Walking into my first Magic: The Gathering tournament felt heavier than shuffling a sixty-card deck. I had only been playing for a short time, and this was my first real event. Tables were packed, players spoke in shorthand I barely understood, and everyone seemed confident in a way I wasn’t. I didn’t come with expectations of winning. I came because I loved the game, and I wanted to see what it felt like to play it the way I watched others do.

The deck I brought was blue-black midrange, built around a simple idea that fascinated me from the start: Traumatize and Haunting Echoes. The thought of ripping half a library away and then stripping everything else that shared a name felt powerful and clever. It wasn’t fast, and it wasn’t safe, but it was mine. Every card in the deck was there because I liked what it did or how it felt to play.

From the first match, reality set in. My opponents were faster, tighter, and more experienced. Creatures hit the board before I could stabilize. Counterspells were baited out. Graveyards I wanted to exploit never stayed full long enough. I lost game after game without ever getting close to the match slip turning in my favor. Still, each round taught me something small, even when the outcome was clear.

There were moments, though, where the deck did its thing. Resolving Traumatize and watching an opponent’s library hit the graveyard all at once drew reactions every time. When Haunting Echoes followed, the table always went quiet. Sometimes it wasn’t enough to win, but for a turn or two, the game felt exactly how I imagined it when I sleeved the deck up at home.

Between rounds, I talked with players who beat me. Some suggested changes. Others just nodded and said they remembered their first tournament, too. Nobody laughed at the deck. A few even said they liked the idea. That mattered more to me than I expected. I didn’t feel out of place anymore. I felt like part of the room.

I didn’t win a single match that day, and I walked out with no prizes. But I left happy. I played the cards I loved, I saw my deck do what it was built to do, and I learned what real Magic felt like across the table. For a first tournament, that was enough.

Thanks for reading.