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Emily Arvanitis
Mr. Borrero
ENGL 1101
November 18, 2012
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering is a game that falls under the category of a trading card
game. The overall concept, as it would be for any game, is to win. There are many
strategies and tactics you can use in this game and some can make you a better
player than others. The purpose of this essay is to teach players of the game Magic
become better players than they could be on their own. In this essay I will discuss
what players use to read and how they do research about the game, how they
compose plays and how they choose specific cards, and how they communicate with
each other. Through discussing the literary side of this game, I hope that players will
gain a better understanding of different tactics and the most efficient ways to play.
When our parents were young the only type of cards you’d hear of collecting
would probably be a baseball card. Today though, there are many types of cards you
can collect. One specific card type that was created in 1993 by Richard Garfield is
Magic: The Gathering cards. Magic cards are unique to their kind and were the first
trading card game adopted by the Wizards of the Coast. As the game just came out it
wasn’t as popular as the creators had hoped, but as the cards started to be sold in
more places, naturally, more people began to play. Because many stores could not
keep up with the rapid demand growth, a rippling affect began and people that
didn’t want their own cards anymore started to sell them for higher prices than they
bought them for. As Magic was in and out of the gaming world for a few years
because of the supply and demand rates, it became less popular and other trading
card games came out. Garfield went back to the drawing board to figure out ways to
get his game back out there and with more cards. He pulled ideas similar to
Dungeons and Dragons in the sense that more spells and creatures were developed
for the cards. After a few more years of perfecting his game, new Magic cards were
released and players and cards expanded rapidly from there.
The people I observed for this paper were the kids at Norm’s Loft in the
Student Union, here at UNC Charlotte. Norm’s Loft was not designed specifically for
people who wanted to play Magic and other video games, but that’s who is mostly
up there. The amount of people at The Loft varies, but there are usually no more
than two females. Almost all of the players of Magic are very smart and have a lot of
knowledge of strategy and gaming. When I talked to a few of them they were very
nice and open to the questions I was asking and they were easy to talk to. Every
question I asked them they knew a thorough answer to and knew more than I
expected about the ins and outs of the game they love to play. Many of them also
play other games though, like Dungeons and Dragons and another card game called
BANG! The guys that played Magic are your typical gamers that wear a zip up
hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes. They don’t care about what they look like, they just
like to play their game and have fun. Most of them though so take the game seriously
and want to win, naturally.
Like most other tabletop games, Magic has a set of rules that should be
followed. Unlike other games, the rules can be altered for tournaments and if
players agree about rule changes. “The rule book is the most important book you
can have when playing Magic because then it’s easy to call anyone’s bluff,” said
Andrew C. when interviewed about the game. Another book Magic players read is
the Magic: The Gathering Official Strategy Guide. Some people when they are looking
for a different technique or way to play, but since the book has become more
popular many people turn to reading blogs or forums that are constantly being
updated. “The best Magic books to read are the Legends Cycle II collection. This
collection is the best because it tells the story of the best, I think, deck and cards to
have and it gives in depth descriptions of what the powers each card has” (Alex H).
Another good set of books Magic players like to read are called “Block novels”.
These books tell the background story of Magic and the lands and spells and what
each one is like and what they do. Other Magic players read forums and blogs on the
Internet. People like these more because there are a large variety of them and
they’re constantly being updated. Books are repeated exactly the same each time a
new copy is made so once it gets out everyone who reads the book knows the same
thing. Many people wouldn’t think so, because Magic is played with cards, but the
background and rules of the game heavily rely on reading books, blogs, and forums.
To be good at Magic you, like anything else to be good at, have to do research
about it. It certainly isn’t hard to research the game nowadays with the Internet and
such, but it can be quite time consuming. Many players enjoy doing research for
their game because they like to see where cards and creatures come from. If
someone shows up to a tournament without knowing why he or she chose a card to
play or where it came from, they would get looked down on. In the world of Magic, it
is important to know what you’re talking about and where the origin of creatures
and spells is. The research for Magic can be quite confusing and sometimes a little
too in depth if you’re just learning how to play or looking for a quick background
story.
