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Biography The Biggest Ass in Texas is a resident of Austin, where he works for a Customer Service Corporation. He has qualified for the Pro Tour four times but has not made day two yet. He has played competitively since Stronghold and has many top 8's under his belt. MTG Fan Articles Featured
Writers Deck
Garage Community
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I'm Not Normal Enough - 10.11.01
I'm very happy with the extent of submissions I've
gotten. Don't stop now though. If you
think you've got what it takes, send me an article.
One thing to remember though, I'm all about quality
out of my writers. We could just be 'another
magic site', but we're not. I'm not going to
post just any and every article as a featured article.
When I put my efforts forth, you're going to get
something out of it.
In other news here in Texas we have Magic every
weekend. That might not seem strange, but what I
mean is that we have a PTQ every weekend within
driving distance. States occupies the weekend
where we don't. It’s a Magic competitor's
dream come true.
And I'm going to miss most of it.
I had planned on attending each of these events, and
now I'm not. It boils down to this past weekend
when I was forced to reevaluate why I was doing this.
Why do I play competitively? It ends up I don't
have fun when I win, or when I lose. And this
weekend I lost because I made a mistake. I
tapped my mana wrong. In the last turn, of the
last round, I tap my mana wrong.
Admittedly, I felt I was dead and that there was no
way I could win.
Instead, my opponent blocked my all out attack in just
the wrong way to give me a chance. If I hadn't
of already tapped the wrong lands.
I beat myself in my head for at least an hour.
My girlfriend asked me why I do it. Why, indeed?
I could not give an adequate answer. I'm faced
with looking at Magic as an addiction and not a game.
I do it for the slight thrill of winning a PTQ.
And that thrill does not happen very often.
But after some time thinking about the whole thing, I
realized something about what I get out of playing
Magic. What I get out of going to the PTQ's, of
playing. And it’s not winning.
What I have found I enjoy the most is helping others.
In playing the fun games. In everything that is
not competitive about the game, I enjoy myself.
Before the tournament started a friend from Dallas had
two IBC decks to play around with, U/B/W and Domain.
The tournament season was over, most likely never to
be heard from again and here he and I are, playing
IBC.
And it was the most fun I've had playing IBC ever.
Because all the playtesting was done. All the
learning, all the competition, everything, it was all
over. And I could just have fun. And I
loved it.
Several people came up to us and asked why we were
playing it, and we answered 'bored' or 'why not?’
And honestly, we were playing because we love to play
Magic.
I think that this weekend I learned something again.
Somewhere in the qualifications, the Pro Tours, the
winning money, I forgot what I came into the game for.
I came to get down.
I mean I came to have fun.
I have always been a gamer. Boardgames, AD&D
from when I was 7, Battletech (with the metal
miniatures), Cthulu, 183X, etc. I've played the
games.
I've won, I've lost, but I've always tried to have
fun.
The complicating element was when it stopped being
friends and started being a competition. It
started meaning prizes and money. It meant trips
around the world. That value was intense enough
to put me into the place I didn't want to be. I
talked about being a monster when I wrote for another
website. Being a jerk when I played and all
that. And mostly I've stopped that. But I
hadn't stopped feeling horrible inside when I lost.
So out of all the PTQ's this month, I've attended one.
Three more to go, and I'm not attending any of them.
I've got two Halloween parties to attend on successive
weekends. I've got friends that gather once a
month that I haven't seen in three months because of
Magic. I put off seeing my mom who lives 2 hours
away to go to Magic events. That's screwed up
priorities I think, and something I want to fix.
But I'm not quitting. I do enjoy the people, and
the games, I just am controlling how much I partake.
Next month is States, and I'll be there.
After that, one more PTQ to go before the season ends.
Not great odds for me to qualify. But honestly,
it doesn't bother me nearly as much as how I've
neglected the rest of my social life.
A friend of mine talked about how I'm the most
'normal' Magic player he knows. I'm the only one
that talks about other things more than I talk about
Magic. And to him, I think I should say
something, "I'm not normal enough."
Take a look at the rest of your life. Is it
lacking because of magic? Make sure that you
balance out your life.
Until next time,
Fletcher Peatross
Pojo Magic Editor
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