by Mike Carrozza

Tallahassee, Florida. The capital of America’s loudest state whose reputation for odd crimes leads one to wonder, “Was God ever going to come back from getting those cigarettes?” From Ted Bundy to zombies eating faces, Florida presents extreme challenges to those whose faith is shaken enough to begin questioning the Lord. Defiant, near the turn of the millennium, a group of men, bonded by faith and spreading the good word, released a record that ripped through the contemporary Christian rock landscape and rippled into the mainstream. Their first two albums made them popular at first, but soon after, they became an easy punchline. They were the go-to butt of the joke and they were only unseated by the likes of Nickelback. But in the first-ever post-9/11 November, Creed released the album Weathered. In the very same season as one of America’s greatest tragedies, Scott Stapp could be heard singing lyrics on Bullets about how critics are mean and Creed’s not lame. 

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Magic makes me feel smart. 

I know this is a feeling shared by many. It’s a thing I’ve heard from a few pals. I know many players feel this, whether they recognize it or not. When you feel the cogs click into place and begin to turn, Magic is capable of scratching an itch that makes the game so addictive and entrancing. It’s a system that works. An engine that hums. It’s awesome. 

I begin this one by bragging about the fact that I’d gone 3-0 at four consecutive prerelease events. It would’ve been five, but my second Avatar: The Last Airbender sealed experience saw me lose my last match, staining my undefeated streak with a 2-1. I crushed it for a while. I was cruising through these events. 

“But Mikey, many sets of late have been really bad for Sealed. Play Boosters aren’t fully figured out. Considering some players can open multiple rares per pack, if the player opening a single rare a pack pulls a real dud, the luckier player gets the advantage inherently. Why does this make you feel good at Magic?”

I was there. I know what my pulls were. Most times, they were average. Just fine. But others, I opened like dog shit. I mean, I pulled a card I wanted for Commander, but my god, it’s unplayable in Limited. So I made it work with what I got. I played the shit out of some Sealed Limited. I was locked in, I played to my outs, I was playing around cards my opponents might have. I would have made LSV give me a thumbs up at least, I hope. I was doing well.