Is this as cool as I think it is.

[Briareos]

Ok you guys seen me say how much I love to play Magic the Gathering and I've mentioned how cool Ravinica. Now I'm going to go into detail about why and I'm wondering if you guys will see why I think its cool.

First a little background. In Magic the Gathering there are 5 colors of magic White,Red,Green,Blue, and Black.

Each color gets cards that help stand it apart from the other.

White is the more defensive and it is built around making little creatures bigger. It also has lots of ways to gain life and prevent damage to you and your creatures if your opponent does so.

Red Is all about doing as much damage as possible. It has the best direct damage cards and also its creatures do the most damage. It has no ability to gain life or prevent damage however.

Green is all about getting as much magical energy as possible and using it on mid sized creatures. It has creatures that give you more engery to bring in other cards. It also can gain life but it can't prevent damage and it doesn't do direct damage it wins through creatures.

Blue is all about controling what your opponent does. It can counter (stop) your opponent when he tries to bring cards into play and it has the ability to return cards that your opponent brings into play back into his hand. It doesn't have good creatures or direct damage and it can't really destroy things that are in play permenantly.

Black is all about hurting yourself to get a bigger gain out of it. It also has the best cards that just kill creatures. It can't stop anything else for the most part when it gets into play however.

So now that you have the background lets move on to ravinica.

Every fall around late september early october a new exapansion is released. In February and May of the following year a couple more expansions are released that are designed around a common theme and storyline. These are called blocks

Ravinica story is based around a world that is one entire gigantic city. The whole world is run by 10 guilds. Each guild is represented in the game by one of the possible 10 2 color combo's you can make (white black, green red, ect)

In Ravinca the first 4 guilds are introduced. the February expansion Guildpact will do the next 3 and the final 3 in the last expansion.

Since only Ravinica is out I'll talk about the first 4 guilds

The Boros Legion (White, Red) Is based around a Military guild with a strong sense of pride. Its special ability reflected in the cards are cards that would target one of your creatures but the effect would carry over to any other creature that shares a color with that creature.

House Dimir (Black Blue) Are a secret society that most people don't know exist. They are based around coruption but in secret. Their special ability is Transmute which allows you to ditch a card that has that ability to search your deck for any other card that is the same cost. They also have alot of cards that are based around depleting your deck (You lose the game if you run out of cards and have to draw one though it is rare to win this way).

The Selesnya Conclave (Green White) Are a bunch of druids and their followers and nature creatures and stuff. They have a ability called convoke where if a card has it then creatures can be used to get the mana needed to bring the card into play.

The Golgari (Green Black) Are druids and elves who have been darkened by living in overgrown tombs and tending rot farms. They are all about the cycle of Life and death and then coming back to life from being dead. Their ability on the cards is Dredge which brings cards that have been used or destroyed (which are put in a pile called the graveyard) back in your hand for reuse.

[Monkey Boy]

I think its cool but then I like Magic the Gathering. I remember the multicolored cards from older sets and they were always nice to have in decks. I really like the Kamigawa set but I'm looking forward to seeing whats in this one.

[LibrarianThorne]

Ravnica got me back into the game (I left during Darksteel), and I've currently got a block Boros deck and am working on a type 2 Dimir mill with Circu and Glimpse the Unthinkable.

[Cam63]

I can't get into that stuff.

[Converge]

Sorry, but it's not as cool as you think it is.

[LibrarianThorne]

I can't get into that stuff.

Understandable. I just play Magic because a lot of my friends do, as does my girlfriend (who beats the hell out of me with her Magic deck, but it's good times), so I got back into it to play with them, mostly. That and Ravnica is the first set since Mirrodin to do something really cool (alter the way the game is played), so I enjoy doing things with it. The Vs. system by Upper-Deck is arguably superior (I personally have more fun with it, and can't wait for the Justice League set to hit next week), but I do enjoy a good game of Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragonball Z. With the amount of CCGs out there, it's really hard to find one that isn't fun.

[Cam63]

What I mean is I can't get into online games, period.

[LibrarianThorne]

What I mean is I can't get into online games, period.

It's not an online game at all (well, besides the online version). It's a collectible card game, or CCG, and one that has been around for a good long while. A lot of people consider Magic: The Gathering to be the best CCG ever made, though I disagree.

To give a succinct description of what a CCG is is pretty difficult. The best way I can put it is this: take all of your baseball cards (or perhaps, football cards might be more appropriate for you Aussies, not sure what cards your kids buy). Now, imagine that you could pit those cards against each other. That is, in essence, what a CCG is.

[Cam63]

I can't take to card games either.

[Briareos]

I had a problem with Mirroden is that it broke the game. They ended up having to ban 8 or 9 cards earlier this year cause of it. Now is a much better time to play it since at the recent regional championships a wide variety of decks won or go into the top 8.

[Briareos]

I can't take to card games either.

I offer to help remedy this problem! :D

[Monkey Boy]

I had a problem with Mirroden is that it broke the game. They ended up having to ban 8 or 9 cards earlier this year cause of it. Now is a much better time to play it since at the recent regional championships a wide variety of decks won or go into the top 8.

I didn't care for Mirroden either. I don't care for artifacts. There were just to many large cards. I did like kamigawa. Bushido and Ninjitsu were nice.

[Bright-Raven]

Obviously there's more to the CCG systems than simple card games, but I'm sorry, to me it's like playing "Go Fish" with exacerbated rules.

I think traditional role playing is far superior in terms of the challenges of system play. Not because of die v. card, but because if you're playing it right, you are more of an actor playing the role of your character.

And better yet, people don't get into fistfights over losing, and nobody bets expensive property over a stupid game. MAGIC and the other CCG games have demonstrated to me time and again this sort of behavior, as players sometimes bet rare cards as their bounty in a match. While I realize this is supposedly not the intent of the producers of the game, they certainly pander to such practices by continuing to produce "specialty" cards that are more valuable than others due to rarity.

