What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

Despite my plethora of board games and the hours I have poured into RPGs like ‘The Witcher 3 happily going back for multiple playthroughs, one game stands out, Magic the Gathering. The first trading card game created back in 1993 by Richard Garfield you would be hard pressed to find a tabletop game with as significant impact. My own history with MTG starts in 2003 with the release of Scourge. It still a vivid memory going down to the Dungeon of Magic in Melbourne’s historic Royal Arcade to get my first deck. I spent the next two years hooked and making w trip weekly trips to South Yarra to play at Card Heaven with a couple of fellow diehards. However, things changed a bit with the final couple of years of schooling and I lost interest and my cards stayed safely stored for the future. Fast forward 13 years and colleague at work reengaged me in the game. This time with a sharper mind, more mature mind MTG not only reminded me of why I loved it as a young teenager but also provided a whole new perspective. Beyond these rich memories here are my reasons why Magic the Gathering is not only my favorite game but the best conceived.

Continual change and development

Celebrating its 30th year MTG has continually developed and changed over time through the addition of new ‘plains’ that introduce new creature types, card variants and game mechanics. All of which means that players need to continue to adapt and learn to address new card combinations and overall strategies. In this way MTG is a living game where players are constantly thinking how to not only evolve their game but develop new styles of decks to take advantage of these developments in creative ways. At times this has seen significant shifts in game play and Wizards is not afraid of tweaking overall rules or banning cards to maintain balance in the meta game. This is crucial as other games have been ruined by a reluctance to monitor and adapt, in some ways this is a demonstration of how the players themselves influence the game. A lifelong learner, this continual change and growth excites me as I am driven to develop with the game.

Variety of Strategies

At times in tournament play there are clear trends in the Meta Game with specific strategies and archetypes dominating due to specific card combinations, however in general there are multiple different strategies players can pursue. In some players will favor brute force in the form of powerful creatures using different ramp strategies to get the mana needed to play these cards. While others might look to the kamikaze all-out blitz of a burn deck, like I did back in 2003, it gone through a few face lifts from then but it still fun to play. Conversely, one of my other favorites is to control the game through counters that prevent an opponent from getting their stratgies working. Then there are decks that look at finding alternative methods of victory like milling an opponent’s deck, so they have no cards left or even using combinations like using a discard mechanic to cheat creatures onto the battlefield while disrupting the opponet, with potential to add a little extra pain enchantment card. Regardless of your personality or preference there are endless options for strategy.

Deck building

Using the app TopDecked is something I do for fun, creating new decks even if I have little intention of getting the cards togethers. This process is where the strategy really comes together as once you have experience players will build around a mechanic or even a specific card. Sometimes this is a bit of a vanity project as there might be card that seems cool but doesn’t really work or it is about working out how to trigger specific effects. Working out these problems, researching cards that might suit putting it all together and testing it out and refining, potentially forever. This has been the case with my Dragonstorm deck which has been a labor of love and has gone through a few different versions. Currently it works with an acceptable degree of regularity although it can be easily derailed by disruption. Some decks like my reanimator are made to be consistent and competitive while others are about having something fun and making the impossible work, at least sometimes.

Passions and Interest

Obviously MTG can be an extremely competitive game but despite this there is a lot of room for players to explore their specific passions. Creating decks with a strategy that they like is but one example other might involve collecting specific artwork, frames, foils and sets. The development of different game formats like Commander allows players to explore different interests like Tribal decks whether they’re vampire’s or dragons, it really is personal preference. Even beyond thing Wizards has been great at cross branding by creating themed sets for Dungeon and Dragons, Warhammer, Lord of the Rings and currently promoting Doctor Who. These not only allow fans to pursue their other interests in the science fiction and fantasy realms but also a smart marketing stratergy that attempts to show the appeal to a wider audience.

Game play

It’s obvious, but game play has a lot to do with my love affair with MTG. As the saying goes about best laid plans the stratgies of your deck can easily go out the window after the first couple of turns whether it is from an unlucky hand or the actions of your opponet. This is the test, thinking on the spot to work out solutions and potentially finding unusual ways to utalise the cards in your deck, like using a spell to kill your own creature to trigger an effect or milling your own deck and using Mace to change the win condition. This is where planning and quick thinking come together. It is possible here that a match will ebb and flow with shifts in advantage in after a good 30 mins or more the game is still up for grabs.

Formats & Match types

Tying a lot of this together is the different formats and match types. These allow for MTG to be accessible for different people and again add variety to the game. Inexperienced players are more likely to jump into a standard which uses only recently released sets and therefore doesn’t require as big an investment. However, cycling here might annoy players like me that can’t play with regularity and therefore tend to favor modern or even legacy as we can continually tweak the same decks. Yet again some players will enjoy the uniqueness of pauper. It’s possible that players will not even engage in any of the constructed formates at all preferring to play drafts or sealed tournaments which pose the added test of creating decks on the spot with a limited selection of new cards. It once again comes down to preference.

Magic the Gathering is a game which really can offer a lot to many different gamers, including online play with Arena. This is what makes MTG great and is the secret to its continued longevity.