I don’t know if there are any other Magic the Gathering players here. This post is not going to make much sense unless you play Magic, so feel free to skip it.
Anyway, I just played in a Nationals qualifier. I was in contention for the top 8, and the top 6 would qualify. My opponent clears the board with a Sickening Dreams for 4. I forget to note this on my notepad, thinking he’s at 7 instead of 3.
I play a creature and attack, bringing him to 5, or so I think. In my hand I have a Violent Eruption and a Jalum Tome. He has a Phantom Nishoba and an Anger in the graveyard, so I know time is short (he’s playing black-red Reanimator). I play Jalum Tome to be as sure as I can be to draw enough burn to finish him off. He plays Doomed Necromancer, sacrifices it, and Phantom Nishoba hits for 7, bringing him to 8.
At this point, when adjusting my own life total, my opponent notices that I have it wrong. I discover he was at 1 and all I had to do was play Violent Eruption (as I contemplated doing anyway), and I would have been in the top 8, and probably qualified for Nationals. But no.
I’m just so annoyed right now. It wasn’t mana-screw or mana-flood. It wasn’t even a play mistake, for Christ’s sakes! I just forgot to note a life total change! And that cost me a Nationals qualification.
Sorry, just had to get this out. It certainly qualifies as mundane, pointless and stuff, and I must share it, so it feels as on-topic as any post I’ll ever write.
I’m off to feel sorry for myself now…