In the world of Magic: The Gathering, writing is used in a different way.
Players use their cards to create stories and the game and in a sense this is their way
of writing. Putting certain cards in order and making specific plays are the ways
players communicate. So, instead of writing down what happens in the game, the
cards tell what each one does and it becomes a story that way. Players don’t usually
physically write things down, but the way the cards are laid out can be considered a
“writing” form. Sometimes though, players will take notes about another players’
moves, strategies, cards, or even cheating habits.
Comprehending Magic definitely is not easy unless you actually know how to
play the game. Coming from a first hand point of view, when the game was being
explained to be I had no idea what words like “mana” meant, or why they would put
cards in a “graveyard”. After being around it for a while I began to catch on. Magic
certainly does fall in a category of its own under the umbrella of a tabletop game.
Players communicate via their cards and telling what each one does and while the
game is going on that’s the only conversation that happens. Serious players can’t
stand when people don’t pay attention and talk about other things during a game of
Magic. Especially at tournaments, it is key to keep quite about anything else in the
real world.
When people sign up in a tournament to play Magic, they hope to be the best player
and end up as the winner. Some tournaments are played for money and some just
for fun, but regardless of the purpose, Magic players take their game very seriously.
The game may seem like a foreign concept to those who do not know how to play,
but to those who play, they focus on becoming the best. Through different strategies
and many cards and logic, Magic players spend hours doing research and sometimes
hundreds of dollars on cards. Although the goal of the game is similar to most other
trading card games, the literacy in Magic is not. The cards and the names of cards
and plays are unique to the game and if you don’t know the basics, you’ll struggle
and not be the best player. The game of Magic: The Gathering is all about good tactic
and reasoning. Through having this paper focus on the literary elements of
Magic, I hope this paper will help players become better.
Emily Arvanitis
Mr. Borrero
ENGL 1101
November 19, 2012
Works Cited
"Basics of the Game : New to Magic : Trading Card Game : Magic: The Gathering."
Basics of the Game : New to Magic : Trading Card Game : Magic: The
Gathering. Wizards of the Coast, 6 Sept. 2004. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/NewtoMagic.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/newtomagic
/gamebasics>.
Buehler, Randy. Official Magic, the Gathering Classic Strategy Guide: Strategies &
Playing Tips. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999. Print.
C, Andrew. Personal Interview. 13 Nov. 2012
H, Alex. Personal Interview. 16 Nov. 2012
"Learn to Play : New to Magic : Trading Card Game : Magic: The Gathering." Learn to
Play : New to Magic : Trading Card Game : Magic: The Gathering. Wizards of
the Coast, 12 Apr. 2004. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/NewtoMagic.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/newtomagic
/learntoplay>.
Long, Nick. "Understanding Magic: The Gathering - Part One:
History." Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., 2 May 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.
<http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-magic-gathering-part-one-history-
316660.html?cat=19>.
Digital Pre-Writing
Like most other tabletop games, Magic has a set of rules that should be
followed. Unlike other games, the rules can be altered for tournaments and if
players agree about rule changes. “The rule book is the most important book you
can have when playing Magic because then it’s easy to call anyone’s bluff,” said
Andrew C. when interviewed about the game. Another book Magic players read is
the Magic: The Gathering Official Strategy Guide. Some people when they are looking
for a different technique or way to play, but since the book has become more
popular many people turn to reading blogs or forums that are constantly being
updated. “The best Magic books to read are the Legends Cycle II collection. This
collection is the best because it tells the story of the best, I think, deck and cards to
have and it gives in depth descriptions of what the powers each card has” (Alex H).
Another good set of books Magic players like to read are called “Block novels”. These
books tell the background story of Magic and the lands and spells and what each one
is like and what they do. Other Magic players read forums and blogs on the Internet.
People like these more because there are a large variety of them and they’re
constantly being updated. Books are repeated exactly the same each time a new
copy is made so once it gets out everyone who reads the book knows the same thing.
Many people wouldn’t think so, because Magic is played with cards, but the
background and rules of the game heavily rely on reading books, blogs, and forums.
