The other day Christina and I were at Target, since we’re adults and sometimes have to go buy things like household cleaners and storage bins and other things that aren’t really all that fun. Still, though, we have a routine each time we go in: we get what we need, stop by the action figures, swing by the video games and DVDs, and then before we hit the registers to check out, look at the trading cards. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a pack of WoW cards to try for a loot card, or we’ll each get a pack of the new Pokémon cards, or Christina finds an interesting new unknown thing to buy.

This time, though, we found something WAY more awesome: a pack of the Animal Crossing e-Reader cards. For the GameCube game. From 2002.

Since Gavin is being super rad at getting people to follow me on Twitter, I decided to be relevant and discuss the beginnings of me getting into Magic: The Gathering. Since I’m literally just starting out, I’m hoping that this will make the old pros nostalgic for their humble beginnings and get some other people who have never tried it to dive in.

After talking to Gavin, I downloaded Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Live Arcade to get a feel for the rules and how the game was played. I suck really, REALLY bad at it… but I like it.

So last week Christina and I headed down to Harrison’s, the comic store in the mall. The people who work there are super nice and they’ve got nick-knacks for literally any interest you could have, but most of the time I feel bad because we go in, talk to the guys a little bit and then leave without buying anything. This time, though, I knew we’d be buying something.

After talking to my buddy Gavin, I’ve decided to delve into the world of collectible card games. There’s a few reasons I’ve decided to give them a whirl, and a lot of reasons I didn’t when I probably should have.

Right now I’m really hungering for a social aspect with my gaming time. I kinda suck at shooters (and now apparently Street Fighter) so Xbox Live doesn’t do much for me, and most of the people on my server in World of Warcraft are morons (although the social guild I’m in has some pretty cool people). As a whole, I’m finding online gaming more and more impersonal, and it’s not really doing it for me anymore.

I’ve known Gavin Verhey for a few years now from various message boards. We’ve talked a lot, even played games online together a couple times. I’ve always thought he was a pretty cool guy, but I learned a couple of days ago that he’s even more awesome than I had thought. Gavin, you see, is a professional gamer.

Gavin plays in professional tournaments for the game Magic: The Gathering. Magic, for those of you who have lived under a rock for the past 17 years, is a collectible card game (CCG) where players construct decks of cards with various abilities, and compete to deplete the other’s life points. It sounds much simpler than it actually is, with an infinite amount of ways to customize your deck and formulate strategies. The game is popular worldwide, with a thriving pro circuit and tournaments held all over the world.