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Main » Articles » The Joy of Magic

The Joy of Magic

Rudy Briksza
Posted on August 27, 2018
 Reddit

This is going to be something new for me. Instead of writing about my disappointments with Magic, I get to write that, for the first time in awhile, I'm feeling great. After work, I get excited about loading up a League on MTGO, or messaging friends to discuss lists and events they want to go to. I'm asking around if people want to go to local events even just to play for a few rounds.

Now, this isn't to be confused with the 'fire' to play competitively or even some drive inside to do well at everything. Instead, I'm just trying to enjoy the game of Magic as it is. While Magic has been more than a hobby for me for the last several years, I always viewed it as a job. Something that I HAD to do; so Magic ended up being something I wasn't looking forward to. While I still do have some innate competitive desire that drives me to perform, I often had a major disconnect in this arena. I treated Magic as a job, and not even one that I liked going to.

But things are different for me now. I don't know when it changed, but I think it had to do with me moving. For the last year or so, I've really been in flux. When my lease was coming to an end, while I was in Pennsylvania, I was really unsure where I was going to go and what I was going to do. One of my friends, Tariq Patel, offered me a place to stay in New Jersey until his lease ended. Being in New Jersey meant a short trip from where I was living to a state that will always be near and dear to me. New Jersey will always represent home. The issue with moving in with Tariq is that the time was limited. I wasn't really able to feel comfortable with anything that was happening. Not feeling at home was a major detriment to how I viewed Magic and how I proceeded with it as a whole. It's hard to focus on getting better or what's happening with Magic when you know soon you'll have to be living somewhere else. While there were some good parts to staying there and playing, something still needed to change. Fast forward a bit and now I'm writing this article from my own apartment in South Carolina. While the hows and whys of this state specifically sometimes elude me, I have a lot of friends in the area and that has made this transition a lot easier. I have friends I can test with in real life and shops I can play at locally when I want to.

Since I've gotten here and been working toward my own apartment, it has reignited a sense of purpose and belonging. Now when I play Magic, it doesn't feel like something to fill the time in between me trying to figure something out. Instead, Magic is now something I can do in my free time as a hobby. Due to this, I've been enjoying the game immensely. I've put some time and effort into all of the decks I've played and felt a sense of accomplishment for the work that I've put in. I made Day 2 of GP Orlando recently with Bant Nexus, and while Day 2 didn't pan out for me, I only felt a little disappointed. Then I collected my car and we all went home together. The trip was a massive success in my eyes as I was able to spend some good times with my friends and I played a deck I enjoyed. Sure, the tournament didn't pan out the way I would have hoped, yet I was still finding joy in being surrounded by so many friends while being able to participate in a hobby I like. I even recorded an episode of my old podcast, Grinders, with Tannon Grace and Brad Carpenter (you can listen here if you want: https://soundcloud.com/grinders-castmtg/grinders-episode-44-or-1) and I found a ton of joy in just chatting about Magic with my friends, as well.

But maybe you're already on board with this plan and you're here just to see some decklists. Well, I shouldn't disappoint. I've been getting a kick out of BridgeVine in Modern (you may have read my previous article on it), and I have two variations for you. The first is a version that plays Green, as I think casting Vengevine through graveyard hate is important and I like sideboard Destructive Revelry. It also plays Blood Artist and Viscera Seer as a way to combo opponents out. The second list is one from Piotr 'Kanister' Glogowski that's more all in on Greater Gargadon and utilizes Bloodghast to make that plan even easier to manage. Post board, Kanister is playing a Sacred Foundry as a way to cast Wispmare post board. This makes your mana base very clean Game 1 without giving away any sideboard cards you can have and leaves the opponent guessing. The upside of having creatures to Evoke makes cards like Bridge from Below and Vengevine slightly better in some spots as well. Overall, I can't tell which variant is better, but drawing an Evoke creature in the late game can feel a lot better than a dead Revelry. Rotting Rats is the secret great card here as it works for you and against most opponents. Like Gurmag Angler, the card is also a zombie, so it pairs well with Gravecrawler for turns you don't have two creatures for Vengevine. While there are some inconsistencies with the deck the power level is not to be underestimated. Since I'll be playing a 15 round tournament I'm sure to lose to some variance throughout the day but if I can perform well otherwise the deck will likely win the game.

BridgeVine | Modern| Rudy Briksza

BridgeVine | Modern | Kanister

TAGS articles, constructed, modern, personal, decklist, rudy briksza, 08272018, bridgevine

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