Wednesday 12 January 2011

Back into Magic: The Gathering


I've had a lot of rescheduling to do this week for a bunch of reasons, but tonight was supposed to be the first D&D game of 2011. Unfortunately my friend had to pull out to see his cousin's newborn, so the remaining group is going to play some Magic: The Gathering.

It's been quite a few months since I've played. Back in the summer I played quasi-competitively at the university but eventually found this to be too much of a money-sink to keep up with. Although I love the game, Wizards have got a nice little cash cow with Standard play (only using recent sets of cards).

Since most of my cards will become obsolete by the end of the year we thought it would be a good idea to get back into the game, but stay casual. We don't want to be spending insane amounts on cards to keep up, we just want to have fun. Some people I played against in the summer were far too competitive and it's clear that money, rather than deckbuilding skills, won their games for them.

So I'm getting back into MTG. I have boxes of cards from years and years ago when I began playing it as a teenager so now I'm not playing Standard I have massive options for deckbuilding. Also I can now buy tonnes of cheap cards online rather than brand new boosters instore.

I know this isn't anything to do with RPGs, so I'll make up for it with a question:

Would you play a Magic: The Gathering RPG?

4 comments:

  1. Getting back into MtG as well. It kind of turns into the default game of choice when people don't show up for D&D. I know this weekend I tried to get an impromptu group together but I think only one guy is going to show up, so I think a few rounds of MtG will be in the mix instead. Go Poison Go.

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  2. When I started at a new job 2+ years ago, on the way back from the welcome lunch one of the guys said "Bah, missed Magic." I replied "umm, like tricks?" trying to puzzle out what the guy was talking about. I hadn't MtG in about a decade and had no idea people still played.

    The office is BIG into Magic. I've held out because like you I like the game, but think it's a cash sink. But, hey, I'm glad people are playing more than videogames nowadays.

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  3. After my gaming group went on hiatus, I started teaching my daughter to play Magic. I started playing back when it first came out(94-95??) and only played off and on until about '98. I lost all of my original cards in my divorce. Along with my kids, most of my comic book collection and my RPG books.
    So when I picked the game back up for a very brief time in '02-'03, I had to start over from scratch with new cards. Unfortunately, at that time all the I knew in my age group(30+) had either quit gaming or were only playing D&D and all of the kids/teens(nieces & nephews) I knew were playing Pokemon or Yugi oh CCGs.
    I'm actually glad to be back playing Magic. Granted I'd prefer to be playing RPGs with a new group but I can't deny I'm having a lot of fun relearning M:tg.

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  4. My name is Bill Stark, and I'm a gaming contractor who does a lot of work for Wizards of the Coast, including on making Magic (I also run the gaming site http://www.TheStarkingtonPost.com). It's great to hear you're getting back into the game (I'm going on close to two decades myself), but as an FYI Wizards has put a lot of focus on more casual formats over the past few years.

    Take, for example, Planechase and Archenemy. Both are designed for multiplayer games and you don't have to keep buying them to "keep up." Also, you might consider Duel Decks which feature two decks designed for playing against one another along a theme (try Elves VS Goblins, Elspeth VS Tezzeret, etc.).

    Formats like Standard are obviously critical to the survival of Magic as a game, but Wizards has clearly demonstrated more casual players are also important to them.

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