Magic the Gathering1 has undergone multitudes of changes since its inception in 1993. After a 3 year break and some extra freetime on my hands I couldn’t deny my intrigue to re-enter one of the best strategy games on the planet. But being out of the tournament scene for so long meant that I no longer had grips on the deck archetypes in the Standard-Legal2 tournnament format. A deck archetype is deck idea that many players use as a basis for creating their decks, such as Gifts Ungiven. Although decks of the same archetype differ from one another, if they follow a certain theme, such as using Gifts Ungiven, then the deck is considered to be framed as a certain archetype.
In order to become competitive again, I needed to figure out how to find the information about the various deck archetypes. My searching yielded disappointing results; most of the resources available were from sites that make money off of the articles they post. While these articles are extremely useful, I don’t really have the funds to pay for the service. In my attempts to find information I began to realize that the tools used in this class could help to change things. What I formulated was a method for creating an online community of Magic players who share their experiences and ideas in a joint effort to change the way people think about the game. The reason for this revolves around the idea that good information should not just be limited to professionals. Online communities of Magic players are in a poor state of affairs. There is little to no interaction with members outside of their online community. Even popular sites such as Star City Games3 fall victim to its isolation. What I want to see is a large community of Magic players who use their intellect to form strategies for themselves with the help of others instead of relying on professional players for information.
Every year, Wizards of the Coast4, the distributor of Magic the Gathering, releases 3-4 expansions. Three of those expansions usually follow a storyline within the game world. This is called a block, and a block is made up of 3 expansions. The most recent expansion is Ravnica, City of Guilds5. It is the first expansion of what is known as the Ravnica block. The Standard-Legal tournament format is made up of 2 blocks and the latest unlimited expansion. A tournament format describes which expansions and cards are legal to play in that particular format. Currently, the sets legal to play in Standard-Legal are:
Standard-Legal, or Standard, is the most popular tournament format since it allows for players new to the game to compete without having to buy a huge library of cards. It is the format that takes the most strategy, skill, and planning to be successful; unlike other tournament formats where how well you do is determined by how many 300 dollar cards you have in your deck. Standard is the most level playing field among players because everyone fundamentally has equal access to the newest cards. It is also the most popular because of the wide array of deck archetypes. This also presents a problem. With so many decks in the format, it is hard to create a solid metagame6.
Metagaming for Magic means the way players strategize against the common deck archetypes. In other words, which cards people play in their decks to directly combat the cards that they are likely to see other players use in a deck archetype. Essentially, it’s a way that players use their experience to calculate how likely people will run a certain deck, then develop strategies to beat that deck by using cards that directly oppose it. For example:
I decided to develop a Rock deck knowing that it will probably fall to a White Weenie/Red deck. In anticipation of the matchup I decide to metagame against White Weenie/Red as I know that my deck will have a hard time beating it. Using the Metagame Clock7 I estimate that my deck is about :40. The White Weenie/Red deck is about :15 clockwise from from my deck. Unfortunately, I’m supposed to loose this matchup. However, I decide to metagame that will put odds in my favor because I use cards with the specific purpose of beating White Weenie/Red.
Different communities of online Magic players develop different metagames because the ideas they generate about deck archetypes differ from site to site. On Star City Games the metagame prior to the States tournament (a tournament each state holds on the same weekend) the developed metagame was against White Weenie/Red decks because they were so popular. What ended up happening was that the large metagame against White Weenie/Red caused players to abandon playing that deck archetype because they assumed the majority of players would metagame against it. However, despite the panic of players not wanting to play White Weenie/Red, the players who played White Weenie/Red anyway did extremely well, and overall had the 2nd highest number of 1st place wins behind Gift’s Ungiven decks. Even with a strong metagame against White Weenie/Red, how did the players who played the deck anyway still be so successful? Simple; the White Weenie/Red deck players metagamed against anti-White Weenie/Red decks.
The lack of continuity between online Magic communities brings into question the validity of trying to establish a method for generating useful information, especially when professional Magic players write for high profile sites where people pay to read the articles (Star City Games, MtG Zone8, Play or Draw9). Players who submit articles for publication are met with strict distribution rules, as the aforementioned sites do not want writers submitting the same article to more than one site. One site14 that most closely resembles a community devoted to developing ideas without the aid of professional players does not require membership, nor does it require users to sign up in order to use the forums. A player can simply go to the site, post their deck idea, and let other people who visit the site anonymously respond to their post. Although it lacks the professional quality of the major sites it does put the responsibility of contributing to the communtity on the average player.
