Nostalgia
Nostalgia is a powerful force. I'm 39 years old and I'm still obsessing over things I loved when I was a teenager. Marvel Comics (mostly X-Men), indie comics (primarily the works of James O'Barr, including The Crow), and Magic: The Gathering (especially the sets I played during). My original affair with Magic began with Fourth Edition. A friend brought over his mono black deck and taught me the rules. JunĂșn Efreet was the first piece of Magic art that really struck me. Where could I get some of these cards? My answer was Sport Stop, a local sporting goods store that stocked Magic alongside their baseball cards. I bought the Fourth Edition Gift Box to start my collection. My neighborhood friends got in on the game, too, and we played kitchen table Magic for the next four years until the release of Sixth Edition. I didn't like the way the cards looked and thought it was lame that the creatures no longer said "summon" on them. The end of high school loomed, an