In 1993 the very first trading card game, titled Magic: The Gathering, entered the market. Styled in such a way that the game could take place between pairs or larger groups, the game offered players a unique chance to indulge in a fantastical world with their friends.
Now, 22 years later, Magic is now played by more than 12 million people worldwide.
East Lansing’s Hollow Mountain Comics, Games & Collectibles has hosted a growing group of enthusiastic Magic players since the store’s grand opening last January. Starting at 6 p.m. on Friday nights, crowds of around 25 eager players spill out from the back room, seated around tables averaging between four and six players per game.
Advertising sophomore Nate Darling has been instrumental in getting MSU’s Magic community up and running, and serves as an administrator for the MSU MTG Facebook group.
Magic has the reputation of being an expensive hobby, but Darling and the rest of his friends don’t think it has to be.
“You can have friends and cards for $15, or you can have them for $1,500,” he said.
Still, players like microbiology senior Dustin Flynn, who has been playing Magic since he was 14, can admit to spending a bit more on cards than they’d like to admit.
Special cards can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars on eBay, but college students on a budget stick to the cheaper, less competitive items. The most Flynn has ever spent on a single card was about $20.
The majority of the players who gather at Hollow Mountain Comics enjoy the close-knit atmosphere and have never been to larger tournaments, although they will occasionally get together to hang out and view live streams of those larger conventions.
“It’s ESPN for nerds, basically,” Darling said.
While Hollow Mountain Comics isn’t the only comic store in the area, many Magic players who gather there feel the atmosphere is different than other locations around East Lansing. For this passionate group, the focus is more on the feeling of community rather than the fire of competition.
Darling is especially focused on the people, rather than the game itself. He said he often makes rounds during the night to check on players new and old to make sure their experiences are positive.
Media and information sophomore Ty Hill is just one of the many players who joined the Magic community and found a home there.
“The only way I ever met anyone on campus, pretty much, was through Magic,” he said.
With the strong foundation for the Magic community already set at MSU, Darling is now looking for ways to reach out beyond the boundaries of East Lansing. A multi-format intercollegiate tournament between MSU and University of Michigan — a “Paul Bunyan” for Magic — is currently in the works. If it all works out, it will become an annual event between the two universities.
