Articles

Theory Behind Magic: An Article About Articles

Ever since I was a kid, I have always been more interested in words then pictures because words can paint better pictures in my mind then any artist can paint. In fact, when ever a chick visits my room and sees the magazines on my desk, I ALWAYS claim that I bought those for their articles only. I don't think that they are convinced at all though. :P

Since Yaro is currently looking for people to write for Sideboard at GP Brisbane at the moment (Position filled thanks everyone - Dan Gow from Sydney will be helping with the coverage - Yaro) I thought I might write about what is it like to be an article writer to motivate you readers. It also wouldn't hurt if you wanted to write for the Paradise on a general basis since we are a little down on feature columnist at the moment as well. Personally, I would have loved to go to Brisbane and write for Sideboard more then competing in the GP itself. However, with 2 university assignments due the week after the GP and exams straight afterwards, I thought I'd better not risk it.

My favourite MtG Writer

Before I started writing for MTGParadise, I have always liked reading Chad Ellis' articles at the Dojo because unlike other writers, his articles are humorous as well as useful. Like most magic players, I go online to read articles mainly for the tech and decks, but these articles are usually boring as hell with a new idea once every full moon. Having that little bit of humour in articles makes it so much easier and enjoyable to read after reading why the Shadowmage Infiltrator is good for almost every b/u deck the 600th time.

What got me started?

After drafting at Games Paradise on Thursday night, I usually go to have dinner with my friends at Mama's kitchen afterwards. While waiting for the food, we would often discuss MtG related stuff with an occasional remark about the waitresses. There are times that our discussion would go beyond the average tech and deck talk but are still related to Magic (Shameless plug: Like the relationship between personality and the colours you play, which was discussed in my first article). These discussions would usually come to a disagreement among us, as the things we've discussed were often difficult to be proven by just the 4 of us. To settle this, I thought why not post these ideas online so more people could read about them and come up with a better conclusion? Thus Theory behind Magic was born. To be honest, I have never intended to write tech articles to start with since there are already plenty of people doing it with a better understanding of the game then I do (especially on the winning department :P).

So what kept me going?

One of the perks of being an MTGParadise columnist is of course the recognition you get from other people. It is great to have someone who lives in a different state or country to have actually read the stuff you wrote. Though my photo is not printed on the MTGParadise site (in case of stalkers;)) yet people still recognize my name if they play against me in tournaments. Pity that I usually lose when this happens and it probably made my readers think that I'm full of crap after all.

Another up side of writing a MtG article is that it allows me to collect my thoughts on certain subjects and putting them into words will give me better insight on the game. There is also the sense of completion when I have finished a particular good piece and the positive feedbacks I get from it.

Aside from those, the main reason why I have kept writing is because it is fun. I had so much fun recollecting what has happened and how to put them into proper words while writing my Australian Nationals article that I finished the 3 pieces of writing in less then a week. In fact, I dare say that I actually enjoyed writing the article more then being at the Nationals because playing Magic 3 days in a row with 10 hrs each day kind of stressed me out.

To wrap things up, being an article writer is fun, challenging, interesting and exciting. If you are interested to express your expertise and opinion on the game in general send a piece to MTGParadise. Just remember not to repeat the words off someone from others sites like Sideboard and Mindripper or come up with amazing conclusions such as "Shadowmage Infiltraitor...good". It really doesn't take a genius to work that one out.

Hopefully, the GP money will stay in Australia this year instead of having it wasted on sheep :P. I really don't care who from which state wins as long as the money stays HERE!

Aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi!

Minga Wong
t_memo@yahoo.com