Line #32 TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magic_card.png]]
2	[-[[caption-width-right:275:The standard ''Magic'' card back. Its design is meant to resemble the cover of a SpellBook.]]-]
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4	->''"You are a planeswalker..."''
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6	''Magic: The Gathering'' is a CollectibleCardGame, produced in 1993 by Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast [[note]] Now the owners of that other great geek game, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[[/note]] and now a subsidiary of Creator/{{Hasbro}}, it was the first true {{Collectible Card Game}},[[note]]previous attempts mostly involved baseball cards[[/note]] the GenrePopularizer, and [[LongRunner even today]] it remains one of the most popular tabletop fantasy genre card games in the world.
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8	Each game is a duel between powerful mages (the players) known as "[[DimensionalTraveller planeswalkers]]." Planeswalkers deploy a wide array of spells, [[SummonMagic creatures]], [[LostTechnology artifacts]] and enchantments (all represented by cards) as they vie to dominate [[TheMultiverse entire realms ("planes")]]--or, [[WatsonianVersusDoylist if you prefer]], to reduce the opponent's [[HitPoints life total]] to zero. Notable gameplay elements include:
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10	* The "[[FactionCalculus Color Pie]]": The game features ColorCodedWizardry in five different flavours: White[[note]]light, law, [[WhiteIsPure purity]] and order[[/note]], Blue[[note]][[WaterIsBlue water]], air, [[BlueIsCalm logic]], knowledge and the mind[[/note]], Black[[note]] death, ambition, pragmatism and power[[/note]], Red[[note]][[FireIsRed fire]], passion, chaos and [[RedIsViolent aggression]][[/note]] and Green[[note]]harmony, tradition, destiny and [[GreenMeansNatural nature]][[/note]]. Each color is convinced it has the only correct way of looking at the world, resulting in OpposingCombatPhilosophies; there are [[TacticalRockPaperScissors complex interrelations between them]]; and players can use any number of them at the same time, but only by giving themselves problems with...
11	* The {{Mana}} system: To cast spells, players need the correct amount and color of mana. Mana is typically gained from Land cards... but you can only play one Land per turn. At a stroke, this brings the "AwesomeButImpractical"[[note]]good spells cost more mana[[/note]], "YoureNothingWithoutYourPhlebotinum"[[note]]not getting enough land is [[RandomNumberGod frustratingly plausible]][[/note]] and "LimitedMoveArsenal"[[note]]having spells of one color and lands of the other is [[RandomNumberGod frustratingly plausible]][[/note]] tropes into the game. Finding a balance between the limits of your colors (pushing you to play more colors) and the likelihood of a mana mismatch (pushing you to play fewer colors) starts creating challenges because...
12	* It's "[[CollectibleCardGame collectible]]": Wizards of the Coast have, as of February 2024, printed over 27,000 unique cards, and add an average of 876 new ones every year. This gives you a chance to create a deck that no one else on earth has. (And of course, once you realize that your deck would benefit from one of the cards you ''don't'', you want to [[RevenueEnhancingDevices buy more cards]].)
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14	For a more complete analysis of gameplay (which is, of course, the heart of any game), we wrote a [[UsefulNotes/MagicTheGathering Useful Notes page]] for your enjoyment.
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16	The game spawned several VideoGame adaptations. Some of the more prominent ones:
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18	* ''Magic: The Gathering'': A 1997 CardBattleGame by Creator/MicroProse. It contained both a free-dueling mode, allowing you to build decks and battle them against AI opponents, and a campaign mode, where you could travel across the land of Shandalar exploring, dueling enemies, collecting cards, and eventually battling a BigBad. Notable in that when the game was in DevelopmentHell, Creator/SidMeier was brought in to give it more focus.[[note]]It would also be the last game Meier ever worked on for Microprose, founding Firaxis afterward.[[/note]][[invoked]]
19	* ''Magic: The Gathering Online'': released in '02, it was the first official way to play the game over the Internet. It has garnered a fair bit of revenue over the years, especially since Wizards offer (very limited) ways to convert digital cards into physical ones and vice versa.
20	* ''Duels of the Planeswalkers'': A more modern adaptation available on Platform/PlayStation3 (via Platform/PlaystationNetwork), [[Platform/XboxLive Xbox Live Arcade]], and Platform/{{Steam}}, originally released in 2009. It received {{Numbered Sequel}}s in summer of each succeeding year, coinciding with new Core Set releases, and Wizards [[InvokedTrope explicitly]] positioned it as their GatewaySeries to new players.
