One Year Later

 Man. One year ago I posted my first post for this blog. A little introductory post about what my plans with this were, about why I decided I wanted to start it in the first place.

And in that year I've... mostly managed to keep to that. There are things I've considered doing as posts that I just haven't gotten around to - examining differences in the games I play and the ways I play each one (am I more aggressive in this game versus that game, as a for instance. Or which games am I willing to splurge on versus remaining "a budget player") being a big one.

I've started playing - and writing up posts for - a new game since then, the Gundam TCG. I've... not dropped Pokémon, but I enjoy operating as a Professor at League far more than I ever enjoyed playing, so I don't really play much anymore, meaning I've effectively soft-dropped it from my lineup.

And through it all, all the days off and vacations and general busyness of life, I've managed to keep at this blog for an entire year. Which was my main goal, honestly, putting proverbial pen to paper and consistently write something.

Which I've succeeded at. And I'm thrilled about that.

So where do I want to go from here?

Well, to start with, I plan to keep at this blog. I've enjoyed writing it, it gives me something to do, a reason to focus my thoughts and keep myself actively thinking about the card games that I play.

If I can find the time, I'd love to do at least a few posts that aren't just after-action reports from my Locals nights. Things like the comparison of mechanics from game to game, for instance. Or examining my playstyles and deck preferences, how much money I'm willing to drop on each, things like that.

And on the games themselves?

I'm fine with where I stand with Magic. Commander Night is enough to scratch that itch for me, even if I would rather play other formats. Maybe I could do with downsizing my collection a little - I enjoy having as many decks as I do, but "trimming the fat" so to speak could feasibly do well for me.

Gundam is still new enough to me that I don't know what I want to do with that game. Maybe stop losing so much at the one locals I can attend, that would be a good start. I'm working on branching out into a wholly different, not-Zeon decklist, so I'll see how that goes for me.

Pokémon... There's part of me that wants to get back into it a little more actively, but I'm not a fan of where Standard is right now, so maybe that one I can put a pin into.

And then there's Final Fantasy TCG. I really want to try to qualify for Nationals in FFTCG. If it's anything like last year, even if I do qualify, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to actually attend due to my current work schedule, but I would still love to get to the point that I can say "I'm good enough to get there".

The upcoming Winter Cup will be a reasonable testbed for me. I won't be playing the deck I'd like to be focusing on for competitive play due to the team-based nature of the event, but still. If I can do well in my part of the games, I'll be able to carry that knowledge with pride.

And then on a personal note, I'd love if I could find a different job so that I have more time that I can dedicate to these games. But that's a wholly different beast, and well beyond the scope of what this blog is supposed to be about.

But I think I've rambled long enough. Tonight is Pokémon League, and tomorrow is Commander Night. So I'll be back tomorrow with my first "real content" post of the new year.