The four times I quit Magic

I’ve quit four times! Kinda.

If there are three levels of quitting:

1. “Enh, I’ll just sit out for a while, maybe still keep up with Making Magic and some other blogs/videos, maybe not, but it’s just a temporary break.”

2. “OK, just no. Me and Magic are over.”

3. As 2, but also actually selling all my cards.

Then I’ve 1 2 2 1 but never sold my cards.

First sitting out probably shouldn’t count. I really, really wanted to continue. But everyone I knew quit. This break lasted from Urza’s Legacy through all of Mirrodin block. (Although I played in a Mirrodin draft on a trip. That was like an oasis in the Magic desert.) That’s why I’m so fond of Kamigawa block: because we actually started playing again.

Second time was because they introduced Mythic rare, or, more specifically spike Mythics like Lotus Cobra and the superfriends. I get salty about Maro’s “Twenty Things That Were Going To Kill Magic” because it actually was the end of Magic for me, for a long time. They had promise to not introduce chase cards and with foils, they did, but that was just bling. This time it was actually game-winning cards.

I started playing again after many years, sticking to limited only, but this was a harder break and almost right away. I had moved cities and was having a hard time finding a good community. This was the mid 00s, the era when every thing was “rape” this and “gay” that. Also most players in this new city were guys which was a pretty difficult thing to adjust to coming from my older community.

This was Scars era. I quit reading about Magic, quit thinking about Magic, I was just completely off it. I drafted with known and trusted friends twice.

Then when SOI came out I dove deep back into Magic. Mostly limited but some standard and legacy too. After a while, I realized something about the mythic problem: A mythic rare is the same as an old rare! A new rare is like an old “R2”, i.e. a given rare is twice as easy to get as a given mythic. So instead of adding a new chase ultra rare level... They had actually made it easier to get most cards! I kinda wish they had been clearer about that.

This was the era of playing a lot of Magic. I’m currently on a soft “I’ll just sit it out for a while” break that started because of Oko. I play blue/green in standard and I hate being on the deck that’s considered OP or most played. I love playing blue/green when no-one else is. This isn’t a good “Magic-quitting reason” but it’s just time for a little break. Having a hard time with my LGS also. This li’l soft pause has continued because of pandemic.

Twenty Things That Were Going To Kill Magic