In the beginning, there were murmurs. “Fear the Magic players,” they said, as that game’s professionals descended upon the Vs. System world. The fear in the Vs. community was simple: that the community’s own might not shine through this obvious mercenary wall. Knowing the possibility was out there, the world descended upon Philadelphia for the first $10K tournament ever.

Thanks in part to Jason Dawson, the murmurs were quieted.

A game designer turned law student, Dawson was introduced to Vs System when he and his Sabertooth Games co-workers heard Upper Deck would be giving away $1 million. “I called all my old Magic buddies and got some of them interested in playing, because I was sure going to.”

Dawson was a child of Magic, playing competitively until he made it to a Pro Tour in 1997, but within a year he’d quit. “It just felt like I’d plateaued,” said the 30 year old. “I’d accomplished my goals, and there wasn’t much more for me to aspire to.” He began designing games at Sabertooth, playing just about anything he could get his hands on, though in a non-competitive fashion. When the news about the PC came down, he was ready to play: it was a new puzzle to solve, and with his new venture into law school looming, the money didn’t sound so bad either.

Dawson, who was living in Seattle when the first sets were released, started working with Eric Wood and Chris Price, and the three came up with Big Brotherhood, still a staple in today’s Constructed environment. They took it to Philadelphia, where both Dawson and Wood finished in the Top 8. Together, they’d eased the community’s fears about Magic player domination, and in doing so, earned themselves their first real exposure. That’s how they met Chedy Hampson.

The owner of VSUniverse.com, Chedy approached the Seattle boys about writing for the site, and that was the start of a beautiful friendship. Wood, Dawson, and Price got paid for something they enjoyed doing, while Hampson garnered the benefits of having community leaders representing his site. Soon, the writer-host relationship blossomed into a sponsorship deal, and Team VSUniverse was born.

Dawson moved to Santa Clara, California for school, separating him from his teammates. Magic Workstation, a computer program that enabled the team to test with one another over the Internet, made the move a lot easier. “Workstation is really convenient . . . it’s super fast, letting us play like ten games in an hour. Basically, when any of us have free time, we go online and see if the others are available for a few games.” He admits that Workstation doesn’t afford him the opportunity to practice some of the strictly live aspects of the game, but to counter any negative effects, he goes out to play casual games with locals on occasion.

Jason played My Beloved, a Gotham Knights/League of Assassins hybrid that focuses on a fast curve with countering spells as back up as a control device, a choice he made solely because it was good against Teen Titans and Common Enemy the most popular decks in the field. The gamble paid off, with Jason finishing day one with a 7-3 record.

As for the future, he can’t see himself leaving the Pro Circuit any time soon. “I can play with anyone. I might not always be the better player, but I’ll always be competitive.” In order to do so, however, he stresses its important to treat the game as more than just work: “It’s really important to have friends in this game, people you can learn from and work with. If you come here by yourself, you’re going to go home empty-handed . . . there’s strength in numbers.” In other words, remember that it’s still a game. It’s just not “just a game.”