Magic+-+The+Gathering

=**__magic the gathering__** =

Magic: the gathering is a collectable trading card game that was released in 1993 by Wizards of the coast and has been in production since then. The original idea for the game was developed by Richard Garfield, who went on to develop many other games beyond that. Wizards has since produced all of the current magic: the gathering cards that exist today.

Magic: the gathering, commonly shortened to “magic” or just “MTG”, is played between 2 or more players who represent powerful “planeswalkers” with the ability to cast spells and attempt to destroy each other. The cards have grown in popularity over the course of time, and have gained quite a large following. The game has evolved past its starting point of one set of cards to 68 separate booster sets.

**__Table of contents __**

 * __magic the gathering card sets __
 * __magic the gathering gameplayIssues with magic the gathering __
 * __Magic the gathering gameplay __
 * __Issues with magic the gathering __
 * __Magic the gathering in the economy __
 * **__Analysis __**
 * __Card art __
 * __Card "feel" __
 * __general gameplay __

**__Magic the gathering card sets__** There are currently 68 “sets” of magic cards, not including special sets or reprinted sets. These 68 sets are made up of anywhere from 92 cards to 449, with the largest sets usually being the “core sets” and the smallest being every second and third pack after them. (EX: 300+ card core set, 250 card set, 150 card set, 150 card set) The sets can be bought online in singles or can be bought at most major retailers in booster packs that contain 15 cards each, or starter decks that have a generic 60 card deck from the set. (Starter decks usually have some of the most recent core set’s cards in them as well, along with a few older cards.)

**__Magic the gathering gameplay__** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Both players start with an exactly 60 card deck, and begin with a 7-card hand at the start of the game. Drawing a single card at the start of the turn, players use land cards to create “mana” to power the casting of spells from the hand. The main object is to reduce the opponent’s life to 0 from 20, or to cause them to run out of cards in their deck. The player who satisfies one of these conditions wins the game.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Magic the gathering has multiple play levels. Casual play usually has very few rules and sometimes can be played for cards or other such spoils. Tournament play is organized by Wizards of the coast, and consists of basic level tournaments and pre-releases (Where you can play with the cards before they are fully available to the public) all the way up to world championships. Tournament play is usually considered to be the more popular form of magic.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__Issues with magic the gathering__** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Many groups have had issues in the past and currently with magic, like many other debated entertainment ideas. The main problems are occult imagery and themes, along with gambling. These groups include churches, concerned parents, and many other groups that are not directly influenced by the card game. Wizards of the coast responded with removing the words “demon” and “devil” from the majority of their cards, but then later re-instated the original words.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The original rules of magic called for an ante, a card or cards placed outside of the deck that would go to the winner. However, that rule was removed after much controversy, and the last card printed that referenced the “ante” pile or cards was printed in 1995. Tournament play no longer uses the ante system, and nowadays this mechanic is restricted to casual gameplay.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__Magic the gathering in the economy__** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Many groups against magic site the addictive nature of the game as a reason to not start playing. Magic has a “set rotation” that means only a few of the most recent booster sets to have been released are legal to play in tournaments, unless stated otherwise. This contributes to the feel of constantly buying, as one must constantly re-make a deck to remain tournament-legal. Despite this fact, many people argue that this keeps the game fresh and exciting, while others are content to stay with one deck and not play in tournaments, and stick to casual play.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">There is also a profitable secondary market for magic the gathering. Not only the most recent cards, but cards of very old age (the most expensive of which are called the “power nine”) are sold for very large sums of money. There are actually people who make a living only by buying and selling these types of card for a profit.

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__ Analysis: Magic the gathering __**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Contrary to popular belief, card games such as magic: the gathering are not sheltered to their own subculture. Though the people who play the game, collect, or make a living off of the cards make and develop the main impact of the game, the game is affected by the outside world as a whole. The main things affected on the cards are as follows: <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__ Card art __**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Card art
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Card “feel”
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">General game play

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Over the years of magic’s design, many pieces of the main card art and the cards themselves have changed in look. Take, for example, lord of the pit. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The version to the far left is the oldest, the first version of the card released. The version on the far right is the most recent. As you can see, many things have changed over the years. Focusing solely on card art, you notice the transition from something merly gigantic to something that can only be described as near-omipotant. You also notice the change in detail. The first contains few details, while the last contains many small, purely visual details.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While many chalk these changes up entirely to increased technology and the ability to do more accurate and detailed art, there are many connections that can be made between these changing pictures and popular culture of their times. As religion grew more and more powerful a force in the US over the course of the 1990’s, many people rejected demonic themes and other satonic pieces of art. However, as current culture indicates, many do not care as much about these factors. As magic the gathering has gained more releif from the control of the past, more demons and demonic themes are seen. The details continue to add to the overall themes as well

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__ Card “feel” __**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A long time ago, when the first few sets were being released, this was the most powerful card: (First few sets being up to fourth edition)



<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As of the most recent set, this is the most powerful card:

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As you can see, much has changed. First, the more recent card can be put into any deck. It has no specific color, so as long as you have 15 mana to spend, you can cast this guy. Second, there is a five power difference. When you have 20 life, 5 damage is quite a bit. Third, emrakul actually has benefits from being used, whereas the leviathan has negative side effects.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This can be linked to how people think. As time has progressed, America has gained power on a global scale. According to time magazine, America still is a huge power in the global economy. After world war one, and continuing, we have become more and more of a huge, omnipotent beast to the rest of the world. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Magic the gathering has grown to show these trends. As more sets are released, new cards that advance the game towards huge, giant creatures and powerful spells make it a very unforgiving game to participate in if you join after dropping out for a while. Believe it or not, Nerds that make card games remain connected to the rest of the world, and what they do is influenced by that.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__ General game play __**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As the game has progressed, rules have changed and become more forgiving. Origionally in the early stages of the game, a rule existed called the “ante rule.” Under this rule, players were forced to take a random card out of their deck and add it to an “ante” pile, and the winner of the set of three games would get both of the cards in the pile. Some cards were printed that manipulated this pile.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This rule has since been removed. The official reason was the idea that encouraging people to gamble on a game of skill and chance was a bad idea, and some parents and players were complaining about the addition to the rules. As it was removed, it shows connection with the times. Gambling has been debated as legal and right for a very long time. Recently, the US passed laws that restrict online gambling as well. Magic the gathering creators dropped the rule as the public outcries against it.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Another change to the rules was the concept of “mana burn.” In the rules for almost 5 years, “mana burn” was a term that referred to the idea of taking damage for not using mana available to you. After more and more powerful cards were released, mana burn was debated, and a few cards were released to get around the idea. However, eventually the rule was removed completely, and has not been considered to be re-instated recently.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Through the years, the creator’s ideas for the game have changed and developed, even been all out rejected. As America has changed, the rules have also changed and been removed in some cases. Though the subculture of magic the gathering may be separate from popular culture, the creators can still pick out the trends and affects of them in society.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**__ Bibliography __**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Brown, David L. "Beware of Magic: The Gathering." //Logos Resource Pages HomePage//. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.logosresourcepages.org/Occult/magic-g.htm>. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Long, Nick. "Understanding Magic: The Gathering - Part One: History." //Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com//. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/225439/understanding_magic_the_gathering_part.html>. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Magic Products." //Magic: the Gathering//. Wizards of the Coast, 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/products/allproducts>. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"New to Tournaments and Events?" //Magic: the Gathering//. Wizards of the Coast, 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Events.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/events/newtotournaments>. <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"How Much Can America Do? - TIME." //Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com//. Time Magazine. Web. 03 June 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949851,00.html>.