Magic Itch - Scratched

In late November and all of December, my creative & game-playing juices were almost exclusively devoted to Magic.

I've had periods of time when Magic: Online consumed that part of my brain pretty heavily, and Civilization 3 can have that effect on me, too. But for about six weeks, as I anticipated the opportunity to play Magic with Paul over the break, I was focussed on building Magic decks almost to the exclusion of every other create/gaming interest.

Years ago, when Magic was very new and I had other people around me interested in the game, I had experienced the same thing. It had been years, though, and I never thought the deck-building bug would hit me so hard ever again. But it did. I built or did major overhauls on over 20 decks during that time. It might have been over 30.

And then, over the holidays, I played! With Lucas. With Paul. With Lucas & Adam & Paul. It was great! All that work building decks was rewarded with some excellent gaming. Joy!

And then, it was done. Would I have been glad to play more Magic? Sure. Would I play again tomorrow if someone asked? Probably. But my itch was scratched. I was satisfied.

This month I've been able to do some Civilization 3, some D&D, some Eurorails, some reading, some writing -- and never have I been distracted by that nagging need to put 60 cards together with just the right ratio of land, spells & creatures.

Morningtide, the next Magic expansion, comes out this week. When I start opening packs, maybe I'll get interested again. But for now, I am grateful to have been able to focus on the game for a while, enjoy the creative aspect, then focus on the strategic and social aspects, then put it away.

I think that's the mark of a good hobby: something that can provide me with a distracting outlet for creativity; something that can lead to fulfillment and fun; something that can be left alone after a while, for a while, as I move on to other things, but sit there waiting to give me an itch again in the future.