I haven’t written in a while for a couple of reasons. First, my left thumb gets strained from hitting space and gaming too much, so I was getting some rest. Second, I was waiting on the double whammy of the Super Mario Movie and the full reveal of Magic the Gathering’s March of the Machine set. I expected both to give me plenty of strong impressions to write about, but I was wrong on both counts.
I had heard decent enough things about the Mario Movie, so I saw it two days ago. I anticipated great or awful things that would make for great posts, but what I got was everything in the trailers plus the final battle scenes. As others have pointed out, the story is bare minimum, and I don’t love nor hate what’s there. I could talk about my dislike for how Bowser and Donkey Kong were written to be unpleasantly antagonistic and nothing more, but that’s not a deep vein, and I have better things to do than rant about Illumination x Scrimblo Blimbo feat. Miyamoto dialogue.
One of my plans from starting this site was to begin a series of articles on Magic the Gathering drafting. What better way to start than speculating on a new set that signifies a new era for the game? The problem here is that drafting is driven by the common cards, and the commons this time are just outstanding across the board. They were intentionally juiced up to compete with the unusually high number of powerful-in-draft rares (commonly called bombs). While I’m sure that’s great for playing, I’m left with little to talk about in the meantime. Draft the colors you’re interested in, do it wisely, and I think you’ll be fine.
So here I am, let down on the things I was looking forward to and without easy material. The interesting part? I’m fine with it, and I’m not sure that would have been the case two years ago. I was in a pit of self-doubt and frantically searching the media I was consuming for personal meaning. I had an unhealthy relationship with MtG Arena, feeling like I had to keep playing to stay “with it,” even when I wasn’t having fun. Fantasies of being a top player or respected community member taunted me, but when it came down to it, I couldn’t rationalize my addiction. I also was in constant mental agony at my inability to create. To use my skills in a way that resonated with others and justified my life. I’ve since learned that true validation and contentment from the external world is ultimately impossible. I am alive and doing what I can, and that is enough. And look at me now. I’ve made a post literally from feeling nothing.
