Ethnography
of mtgsalvation.com
When people think of card games,
they usually think of children or very overweight men sitting in a hot, sweaty
room playing with these little pieces of cardboard. However; the time I have
spent browsing and including myself in conversations on http://www.mtgsalvation.com, shows
that the people involved with this Magic: The Gathering take the game to a completely different,
intellectual level, one that is much more complex then what people on the
outside see it as.
The game itself has been around for
21 years and has over thirteen thousand cards in it. Based on a story of
certain wizards called “Planeswalkers”, each set visits a different plane that
has its own story along with it. With each new set of cards that gets released
the most frequented area of the forum, The
Rumor Mill, is exploding with action. There are people with speculation of
the effectiveness of new, recently released cards and how they work with other
cards in the other formats. When any new Magic: The Gathering news is released,
this is the first place everyone looks to learn and talk about it and give
their opinions on the new information and how it will effect the standard
format as well the other formats.
Standard
format, also known as type two, consists of the two most recent core sets and
the most recent six themed sets split into 2 themed blocks. As the most popular
format because of the ability to get a hold of these cards rather easily, it
makes for MTGSalvation’s Standard
forum second most frequented by people who visit the site.
The conversations in this forum
range from assistance on standard deck lists to single card discussion. The
conversation in this forum, much like the other conversations that take place
on the website, is usually very helpful, constructive and informative. The
conversations generally include ways to play certain cards, what cards that
might be better then others in certain kinds of decks and as new blocks rotate
in and out, what cards work with older ones. When the old cards rotate out,
they don’t just become useless, in fact they can potentially become more useful
and increase in monetary value and used in older formats. These older formats
are Modern, Legacy, Elder Dragon Highlander, and Vintage.
Elder Dragon
Highlander (EDH), also known as Commander, is a “for fun” format which is
much different then the other formats because of how the decks are built and
which cards are allowed. The deck is organized by choosing one legendary
creature for your commander, which is placed outside the game, and a
ninety-nine card, singleton, deck except for basic lands. This format can be
the most casual to very competitive. With the amount of cards you are allowed
to have in your deck, it is very possible for infinite combos to show up which
can make infinite creatures, do infinite damage, take infinite turns, and gain
infinite life. The people who hang around this forum are very easy going and
are also knowledgeable on card combos and which ways cards can be utilized.
However; the tastes range from very casual to very competitive. The players
have names for the types of people. Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Timmy players
love playing the gigantic creatures that practically shake the table when they
hit the field. Johnny players like their decks to win in unique creative ways
or “comboing out” and Spike players are the play to win kind of people. While many people in EDH are mixtures of
Johnny/Spike or Timmy/Spike, the people that play Modern, Legacy, and Vintage
are another story.
The Modern and Legacy
formats harbor much more experienced players and much more expensive cards. The
players who play in these formats are generally older then the players who play
in the standard format mainly because of the expense of the cards. Modern
format decks can cost anywhere from 50 dollars to 1,200 dollars and in legacy,
decks cost 3,000 dollars on average mainly because of the power level of these
cards and the fact that most of the cards are 20 years old that are being used.
They are rare to come by so they are extremely expensive for a hobby and these
players just eat up everything about these formats. Having involved myself in
online versions of these formats, where I didn’t have to buy these cards, the
power level of these cards is outstanding and refreshing.
With the low mana costs and high
output, the players who play this are very critical of new cards that are
released and when they find something new that has potential, they get those
cards as soon as possible to test them. In the forums for these formats, the
conversations move away from new set hype and new deck lists and more into
discussion of certain strategies and how to counter other decks playing certain
cards. When speaking with these players, their knowledge of the game emanates
from them. They know how to determine plays in situations and which cards will
do the job. When asked questions, they are more then happy to help out and give
their advice and why certain cards make it into this format. Cards that make it
in these formats are considered eternal and shoot up in value. However; when
talking about monetary value, one can not forget about The vintage format.
The Vintage
format is the realm of turn 1 wins and extremely expensive decks. These
players, much like Modern and Legacy players, are very intellectual about the
game and have an extensive knowledge of the game. Many of the have played the
game since its creation. They engage in conversation much like the legacy and
modern players except the one thing that sets them apart is the expense of the
cards used. With one of the most powerful cards in magic, the Black
Lotus, costing upwards of 4,000 dollars and every vintage deck requiring 1,
the decks quickly reach unimaginable prices. But with this format comes immense
knowledge. There have been books written about certain cards in the vintage
format such as the card called Gush. The knowledge, experience, and devotion of
these players is incredible and inspiring.
The magic players on this forum are
extremely intelligent about the game and they are mostly genuine people who are
eager and willing to share their knowledge and advice. Situations in which
someone would want to involve themselves with this sort of community is someone
who enjoys playing Magic: The Gathering and would like to talk with other
people who are just as invested in Magic as they are. My impression about this
phenomenon of virtual communities is that they are extremely useful resources
for those who are interested in these niche hobbies. Communities are not always
readily available for the hobbies that people are interested in. Luckily
enough, Magic: The Gathering has many card and hobby shops in which tournaments
are help as well as larger tournaments in which bonds can be formed, however
for other hobbies that don’t have such a readily available community, these
online communities are potentially the only way people can reach out to others
with the same interests. Thus, online communities are extremely valuable to
everyone who has a hobby.
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