I have been playing Magic since Ice Age. I remember it well; I was in the local comic book store in Middletown, New York, and browsing through the X-Men/Spiderman rack - when lo and behold, I see these packs of cards by the counter. My wife and I, long Star Trek fans, cut our teeth originally on the Star Trek: CCG game. We picked up some Ice Age starter decks and schlepped them home - and after scratching our heads and looking at the interesting artwork, we started playing Magic.

Eight years later, my wife and I had the chance to enter into the 10th Anniversary Prerelease. This was history in the making! Getting to play in a prerelease that had reprints of every set in Magic was awesome! There are many people out there who bemoan the main sets and just wait for the expansion sets to be released; these people are missing out on the unique experience of having so many variables to use and work with. Not only that, but the artwork on the new set is exquisite - especially the foils. I had pulled a foil Bog Imp and Wall of Stone - and let me tell you, having those Imp's silvery eyes staring a hole through you sends chills down your spine the first time you see it!

This first victory hadn't come easily to me. I initially had trouble, as many newcomers do, with the prerelease concept"Forty cards, able to use more than four copies if pulled, and creatures and creature kill are important." I have learned an important lesson - network with other players! When I lost my first prerelease, one of the players sat down with me to explain what I was doing wrong. He started by giving me a formula of"Fourteen lands, thirteen creatures, thirteen spells." (Which is terrible advice, by the way - The Ferrett, worried that a novice reader here might not pick up on that) He mentioned other play tips and suggested I practice a lot, then read more to help to pick out which cards were better choices than others. Since then, I have practice much through local tournaments, online play, and hosting card parties to playtest decks. Now, I consistently make the Top 8 in any tournament we hold.

The Tourney
I had slightly modified the previous mentioned formula after talking with two friends of mine (one being our local shop's Top Veteran) and changed it to"Sixteen lands, sixteen creatures, and eight spells." This mix would prove to be very useful later.

We started with our five packs and I sat there ripping them open, one by one. The first rare I pulled was a Serra Angel. This was a cool creature, and was supplemented by some interesting white and red creatures such as Glory Seeker and Ridgeline Rager. I opened my second pack and was stared in the face by a Shivan Dragon!"Neat," sez I - but the high casting cost put him to the back of the list initially.

I opened the next two packs and pulled two blue garbage rares - I don't even remember what they were. The packs did contain more interesting white and black, including Nekrataal, Angelic Page, and some black creature kill cards. I was preparing to go white/black when I opened my last pack and pulled Blinding Angel, Fodder Cannon, and Wall of Stone! The Wall of Stone decided the red for me (along with Volcanic Hammer) and white for the angels, fliers, and first strikers. Now that I had my deck ready, I was all set to play!

Round 1: Loss
I started by playing against one of my friends - one of the ones who gave me advice on the mix ration no less. The first round started out strong with my white creatures backed up by the Ridgeline Ragers. Unfortunately, my friend was also lucky in card pulls: Fallen Angel, Raise Dead, and Rukh Egg. He put the Rukh Egg into play, sacrificed it to the Fallen Angel, used Raise Dead, then played it again next turn! My Shivan was in hand, but I didn't have the mana to cast him.

The second game went better, and I got the Shivan and Serra Angel into play. With only two life to go, my opponent replied,"Catch!" and cast a Lava Axe my way. We laughed and he said he was really worried; if I wasn't slightly mana-hosed, I would've won the second game and at least went to three.

Round 2: Win
The next game I played I faced a relative newbie to this format. He started with a sixty-card, three-color deck. I beat him pretty quickly due to mana shortages and lack of creature elimination.

He was about to quit the tournament entirely when I sat down with him and gave him some deckbuilding advice and showed him a lot of what I learned. He was appreciative - and even though he didn't make it to the Top 16, he did mention that he did much better.

Round 3: Loss
This round, I played another one of the veteran players of our store. He's usually pretty funny, and even though I lost to his land destruction/Foratog combo, I had a good time. I was able to drag it out to three rounds. It was during this third round that I was surprised to see his Shivan Dragon popping into play! Needless to say, it was a humbling experience. I was starting to consider pulling my Shivan Dragon out thanks to its expensive mana cost, but decided to wait until the results of Round 4 to see what happened.

(In reality, he's losing because he has sixteen lands. In a Sealed deck that's built to support three expensive bombs like Serra Angel, Blinding Angel, and Shivan Dragon, sixteen lands isn't quite enough - and I suspect if he'd upped the land count to seventeen or even eighteen, he would have won at least one of those early matches - The Ferrett)

Round 4: Win
This is the round where my deck really came together. I was able to get my Blinding Angel out into play and keep his ground-pounders at bay. I quickly swept both games. I was also able to consistently pull my Wall of Stone. Nothing beats a 0/8 blocker for ground-based creatures!

