A club created last semester brings together the campus and community to enjoy the Magic: The Gathering card game. 

Austin Crouse and Chase Gallentine created this club after looking for a Magic: The Gathering club to join on campus and finding out it didn’t exist. 

“Our first meeting was me, him, his roommate, another person from our hall and another person on campus,” said Crouse, president and cofounder of the club. 

Magic: The Gathering is a Wizards of the Coast card game that gained popularity in the ‘90s. Every player has a unique deck of cars filled with fantasy elements, with players playing their decks against each other. 

“You can have a fish deck. You can have a deck just filled with gorillas. Or you can have a deck that’s just filled with spells,” said club member Logan Eidt, a 19-year-old from Wynne, Arkansas. 

Crouse, a first-year music education major from Benton, Arkansas, said he started playing Magic: The Gathering in 2019 over video call to connect with family members who lived far away. 

“It really got me closer to people who I consider brothers now,” Crouse said. “I just fell in love with it ever since. It’s a lot of fun.” 

Galletine, a first-year music major from Hoxie, Arkansas, said he didn’t think the club would grow as fast as it did. 

“There’s a lot more people than I realize that are interested in Magic,” Gallentine said.

The club has grown since that first meeting and is open to community members and students. 

“We always enjoy having new faces and teaching people how to play. We’re very open to outsiders. It’s not something where if you come one night just to come and see what’s up, that you’re going to feel like an outcast,” Crouse said. “We have a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds who will make you feel included.”

Juli Buxbaum, assistant professor of horn and faculty adviser for the club, said students are searching for the social component of something that isn’t class or work-related. 

“I think that doesn’t exist in the adult world as easily when you graduate,” Buxbaum said. 

Eidt said Magic: The Gathering is a big community, but it can be hard to bring people together in that sense to play. 

“This A-State club is a really good way of doing that because it opens people up about a topic that others might look down upon,” Eidt said. “It’s just a nice, safe space for everybody just to hang out and meet new people.”

Crouse said the club is planning a tutorial night for Jan. 30. at 6 p.m. in the White River Room of the Reng Student Union to introduce the game to people who have never played.

“We’re looking at having several of our club members who are more experienced come in and teach people how to play the game because it’s so complicated,” said Crouse. “It’s hard to watch a tutorial video online. A real way to learn how to play is by playing the game. You’ll learn a lot faster.” 

The club alternates between meeting Tuesdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. in the White River of the Student Union. The next meeting will take place Friday.

Categories: Life