Magic the Gathering

on Saturday 12 November 2005
A friend of mine has gotten me back into playing Magic: The Gathering (MTG) collectible card game (CCG) again. Here's the wikipedia entry for it. And here's the Wizards of the Coast (WotC) website for MTG.

Briefly, it's game where each player is considered a wizard or spellcaster, with his "spells" being made up of a collection of cards, usually 40 or 60 cards (many variants exist). A player starts the game with 20 life points, and the game proceeds with each player taking alternate turns to attempt to bring about spells, creatures, and effects to bring the opponent's life total to zero. WotC actually went and created a very nice introductory program for newcomers, if you're willing to wait for the long download. It's worth it for those interested. Or you can just browse or download the rules.

WotC recently released the latest expansion set of Ravnica, the start of a new block after the Kamigawa block (made up of Champions, Betrayers, and Saviors of Kamigawa). An expansion set is just a set of cards within a card block. A block consists of cards linked thematically. I stopped playing during the Ice Age and Homelands sets with the 4th Edition core set way back in 1995. It's now 9th Edition, which was released last year. A core set is simply the current main set of cards.

Magic has really changed alot since I last played. I'm getting addicted all over again. I's a pretty expensive hobby though, so I recently drastically cut down on all games and movie expenses. A good-enough deck can be constructed with around RM50, although it'll never be tournament quality. Some cards can even reach several hundred ringgit (each!). I would say that the statement "the richest player wins most often" holds a much lesser degree of truth than some other CCGs, like Yu-Gi-Oh. Going RM100 is often quite enough to get a good deck for casual play that will lasts through the years. And just so you know, you can be a pro Magic player, just like a pro chess player or pro golfer. The tournaments aren't as glamourous or as rewarding, but I'd say thousands of US dollars ain't bad at all...

Magic consists of 5 different spell colours, each symbolizing different themes, flavour, or ideals. For those of you who already know Magic from before 2002, here's to tell you that Magic underwent a long design session to redefine and clarify each colour. Here's an insight into what each colour represents (in chronological order):
  • Green - life, growth, nature
  • White - order, law, purity
  • Blue - knowledge, manipulation, artifice
  • Black - power, decay, death
  • Red - emotion, might, chaos
Each colour is allied to two colours, and opposed to the other two colours; sitting on the points of a pentagon. And given that Ravnica's focus is in colour pairs (which is very nice and exciting btw), new articles regarding each pair are out (in chronological order):

2 responses:

lili said...
13/11/05 10:21

I'll try it... later.
Too many games to try out, not sure which to start first.

wyejon said...
17/11/05 21:04

magic ah? i've got a deck tucked away somewhere...

oh wait... i gave it away to my cousins ;p

that game's a waste of money