Magic: The Gathering

In February, 2008, my friend Bert taught me how to play Magic: The Gathering. I had heard of MTG over the years, but I never had any interest in it. I had never played any kind of collectible game of any type before. It took me a LONG time (months) to understand what was going on, but I now have a pretty good grasp of the rules and even some of the more advanced stuff due to the awesome FAQ's on the MTG forums. A card game with a 150-page complete manual is kind of daunting.

I never thought I'd have any interest in a card game, especially this one. But my interest was sparked not too long before Bert taught me at one of our Gamenights. A bunch of people were having an MTG tournament and it looked kinda fun. Of course, at the time I had no idea what they were doing.

Bert taught me how to play using his recently-purchased Elves vs. Goblins Duel Deck. I remember using the Goblins the first few games and how I instantly loved the Raging Goblin. His flavor text says, "He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged." There were other goblin cards with funny sayings. But the mechanics of the game - tapping land for mana, and using the mana to cast spells - were really interesting to me. I loved how modular everything was and how you could make a deck using any combination of cards and employ different strategies. I also liked how amazingly balanced the 5 colors are and how each color has a distinct strategy for winning.

I soon bought my first preconstructed deck, "Warrior's Code" from Morningtide. It was a pretty awesome deck, and I was starting to get hooked. I then started buying more cards and more preconstructed decks, and eventually I got all 4 of the Morningtide decks, the 10th Edition Core Preconstructed decks, and other cards. I was getting a lot of cards, but not the right cards. Many cards I would only have 1 of, but to be effective in a deck >1 were required.

In late 08, early 09 I taught my then-girlfriend (now wife) how to play and she was really good. Having played Neopets before, she had an easier time understanding what was going on. She & I would play on weekends and sometimes during the week. Those times really helped us bond and have a lot of fun.

I really like a lot of things about the game, but one thing I struggle with a little is the theme. I was raised as a Baptist and taught that stuff like D&D and most fantasy was of the devil. Some of the MTG cards, especially the black cards, have demonic imagery, and I have some issues with playing those cards.

I then remind myself how pretty much every Christian loves CS Lewis. His most famous series, the Chronicles of Narnia, features mythical (fantasy) creatures, witches, magic, etc. I don't think it's wrong to play a game like MTG, because I concentrate more on the mechanics of the cards and making fun & interesting decks than delving into the theme of the game.

Some say that games like D&D and MTG are "gateway drugs" into Satanism, but I don't think that's necessarily true. I don't think little kids or immature teenagers should play those kinds of games because they do feature some adult themes. Someone who struggles with satanism or the occult shouldn't play a game like this. But if you understand that it's just a game and you play for fun I don't see a problem with it.

MTG is a great game and you should check it out.

MTG official site