New Club Spotlight: Magic: The Gathering
Whether it’s competition, creativity, or collectability, St. Michael’s College School (SMCS) students can find it all through a brand-new club based on the card game, Magic: The Gathering (MTG).
“Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is a collectible card game that combines strategy, deck-building, and fantasy themes,” says Tyler Hill ’05, teacher and co-curricular activities coordinator. “The point of the game, beyond simply enjoying it as a hobby, involves several aspects, including strategic gameplay, creative deck-building, social and competitive play, storytelling and lore, and collectability.”
The game is played with two or more players, each with their own deck of cards. Players begin with a certain number of lives or health points and lose the game when that number reaches zero. Each card features artwork that illustrates its use and written out mechanics on what it does in the game. Players draw cards to their hand and go through a phase order to play cards that attack, block attacks, and perform other actions until there is a winner.
“We decided to start this club because we are avid Magic: The Gathering players and wanted to bring our love [for the game] into the school environment,” says Kieran Cline, Grade 12 student moderator. “We knew that there was interest in a club like this being formed, as there are other MTG players within the school, so we decided to seize the opportunity and create the club.”
Cline and Jiaer Li, Grade 12, started up the club together working with Hill, faculty moderator, to navigate the club creation process.
“Our goal for this club is to create a niche where people who enjoy playing Magic can spend time playing the game with other like-minded individuals,” says Cline. “We are aiming to run a few tournaments/drafts that will allow the older players to continue playing the game they enjoy in a school environment, as well as provide the newer members with chances to learn how to play the game.”
The pair of moderators were able to acquire funding courtesy of the SMCS Parents’ Association (SMCSPA) to help get the club up and running.
“We’re looking forward to getting some starter decks and deck building going early on and progress into tournaments and bracket games as the year goes on,” says Li. “The school has been very generous with our budget, which gives us a lot of freedom on how to run the club. We also hope to get some younger guys involved in the club and become Magic: The Gathering players to run the club next year, after Kieran and I have graduated.”
While the club’s participant numbers are small right now, the team has plans already in place to spread the word and grow its membership.
“We are looking to plan some collaborations with the Dungeons n’ Dragons Club and the Board Games Club to help attract new members,” says Li. “We hope we can use these collaborations to find similar-minded people and see if they would be interested in Magic.”
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