The Fourth Edition of Magic: The Gathering was Andy's first exposure to the Multiverse. As a loner he taught himself the game by playing both sides, enjoyed the non-cycle novels more, and eventually bought cards just to see the artwork.
10 years later I captured this photograph and instantly recalled “Leviathan” illustrated by Mark Tedin.
Even though he rarely played against other people, Andy enjoyed constructing blue decks because of the mechanics and philosophy associated to that mana type: technology, logic, perfection, inaction, and manipulating gameplay in unique ways.
Andy doesn’t enjoy competitive games and the aggression that they breed amongst people trying to have fun. These days he plays Magic digitally against AI.
It’s enjoyable, but there’s something to be said about opening a booster pack, seeing the art for the first time, reading the flavor text, and appreciating all the effort that went into making that little picture.