smartinson said:
Can anyone tell me about "Magic" The Gathering trading card game? My husband just brought home a big box of these cards, I looked at them, and don't really think I like them. I don't like any of those types of games. I don't know the premise of it, but seems evil to me. any advice?
Nobody's really answering your question, I'll give it a shot.
Players collect and trade cards (that are packaged in decks and smaller - booster packs). Each series of cards has x number of different cards (often around 150 cards or so) of various levels of rarity. There are common cards (the ones found most often), uncommon and rare cards. The rarity of the card is usually indicative of it's strength and usefullness in the game but this is not always the case. Deck packs are usually a pre-selected mix of cards. Booster packs are packaged randomly, with a guarantee of a rare, some uncommon and more common cards. If a collector wants to get all the cards of a series, they will most likely have to buy a couple of boxes of boosters or go to a store that sells single cards. It can be an expensive hobby for those that 'gotta have em all'. Having a complete set of cards is NOT neccessary to play effectively.
Anyway, each player (typically games are played by two people opposing each other but there are rules for more than 2 players at a time), constructs his or her deck of cards by choosing which of their cards they will use for that game. Often there are rules agreed to by the players as to which series are available to play with and how many cards of a single type can be used.
The objective of the game is to reduce your opponent's life counters to zero. People usually keep track of their life with little glass beads, dice or little metal or paper wheel counters. The players represent wizards who are utilizing their minions (creatures) and lands as resources in their battles against each other.
There are elements of power (the suits of cards, if you will). As described by Skelly above. The cards feature creatures, artifacts etc that influence play. Creatures attack opponents creatures and they 'battle' as per the statistics indicated on the cards. Certain spell cards may damage opponents or their creatures, or hinder them in some way.
Like any other game, the players are OF COURSE not really casting magical spells or drawing real power from the subject matter of the cards. You could make an indentically playing game out of modern day soldiers, tanks, fighter jets and politics if you wanted to.
