(Casually sends this again because you only put 2 sentences and answered it privately) What is your favorite card you've ever owned? What makes it special?

A foil Vexing Beetle.

Why? Story time!

Ten years ago, me and my brother traveled around on the Magic JSS circuit. (That is, the Junior Super Series - a tournament series for kids 16 and under and awarded scholarship money.) Our mom would always travel with us, and at the big championship each year, there was always a parents meet and greet.

Well, in 2004 there was a very special guest in attendance: Richard Garfield! He attended the meet and greet, and my mom ended up in a conversation with him. As he was just about to turn away, my mom realized that her kids, being the avid Magic fans they were, would love nothing more than the holy frail of Magic memorabilia: a Richard Garfield signed card!

She quickly reached into her purse, scraping the bottom for anything she could find. Her hand surfaced clutching the only card she could find: a foil Vexing Beetle.

There was only one card, but two sons. So, she decided the person whose card it was would get it signed: me. Richard took the card, rose an eyebrow noting “nobody has ever asked me to sign one of these before,” and then obliged.

Later that night, mom got back to the hotel room and told us the story. She proudly opened her purse and… voila! Vexing Beetle!

There was only one problem… it was ACTUALLY my brother’s card, not mine as my mom had thought. And yet, my name was written on it by the Grand Garfield himself! It was a true conundrum.

The debate over who it truly belonged to lasted weeks, which became months, which became years. At some point, tired of the nonsense, my mom decided to end this great war by confiscating it herself.

And then, like the One Ring, it was lost and forgotten about. The ages gave way.

That is, until one night, my brother opened a cabinet we always left shut and found it: sitting there, as glimmering and pristine as ever. The instigator of our battle. Our precious.

He took it from its resting spot. The next day, I spotted it in the corner of the room - and so began the next great brotherly war, this time of a different tact. I wanted it back, but couldn’t raise the issue lest our mom overhear and decide to end this fight once for all with a pair of scissors.

It now became an epic of subterfuge. We would steal the card away from each other and hide it in our rooms, each knowing that if mom discovered the story would be cut short.

The true purpose long gone, we stole it back and forth out of sport. Out of curiosity. Out of tradition. We were Apollo and Hermes; Fred and George: Urza and Mishra, all rolled into one. Game of Thrones had nothing on this ongoing spat.

Many great moves were played. I’ll never forget the time my brother feigned relenting, agreeing to trade it to me for a few cards he needed - and then after the trade still stole it back that night anyway. It was the Trojan horse of our battle - and he pulled it off.

But like every great war, there is a tactical position that turns the tides. Something the enemy had overlook. And finally, four years after the battle begun, I had found my ultimate maneuver to finish it.

Being the older sibling, I was due to go to college first. And so, on the night before I moved out to the University, I took back the Beetle one last time - and hid it in one of my packed boxes.

Later on, my brother would congratulate me on my ingenuity.

Though I admit, whenever he visits, the little voice in the back of my head gets slightly nervous that he might find its hiding spot, take it back again and rekindle the feud anew.

And that’s the story of “my” Vexing Beetle.

TL;DR: I own a foil Vexing Beetle signed by Richard Garfield that was actually my brothers. And if you’ve ever had a sibling that you’ve fought over items with, you know just how much meaning it has.