To be good at Magic you, like anything else to be good at, have to do research
about it. It certainly isn’t hard to research the game nowadays with the Internet and
such, but it can be quite time consuming. Many players enjoy doing research for
their game because they like to see where cards and creatures come from. If
someone shows up to a tournament without knowing why he or she chose a card to
play or where it came from, they would get looked down on. In the world of Magic, it
is important to know what you’re talking about and where the origin of creatures
and spells is. The research for Magic can be quite confusing and sometimes a little
too in depth if you’re just learning how to play or looking for a quick background
story.
In the world of Magic: The Gathering, writing is used in a different way.
Players use their cards to create stories and the game and in a sense this is their way
of writing. Putting certain cards in order and making specific plays are the ways
players communicate. So, instead of writing down what happens in the game, the
cards tell what each one does and it becomes a story that way. Players don’t usually
physically write things down, but the way the cards are laid out can be considered a
“writing” form. Sometimes though, players will take notes about another players’
moves, strategies, cards, or even cheating habits.
Comprehending Magic definitely is not easy unless you actually know how to play
the game. Coming from a first hand point of view, when the game was being
explained to be I had no idea what words like “mana” meant, or why they would put
cards in a “graveyard”. After being around it for a while I began to catch on. Magic
certainly does fall in a category of its own under the umbrella of a tabletop game.
Players communicate via their cards and telling what each one does and while the
game is going on that’s the only conversation that happens. Serious players can’t
stand when people don’t pay attention and talk about other things during a game of
Magic. Especially at tournaments, it is key to keep quite about anything else in the
real world
When our parents were young the only type of cards you’d hear of collecting
would probably be a baseball card. Today though, there are many types of cards you
can collect. One specific card type that was created in 1993 by Richard Garfield is
Magic: The Gathering cards. Magic cards are unique to their kind and were the first
trading card game adopted by the Wizards of the Coast. As the game just came out it
wasn’t as popular as the creators had hoped, but as the cards started to be sold in
more places, naturally, more people began to play. Because many stores could not
keep up with the rapid demand growth, a rippling affect began and people that
didn’t want their own cards anymore started to sell them for higher prices than they
bought them for. As Magic was in and out of the gaming world for a few years
because of the supply and demand rates, it became less popular and other trading
card games came out. Garfield went back to the drawing board to figure out ways to
get his game back out there and with more cards. He pulled ideas similar to
Dungeons and Dragons in the sense that more spells and creatures were developed
for the cards. After a few more years of perfecting his game, new Magic cards were
released and players and cards expanded rapidly from there.
The people I observed for this paper were the kids at Norm’s Loft in the
Student Union, here at UNC Charlotte. Norm’s Loft was not designed specifically for
people who wanted to play Magic and other video games, but that’s who is mostly
up there. The amount of people at The Loft varies, but there are usually no more
than two females. Almost all of the players of Magic are very smart and have a lot of
knowledge of strategy and gaming. When I talked to a few of them they were very
nice and open to the questions I was asking and they were easy to talk to. Every
question I asked them they knew a thorough answer to and knew more than I
expected about the ins and outs of the game they love to play. Many of them also
play other games though, like Dungeons and Dragons and another card game called
BANG! The guys that played Magic are your typical gamers that wear a zip up
hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes. They don’t care about what they look like, they just
like to play their game and have fun. Most of them though so take the game seriously
and want to win, naturally.
Magic: The Gathering
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this essay is to teach players of the game Magic: The Gathering become a better player than they could on their own. In my essay I will discuss what players use to read and how they do research about the game, how they compose plays and the best plays to compose, and how they communicate with each other. Through discussing the literary side of this game, I hope that players will gain a better understanding of different ways to win and the most efficient ways to play.
Reading
Magic: The Gathering books Websites Strategy guides Blogs Body language
Writing (Composing Plays)
Reading the books to figure out what moves are best Analyzing what the other player put down before you go Understanding the exact play the other person is using Player reads off card to let other player know what they’re doing with it Many players look at their cards and strategize before they make their move
with someone else
Communication Talking Body language Knowing certain terms about cards and plays Letting someone finish explaining Rules
