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Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering (colloquially known as Magic or MTG) is a tabletop and digital collectible card game created by Richard Garfield.[1] Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, Magic was the first trading card game and had approximately fifty million players as of February 2023.[2][3][4][5] Over twenty billion Magic cards were produced in the period from 2008 to 2016, during which time it grew in popularity.[6][7] As of the 2022 fiscal year, Magic generates over $1 billion in revenue annually.[5][8]

Designer

August 5, 1993 (1993-08-05)

2 or more

13+

Some (order of cards drawn, varying card abilities)

Players in a game of Magic represent powerful, dueling wizards called Planeswalkers. Each card a player draws from their deck represents a magical spell which can be used to their advantage in battle. Instant and Sorcery cards represent magical spells a player may cast for a one-time effect, while Creature, Artifact, and Enchantment cards remain on the Battlefield to provide long-term advantage. Additionally, players must include resource, or Land cards representing the amount of magic that is available to cast their spells. Typically, a player defeats their opponent(s) by reducing their life totals to zero, which is commonly done via combat damage, or attacking with creatures. Many other sources of damage exist in the game, however, in addition to alternative win-conditions which do not check life totals.


Although the original concept of the game drew heavily from the motifs of traditional fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, the gameplay bears little similarity to tabletop role-playing games, while simultaneously having substantially more cards and more complex rules than many other card games.


Magic can be played by two or more players, either in person with paper cards or on a computer, smartphone or tablet with virtual cards through Internet-based software such as Magic: The Gathering Online, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Magic Duels and several others. It can be played in various rule formats, which fall into two categories: constructed and limited. Limited formats involve players building a deck spontaneously out of a pool of random cards with a minimum deck size of 40 cards;[9] in constructed formats, players create decks from cards they own, usually with a minimum of 60 cards per deck.


New cards are released on a regular basis through expansion sets. Further developments include the Wizards Play Network played at the international level and the worldwide community Players Tour, as well as a substantial resale market for Magic cards. Certain cards can be valuable due to their rarity in production and utility in gameplay, with prices ranging from a few cents to tens of thousands of dollars.

White represents order, peace, and light, and draws mana from plains. White planeswalkers can summon individually weak creatures that are collectively strong as a group such as soldiers, as well as powerful creatures and leaders that can strengthen all of the player's creatures with additional abilities or strength. Their spells tend to focus on healing or preventing damage, protecting their allies, and neutralizing an opponent's advantages on the battlefield.[46][16]

[45]

Blue represents intellect, logic, manipulation, and trickery, and pulls its mana from islands. Its magic is typically associated with the classical elements of and water. Many of Blue's spells can interact or interfere with the opponent's spells as well as with the general flow of the game. Blue's magic is also associated with control, allowing the player to gain temporary or full control of the opponent's creatures. Blue creatures often tend to be weak but evasive and difficult to target.[45][46][16]

air

Black represents power, death, corruption, and sacrifice, drawing mana from swamps. Many of Black's creatures are , and several can be sacrificed to make other creatures more powerful, destroy opponent's creatures or permanents, or other effects. Black creatures may be able to draw the life taken in an attack back to their caster, or may even be able to kill creatures through a deathtouch effect. Black's spells similarly coerce sacrifice by the player or their opponent through cards or life.[45][46][16]

undead

Red represents freedom, chaos, fury, and warfare, pulling its power from mountains. Its powers are associated with the classical and earth elements, and tends to have the strongest spells such as fireballs that can be powered-up by tapping additional mana when cast. Red is an offense-oriented class: in addition to powerful creatures like dragons, red planeswalkers can summon weak creatures that can strike quickly to gain the short-term edge.[45][46][16]

fire

Green is the color of life, , evolution, and indulgence, drawing mana from forests. Green has the widest array of creatures to draw upon, ranging across all power levels, and generally is able to dominate the battlefield with many creatures in play at once. Green creatures and spells can generate life points and mana, and can also gain massive strength through spells.[45][46][16]

nature

The majority of cards are sold in , which contain fifteen cards normally divided into four rarities, which can be differentiated by the color of the expansion symbol.[note 2] A fifteen-card Booster Pack will typically contain one rare (gold), three uncommons (silver), ten commons (black), and one basic land (colored black, as commons). Sets prior to Shards of Alara contained eleven commons instead of a basic land.

booster packs

Reception[edit]

Critical reviews[edit]

Scott Haring reviewed Magic: The Gathering in Pyramid #4 (Nov./Dec., 1993), and stated that "Not only is Magic the best gaming bargain to come down the pike in memory; not only is it the most original idea in years; it's also a delightfully addictive game that you and your friends will find impossible to put down."[155] Marcelo A. Figueroa reviewed the game in a 1993 issue of Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, noting both positives and negatives, stating that, "despite all of its flaws, it's as endearing as Star Fleet Battles".[156] Overall, Figueroa rated the game a 7 out of 10.[156]


A 2004 article in USA Today suggested that playing Magic might help improve the social and mental skills of some of the players. The article interviewed players' parents who believe that the game, similar to sports, teaches children how to more gracefully win and lose. Magic also contains a great amount of strategy and vocabulary that children may not be exposed to on a regular basis. Parents also claimed that playing Magic helped keep their children out of trouble, such as using illegal drugs or joining criminal gangs. On the other hand, the article also briefly mentions that Magic can be highly addictive, leading to parents worried about their children's Magic obsession.[157] In addition, until 2007, some of the better players had opportunities to compete for a small number of scholarships.[158]


Jordan Weisman, an American game designer and entrepreneur, commented

Flores, Michael J. (2006). Deckade: 10 Years of Decks, Thoughts and Theory. New York: top8magic.com.  978-0-9778395-0-6.

ISBN

Moursund, Beth (2002). The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.  978-1-56025-443-0.

ISBN

Waters, Anthony (1998). The Art of Magic: A Fantasy of World Building and the Art of the Rath Cycle. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast.  978-0-7869-1178-3.

ISBN

"How Magic was born". The Duelist. No. 6. Wizards of the Coast. pp. 8–9.

Adkinson, Peter D.

Editor (May–June 1994). "Magic: The Fix; A Compilation of Articles and Collector's Checklists for Magic: The Gathering Addicts". . No. 13. The Alderac Group. pp. 33–38.

Shadis

Emrich, Alan (November–December 1993). "Magic: The Gathering, From Game to Obsession in 0.4 Hours, A Review & Compendium". . No. 10. The Alderac Group. pp. 12–21.

Shadis

. "The expanding worlds of magic". The Duelist. No. 4. Wizards of the Coast. pp. 15–17.

Garfield, Richard

"Five years". The Duelist. No. 33. Wizards of the Coast. January 1999. pp. 56–71.

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