While the internet is full of ways to find game stores in your area,
it does very little to tell you about the real character of those
stores: their atmosphere, their product, their staff, or anything else a
curious gamer might want to know. To help others out, I've started a
week-by-week survey of the stores in my area, playing a Friday Night
Magic at each one as a way of familiarizing myself with it.
Last week, I started talking about Dragon's Lair, its intimate atmosphere, and its dazzling array of comics and games. I ran out of time, but this week I'm finishing up with a description of its Friday Night Magic.
I
was running late, but there was still time to sign up for the event. It
took the last $5 of cash I had on-hand and I forgot my DCI number, but the
staff offered to look up my number and answered all of my questions
about the timing, the seats, and how things were generally organized.
Round 1
I was placed opposite a guy named Josh, because it's
always a Josh. He had a ramp deck that put lands into play faster than I could, so he dropped massive
titans onto the board before I could respond to them. I managed to push him back with a
Rolling Tremblor
after landing my first mountain on turn six or so. But it only lasted
for a turn, and after that turn he attacked hard enough to kill me. I
stabilized once in the second game, bringing enough vampires out to
threaten him, but I was met with a Black Sun's Zenith, a nice bit of
removal that swept my little dudes from the skies.
For the toughest stains.
Josh was nice and
polite. Our two games ended before the time limit for the round was up
so we got to talk a bit. He was proud of all the money that he and his
friends put into their decks. He said that he was sorry that he was my
first opponent for a FNM, as he considered himself one of the better of
the regular players.
