I started playing Magic The Gathering in summer of 2023 after being introduced to the game by my boyfriend Hans. Earlier that year I decided I wanted to start collecting Pokémon cards and I had actually already bought some second hand and a few booster packs. I asked Hans to teach me what he knew about the Pokémon trading card game. Instead he asked me, have you thought about Magic: the Gathering? He had been playing Magic since the nineties, a few years after the game first launched, and is very passionate about it. I had always been aware of the ‘card game with the cool art’ but never played it or knew many people that did. After seeing how much Hans loved MTG and how much I liked the art, I said ‘sure, I’ll try it’!
Little did I know this was the start of a new favourite hobby.
I love everything about it. The artwork for example is amazing. There are many different sets with influences from ancient times, science fiction, fantasy and fairy tales and other fandoms and nerdy stuff. All while dipping in and out of the original lore. The game itself is so much more complex than I first thought too. There are multiple game formats, so many different creature types, spells, counter spells and lots and lots of strategies, win conditions, game tactics, add-on games and expansions.
The fact that they’re collectible cards makes this even more exciting to me. I used to collect stuff as a kid and when I thought of initially learning about Pokémon cards, it’s the collecting and trading aspect that really drew me as well. I mean, who doesn’t love opening a pack of cards, hoping to find a pretty foily one or a much sought after card? 🤩
I have bought binders and boxes and my collection is slowly growing!
Community
Surrounding all this goodness is a massive community of people from all over the world that play Magic the Gathering and collect cards. There are weekly and monthly local meetups in LGS (Local Game Stores), dedicated YouTube channels, tournaments and even big international events (MagicCons) just about MTG, which makes this trading card game even more fun. We attended Magiccon in Amsterdam last year and it was so much fun. Sadly there’s no Magiccon planned in Europe this year but a 1-day community event local to us was a good alternative. There were content creators, drafts, quizzes, vendors and more. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in all things Magic for us nerd folk 😎 They even had a tattoo artist with a flash sheet of Magic art and symbols and I just couldn’t resist to get a small token of my newfound obsession hobby.
I absolutely love playing Magic as a couple as well. It’s a great way to spend some fun quality time together, at home or when going out. We play in coffeeshops, bars, in the park, on holiday. I should find some new novel spots to play Magic 😍🔥
Still learning
Having said all that, the complexity and comprehensiveness of it all makes for a very steep learning curve. There’s a lot of information out there and so much to learn. A lot of it goes very in-depth, very quickly. Because I’m still learning, when you read about Magic on my blog, my posts will generally be written from the perspective of an MTG noob. So if you’re also a noob and interested in learning more about MTG, do check back. I will document what I learn, report on events I attend and products I try. It would be lovely if you joined me!
For now, thanks for reading and see you on the flip side!
