[CLIP]
> I had the Magic bug for about six months. It has three very effective
> hooks any one of which would facilitate wild-fire propagation. It
> capitalizes on the collecting bug. Players tend to ammass huge
> collections of cards which they typically organize and store in mammoth
> three-ring binders. It appeals to our competeive nature, and the art and
> "story" appeal to our predelection for fantasy. Advanced players
> construct theme decks which are designed to expoit a very specific
> offensive/defense strategy, and players who play against the same
> opponents all the time tend to construct and modify their decks in
> response to the theme decks of their opponents. The other player will
> then modifgy his or her (unlike other wargames and role-playing games,
> women comprise a sizable portion of the Magic playing public) deck to
> compensate for whatever weakness his/her opponent has learned to exploit
> and the players soon find themselves in full scale arms-races in the
> evolutionary sense.
>
> Wow! I never realized any of this while I was playing the game. Other
> Magic phenomena of interest: Each player has finite resources with which
> to feild creatures spells and artifacts. The same amount of resources
> can feild a few powerfull creatures or a swarm of 'weenies.' Weenie
> decks almost always beat decks that rely on a few really tough critters,
> e.g. the afore mentioned Lord of the Pit. The weenies die in droves, but
> who cares? They're cheap. You can generate more next turn.
>
> As players field cards they develope a power structure. The speed with
> which that structure evolves is crucial. A deck that can develope a
> modest offensive mechanism quickly will beat the juggernut decks that
> take several turns to unlimber.
I was affected by the Magic meme-complex for about one month. All of my
collection will fit into 3 Ziploc bags. In terms of raw breadth, it's
pretty wimpy. However my deck is still highly annoying to the powerhouse
players in my area.
After all:
It's shuffle-proof [almost]. It is equally functional no matter how
it is shuffled. I don't ever worry about land shortage or glut, and
have very little concern about useless combinations. Adjusting the deck
to the opponent is very simple.
Recently, I played a chain-series of four games in a row against a
deck maximized to throw high-powered fireballs. Three of the four games,
I lost [easy!]. The remaining game, one of my combos came up: Scepter,
followed immediately by Rack. [Strategy is now simple: drain the
opponent's hand of one card each turn until he drops too low. Once he
drops too low, he takes damage EVERY turn!] [The two cards are pretty
useless in isolation.]
I now have a web page:
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~zaimoni/
It will probably be in development for a LONG time.
[CLIP]
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/ Kenneth Boyd
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