All It Took Was One Game To Sell Me On Magic: The Gathering

This might sound mean, but I’ve always thought Magic: The Gathering was too nerdy for my tastes. And I’m someone who loves JRPGs, professional wrestling, and magical girls. Not in a million years would I be caught dead collecting cardboard and learning rules to a decades-old card game, though.

But it turns out I was a fool, and it was only a matter of time until I was pulled into a game of MTG and suddenly learned what all the fuss is about. That, a hobby which for so long felt like an impenetrable fortress, is actually pretty approachable if a close friend is patient enough to sit you down and teach you the rules. So, at a party where everyone was drinking heavily or doing drugs, we sat down to talk about how lands and mana worked.

Magic: The Gathering Isn’t As Complicated As You Think

Magic the Gathering Final Fantasy Emet Selch

I have to imagine there are a lot of people just like me who have been curiously eyeing MTG from the sidelines in recent years as it has massively grown in popularity with each new expansion and Universes Beyond release. It’s hard not to feel excited when beautiful Final Fantasy and Hatsune Miku cards appear on your screen, simply begging to be bought. As a culture critic, I am more than used to editing articles all about these releases and viewing imagery ahead of release, but not once have I pulled the trigger myself, convinced it would be a huge waste.

Not only because of the monetary investment, but also because of this irrational fear, I wouldn’t be able to play the game or might not even be smart enough to understand it. Card games, for those unfamiliar with them, are naturally daunting prospects. Turns out all I needed was for a friend to hand me an overpowered Commander Deck and take me for a satisfying ride.

This deck in particular was all about overpowered dragons who took a while to summon, given simply how many lands were required. Still, after that, they could dish out double damage while also avoiding the majority of attacks thanks to their flying status. Hardcore magic players are probably all reading this and laughing about me only just learning about something so obvious, but that discovery is the beauty of a new hobby like this.

Magic The Gathering Secrets of Strixhaven Set Review.

Each turn I took felt like an isolated lesson of understanding the flow of Commander and the decisions I needed to make to not just succeed, but to survive. I made mistakes and asked stupid questions, but there was no such thing in an environment where the objective was to learn how the game worked for the first time. By the time this game came to an end, I had killed two of my opponents on the field before a barbaric card played by a dude sat beside me killed every single creature on the field. My dragons were no more, and I was vulnerable. All it took was a couple of attacks to whittle down my 40 health points.

The commander decks being played against me were also valuable lessons as I watched armies of zombies being brought back to the dead as they leeched points from others, or dinosaurs that were capable of becoming so powerful there was seemingly no way to kill them without having an untouchable counter at your disposal. There was a lot of reading required and learning about terms I’ll no doubt be googling countless times in the future, although I can’t think of the last time a nerdy hobby captured my imagination like this.

The Biggest Barrier Right Now Is The Cost

Magic The Gathering Spider-Man Web Slinging

As I put a couple of Final Fantasy commander decks and all the appropriate trimmings into my basket, however, it has become clear that the biggest obstacle when getting into MTG is how much this diabolical hobby is going to cost me. I don’t see myself getting massively into Secret Lair — not yet anyway — and who knows what expansions or crossovers will truly tickle my fancy, but even now I’ve already sunk over $200 into getting everything I want to get started.

But as someone who has grown increasingly disillusioned with playing games in my spare time due to working a day job where I write about them all the time, as people online tell me to kill myself because of said writing, feeling even the smallest sense of passion for MTG is reason enough to feel excited. Chatting with old friends while learning to play was so much fun that I want to recapture that magic again as I go from beginner to amateur and beyond.

That, and I only needed the smallest of exclusives to pick up all the Final Fantasy cards. I’ll be sure to report back on how this experiment goes and how long it lasts.