Thursday, A-State’s Magic: The Gathering club held a tutorial night for new players wanting to get into the card game. The event was held from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Student Union, with around a group of ten or fifteen at a time all gathered to play. 

The students all divided up into groups of three or four to play individual games, while some of the beginners sat by and watched to get their first taste of Magic. 

Rounds went on for 30 minutes up to an hour, with quite a few of them being in the latter range. During these long matches, the time between turns was made enjoyable with banter between the players.

 While each player took their turn, the others waiting for their chance to play their hand were chatting up a storm and getting to know each other better or trying their best to get under their opponents’ skin. Lillie Hamm, a first year attendee from Mountain Home, said this was her favorite part of the experience.

“I kind of like how everyone can pick on each other and be kinda mean, but at the same time still be friends,” Hamm said. 

Dakota Kain, a junior from Lepanto and the vice president of the club, said they shared a similar sentiment.

 “I really like the community aspect. I like playing games online with people; it’s a lot of fun, but I like being able to be there in person with other people. [Online play] fails to make a sense of community,” Kain said.

While some love the community aspect the most, others value the strategy behind the game a little bit more. Brady Jones, a junior from Rogers who frequently attends the club and has been playing Magic for around five and a half years, is one of these folks. He explains how changing his strategies with his different decks of cards plays into his love for the game.

 “Oh man, every game is different…it might [get stale] if you use the same deck over and over again, but when you have five decks like I do, you can swap every single game and you never get bored,” Jones said.

Even for beginners, this love of strategy is shared, even if they only play with a single deck. James Barnett, another first-time attendee from Lake City in his first year of graduate school, had his first experience with the game that night. Barnett said how easy it was to get used to the mechanics. 

“[It was] really fun. I think I did okay for the first time playing. It was a lot at first, but then you kinda get used to it,” Barnett said. 

While getting his bearings of Magic, he said that he liked the resource management aspect of the game, specifically of choosing which cards to play based on the land cards that were already placed earlier on the battlefield. 

“I like the resource management aspect of choosing what to play, [mainly] trying to see if you can get a better hand than your opponent,” Barnett said.

What was evident from this tutorial night at the Magic: The Gathering club was the love for the game that was shared between everyone and how that brought them all together. The beginners fit right in from the start and everyone was willing to help them learn the game they’ve been playing for a long time. 

After learning from the veterans and taking their own shot at a game, the new club members seemed to be excited to return for the next meeting on Monday. 

If you’ve ever been interested in playing Magic, there seems to be no better place in this town to learn than at this club. Those who are interested can get involved by visiting the club on alternating Mondays and Thursdays from 6-11 p.m. in the White River Room of the Student Union. 

Categories: Life