Kansas City, KS - I found these two lads one Saturday night at the BattleZone (a local gaming store by my house). I had gone there that night to find a game or two but instead I found so much more.

Outside the store, these two dirty little urchins were trying to beg money from some of the local players out for a smoke break. Begging money from strangers just to get into a draft.

One of the two was almost in tears as he pleaded with the non-caring group of gamers.

"Please, just a few bucks....our daddy stopped sending us child support."

It was then that the resemblance hit me. I took the two aside and said, "Boys, who IS your father?"

They turned to me with such sadness in their eyes and said, "Zvi....Zvi Mowshowitz."



I dragged the Zvilings into the store and promised them entry into all the drafts that night if they would just give me their story.

It turns out that he had met their mother one dark and stormy evening. One thing led to another and nine months down the line, she sent him a letter to inform him of the twins. A few weeks after that she received a box filled with random magic cards, coupons for diapers and formula, and a note that simply read, "Teach them to play."

"We keep that letter with us at all times." said MiniZvi1 as he opened a battered hand-me-down binder filled with a few crap rares, a creased and worn copy of the 'Zvi Takes Tokyo' Sideboard, and half of the letter.

MiniZvi2 opened an identical binder to pull out his half from inside another copy of that same Sideboard issue.

"We made them exactly the same in every way. Shape, Size, Texture, Weight...Would you like to see the equations that we used to calculate all of that?"

"No, boys,", I replied, "I trust you." Looking somewhat dejected, they put up their prized possessions and continued.

They told me of how their mother taught them how randomize a deck before they could walk. How they learned to speak from gamers using Magic Lingo in dark basements and the dusty back rooms of card shops. How they learned to read by pouring over article after article written by their father.

" 'My Fires' is the greatest story ever told!" MiniZvi1 exclaimed with a worshipful light in his eye that could only come from a son.

"Yeah, it rocked!" MiniZvi2 retorted with the same amount of zealousness.

"But boys," I said "Why were you outside begging tonight?"

"Well..." said MiniZvi1, absently scratching at some almost non-existent neck peach-fuzz, "When Daddy does really well, things are great."

"Yeah" piped in MiniZvi2. "After Tokyo, every day seemed like it was our birthday. So many boxes of cards. It was awesome. But it hasn't been that way for a while."

"And Mom has had a hard time selling herself to those Laboratory Research Clinics." MiniZvi1 lamented.

I could bear their sadness no longer. I told the clerk to use my store credit and let them draft as much as they wanted to that night.

"YEEEAHHHH!!!!!" They both squealed as they ran back to the Draft tables.

"Our Daddy Drafts white. We should Draft white!" MiniZvi1 exclaimed.

"Yeah, we are gonna Draft nothing but white all night!" Minizvi2 chimed in before the both of them were overcome in an incessant, maddening giggle.

Of course you will, Boys.
Of course you will.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Kansas City, KS - I found these two lads one Saturday night at the BattleZone (a local gaming store by my house). I had gone there that night to find a game or two but instead I found so much more.

Outside the store, these two dirty little urchins were trying to beg money from some of the local players out for a smoke break. Begging money from strangers just to get into a draft.

One of the two was almost in tears as he pleaded with the non-caring group of gamers.

"Please, just a few bucks....our daddy stopped sending us child support."

It was then that the resemblance hit me. I took the two aside and said, "Boys, who IS your father?"

They turned to me with such sadness in their eyes and said, "Zvi....Zvi Mowshowitz."



I dragged the Zvilings into the store and promised them entry into all the drafts that night if they would just give me their story.

It turns out that he had met their mother one dark and stormy evening. One thing led to another and nine months down the line, she sent him a letter to inform him of the twins. A few weeks after that she received a box filled with random magic cards, coupons for diapers and formula, and a note that simply read, "Teach them to play."

"We keep that letter with us at all times." said MiniZvi1 as he opened a battered hand-me-down binder filled with a few crap rares, a creased and worn copy of the 'Zvi Takes Tokyo' Sideboard, and half of the letter.

MiniZvi2 opened an identical binder to pull out his half from inside another copy of that same Sideboard issue.

"We made them exactly the same in every way. Shape, Size, Texture, Weight...Would you like to see the equations that we used to calculate all of that?"

"No, boys,", I replied, "I trust you." Looking somewhat dejected, they put up their prized possessions and continued.

They told me of how their mother taught them how randomize a deck before they could walk. How they learned to speak from gamers using Magic Lingo in dark basements and the dusty back rooms of card shops. How they learned to read by pouring over article after article written by their father.

" 'My Fires' is the greatest story ever told!" MiniZvi1 exclaimed with a worshipful light in his eye that could only come from a son.

"Yeah, it rocked!" MiniZvi2 retorted with the same amount of zealousness.

"But boys," I said "Why were you outside begging tonight?"

"Well..." said MiniZvi1, absently scratching at some almost non-existent neck peach-fuzz, "When Daddy does really well, things are great."

"Yeah" piped in MiniZvi2. "After Tokyo, every day seemed like it was our birthday. So many boxes of cards. It was awesome. But it hasn't been that way for a while."

"And Mom has had a hard time selling herself to those Laboratory Research Clinics." MiniZvi1 lamented.

I could bear their sadness no longer. I told the clerk to use my store credit and let them draft as much as they wanted to that night.

"YEEEAHHHH!!!!!" They both squealed as they ran back to the Draft tables.

"Our Daddy Drafts white. We should Draft white!" MiniZvi1 exclaimed.

"Yeah, we are gonna Draft nothing but white all night!" Minizvi2 chimed in before the both of them were overcome in an incessant, maddening giggle.

Of course you will, Boys.
Of course you will.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!