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Nearing the end of the Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship in Denver, Aiden Lamson said the convention room was no longer crowded and loud. The last day of the weekend-long competition, where he had played about 20 hours of the card game over two days, was a solemn sanctuary of the best, or perhaps luckiest, players left of the 1,300 who attended.

“As the tournament goes on, more and more people will leave and not come back,” Lamson said. “The people who are left are all watching you. All gathered around in silence, intently, like it’s a chess game.”

Lamson, a junior at the 91���� double majoring in English and political science, placed second at the regional tournament in February. Along with clout among local Magic players, his finish came with a $15,000 award and a guaranteed spot in the Magic: The Gathering World Championship happening Oct. 25-27 in Las Vegas. 

He said the atmosphere will be electric, charged by nerves and perspiration. 

“It’s this wall of bodies to your left or to your right,” he said. “It’s just you and your opponent and a camera and a judge. And you just have to hope you play your best; you have to hope the cards line up.”

Lamson is the first person from Maine to qualify for the World Championship, a demographic just as uncommon as his age. He usually plays against 30 and 40 year olds. At competitions, Lamson said he can tell when an opponent is discounting him because he’s a teenager from Maine.

“I’ve always found in competition when I get that vibe from someone, like they’re underestimating you, that it encourages me to do better,” he said. “I want to prove them wrong.”

He attended a second regional championship at the end of May in Dallas and before that the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour, a three-day tournament in April. Two hundred of the best players worldwide came to Seattle for a top prize of $50,000. Lamson was one spot away from a top 50 finish that would have qualified him for another pro tour.

Despite the loss, Lamson said the experience boosted his confidence to play against top competitors in Las Vegas. He beat the reigning world champion, Jean-Emmanuel Depraz of France, at the Seattle pro tour and finished with a positive record, 10 wins and six losses.

If he competes well at the end of October, his gameplay will stream on . A link to the official World Championship viewers guide is also available .  

Magic: The competitive multiverse 

One of the most popular worldwide competitive card games, Magic: The Gathering is a multiverse of strategy and lore where wizards duel. To cast spells, each player draws mana — the game’s source of magical power — from five different lands: plains, islands, swamps, mountains and forests. Spells aren’t the only way to win. Creature cards attack opposing players, and enchantment and artifact cards offer a variety of tools that help competitors win the game.

“Living End,” one of Lamson’s favorite cards, is a sorcery that swaps all creature cards in play (on the battlefield) with ones that have been knocked out of the game (in the graveyard). When he knows he’ll be playing it, he tries to allow his opponent to answer initial threats before burying them in the late game.

Lamson regularly plays against Shane Smith, assistant director of Residence Life at 91���� and advisor of the on-campus student organization for Magic. The organization meets twice a week — Mondays from 5-9 p.m. in the Lown room, 208, in the 91���� Memorial Union, and Fridays 2-9 p.m. in the FFA room, 231, in the union. Smith said gatherings are casual and students can join multiplayer games, play one on one or just hang out and watch, trade cards and work on their decks.

Smith and Lamson first met at Game Citadel’s Bangor store, where Magic hobbyists play every Friday. It’s one of the places where Lamson learned from decades of knowledge and technique to help him compete against the best players in the world.

“I never thought that I would be looked up to by my friends who have played this game for decades,” Lamson said. “I never thought I would represent Maine on that kind of stage.” 

He plans to represent his community by wearing a hoodie with the Game Citadel logo during the World Championship. 

Magic: The community

Lamson’s dad, Daniel Lamson, first introduced him to the game when he was ten years old. They were looking for a new game to play and his dad found an old stack of Magic cards in the closet. The stack was tattered and held together with a rubber band — a stark contrast compared to the pristine condition of Lamson’s plastic-encased collection. 

“We didn’t really know what we were doing,” Lamson said. “But my dad printed out a rulebook he found online, and we just bumbled our way through it.”

Daniel said since he was little, Lamson would fixate on TV shows, games or fictional characters. It started with Thomas the Tank Engine, then chess for a few summers as he got older. Daniel said chess camp was the first step toward Lamson’s fascination with Magic — the kids brought Pokémon cards to camp and traded them. After Lamson spent a few years playing Pokémon, he moved onto Magic. 

As a teenager, Lamson started competing and has since spent a considerable amount on cards. The cards Lamson hasn’t bought with his own money were gifted or lended to him. 

“The same family that for years bought Thomas the Tank Engine toys, when he switched to Magic, bought him Magic cards every Christmas and every birthday,” Daniel said.

Lamson is also backed by a supportive local group, including his boyfriend, Michel Kaler, who practices competitive gameplay with him and offers depths of insight. Kaler even lent Lamson the deck he used to place second at the regional championship in Denver. Zachary Mohoney, owner of Mahoney’s Gaming Emporium in Machias, is lending him the deck he’ll be using in Las Vegas. And Jacob Dawson, a close friend, traveled with him to Denver and is going with him to Las Vegas.

In order to continue receiving invitations to tournaments with cash prizes, Lamson has to place in top spots. Passionate about reading and writing, he hopes to be able to incorporate the game into his future career in one way or another, whether that’s writing about Magic tournaments and people who play in them or writing fiction inspired by the lore.

“It’s like a never ending book,” Lamson said. “It’s like a never ending fantasy novel that I just can’t put down.”

For more information about the Magic student organization, join 91���� MTG Club on the mobile app Campus Groups or email Smith at shane.p.smith@maine.edu.

Contact: Ashley Yates, ashley.yates@maine.edu