ABRACADABRA
IIS \ \l l \S!>. mi II SIKI !v\‘i (V
It s Doroima and tubs slippers and
good witches oiler no solace when plav
ing Magic 1 he Clathering.
invented by Richard (t^rficld, a former
mathematics professor at \\ human l ol
lege m NX ashmgton. Magic ts a role plus
mg iantasv game a la Dungeons and Drag
ons that uses poker desk sized placing
cards to cast spells, summon creatures and
conquer lands
OFFBEAT
“Magtc combines the natural Fun of play
mg a game with the collcuabiliiv aspect, ’ saw
l*aul Nobles, who organises Magic tourna
ments i»ut of his hobby shop in Minneapolis
I lie combination was intentional, saw
( arm I hcarle marketing director for NX 1/
aids of the C oast, which sells the game I hc
colorful cards, bearing images of seals drag
ons. lush landscapes and wizards were
designed h\ several arti>ts to give each a
unique quality
Originally targeted at college students,
interest in the game has expanded to include
people of all ages Magic is now so popular
that NX j/ards of the C oast is able to deliver
only one tenth of the 'MM) million decks of
cards ordered
It s brought a lot of new people into
game and hobbv shops. ass l of Mtnncso
ta senior John Stephenson, manager of
Phoenix C.amcx I vc taught more than I SO
people to plas
Players can acquire wards and build their
decks by trading or betting on the game s
outcome 1 usually don t [bet my cards],
because it s so random %ass t of Iowa
senior Doug 1 arUon [Io bet], you just
pick a card from sour deck it could be
anything
Players say Magic offers the chance co
chink stratcguails. pass the time even take
on a new personality
I
;8WW Giant
fciee)
1 sc got a real thing tor goblins. mss j
I
•lent 1 get together with friends and l have
this desire to utterly destroy them
Starter devks tor Magic retail tor $H
Booster packs. which can ads! the aid need
cd to conquer the world. between !
SI SO and S'
I he game, with all o! its twists, turns and ;
infinite possibilities, has hooked enough
players to create a Sl^S million per star j
business, it also seems to have cast a spell I
over some of its fans
\X c limit the amount of Magic decks
that people ian bus in one das Stephenson i
savs l hey were getting overly hooked so i
into the game that they would use their food
money to bus Magic
l of loss a senior Mike Niemever insists
that there are more harmful addictions It s
better than drinking. ' he sass \l least vou
van play all night and still be OK when vou
wake up
Devon Alexander, U ot Iowa
Whenever target hind
become* upped, Ptychic
Venom doc* 2 damage to
target land’* controller
i
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O CarvviwMtfMi l U
*H»in min
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