Magic The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering, created by Richard Garfield of [Wizards of the Coast]?, Inc., was the first collectible card game, introduced in 1993. Though the game draws heavily from traditional role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons for its fantasy motifs, the rules bear little resemblance to pencil-and-paper campaign rules; there is only minimal roleplaying in typical play. No dice are used; games typically finish in under an hour (compared to days for traditional RPGs).

Role players were enthusiastic early fans of Magic, but the game achieved much wider popularity. The commercial success of the game prompted a wave of similar games in the 1990s.

Game play

In Magic, two or sometimes more players play the roles of so-called planeswalkers engaging in a magical duel to the death. Every player has a number of life points; once these reach zero (depleted by damage) he or she dies. The last surviving player wins.

Players fight each other by playing (casting) spells from their hand. To cast a spell one needs mana, magical energy, which is generated by special land cards. There are thousands of different spell cards, which come from collectible sets (hence the term collectible card game or trading card game). The most types of spells are:

• Summoning spells: create a creature that can attack the other player or be used for defense. The creature remains in play until killed.
• Enchantments: modify a single other card (creature, land, etc.) or the entire play environment. Enchantments persist until destroyed.
• Artifacts: create an object that remains in play until destroyed. Artifacts may have continuous effects like enchantments or may only take effect when activated by their owner.
• Sorceries: generate one-shot effects, such as dealing several points of damage or killing all creatures.
• Instants: generate one-shot effects, such as dealing a small amount of damage or killing a specific creature. These differ from sorceries in that the scope of the effect is usually smaller, but there are fewer time restrictions on when these may be cast.
• Interrupts: prevent or modify the casting of other spells.

Preparation for a game takes place far in advance of actual play. Serious players spend hours aquiring cards and putting then together into a deck of cards that work well together. The selection of available cards far exceeds the normal size of a deck (sixty cards), so individual players' decks often differ considerably.

Each player has a library where cards from the deck that have not yet been drawn are kept; a hand containing up to seven cards not in play; an area on the table for his or her lands, creatures, etc that are in play; and a graveyard' where spent spells or destroyed permanent cards are discarded. Players may never look into the libraries and may see their own hands only, but may view all the other cards on the table without restriction.

Game play is turn-based. During a turn, the active player draws one card, plays at most one land from his or her hand, casts as many spells the player wants and can afford (with mana), and may attack one other player with one or more creatures. An attacked player may declare some of her or his creatures as blockers. Blocked attacking creatures deal damage to their blockers and are in turn damaged by them. A creature that amasses more than a specific number of damage points (its toughness) in one round (complete cycle of turns) dies and goes to its owner's graveyard. Unblocked attackers deal damage to the player they attacked, reducing that player's life points. Damaged creatures that do not die return to full strength (heal) after one round. This is not true of players.

There are restrictions on when spells and lands may be played. Instants and interrupts may be played during another player's turn and during combat. Other spells and lands are only playable before or after combat in one's own turn.

Game spin-offs

Apart from creating a new game genre, Magic also has an accompanying magazine, a number of national and international championships, and line of fiction novels set in Magic's world.

External references

• Wizards of the Coast: http://www.wizards.com/magic/