Played a ton as a kid, got back into it HEAVY as an adult. Buddy I met in my 20s (fellow stoner) rediscovered his old cards, asked if I ever played and that was it. We were both hooked, played really competetively from m15 to about the first Ixalan. Some of the most fun times of my whole life.
I never got into Commander for the same reason I mever got into DND. No offense, but I’m not trying to play nerd improv; I’m trying to have a fuckin math contest on probability and risk analysis. Draft, sealed, modern, standard. From pre-releases to comic book store short 6person drafts to Grand Prixs…loved competetive Magic. Was never fantastic, but had some good runs. My buddy and partner (we ended up sharing a collection for efficiency) was the better player and had some killer runs and amazing games against great top level players.
Ultimately I lost the fire. The bans/trouble managing the standard format was the first factor, but at the end of the day I was ready for a break and had slowed down a ton. Covid was horrible for the game, at least from a competetive standpoint, as the parent company lost focus and got into weird mashups and brand collabos in an attempt to capitalize on collectable-crazy-covid and people spending extra disposable income on hobbies. they did ‘doctor who’ cards FFS.
I have been playing marvel snap lately but have been considering popping back into MTG. In many ways it’s the greatest game ever conceived; a game about two economies. The economy of the cards, better cards in play are worth more in trading. The economy of the cards; more powerful spells cost more mana in play.