Who/What Drove You To Become A Magic Player?

[All-Mana Mania]

I love magic a lot!! It is fun to play and has a fun environment. I just want to know how you got into magic? I played back when it was shards and quit because I really didn't grasp the rules and ideas. Last year on my birthday my bro got me a box of m13 and taught me how to play. Ever since then I can't stop playing.

[The1337Magician]

My friend, that had been playing Casually since Ravnica: City of Guilds (maybe older), got DotP 2012 while I was at his house. I watched a game or two of him playing and he asked me if I wanted to play. I denied his offer, but I watched him more and more and I got the game when I got an X-box. Sometime later I got a randomized box of 1000 cards for casual and 500 basic lands. I kept doing this for some time and I found Standard along with this app. My circle of four friends (that I also added my 'brother' to, so actually five) has been playing together ever since DotP 2012. So... Yeah.

[MrsNosihctuh]

My boyfriend at the time, now husband, and a couple of our college buddies got into the game back around Christmas 2011.  Since we attended a strict Bible college, the boys had to hide their cards and only played late at night in their dorm rooms; so I couldn't play with them.  Once I got married, my husband bought me a RTR starter pack and taught me how to play.  I've been hooked ever since.

[JustAWalrus]

My frends just started playing just around when dark ascention and avacyn restored came out. I just started recently just after gatecrash when my friends were playing at a place, my friend told me that i would have a deck if i bought 4 booster packs so after some trading, Running 6 lands and 3 colors i started playing.

[Bman0121]

My cousin was a hardcore magic player I started 2 days after future sight came bought like 12 boosters with christmas money and built a fun deck I also had 2  {Tarmogoyf} back then it was only 99 cents and I traded them for a  {Akroma's Memorial} really wish I didnt do that...

[Charbelchers rage]

A few stories drew me in and I became determined to slowly work my way through the most over powered decks I could, now I'm liking red since everyone thinks it is a weak color

[TezzereT]

My buddy got me into playing. We started when mirage just came out, so a real long time ago, before all these new fangled rules changes. We had no clue how to play, we were starting with all our lands in play, attacking with walls, using ins/sor as enchantments. Oh how far we've come. We play together to this day, fierce duels, our meta game is hilarious because we pretty much know what the other is thinking. But I'm glad he introduced me to this game. I've never gotten so much enjoyment or fulfillment from any other game, and I love it.

[InfinitiveDivinity]

I walked down into my buddies basement one day and he was sitting there shuffling a deck of cards. I had heard of the game before but never played. He asked if I wanted to play and I said I'd only ever played Yugioh, he insisted that I should play so I sat down and he slid across a second deck. He was running some White/Blue concoction and he'd passed me Black/Green something or other. After him beating me down about 4 times in a row, I finally started grasping the game. After that I was completely hooked. This was around Mirrodin/Kamigawa era, so I have a pretty big obsession with Legendary creatures. I happened to love Kamigawa. Magic is awesome =] I think those first few games are the reason why I love Black so much.

[Mikefrompluto]

I played Yugioh for a time, and got introduced to Magic by a friend who played. I showed him how to play Yug, he showed me how to play Magic. Being a huge LotR nerd, I gravitated more towards Magic. I played for a couple years and stopped just after Mirrodin came out. Picked it back up around Avacyn Restored after picking up a few boosters at Wal Mart with a gift card I had. iMtG and the community has taught me way more about the gameplay and rules involved in Magic than I had ever known when I first played it.

[Mintkid219]

My friend who has been playing since I believe 9th edition was trying to get me to play for like 8 years and I finally caved in a year ago and have been playing and recruiting friends since.

[Destore117]

A few kids at my school were playing it at lunch I had seen it before when my older brother played but never took interest as I'd grown up with Yu-Gi-Oh but after learning the rules and basic mechanics I love this game. And it lets me make new friends and play a game that is both luck based, challenging, thought provoking, and ultimately unlimited amounts of fun when you have people to play with.

[Gorzo]

My brother got me into it a couple years ago. He and a couple friends of ours get together and play various random games somewhat regularly, and one time my brother tells us "This time I'm bringing something new that I think you all will like." He had been introduced to and hooked on mtg, and bought a deck builder's toolkit and some packs. He built us each a very simple starter deck of each color to pick from, and we played. The 4 of us are all pretty hooked still.

[Lyriczulu]

I started to play right when DGM was released. My roommate played MTGO a lot and ended up buying a duel deck to play with his girlfriend. A couple of weeks later I decided (pretty much on a whim) to convince my other friends to buy a few deck builder toolkits and I've been hooked since then.

[Flipm0de]

Saw it as a child. Never really played. One day about a year ago came upstairs and a few of my friends were playing. Took one look and drove to Walmart to buy a deck builders kit. Now we are going to iQs and Opens like every weekend. Got bit by the bug fast.

[Kaleo42]

When I was about 9 I was given a foil {Kokusho, the Evening Star} and a stack of random old cards by a friend of my dad's. i didnt care too much cause I was only really into pokemon cards and then yugioh when that came out.

Years later I was working with a great guy who was going on about Magic the Gathering (he was careful to say the whole name every time). I at the time had great respect for yugioh but didnt really have a play group and asked him to teach me so I could compare the games. This was about the time rise of eldrazi came out but most the cards he had access to in his share group were alara block and then really old stuff.

He handed me a goblin deck and i I played against his elves. My first impression pegged magic as more about how you build your deck and luck during play while yugioh was more about how you play with what you draw. It seems silly thinking back in that. I bought a {Djinn of Wishes} deck and proceed to break the game by playing reduced costing effects for my blue spells and deck sculpting effects to wish eldrazi off the top and other creatures with rediculous effects. Then I got {elvish piper} and my love for not paying full price grew as I ripped {emrakul, the aeons torn} into play and proceeded to make my friends quit playing with me.

Desperate to play and now old enough not to have to ask to go I walked for 45min to get to the shop for sunday night magic and met a group of the states top players who played almost exclusively control. These guys stuck to this small shop because they didnt really like the people ran other shops or the other top players they would have to play and beat. They took me in knowing I would open more product if given a reason and they definately gave me a reason. Thanks to them two and half years later I have a team, pulled top 8 in state, top 16 at the last PTQ, 25th at a standard open, and moderate here. Im thankful every day for this mental outlet and oppornutiy to extend what I have recieved on to others.