Leigh Guidry

lguidry@gannett.com

Donald Smith Jr.'s plan after graduation next semester is to be a high school math teacher. But he might try something a little less traditional.

Smith just returned from Dublin, where he won $15,000 as a semifinalist at a professional Magic: the Gathering tournament.

Smith, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, made it to the third and final day of competition and placed in the Top 8. He was the only American to do so at this tournament.

He's considering taking his passion for the card game created in the 1990s — about the time Smith was born — and turning it into a full-time gig.

Over the past four years he’s competed in several Pro Tours. Magic: The Gathering has taken him around the world — from Las Vegas and Hawaii to Spain and Ireland.

He’s won about $22,500 since he began competing, including the prize from the Pro Tour Aether Revolt in Ireland.

He could "go pro" at the game that attracts a community spanning generations, backgrounds and countries.

But for now, Smith balances competitions near and far with his class schedule.

He plays locally at stores And Books Too and Sword N Board, where players range from kids in grade school to college students like Smith to local professionals of all ages. And then there are the tournaments across and outside of the U.S.

For the math major from Cut Off, the primary appeal of Magic: the Gathering is strategy.

Smith describes the game as a combination of poker and chess that also has a fantasy side with hand-drawn artwork and epic stories of "expansive worlds, explosive spells and extraordinary creatures," according to MagictheGathering.com.

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How it all began

Smith started playing MTG as a freshman in 2013. He'd never heard of the game until his roommate and someone from high school invited him to play. He saw it as an opportunity to meet more people at a new school and new town.

"I've been hooked ever since," Smith said. "I'm naturally competitive, so I got into it really quickly."

He went to his first "big-ish" tournament with about 100 people in Lafayette in December 2013. He placed 12th and realized he could be pretty good. So he started going to more local tournaments.

Smith admits when he first started playing Magic he might have let it get in the way of his schoolwork. But he thinks that was all about timing. He was realizing he didn't like his major of engineering, and Magic became a stress relief. He's since changed his major to math and gotten a little better at time management, balancing tournaments and trips with class and schoolwork.

Still, he might call his playing an "addiction," but he adds that he's successful at it, and it doesn't seem to be detrimental to his life.

He's still in school, and the hobby is helping him pay for it.

"When it's paying tuition, why would I stop?" he said.

When he was winning a few thousand dollars at tournaments, he'd think, "There's a semester."

There can be a big upfront cost in the game — buying the cards to build up a deck. But the "maybe $3,000" he has spent on cards he has made up in trips and winnings, he said.

"I haven't spent money on it in a year, year and a half," he added.

Most of his winnings have gone to tuition at UL Lafayette.

"I mean, it makes tuition a lot more bearable," he laughed.

He said about one-third of his winnings this time will go toward paying off his final two semesters.

The rest he'll "reinvest" into airfare to smaller tournaments to build up points. His next trip will take him to Vancouver, and he'll be in Japan this summer.

The trips are mostly free, too. Most of the airfare was covered, except one trip where he recruited a sponsor, and each time he finds low-cost options for room and board like Airbnb.

Just participating in a Pro Tour is nothing to sneeze at. According to MagictheGathering.com, players must earn an invitation to compete in a Pro Tour and can do so by:

Had Smith placed first in Dublin he would have walked away with $50,000, hence the appeal of going pro after graduation.

But he wouldn't be able to rely completely on winnings because those could fluctuate.

That's where other revenue streams such as appearance fees, publishing articles and streaming his play online at twitch.tv play an important role.

Smith is working on all of those. He has earned Gold Pro status, which is based on a point system, and has his sights set on Platinum, which would mean appearance fees for tournaments. He's only about 10 points away, he said.

But it's not about a job for him. It's his passion for the game, along with some perks.

Not only does he get to play and travel, but he also gets to meet people he never would have otherwise.

That includes Owen Turtenwald, "the best player in the world right now," Smith said, when Turtenwald congratulated him in person at the Pro Tour.

How the game works

Smith explained that, like poker, you have a hand that only you can see before you play, and you can bluff to an extent.

Also like poker, the luck of the draw plays a part. Some hands play better than others. Like chess, pieces from both players interact with each other and remove some from the table, like a chess board.

"Aesthetically, it's a fantasy (game)," Smith said, referring to "creature" cards that feature artwork of werewolves and other characters. There are storylines and worlds to accompany these cards, much like comic books' evolving story arcs.

The game comprises many layers with key elements like the five colors of the cards and the creatures' offense and defense ratings. Each player starts out with 20 life points, and the opponent's goal is to reduce that to zero by fighting with a stronger creature or one with a higher "toughness" level.

Official matches allow 50 minutes per round, which is the best two out of three. Smith said a game can take 15 minutes on average, but some can take the full 50 minutes.

Or they can go the other way. He once finished a game in less than a minute.

Smith thinks his ability to handle stress might give him an advantage, especially since the game involves both strategy and luck. There are times when things just go wrong.

"That really messes some people up," he said. "For every time I've flown to a tournament and done well I've flown to one and completely crapped out. I can handle the stress. Some people can't. It's a mindset thing, on top of strategy."

Besides the strategy, Smith likes the art displayed in the games. Each card is detailed in a way that "strikes the perfect balance" for him. "It's not overly complex and detailed, but it's not cartoony."

Four years after that first invitation to play, Smith still appreciates the social interaction the game provides.

It's not like a video game where he's alone in a room with headphones on, maybe talking to someone far away or maybe not, he pointed out. Instead, the card game calls for two people to face one another and directly interact in person.

The game also can be played online now, which likely will grow the community.

That widespread community offers more interaction. Non-players attend tournaments just to watch, to cosplay or to support others.

On the Fridays he's not traveling Smith tries to play in weekly tournaments at Sword N Board and mentor new players.

"Even in Magic my passion is teaching and coaching," he said.

So maybe he'll be a teacher either way.

Find out by following Smith and his Magic: the Gathering feats on Twitter at @donaldwsjr.