It's weird to be in the prizes.

I am at peace with the reality of Standard Constructed. For the past year as I have played MTG it really is true that the amount of money one spends on the cards and decks that are winning the big tourneys has a direct influence on whether one does well or not in a store tourney most of the time.

So, I win some games now and then with the decks I build.  However, i recently have managed to make a red white deck that is ferocious enough and comes out fast enough often enough to actually place and be playing for and winning prizes in recent tournaments.

Part of me is happy about that.  It's nice to do well.  But, it is also odd to suddenly be 2-0 in the third round against another 2-0 and be playing for stuff.  The social aspect of gaming and the competitive juices do come out.  I still had fun.  It was nice to get respect from the guys who could not imagine how my deck was so good and to then discuss the deck build with them. It was also nice to earn some store credit and packs from that success.

I had come to the conclusion that I was a pretty good limited player and have had some success with that, but I had written off the notion of doing well in Standard Constructed because of the reasons stated above.  It was nice to be a little wrong.