Kids playing Magic: The Gathering
My First Card Games
As a child, the Marvel intellectual property (IP) was near and dear to my heart. The X-Men in particular captured my imagination, no character more so than Wolverine. Wolverine was cool. You’d be hard pressed to convince me that any character since has been cooler. I watched every episode of the X-Men cartoon on TV, and started to collect comics and action figures.
Marvel OverPower
Then, something magical happened. That day will be etched into my brain forever. My childhood best friend, Jay, had an older brother named Chris. On this particular day, Chris was playing a game with one of his friends during Extended Day (after-school care for children with working parents at our public elementary school). Curious, as most elementary school aged kids are, I walked over to Chris's table to see what the two older boys were playing. When I stepped close enough to make out the objects on the table, I saw all my favorite Marvel characters in card-form: Wolverine, Carnage, Cable… I was STOKED. Those cool 4th graders were playing Marvel OverPower. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was about to enter a lifelong love affair with trading / collectible card games (TCG / CCGs).
Some time later I added the Star Wars Customizable Card Game to my repertoire. Chris is responsible for Jay and I know about this game, too, and the only time I ever played either of the aforementioned games was at Jay's house with the two brothers' cards. Finally, it was my turn to be a trendsetter. On one fateful day at the local comic shop, conveniently located near a store my mother frequented, I stumbled upon Magic: The Gathering (MTG, circa Fifth Edition). The store owner gave me a brief description of the game when I inquired about it, and I somehow convinced my conservative, Christian mother to buy me two starter decks. My friends soon followed suit, and we were misplaying and botching games of MTG with gusto. I am 100% sure not a single game of OverPower, Star Wars, or MTG was played correctly, but we didn't care; we were having fun! These were all eventually overshadowed by video games, however, and after receiving my PlayStation (the original) for Christmas, I had all but forgotten about card games.
Star Wars Customizable Card Game
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
In my 20's, I rediscovered MTG after seeing starter decks and boosters for sale at Walmart. Using the power of Google, I found a local game store (LGS) within 20 minutes of my house, and stopped in to learn the game I so loved as a child. Finally, I learned how to play correctly. I quickly found that I loved deck building, and began, as I assume most "new" players do, with mono-colored tribal decks. I played my first ever draft, and went 1-2 before dropping (the friend I brought with me lost all his games and was ready to leave). From there we stayed home and played games of Vampires vs Elves or White Weenies until our interests shifted back to video games, girls and alcohol. Years later, a new LGS opened up in my town, and once more that familiar feeling of nostalgia would not be ignored. My 2nd draft was a substantial improvement, with me earning 2nd place (thanks to my opponent playing Fog in game three in the match for 1st as I swung out for much more than lethal, after which he cracked back for lethal himself - thereby teaching me a valuable lesson). I played in a Magic Grand Prix and was one win away from day 2, won and lost a bunch of local limited and constructed events, and had a blast. Ultimately, though, staying competitive in MTG is, for me, too much of an investment in both time and money.
Hearthstone
Having abandoned the paper gaming scene yet again in favor of digital (video) games, I assumed I was done playing card games. Enter Hearthstone, a game that thoroughly disabused me of that notion. Much like World of Warcraft's impact on MMORPGs, Hearthstone showed the masses the true potential of card games. There had been digital card games before Hearthstone (e.g. MTGO; excuse me while I puke), just like there were MMORPGs before WoW, but the user interface and experience was so intuitive and easy to learn for gamers and non-gamers alike that it was easily the most accessible CCG style card game ever. Add to that the pure fun of the game and the near-perfect phone / tablet apps that came later, and Blizzard once again showed the world why they are simply the best at what they do. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Hearthstone, but its "RNG" elements (I am a competitive player at heart) combined with increasing investments of time and / or money to stay competitive led me to depart the franchise. Eternal Card Game and MTG Arena followed suit, and I enjoyed playing both as well (I still play Eternal against AI every now and then), but the investment to remain competitive was similar to that of every other competitive card game I had played in the past.
Hearthstone
To Be Continued...
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