Round 5: Loss
This round, I got my hat handed to me. The power of green was made apparent with a Spitting Spider. I actually got all my fliers out, and they were quickly thrashed. I got my Fodder Cannon out, but with the toughness of the Spitting Spider combined with Regeneration plus Blanchwood Armor proved to be more than a match for me. It didn't help that he got out Spirit Link and Millstone out both times, either. I would get a chance to save face later, however.

The Finals
My score was so close to one of my friends that we were asked to roll off to see who made into the Top 16. (This is, insofar as I know, illegal - The Ferrett, who's making a lot of comments in this article) I won by only two. My friend was a good sport about it, especially since his son made it squarely into the Top 16!

Top 16: Win
This was one of my scariest rounds ever! We did a normal seeding setup, with the top seed and low seed facing each other. Being the lowest seed in sixteenth place, I was faced with none other than the local champ! He was playing strong black, but had to go to three colors.

I managed to win the first game by the skin of my teeth. The second was another close match; the only good flier I got out was my Blinding Angel, but was suckered into a block that enabled him to Volcanic Hammer it, breaking my momentum. Finally, in the third game my opponent faced mana problems, giving me time to get out all three of my big hitters.

Top 8: Win
I got to face an interesting character. He went with a Green/Red deck and hand good creature plays, but I got out my Fodder Cannon out early both times and kept his creatures off the board long enough to get out my Shivan. Also, he had no fliers, so during the second game, my Blinding Angel kept him at bay from attacking.

Top 4: Win
Interestingly enough, this was easier that the previous match, mainly due to the four-color deck construction of my opponent. His deck had many interesting tricks, but suffered severe mana failure and gave me a quick sweep.

When asked about his interesting color choice, he chuckled,"Aww, what the heck. Hey, it worked for me this far, right?" Who can argue with a Top 4 placement?

Finals: Win
This proved to be an arduous experience for me. I had to face the same person I played in Round 5! I was worried about his Spitting Spider and Millstone.

The first game was rough, but his mana slowed down considerably and enabled me to get out my Shivan Dragon to win. Luckily, his spider never dropped by to say"hello."

The second game was drawn out and I was finally decked by his Millstone. After looking in my sideboard, I realized I had a Shatter. I then sideboarded this card for the final game.

This was it - the final game. I had gotten second place a few times and was ready to accept the loss. I turned around and the rest of the regular players at the store were cheering for me, led on by my wife, Penny. I decided to test my resolve and see if I had the right stuff to be champion.

The game started out with both of us going down to six cards. I next pulled two mountains, two plains, Fodder Cannon, and Shivan Dragon. It was his choice to play first, and he then decided to go down to five cards, apparently due to mana problems. He only had a chance to play four mana and then hit a rut. He did get his Fodder Cannon out, but I drew the Shatter early in the game and was able to destroy it.

Next, I worked on getting my Shivan on the board. He kept fielding fliers for blockers, but I managed to pull my own Fodder Cannon, as well as a lot of my cheaper creatures. This cleared the way for Shivan and the win!

The joy and surprise that I felt is hard to contain in mere words. It was a lifetime achievement! After eight years of learning, playing, and teaching, I was finally able to pull a win for myself - plus it was at none other than the 10th Anniversary! I will never forget that Sunday for as long as I live.

In Closing:

A few words of wisdom for those who are still aspiring to get their first win:

1) Have fun! It does no good to work towards a victory if you can't enjoy it along the way. Play some Vanguard or Unglued once in awhile. Have card parties and get-togethers. Root for the underdog. Believe me, when your win finally comes, you will enjoy it that much more, as there will be others enjoying it with you.

2) Practice, Practice, Practice! Go to tournaments, play with your friends, spouse, sig. other, cat, etc. Not knowing how to play properly not only can be a hindrance, but can cost you losses in tournament play.

3) Research. Make sure you know what the current rules are, what cards are banned/restricted and any new rulings on specific cards are. I once received a rude awakening at the Minnesota State Championships when I learned the new errata on Lifeline! In tournament play, nobody likes surprises and this is totally preventable. You just have to put some work into it.

4) Teach. This is a good experience that no one should pass up. Not only do you promote the game to keep it around, you help bring new players into the mix. Also, you learn as much as you teach, as the game is changing all the time. I am proud to say that I am a better teacher than a player, as I have taught quite a few people who went on to win tournaments on their own.

Have a good one!

Matt"Cyber Urza" McMillan
"Success Favors the Prepared Mind" - Albert Einstein