[PatrickG]

When I played, I played white black combo decks. But the... uhm... Black Lotus was legal then.

[Sanagi]

Obviously there's more to the CCG systems than simple card games, but I'm sorry, to me it's like playing "Go Fish" with exacerbated rules.

I think traditional role playing is far superior in terms of the challenges of system play. Not because of die v. card, but because if you're playing it right, you are more of an actor playing the role of your character.

And better yet, people don't get into fistfights over losing, and nobody bets expensive property over a stupid game. MAGIC and the other CCG games have demonstrated to me time and again this sort of behavior, as players sometimes bet rare cards as their bounty in a match. While I realize this is supposedly not the intent of the producers of the game, they certainly pander to such practices by continuing to produce "specialty" cards that are more valuable than others due to rarity.
It doesn't matter what hobby you get into, if it involves interacting with people you are going to see the occasional idiot. It has nothing to do with CCGs themselves.

Oh yeah, and yes Ravnica is a great set. I've never been this excited about what the rest of the block has in store.

[YoGo]

I can't take to card games either.

You did hold me hostage for three days and made me play strip poker with you that time.

[Lester C.]

You did hold me hostage for three days and made me play strip poker with you that time.

Ah he was holding you prisoner. That dirty pool Cam You knew I needed him over in the niceness thread and the whole time you had him hostage. Bad Cam bad.

[LibrarianThorne]

When I played, I played white black combo decks. But the... uhm... Black Lotus was legal then.

You might like Ravnica block, then. I think the next sit hits witht he Black/White Guild. Guilds, a new mechanic in Ravnica, are basically dual-color decks with funky effects. For instance, the red/white Guild, Boros, has Radiance, an ability on some of their cards that the effect hits all colors that share a card with the affected color. For instance, Leave no Trace (a colorless, white instant) says "destroy target Enchantment", but it also has radiance, so it not only nukes the targeted enchantment, but every enchantment that shares a color with the targeted enchantment.

[Expletive Deleted]

It does sound cool, but . . . man, I haven't played since Mirage came out. I think the game has passed me by.

I used to play a red/green burn deck, back in the day.

[Sanagi]

It does sound cool, but . . . man, I haven't played since Mirage came out. I think the game has passed me by.

I used to play a red/green burn deck, back in the day.
The guy who runs my local comic shop told me that a lot of people are getting back into Magic with Ravnica, because it reminds them of older sets like Invasion and Legends.

Things have changed over the years... The rules have changed a bit, and the cards themselves look a bit different. Although, if you've forgotten the old rules, the new ones will be easier to learn.

What I'm doing with Ravnica is buying the preconstructed decks(for $10 you get a deck that you can actually play, not a great one, but makes a good basis for modifying with other cards). It's cheaper than buying a ton of packs and you get a good representation of what was unique about the set.

[heystacy]

I can't take to card games either.

Not even spades? ;)

[Converge]

my favorite card game is Asshole.

[Expletive Deleted]

Things have changed over the years... The rules have changed a bit, and the cards themselves look a bit different. Although, if you've forgotten the old rules, the new ones will be easier to learn.Just out of curiousity, are the old cards still . . . I don't know, valid?

[LibrarianThorne]

Just out of curiousity, are the old cards still . . . I don't know, valid?

Yes, in some formats. There's two broad categories, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 includes all cards from all sets, save Unglued and its sequel Unhinged (in which Richard Garfield is a card...), with some restrictions and bannings. Type 2 is the two most recent blocks (currently Ravnica and Kamigawa) and the current edition (which would be 9th edition).

I only play type 2, because type 1 scares the bejeezus out of me. Urza block blue control? No way in heck am I going to throw down against that...

[Cam63]

Nope. No card games.

'Just can't take to it.

[Bright-Raven]

Sanagi:

With all due respect, what I was commenting about was not "occassional", but the normal goings on I have seen with card gamers. I've also seen parents fight amongst one another because their kid is "being cheated" during matches. I've seen a restaurant get trashed because a CCG group got into a fight over the rules (the Werewolf CCG - Rage? - was what they were playing). Same thing happened at a comics / gaming shop where they regularly hosted sessions, also. One kid was sent to the hospital after getting slammed into a wall for beating an older player.

Now the only public sessions / tournaments allowed in town are scheduled and overseen by police officers who are certified referees by the publishers of the games. That is how serious the problem is.

And I know perfectly damned well it's not some local anomaly, because I've gone to SDCC and watched otherwise level-headed, friendly, likeable people turn into complete asses when they lose a CCG tournament match. In fact, I don't know which is worse - seeing one of my friends turn into an ass over losing a stupid card game, or seeing people (friend or not) getting stoned / drunk out of their minds. Believe me, the actions and attitudes of those in either scenario are embarrassing and disgusting to be around.

[Sanagi]

Just out of curiousity, are the old cards still . . . I don't know, valid?
Yes, in some formats. There's two broad categories, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 includes all cards from all sets, save Unglued and its sequel Unhinged (in which Richard Garfield is a card...), with some restrictions and bannings. Type 2 is the two most recent blocks (currently Ravnica and Kamigawa) and the current edition (which would be 9th edition).
Yup. There's also formats that take up the space between vintage(type 1) and standard(type 2), such as extended and legacy. And each block of three sets can stand alone as its own format.

And of course, if you just play casual games with your friends, anything goes.

[Briareos]

Hey just for fun. How about we do a online type 2 magic tourney with just anyone who reads this thread? I'd be happy to get it setup and get everyone who's interested up to speed on rules and some basic stratagy. We'd use magic workstation and can run it in IRC.