study to be an effective gamer? It all started with the "pretty cards." I learned fast that it was either join the ranks of the gaming widows who didn't see their husband come tournament season or join in. As a semi-supportive wife, I would occasionally attend a MTG release tournament here and there. I would give my husband the cards I got at an event except for the ones I thought had pretty card art. I would collect mostly angel creature cards that I packed into an ineffective but annoying angel deck for casual play.

My husband noticed my attraction to the "pretty cards." When a new TCG came out with "pretty" card art, he got me interested. It was also a more simpler play. The game I am referring to is the now dead but once vibrant (at our local gaming store, anyway), Neopets TCG. Neopets was just fun. It was easy and fast to play. The learning curve was just about my speed. So, we became avid players. We started taking home trophies right off the bat. Then, we began driving to larger stores that hosted bigger events. We won there too. After a while, we saved up our money to go to Gen Con Indianapolis. That's where I won the Gen Con Indianapolis Championship. I even went undefeated! Yes. I was a super nerd.

After a while, the game died off. Things were picking up at my work, and James was nearing his degree completion. We left the TCG world for a while. However, we have recently returned. We came back to MTG. This time, we are playing online. I still like the "pretty cards," but I know that decks filled with pretty art don't make a champion deck. I'm no where near champion level in MTGO (Magic: The Gathering Online). I'm not even at a competitive level. Did you know that Magic has a pro tour? Yep. Players compete in tournament were the cash payout is in the thousands and the stars of the game have sponsors.

I'm what most call a casual player. I give my opponents some competition at the Thursday Night Magic Online tournaments, but I don't finish near the top. Last night, I played in a three round, swiss tournament. I won my first match, 2-0. That put me at 41 of 180 players. My second round, 1-2 loss put me down to 55. I won the last round 2-0, but didn't wait around to see where I ended up in the final rankings. It probably wasn't too much higher than before. It was fun, and I won some cards. Yea, me!

This morning I felt like I deserved a nice breakfast. I am a champion, after all. So, this is my "breakfast of champion!" It's singular because I don't know if other champions eat like I do. What did you eat for breakfast?