21	** ''Magic Duels'': Wizards eventually stopped releasing yearly sequels, in favor of a single FreeToPlay game that receives regular updates, usually with new cards and story missions. Unlike a lot of other Free To Play card games, purchasing packs in ''Magic Duels'' will always give you new cards. Once you have four of a card (the max allowable in a deck), it is removed from the card pool. Otherwise, it is very similar to the other ''Duels'' games. On November 26th 2019, [[https://steamcommunity.com/games/316010/announcements/detail/1716364455374736571 official support of the game ended]] and has been removed from online storefronts, however multiplayer is still possible for those who own it at the time of writing this.
22	* ''Magic: The Gathering Arena'': In July 2017, Wizards announced that they would no longer update ''Magic Duels'' in preparation for a new FreeToPlay game named ''Magic: The Gathering Arena''. It takes cues from ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'' in terms of visual styling and some of its collection bonuses: for instance, players have a chance to draw "Wild Cards" from packs which can be exchanged for a single copy of a card at that rarity. It has taken over as the main digital method of playing the game.
23	* ''Magic: The Gathering -- Tactics'': A 2011 TurnBasedStrategy for PC and Platform/PlayStation3 inspired by ''Magic''. The gameplay bears little to no resemblance to the original card game, but the flavor of it is retained.
24	* ''Magic: Legends'', a ''Diablo''-inspired MMORPG by Creator/CrypticStudios which, like ''Tactics'', is only using the lore of the ''[=MtG=]'' multiverse for its foundations, with hybridizations of the mana system and hand-of-cards mechanics. Released into beta in March 2021, it was canceled less than six months later.
25	* ''[=SpellTable=]'': Not really a game, but rather a client allowing players to play games of paper ''Magic'' online through the use of webcams along with features such as life total trackers and a built-in card database to look up cards players are using. Created in response to [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID shutting down in-person play]], its creators were later hired by Wizards, who then co-oped the application and further expanded upon it.
26	* ''Magic Spellslingers'' was released on for mobile phones and Steam on 10 August 2022. Formerly called ''Valor's Reach'', it had been in soft launch for several years. If this is the first you've heard of it, that tells you something about the advertising budget allotted to the game (approximately $0). It further hybridizes the game with ''Hearthstone''.[[note]]Players gain 1 Mana Crystal a turn. The player who goes second draws an extra card and gets a 1-use "Fragile Mana Crystal." Damage is persistent between turns, and creatures do not tap to attack. Only five creatures can be played at a time. Instants have been converted to "Trap" cards that activate according to specified criteria. Artifacts have limited numbers of uses. Planeswalkers define what cards you can play, alter your starting life total, and each have a passive power: Liliana's, for instance, gives +1/+1 to any creature that her power up cards that enter play from her graveyard; Nissa gains 1 Life whenever she plays an extra mana crystal; while Chandra deals 4 damage to the opponent's face when the game starts.[[/note]]
27	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering_video_games ...And more.]]
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29	A film adaptation languished in DevelopmentHell at 20th Century Fox for years, and was eventually canceled when Disney purchased the studio in March 2019. By June of that year, Netflix had acquired the rights, and announced that Creator/TheRussoBrothers would create a [[https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/03/netflix-magic-the-gathering-series-joe-anthony-russo/ Netflix original series]] for them. Joe and Anthony have since stepped away, but the series is still in development, with Creator/BrandonRouth to voice Gideon Jura.
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31	A classic inclusion in any NerdHoard.
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33	The official ''Magic'' website can be [[https://magic.wizards.com/en found here.]]
34	----
35	!!Due to [[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed length]], the trope list for this work has been split across several pages:
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37	[[index]]
38	* MagicTheGathering/GameplayTropes
39	** MagicTheGathering/GameplayTropesAToI
40	** MagicTheGathering/GameplayTropesJToQ
41	** MagicTheGathering/GameplayTropesRToZ
42	* MagicTheGathering/FlavorAndStoryTropes
43	** MagicTheGathering/FlavorAndStoryTropesAToG
44	** MagicTheGathering/FlavorAndStoryTropesHToO
45	** MagicTheGathering/FlavorAndStoryTropesPToZ
46	* MagicTheGathering/ColorTropes
47	* [[Characters/MagicTheGatheringFactions Factions]]
48	* [[Characters/MagicTheGathering Individual Character Tropes]]
49	* [[MagicTheGathering/{{Planes}} Planes]]
50	* [[YMMV.MagicTheGathering Audience Reactions and YMMV]]
51	* Additionally, the pages for individual ''Magic'' novels and comics can be found [[Recap/MagicTheGathering here]].
52	[[/index]]

Context TabletopGame / MagicTheGathering