Meta-look at Magic

[Turtle Pie on Fire!]

I admit it.

I've been unfaithful.

I've been looking into other CCGs <Collective Gasp! The horror, the horror!)

So. My question is this.

What attracts you to Magic? What is it that distinguishes it from other CCGs. I'm not just talking about emotions, or I like this card, though those are reasons that I'd certainly like to hear. But what about the mechanics of the game. You know, winning conditions, timing issues, player interraction and all that good stuff.

I remain,
the one, the only,
Flaming Turtle Pie.

 

[DÛke]

Well, it's true: Magic is the uniquest card game out there.
What attracts me to Magic is really unknown, I guess that's why they call it Magic. I started playing at the end of Mirage, I quit, and then restarted at the end of Tempest. I don't know, I just got hooked up on the game. I bought the Portal Started decks and played them over and over and over again. It was really fun.
I was amazed to find out that Portal was nothing like the real Magic. I was just so amazed at the different stuff one can do. In Portal, you play Creatures and Sorcerys in order to win a game. Creature based games are the only way it can be. When I looked at Temepst, that's when the real Magic began. Artifacts, Creatures, Instants, Sorcerys, Enchantements, and all kind of stuff, countering spells, sacrificing creatures, non basic lands, gold cards; all those were attractive to a Portal player like me.
My first rare card was Humility from Tempest. I loved that card.

I think that Magic is really unqiue because it has so many stuff, so many options, so many different interactions between the two or more players.

I know how to play X-Men for example, and it's a good game, but, it doesn't have the kick Magic has. X-Men is more fun, yes, but Magic is more stragic, it requires more thinking, and you have to put thoughts as to what to play.

I know how to play PokeMon, but never did and never will. You know how I learned how to play PokeMon? By looking at the cards that they show in Scrye and TopDeck. Now, ANY game that you could learn JUST by looking at the cards has got to be the stupidest thing.
I have nothing against PokeMon and/or it's followers, but I don't see what's so attractive about it. How could you learn a game in 5 minutes just by looking at the cards? Really pathetic.

Magic took me almost 6 months to really feel the game, to really understand what makes an Enchantement differnet than an Enchant Creature. To know what a Legend was, and how countering spells worked. Plus, I saw Buy Back and Shadow in Tempest, and that gave me another good feeling about playing Magic.

Once you play Magic, you'll get hooked up, there's just no escape.
You CAN'T quit, not because you want to, because the power of Magic is really "Magic-al". I don't think I have the power to sell my collection of cards, although I've tried in many attempts. Everytime I open my binder and try to think if I should sell the cards and be done with Magic, I see Unmask and Cateran Overlord, and those cards attract me to Magic, plus about 500 more cards.

Magic is not a game, but it's a world to explore.
Oceans, planes, cultures, moutains, darkness, evil, towns and cities, people and animals. It's really like a seperate world, and very interesting world.

 

[Cateran Emperor]

Why do I keep playing magic? 4 words: URZA'S BLOCK ROTATES OUT. When Urza's block was out, Magic was literraly (and still is) in it's darkest hour. But lo, a beacon of light, it is the CPA! In a sea of midless tournament players, dojodecks, and "the latest tech", the CPA was actually a haven of enlightenment. No stupid PTQ reports here, only a bunch of other people who play for fun. That's what Magic is all about. Without the CPA, I may well have quit once my hopes for the game were crushed with the evil of Destiny completing the Uber-Broken Card cycle...

And then I saw the Mercenaries, and they were cool.

Ever since, my Mercenaries always look at me from the playing table and from my binder, saying "the future is creatures, casual players, and multiplayer. Invasion will be the golden age, just you wait."

And so I do, relishing the thought that soon decklists will no longer determine who is a "good" player...

 

[krichaiushii]

Why keep playing Magic? I have invested FAR too much time, money, and effort into this hobby to just stop playing.

Besides, I like to look at new cards and say, "Gee, this would be funny if played with that one card from waaaaaay back in Alliances. Cool, I have some of both!" Whereupon, odd decks are built, or at least theorized.

Plus, set up and play time is shorter than other games that I've played, ranging from role-playing games to a variety of board games. And anything by Avalon Hill seems to have at least an hour setup time, in addition to a 4-6 hour play time.

Magic's only drawback is the amount of space it takes up.

 

[Spiderman]

I also like the interactions between cards and just the idea of 6 (?) basic types of spells can do so much.

I also like it just because it was the first game I learned and I didn't have the will to learn others. I mean, I did, like Wyvern and Pokemon, but just the concept of "buying cards" has kept me to one CCG, and that's Magic.

It also started out as general fantasy which was nice.

 

[NeuroDeus]

I love and even kill for Dragonball, seen the -sic- Pokemon show a bit, saw X-Men Movie and really liked it. But none of these I took up the CCG. Magic caught for various reasons.

1) The first CCG I was introduced to was Magic and I quiet had a good time playing it.

2) It started Magic by chance and stuck to it like a fly to fly-paper... Its so Magic-al...

3) It's not based on anything and Magic can come with anything new... Unlike Pokemon which has to go on the existing Poke-creatures which already exist...

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

Don't forget how heavy boxes can be!

I moved recently, and had no trouble until I moved 8(!) boxes full of Magic cards.

Maybe WotC will issue back braces to long-time players who have to periodically move their collections around...?

 

[Darsh]

Why do I play magic? Hmmm oh I remember! It's the fun in beating someone who thinks they are better than you.

they don't call it cardboard crack for nothing

 

[Duel]

I wasn't aware they called it cardboard crack...


who the hell are They, anyways?

 

[Phydomir]

that's just it, Magic:TG is magic, and it has this thing that keeps you playing.
And then there always be magic, i think it never stops, unlijke pokemon that is to limited.
I stated playing when legacy was released and and it's still fun, becose (no mather how good your deck is) you never know if your gonna win ore lose, and every game is diffent.
that's what keeps it interesting i think

 

[Duel]

Friend of mine suggested placing LSD on pokemon cards, top keep kids buying them. Turns out Anime is a more effective addictive substance...

 

[Volradon]

WOTC puts drugs in magic. Duhhhhhhh..... Really thought a guess it so simple really but what u can do with all of the cards make it so , so complicated. Thats another thing that keeps me in the game. Another game i have to learn, figure out the tech strategies and other stuff including the rules. I would have to buy all new cards. But magic i already have a few thousand cards, a large knowlege of the rules and a group to play with. Magic is kinda the universal game that u can go in to any shop on a game night and there will be people playing magic (or u r very unluky)

VOlradon