Five reasons why Magic: The Gathering is such a fantastic game
Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that began its reign as the most popular card game ever in 1993. It exploded quickly, even before much of the internet existed and long before social media could help make it go viral. It did so simply because it was a well-designed game by a genius game designer.
Since its founding, Magic has continued to expand in its number of players across the globe, as well as its complexity. Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Magic brand, holds world championships and other “MagicFests” and tournaments across the world. A recent estimate suggested about 25 million people worldwide play the game.
I started playing Magic in 1994 until about 1998, and then started playing again in 2016. At this point, I enjoy the game for several reasons, and thought it would be helpful to explain, at least from my perspective, the reasons why so many people enjoy it and keep doing it.
1) The in-game possibilities are endless, which means a new and exciting game every time you play. According to a scientific study, Magic is the most complicated game in the world, even more complex than chess. Basically, you could play the same opponent with the same 60-card deck and no game would ever be the same. And it’s even more fun when you play different decks against different players.
2) It’s an incredibly good way to learn to think strategically. Magic is a game that gives you a seven-card starting hand, so you have to initially think how you’re going to play out your hand, while thinking about what you might draw. Now, you might think this is no different than a regular card game of rummy or poker. True, but the difference with Magic is that cards synergize with one another. Playing something at one time could have a benefit when playing another card later, and so on. Thinking about all these possibilities trains your brain to think strategically, three, four or even five turns later. And that can enable you to think in similar ways in other aspects of life.
3) You’ve got to do math, and, yes, that’s good for your brain. Most Magic games are ended because a player loses all their life, typically to an opponent’s attacking creatures. When an opponent attacks you, you can choose to block with your own creature cards. But doing so requires some simple, but quick math. Aligning the toughness of your creatures to the power levels of other creatures is simple, but with Magic, you can instantly add or decrease power and toughness by playing other cards. You can double, triple, or quadruple block one attacking creature. It makes you think (in your head) what you want to do before you do it. It’s a great way to think about math and statistics, especially if that’s not part of your daily life.
4) It helps channel emotions in a positive way. Magic’s designers created the game with cards that revolved around five colors: white, blue, black, red, and green. White is about protection, healing, life and building up armies. Blue uses the ebb and flow of water to manipulate opponents, casting spells that trick opponents and slowly wear them down. Black pulls its power from the swamps and relies on demons, zombies and death. Red invokes fire to unleash its chaos. Green is about growth and abundance for growing things bigger and bigger until they overwhelm an enemy. You can play the different colors, by themselves or in a combo with other colors, to help you evoke any emotions you might want to get out. Want to unleash hell upon your opponents through fire and death? Play red and black. Feeling cunning? Play blue. Feeling positive? Play white and green.
5) Magic builds tight communities. Magic, for many years, was typically only found in the “nerd” communities. The popular football playing high schoolers didn’t play Magic. Playing Magic wasn’t “cool,” but it gave people a community where there may not have been another one. I’ve seen this playing Magic throughout the years. People who might feel ostracized from society because they look a certain way, act a certain way, talk a certain way, etc…they’re all welcomed in the Magic community. And friendships abound. Some people I would consider close friends are friends only because I met them through playing Magic.
In the end, I hope my children will at least learn the game and consider playing it themselves. If they do, I hope they’ll gain the benefits I have: strategic thinking, community, healthy emotional release, and more.
If you’re interested in learning how to play Magic, use the Wizard of the Coast store locator to find a local game store.
In Magic, when you use an ability of a card you control, you turn it sideways. That’s why I like to tell my opponents, “Everything sideways!”…which also happens to be the name of my band!
If you like punk music, check out Everything Sideways on Spotify.