Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Something about other belief systems.
I don’t know.
I hope you have had some days off during the holiday season to spend time like you wished without major projects, minor kids or just too much responsibility all in all.
Another one is in the books!
As we are getting ready for the next big thing, the year 2026, I better keep with tradition, and fling some lines of text about the year that came and went. The year 2025.
As always, it has been quite a year. And a long one, it seems. I feel like spring 2025 is a very long time away, but I like that more than thinking it was yesterday. Slow years are better years in my book.
On the personal side it has been a great year for my family in many respects. Magic-wise it has been a bit of a slow year. At least when it comes to two of my normal categories in these end-of-the-year posts. I only attended two open tournaments. And my purchase of new, fresh playthings has been really lacking. At least in Old School terms.
Anyway, one should not get ahead of oneself, when writing a post about things that are slow. So let’s take it from the beginning.
More Cards?
Yes – and a lot, actually. But as one would know, if one knows about Old School: You don’t simply acquire a lot of new Old School cards.
*Mordor Meme*
Okay, not really – my meme-game is absolutely hopeless. But one does not simply this and that.
I have gotten myself a whole lot more cards in 2025, but most of them was not even Magic cards. As I wrote some months back, a new rival hobby has arrived in the form of Star Wars Unlimited…
I did also buy some Magic cards throughout the year, but most of them looked something like these:
Yep, cards for my Vintage Draft Cube and for my Canadian Highlander Decks.
2025 was a year when I managed to draft the cube a number of times with many different people. I have now had a functioning cube for more than a year and a half, and more and more it has become one of my absolutely preferred ways of slinging magical spells. It is so much fun and so challenging and every iteration of drafts are just so different. I really love it, and I still enjoy finding new odd cards and mechanisms to try out. And I like blinging it out – just a bit…
Of course, that strains my ability to buy expensive Beta goodies, and I have to admit that my patience for saving up to actually buy some of the bangers I need for my Old School collection is just not really there. I have, though, more or less decided I want a playset of Beta Copy Artifacts. But there is this patience issue…
I also want just one more of these, of which I actually managed to get one in 2025:
That is the only major – maybe the only one, period – addition to my collection of very old cardboard in 2025. It almost seems strange…
There and back again
My tournament attendance in 2025 was pretty much abysmal. Two open tournaments was all I could manage – At the Mountains of Madness and LIC. Both great events and major highlights of my year. As always the attending crowds, the games, the opponents, the surroundings, the plays, the tournament organisers, the insanity and all in between was just and simply superb. You guys are still very awesome, and I enjoyed every second of it. But maybe this one the most (sorry Jonas)…
A certain thing happened in round five of At the Mountains of Madness. Read all about it here.
But I must do more tournaments in 2026. I think I have already signed up for two, so I guess we are going in the right direction.
Those were the open tournaments I attended. Besides that, the Wednesday Wizards (team Metageyser) convened for the traditional Geysermeister in January. A day full of absolute madness, great drinks, bonkers plays, cut throat competitions and – for some reason – a really strange very gangsta’ picture. Anyway it was great. It was stupid. It was all one could ever dream of, for a team tournament (and in only two weeks, we are at it again!).
And then in May I had invited 40 Old School players to attend my 40 year birthday party tournament in Svendborg. This was without a doubt the highest of Magic highlights for me in 2025. Around 25 wall-to-wall great guys and awesome company prioritised taking out a day of their calenders to come to Svenborg and play some great Old School Magic and drink some great beers. It was really an awesome day (and night) and I hope to be able to organize something like it again sometime (though maybe not a birthday celebration – just a cool tournament in Svendborg).
Finally it is very much worth mentioning that the Wednesday Wizards have finally settled on a more or less stable meet-up calendar. Which means that we have actually managed to meet and play way more regularly in 2025 than in any other year. YAY!
And somehow, we are still able to find new Old School players in Svendborg and surrounding areas – it is really strange. I think we need a table for ten for the Geysermeister. What are the odds?
Words and pictures
Just like last year, I have not prioritised this page as much as I would have wanted. I have often found it rather difficult to find the time, energy and passion to write a post here, so we are at only nine posts throughout the year – four of which are tournament reports. In other words: this post is the post that pushes the last Happy New Year post off from the front page. Not exactly impressive, but I hope you still enjoy reading what I write, even though there is a lot less of it than one could want.
As always I have written about several different things. Four tournament reports: Geysermeister, 40-for-40, At the Mountains of Madness and LIC. Other than that I have touched upon the creativity that is Old School – a post I wrote for the paper handed out to all players at the Eels cup. There is one more coming, so be sure to get a seat, if you are not already attending.
I also wrote at length about one of my absolute favorite cards of the format, Triskelion. A banger. A king of a card. Why would you ever not play that little guy?! Yeah.
I also tried to define and describe what spicy actually means. I found that it is not that easy. Who would have thought? But it was a fun exercise to try to explore one of the words many of us just use and then expect everyone to know what we mean and what we are talking about. I think it would be healthy for many people to try that exercise sometimes. Politicians to mention just one group. Anyway.
Finally I wrote two articles not too Old School relevant. One about the Initiative mechanic – primarily in cube, but also just in general – and another about the new rival in my household: Star Wars Unlimited. A wholly great, and not-to-complex game I came to learn about with my nine-year-old boy who has since then become very smitten.
But of course, it is not truly a rival – what could ever rival Magic?
And on that note I once again – for the sixth time in a row – I wish all of you a blessed and hopefully peaceful happy new year!
No Responses