Longevity

I hit a milestone recently: I’ve been running a Magic: the Gathering league for 10 years now. Also, 10 years ago, the stonecutter father of a regular player made us a trophy. Being too good to give away, we mounted it and made it our perpetual trophy:

LXG Grand Melee trophy

Our 2018 winner’s name is yet to be added. Since you ask, I won in 2009 and 2010. The other names are whited out for privacy reasons.

The format we play is called Grand Melee, which is designed for multiplayer games involving 6+ players. Our usual monthly play group is 6-10 people, though in years past we’ve had as many as 22.

It’s a format where strange things can happen as each player has a sphere of influence outside which their spells have no effect. Cast a Wrath of God and you destroy your creatures and those of the players either side of you. The others at the table are unaffected.

The format and people who play it have been fun enough that I continue playing even though I stopped buying new Magic cards a couple of years ago.

The last row of plaques will be complete in 2022. I’m confident that I or someone else will be running the league still.