Spells, Strategies, and Socializing: Joining the MTG Community

Travis States
Staff Writer
 Recently, Bonneville High School launched a new club dedicated to the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, also known as MTG. The club is welcoming experienced, casual, and new players with all formats, game modes, and deck types being allowed.
  For those unfamiliar with MTG, it is a trading card game where people collect different cards from different sets and combine them to create personalized decks. Although MTG is somewhat similar to Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! there are a few major differences including the gameplay. The main difference is within the gameplay of MTG itself. The core gameplay of MTG consists of the players creating resources called “mana” by deploying lands and using those resources to summon creatures and effects onto the battlefield. These creatures can then attack the enemy player’s creatures or even the opposing player themselves with the goal of getting their health to zero. Along with that core gameplay loop, there are many different game modes and card effects that add complexity. 
  The club itself is still a recent addition  and as such is figuring out how everything will be formatted. The club members are free to play MTG during lunch in room 230 and the club meets after school on Thursdays to play some rounds of MTG. The club accepts players of all experience including those who have never played MTG and are wanting to give it a try. To help inexperienced players learn the complexities of the game, more experienced club members, including Mr. Howell himself, will help guide the upcoming players through the rules and gameplay. Afterwards, players will be paired up with someone of similar experience to play against. Along with helping new players understand the rules, experienced players with more than one deck plan to lend extras out to inexperienced players to borrow and use. The lending of decks will help new players determine which playstyles they prefer before investing in their own deck. 
  For anyone interested in joining the club, speak to Mr. Howell in room 230 or scan the QR code on one of the posters around the school. The club is open to anyone regardless of experience, a sentiment echoed by Mr. Howell, who remarked, “Whether you’ve been playing for 20 years or have never seen a Magic card before in your life, we want all new players to come play.” ​