Searching For Jamie Wakefield

Jamie Wakefield IS green.
Zvi Mowshowitz IS Magic analysis.
Jon Finkel IS Magic’s Tiger Woods.
Mike Long IS the bad boy.
Theron Martin IS the metagame.

FrigginRizzo IS…?

How does one devote endless hours to Magic, yet have no discernible identity within? Doesn’t it seem plausible that if one dedicates large chunks of life to a said pursuit, said pursuit should leave more than a mark on one’s life? And vice-versa? If not, is that person destined to be doomed as simply yet another "brick in the wall?" Or is that person simply well-rounded with an appreciation for all aspects of said pursuit?

So, I:
* Kind of suck at Constructed
* Am semi-decent at Limited
* Have never drafted
* Have REALLY never Rochester drafted
* Played ONE Team Limited Trial
* Never made a Top Eight, have never been quoted on The Net, don’t number any pros or famous players in my small group of friends, and, don’t really have any great technical wisdom to drop on y’all.

Well, then, now that we have established that, what the is the purpose of this article again?

FrigginRizzo: <—Making it up as he goes, hence, not really sure.

To know your identity in this game is virtually impossible. To be able to take a seat on the couch, exhale with satisfaction, and say, "Yep, I get it now" is perhaps just a pipe dream for the majority of us. But does that lessen our dedication? Our enjoyment? Does it stop us from rushing out to buy packs on the release date? Or plopping down twenty-five bucks for a PTQ? Or putting Bottle Gnomes in our multiplayer deck because one of our buddies has a killer Grave Pact deck?

I have recently began searching for my identity in Magic. Am I a tournament player? A casual player? Just some random scrub? Do I want to be decent, good, or great? Do I really WANT to make the Pro Tour, or are PTQs just another good way to meet people and have fun with the added benefit of competition thrown in? Can I really be a real Magic writer? Or will I wear
The title of "hack submissionist" forever? (Evidently not. Now you’re "Hack Featured Writer" – The Ferrett) What do I want from this game? Why do I REALLY play this game? What does it give me? What do I expect to gain from playing a game that will never pay my bills or put food on the table? Or am I just having fun?

FrigginRizzo: <—Searching for Jamie Wakefield.

Every Magic player knows, or should know, who Jamie Wakefield is. A month or so after I started playing, I came upon Wakefield’s Tournament Reports at Barnes and Noble. I bought it, read it, and was astounded that someone could care THAT much about ANYTHING. Anyone who read the book found it easy to cheer for Jamie Wakefield, the man. But. There was something else. There was more. Something I probably didn’t even notice the first time I read the book. Or the second. Or the twentieth. Then it hit me.

Jamie Wakefield – the idea.

What must it be like to be Jamie Wakefield? To be so addicted to the game that it begins to consume you whole. To bare your soul, your hopes and aspirations, to the world. To be so excited about making Top Eight that you want to pee yourself. To have the entire community embrace you and yearn to know more about you. To autograph cards. To write the best Magic book, EVER. To rediscover yourself in a game of fantasy. To be the model from which all Magic players should pattern themselves after.

Then give it all up.

Jamie Wakefield – the idea.

There are many more talented players out there, but I would be hard-pressed to name one who has had such a profound impact on the way I look at the game. Jamie Wakefield-the idea, asks us questions. And there are no wrong answers. Jamie Wakefield-the idea, tries to help us understand things that are not meant to be understood.

What must it be like to be Zvi Mowshowitz? To pore over a spoiler, weeks before the cards actually see the light of day, determined to build the most competitive deck. To have the ability to dissect a decklist in a manner that would make any surgeon proud. To never say die, and always reach for the brass ring. To be one of the most authoritative Magic writers, EVER.

Zvi is searching for Jamie Wakefield.

What must it be like to be Jon Finkel? To be the best Magic player, EVER. To always be favored to win. To always meet expectations, and then some. To win with honor. To keep a cool exterior even though the pressure is on YOU. To raise the bar so high that others may never be able to achieve the standards that you have set.

Jon is searching for Jamie Wakefield.

What must it be like to be Mike Long? To have such an enigmatic personality. To face the music and deliver. To be stared at by those who know you (and those who don’t) with equal derision. To be the bad boy. To always be under suspicion. To silence your critics time and time again.

Mike is searching for Jamie Wakefield.

What must it be like to be Theron Martin? To have such a burning desire to make sense of the metagame that you put sunblock on your face because you spend countless hours at your computer analyzing endless streams of data – data that can be almost incoherent at times – in an effort to do for others what they would not do for themselves. To sleep two hours, then drive 300 miles to play in a PTQ… and write a report. To partake in this painstaking analysis for EVERY tournament season.

Theron is searching for Jamie Wakefield.

These players have made more than marks on the game. They have made dents. If this game lasts another hundred years, these players will be the subject of tales told round the fireplace to the children.

The year 2100. Sitting round a fireplace with the children.

Me at 131 years old: "Oh, yeah, (current fan favorite) is good, but that Jamie Wakefield just had a way about him."
Great, great grandkid: "Mom, Grampa Friggin’ is waxing nostalgic again!"

How does one get to be bigger than the game? What does it take to not only be prolific, but to become ingrained in the fabric of this game? When can Magic enlightenment be determined?

Jamie Wakefield the man is probably easy to find. A few phone calls to directory assistance could track him down. However, Jamie Wakefield-the idea is not so easily located. You will spend every dime you have in the world, spend infinite hours on hold, and still will not find him. Because he cannot be found.

So why search?

Because the search is all that matters.

And what must it be like to be Richard Garfield? Financial windfall aside, does he REALLY understand just what it is that he created? I think he does. And I think he thanks us. But he’s isn’t done yet. There are still things that he needs to do. And he knows it. And he’s searching.

Richard Garfield is searching for Jamie Wakefield.

Because the search is all that matters.

When we stop searching for Jamie Wakefield, we have lost. When we throw our hands up in disgust and call the dogs back, we have cheated ourselves. We have stagnated. And once stagnation takes hold, we are relegated to a life of having our hands held, so as not to hurt ourselves. But, there isn’t always going to be someone there to hide all the sharp objects from us. If we stop searching, eventually, we just… cease.

I, for one, intend to keep searching. Because this game has changed me in ways that I can’t really determine yet. Oh, I’m still harboring the typical resentments, and more than my fair share of skeletons that have yet to be dealt with, but I know if I keep searching for Jamie Wakefield I will find many interesting things on the way. And that, just may be enough.

I have no Magic identity. No place in the Magic Matrix. I have no claim to fame. No team. I’m not a Constructed, Limited, or Draft genius. I have no favorite color. Nor format. No signature card, let alone, deck. Where do I fit in?

I don’t fit in. Yet. Because I am still searching.

And the search is all that matters.