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Not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, a new writer by the name of John F. Rizzo wrote a great article called"The Innocence of Magic" - and in doing so, gave all of us something to think about.

Well, I finally got around to thinking about it, and in doing so I came to the conclusion that the almighty Rizzo was wrong.

He gave a great description of what"The Innocence of Magic" is, but I think that the Riz was thinking about things the wrong way. At the end of his article Rizzo wrote,"I am innocent. Find it." That statement left a question in my mind...one lingering question. Can innocence really be found?

I think not.

All of us are born into the game with a general sense of innocence. We marvel at the overcosted fatties. We laugh at the idea of a mana curve. Card advantage means means my creature is bigger than yours.

Then we start to grow up. We play at our local card shop and get whipped by that red-headed kid with the weenie deck. (You know there's one at your store.) Or maybe it's the 35 year-old with the Counterspell deck. And you think to yourself: Why on God's green earth did these losers just beat me? All my creatures are bigger than his. That blue deck only had one creature. I'm just the unluckiest Magic player in the world.

Yeah... That's it.

Then comes our Magic Barmitsva. It's that one tournament that we are just determined to blow away the competition. We've played and played our pet deck and bought some rares to make it that much better. Then we start to play, and it hits us: I suck. I am doing something wrong. Everyone else knows something I don't.

It happens to us all. It happened to me. It happened to you. It happened to John F. Rizzo. We realize we either have to go back to the kiddie table, or we have to"grow up."

Innocence is lost. We're out for blood.

A few days or weeks later we're walking through the grocery store and there it is"Magazine X." What's that? Top Decks from around the world! It's too good to be true. Out comes the lunch money... And we're on our way to Magic glory.

From this point it can go any number of ways, but for all of us who go this far, innocence is lost.

Innocence is a gift. We get it, and we get it once. It cannot be found. You either have it or you don't, and when it's gone, it's gone.

"Innocence, once lost, is never regained."
Neil Gaiman (Comic Book Writer)

I'm forced to agree with Neil here. You can rebuild that green deck or that angel deck, and say,"Look at me. I'm not giving in to the system!"... But that is not innocence. That, my friends, is rebellion. That is something inside of me that makes me want to be different. Whether it's ego or just a general need for attention, I don't know. Or maybe, just maybe, it is something entirely different.

Maybe you're afraid of losing.

"But, wait a minute, Mike. If I'm afraid of losing, why would I play anything less than the best deck?"

Playing the weaker deck isn't being innocent... And I would argue it isn't all that noble. In fact, I think you are the one taking the easy way out. You can play that sub-par deck all you want, and lose all you want. No one can call you a bad player because you're playing what is universally recognized as the weaker deck. You're expected to do badly. There is no true defeat, and every victory is a grand victory, because you were the little guy, fighting the system.

Think about it. When the rebels attacked the Death Star, who was supposed to win? The Death Star, of course. If that had been the case, would anyone have cared? Would there have been a big"We Beat the Puny Rebels" party? I think not.

But when that handful of X-Wing fighters destroyed that bazillion ton space station, it was a big freakin' deal. Wasn't it? Was there a big"We Kicked the Empire's Butt" party? You're damn right there was.

Do you see it? Choosing the hard way in any situation (or in our case, the weaker deck) puts you in the ultimate win-win position. You really can't lose. You're either a hero or a martyr to your cause.

Could that be why some people are so concerned with maintaining what the Rizzinator called"innocence?" I think so.

If not, what is your real reason?

Find it.

Mike Klinge
PacifikBreez on AIM