Planeswalkers everywhere unite, for there is a new club on the scene just for you. “Magic the Gathering” now has a club located in room 106.

The club is for Magic players, inexperienced or experienced, to show up on any given Wednesday and start playing. Senior Mitchell Thomas started the club with his friend, senior Chris Boynton.

“Chris and I started the club, and we got Mrs. Rice to agree to the room,” Thomas said, “while ‘tall Davis’ agreed to be our sponsor.”

“Magic the Gathering” is a card game that uses a combination of luck and skill to achieve victory against the opponent. Each game represents a battle between wizards known as “planeswalkers,” who employ spells, artifacts, and creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents.

“My friend Hunter got me started on Magic,” Thomas said. “A group of my friends and I would go to a place called Gamers Gauntlet, and we would just stay there for a few hours and just play a bunch of matches.”

Magic is a big play mechanic to the game and spells come represented by a color pentagon consisting of colors such as White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green.

Each color does and represents something different. White represents peace and harmony and has the power of protection and healing and can’t destroy other cards, while the color black represents death, illness, and power. Black has the ability to destroy creatures as well banishing cards to the graveyard or bringing them back and lastly making the opponent lose life.

“I started playing when my friend invited me to Gamers Gauntlet,” senior Josh Yeager said. “It’s awesome; it gives me the opportunity to hang out with my friends and see them.”

There are several examples of academic, peer-reviewed research concerning different aspects of “Magic: The Gathering.” One example examined how players use their imaginations when playing. This research studied hobby players and showed how players sought to create and participate in an epic fantasy narrative.
Studies have shown that “Magic: The Gathering” has increased in popularity, doubling its numbers of players from the years of 2008-2011. There is an estimated 12 million people playing it globally.

“It’s became so popular because it has been around for a while now,” senior Katlyn Wolgamott said. “That and there is a huge range between it being super easy for beginners and very difficult for pros, there is always room to expand and improve.”

If you or a friend have an interest in becoming a fellow planeswalker, then you are free to join, all are welcome newcomers or experienced are all encouraged to be there at room 106 after school on Wednesdays.