Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons Club had its first meeting on Jan. 5 in Lawrence Housley’s room. The club meets every day during advisory and plays Magic and D&D as a community.
Magic: The Gathering, or MTG for short, is a collectible trading and strategic card game where opponents go head to head against each other or a group. With custom built decks, players choose between five colors or a mix of multiple colors. Dungeons and Dragons or D&D, is a cooperative table top role playing and action game where players work together to complete quests and fights.
Luca Jonhson (10) is an avid Magic player. He is on his second year of playing and fell in love with the game by just watching videos. “I wanted to create the club because I noticed that there were a lot of people who also played Magic, and I felt it would be a fun pastime for a lot of people,” Jonhson said.
Johnson believes that playing Magic can bring people together and have a blast. “I feel like students should play Magic: the Gathering because it’s better than just going to lunch and then scrolling on your phone or going to advisory and just napping,” Johnson said, “and it’s just overall more community building and fun.”
Housley is the teacher sponsor for the club. He played Magic before, but recently just got back into the game. “A group of my friends started playing Magic a couple years ago, and we just hang out on a Friday and play together,” Housley said.
Magic is a strategic game that Housley compares it to a puzzle. “It’s kind of like a brain game in some sense,” Housley said. “I mean, the strategy involved, you have to know the cards.” Magic has many different ways for players of different skill levels to play. Liam Lengerich (10), a long time Magic player, says it just depends on what kind you play. “I think for the most part, it’s pretty simple after the first few times you play,” he said. “I think the difficulty changes depending on if you’re playing 60 cards or commander. ”
Unlike other card games, like Pokemon, where people may buy cards just for the value, some see it as more of an actual card game rather than just trading cards. “Pokemon could just be seen as trading cards instead of actual game. I think between Yu Gi Oh, Pokemon and Magic, Magic is the most popular in terms of actually playing,” Lengerich said.
Rio Martinez (11) is a new player and is excited about continuing to play in the club. “I like the atmosphere. It’s very laid back. There’s not much that we really do besides play a game,” Martinez said.
Even though the club was made with Magic: The Gathering in mind, the members are looking to include other games into the club such as D&D. “I’m absolutely into the idea of Dungeons and Dragons because I’ve been a Dungeon Master before, and I know how to play,” Housley said.
The members have a good time playing, however it can get difficult trying to run a large club in a classroom, “I went in there and there were a few people, but the room size was chaotic and minimal. It was very stressful to play a D&D campaign or some Magic,“ Lengerich said, “and it was just not necessarily as much of a vibe as It could be if it was an after school thing in the Media Center.”
Clubs usually take place during lunch or during advisory and with such little time it could be difficult to make time for a whole game. With a D&D campaign taking hours to get through, even a moment of the game can take 30 minutes or more. “A game club would be great after school. I think if you’re doing D&D during an advisory, you have no sense of time,” Lengerich said. “I think people who are trying to do D&D, maybe have time for a little one shot for like 30 minutes, or like a battle, but a whole planned out thing you’re gonna take the whole year just to get through.”
The Magic: The Gathering and D&D club only might feel restricted during advisory or lunch like the current Game Club. “People want to eat and have their own social time. I think at the end of the day, when everyone’s trying to go home, there’s less people trying to rush to a Game Club,” Lengerich said, “so other people who are actually interested can play their games without having to worry about time. I think after school is probably the best time for a club.”
