Welcome to Rhystic Gaming—my personal journal for documenting my journey back into competitive Magic: The Gathering.

A Long Hiatus

I've been playing Magic since 1993. Back in the day, I played pretty competitively up until around 1998-1999, then life happened and competitive play fell by the wayside. Now, after all these years, I'm getting back into it.

A lot of my friends are rediscovering Magic too. Most are playing casually, but some are diving into competitive play, and that's given me the opportunity to revisit something I used to love. I want to see how well I can still do at this game after all this time.

What This Is (And Isn't)

This blog is primarily for me. It's a place to chronicle my experiences, document what I'm learning, and keep track of the ups and downs as I navigate competitive tournament Magic again. I'll be writing about:

• Tournament Reports: What happened, what went right, what went wrong
• Deck Building & Testing: What I'm playing, why, and how it's working
• Meta Observations: What I'm seeing in the formats I play
• Lessons Learned: Mistakes, breakthroughs, and things I'm figuring out
• The Journey: The highs, the lows, and everything in between

This isn't really meant to be a resource for other players—though if someone finds value in it, that's great. Mostly, it's my way of keeping track of my own progress and experiences as I work my way back into competitive play.

About the Name

The name "Rhystic Gaming" comes from Rhystic Study, one of those cards that's become iconic in the community. "Did you pay the {1}?" has become a meme, but it's also a reminder to pay attention to the details—something that matters a lot in competitive Magic.

So here we go. Time to see if I still have it, and document the journey along the way.