Hello, to start off I will say the standard “this article isn’t about deck tech, strategy or a tournament of any sort.” Instead I am writing about how Magic: The Gathering and the community surrounding it helped save my life.
I had played magic way back in the early 90s, starting just as Revised hit the shelves. For a good few years I enjoyed the game tremendously (even the Ante aspect until everything became a game of ante for cards from Super Mario Kart, Scrabble and Monopoly) Heck I even won a large city wide Ice Age tourney which included me walking through a wall of glass at the bingo hall where the tourney took place.
All that stopped for a few years and fast forward to November 18th 2010, at the age of 32 I had a stroke.
The next few months were a nightmare for me, I had to learn how to walk again, move my right side again, adjust to double vision, not being able to swallow (THE WORST, imagine having to have a tube in your gut to feed you and keep you hydrated but not being able to drink for 4 months so you can’t be refreshed… THE WORST) and a plethora of other problems such as not feeling pain or temperature on my left side (that’s almost a super power like Darkman, trust me though shaving is hard when you don’t really feel the razor). I always joke that it might be more than a coincidence the night I bought my girlfriend her Christmas gift was the night I had my stroke because I looked at the bill too long…. The long and short of it is that I had a random tear in my brain stem and the clot got up into my head and blocked some things.
Before we go any further I just want to point out that I would say I am 98% recovered, Considering the alternative and how lucky I am I think I will take what I have to deal with and live with it.
So how does all this doom and gloom bring us to magic?
1) The hospital is a lonely place, there is only so long people can visit you each day.
2) Being 32 and having a stroke results in the fact that a lot of your companions in the neurology ward are either nuts or much older. The older part is ok, The people who are nuts yell and scream constantly and can only be sedated so long each day.
3) After rehab and a stroke your body is doing a lot of work trying to heal so you are tired and stuck in bed, especially if you are learning how to walk again.
All that to say “Thank heaven for technology.” Before I even started playing Magic again there were the podcasts. I play some miniature wargamming also but there are only so many of those podcasts around and eventually I branched out into other casts out of boredom. I stumbled upon some magic podcasts, The Eh-Team was one of them and I forget which episode but I heard the name of Dan Kramer being mentioned and I was a bit surprised. Dan Kramer? Wasn’t he the little kid I played magic with at the store near the university I went to? I remember that guy! He was kind of good then and was always talking about going to Junior Magic Tourneys etc. This is a local show?
So I listened some more and found out about KYT, Alex Hayne, Franky and the rest from Crazy Talk, I listened to Smi77y and Jay and Scotty on Eh Team. I learned about MTG CAST and listened to almost everything I could. Not only did it help me get through the days but it REALLY made me want to play magic again.
There was 1 problem. I was still stuck in the hospital and rehab. Funny thing about Hasbro as an aside, I think they could make tons of cash providing rehab centers with things for patients to do, while in the hospital rehabbing my right hand they don’t have much in the way of entertaining things to keep you occupied. You stick out one hand, make a finger and hold it up in front of your face and move your hand you are trying to improve back and forth between the finger and your head over and over and over. Well this showed me that I had a lot of work to do since it felt like the breaks were off in my hand since I couldn’t touch my finger without overshooting it by a mile and that this method is BORING. Folks, Transformer toys are where it’s at. The little bit of concentration and manual dexterity required is a lot more entertaining than pointing at my own finger. Even the doctors thought it was a good idea for future patients.
Back to Magic again and another form of rehab involved my mental state. How much of my brain was damaged? Did I have any memory loss or damage to the brain? Tests involve some simple sequencing puzzles and they had me play Mahjong for further study. None of that was terribly exciting but I guess because of the podcasts I had an itch to sort through my collection that I had stashed away. When I finally got out of the hospital I had some weeks before I had to return to work so I sorted some cards, made some decks etc. Nothing exciting but at the time so much in my life had changed. I wasn’t fully recovered, several traumatic things were occurring and even with the help of therapy I didn’t feel like myself. It was as if the old me had died and replaced with a guy who had to deal with reality and the challenges brought upon by a stroke.
Magic turned that all around. I enjoyed just looking over the old cards, Sorting and making decks, I enjoyed listening to the podcasts and seeing what had changed “WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO MANA BURN? Did my stroke change things that much?!?!” “Planeswalkers? Mythic rarity? My old lands are worth how much?!?! I sold them 5 years ago for nothing! ARG”
Finally I decided to go to a store and play in a draft, simple enough. I went. I did ok, but most importantly I had fun. No worries about walking around and balance. No screaming nut jobs in the next room, just fun. Soon I was back into it full swing. Buying up M11 and selling what few legacy cards I had left that were good to get more standard stuff.
NPH was going to come out soon and I kept hearing about Jace and Caw Blades and big tournaments and Pro tours and Grand Prix events and stuff was even broadcast and independent tournaments. I was hooked and happy to be involved with something I used to love that made me just feel like my old self.
I soon met a lot of the local folks from the podcasts. I was actually nervous to meet KYT and Franky and Alex Hayne but they are great guys even if they laugh at my crazy brews. Hey I have the cards, I can easily net deck but half the fun is just trying to come up with your own ideas.
Through it all I have come into contact with more folks in the community via Facebook and Twitter. Everyone has been great and I really enjoy the sense that I am part of a group of folks who enjoy a hobby that is truly global. I can speak with folks like Smi77y and Chris Lansdell and ask them for advice or follow Alex Hayne while he travels to far off lands in search of pro tour glory.
These days I enjoy FNMs, the occasional bigger tourneys when they show up around or near Montreal. I think about living the dream and top 8ing something (I guess I might have to knuckle under and make a deck that’s established). However I get to enjoy those same podcasts during my commutes to and from work almost every day. I get to play with some great folks a few times a week and the main thing is that when things were really down this “game” helped me get through some really tough times and for that I will forever be thankful.
P.S
Shout out and thanks to all you guys who put the time and effort to write articles or record Podcasts. Eh-Team, Crazy Talk, Horde of Notions, Monday Night Magic, Public Enemies etc etc etc. You guys are great.
Joshua Lemish
jlemish@hotmail.com
or on Twitter @Zaqir (just a stupid name I use for MMOs and stuff)
Joshua Lemish is a local rogue deckbuilder from Montreal. A few years ago, he had a stroke. Magic has been a big part of his recovery process.
