Booster Draft = Life

This is Cameron Miller. A while ago at a side booster draft tourney Davey J. once said "Wow Cameron: once you chose your colors you keep with them." After his statement I criticqued my drafting style, and tried to revise it in order to draft better. On one of the car rides home my mind wandered on how one could compare a Booster Draft (preferably Magic) to life. These are some of the comparisons I made:

In Booster Draft one sometimes waits to late to decide on a color, and gets demolished. In life one sometimes waits to late to choose a career path or goal and finds out that it may have been to late, and they are too far behind to catch up.

In Booster Draft one sometimes waits to choose a color, but in the end that switch made the difference. In life one may take many years to find a path to follow, but in the end their choice comes through for them.

In Booster Draft one may stubbornly stick to a color combination even though their surrounding colors may look more appealing. One may ferverently decide to draft blue even though there is amazing red going around. This may result in a deck which may be weak and lacking in strength. In life one may spend all of their time pursuing a specific goal (business, medicine, athletics, music, etc.) but may find that they missed out on some of life's moments.

In Booster Draft one may stubbornly stick to a color combination despite other appealing colors and come out with an appealing deck. In life one's devotion to a particular event(s) may pave the way to a desired life; or an appealing life for a particular individual.

In Booster Draft one may go for the alluring foils/rares (shinyness, value), but may overlook more favorable cards in the pack that could have augmented the deck. In life one may go after what looks good or appears to be attractive only to find that they have forgot what they want to do with their life (priorities).

In Booster Draft one may go for the foils/rares and still maintain a favorable deck. That could be because the foils/rares were what the player needed to build a good deck. In life one may discover that glamor/rarity/appearance factors are what one may need to enhance their life in a favorable manner.

In Booster Draft one may go for the "powerhouse deck" and feel that if their deck does not have a lot of bombs than it is garbage. One may feel like "I wish I had a Power Matrix and 2 Volcanic Winds in my deck. In life one may feel that if they do not have a lot of "bombs" like a lot of money, nice house/apartment, decent cars, or other luxuries than they are missing out on a good time.

In Booster Draft one may build a solid deck and may still be beaten. In life one can have a decent life (in their opinion or in some cases other's) and have an unfavorable event befall them and wonder "where did I go wrong."

In Booster Draft one may build a solid deck and issue a beating to everyone else at the tournament. One may excell with a solid (not weak or amazing) deck. In life one can excell with soild strengths, talents, abilities, etc. and manage to make a mark in the world.

When I thought of these examples I was amazed that a CCG such as Magic (Booster Drafting) could compare to real life issues. I think everyone will probably face the life issues during their life, but Booster Drafting really enhances this assumption. It could be safe to say (in a very loose way) that you could learn something about someone by the way they draft. This does not have anything to do with the deck (final outcome), but with how they construct their deck. Beginners at Magic are sometimes told not to draft certain cards or draft certain cards, but most of us would say we are beginners at life. One may give you advice to guide you, and it may or may not help. In closing next time you have a brain flash saying "Wow, that's how it is in life too" you will know that even something as a Booster Draft can have links with everyday life.

That's all for now.