Aside from online communities, players often use playtesting groups to work out deck ideas. This is the core of any deck building experience; to play against other decks. However, not everyone has access to the kinds of play test groups like the pros, and in communities where a small population plays Magic, the playtesting environment is often weak. However, programs like Magic Workstation10 and Apprentice11 provide an online alternative to playtesting. These programs allow for players to play each other via Internet connection. Another benefit of these programs is the ability to make a complete deck without having to search for them through a large collection of real cards. It is an efficient way to build deck ideas and save time. The drawback is that the programs are primitive and do not support the intricacies of the game. The player is responsible for fair play because the software usually does not support the effects of what a card does. Apprentice especially has trouble with this, however it is still a useful program for generating and drafting deck ideas.
del.icio.us12, and Rojo13 are helpful sites that can get players helping each other to gather information in one place. Using a unique tagging system, players in the community can figure out which sources are credible and useful. Unfortunately, the only site that has a useful RSS feed is Star City Games. Alternativelty, it is important that players use del.icio.us to consolidate information into one spot, not just from one site, but from a pool of sites.
There are a number of internet resources available to players the help them succeed. The first step is to develop a unified system of tagging sites that are both professional and credible. Furthermore, they need players to develop their own strategies in a creative environment. Magic City14 has an efficient way for players to post deck ideas while getting useful and contructive feedback from other members of the community. However, players are not taking advantage of the interface, resulting in less feedback. This interface is social and gets people using their knowledge of the game to help other players out, but without a large community, there is limited feedback.
One solution could be to develop a social software based around the idea of MtG City and have a free based article submission policy where site members could submit any article to be published on the site. Another important feature would be the use of a tag system in del.icio.us to develop a user based linking system to other sites, rather than have the administration feature other sites. The members of the site research what information is useful and share it with other members. The key to successfully getting an informed online community of players is to make them bear the workload and learn for themselves how to become efficient at gathering information.
RSS feeds are an important feature for any site that hosts constantly updated content, therefore the system would integrate RSS feeds to make sure players have access to the most recent articles. Assigning different RSS feeds for different topics (such as Tournaments, Decks, Strategy) would allow users to have instant access the type of information they are looking for. Sage15 uses a simple interface to organize RSS feeds as well as an RSS feed finder to check a site for RSS feeds. Using Sage on a site that constantly loads new links to Magic information and resources can let players see what new links are posted, then save the useful ones to their del.icio.us account.
Blogs are another incredibly useful way to generate ideas and have people respond to them. Communities of Magic players using Blog software have the advantage of being able to generate their own ideas and have other Bloggers respond to them via trackbacking and comments. Unlike forums, this method gives players the chance to develop ideas from beginning to end, and discuss the reasons for making a deck. A great majority of the forum threads involving deck construction only post the cards in the deck, a brief and useless synopsis, followed by brief, “looks good” or “that deck sucks” comments. Players using a blog in an intellectual way have room to develop the ideas, themes, and reasonings behind the decks. In contrast to a central site, a community of Magic players using Blogs could generate ideas in a more thoughtful way.
The use of social software to access and catologue information should be used to change the way players find and process information. Counting on paid professionals to develop an entire format is unacceptable. Players who love the game should devote the time necessary to succeed at it with their own strategies and ideas. With the help of other players willing to share their experiences and knowledge, the Magic online community can become a more informed organization, with players who develop their own ideas and themes.
1 Magic the Gathering :Wikipedia Nov 10, 2005 3:42PM
An article that introduces Magic the Gathering to people unfamiliar with the game and provides a basic understanding of what it is.
2 Standard-Legal Nov 10, 2005 3:46PM
A complete list of all of the rules for all tournament formats.
3 Star City Games Nov 10, 2005 3:52PM
A Magic the Gathering resource site that includes RSS feeds to updated articles and hosts a forum and online store.
4 Wizards of the Coast Nov 10, 2005 3:54PM
Official Magic the Gathering site. Provides information on tournaments, products, and hosts other content related to the game of Magic.
5 Ravnica, City of Guilds Nov 10, 2005 2:35PM
Official site of the latest expansion set, Ravnica. Provides currenct news and information specifically on Ravnica, as well as an RSS feed.
6 Wikipedia: Metagaming Nov 8, 2005 9:47AM
Wikipedia entry on Metagaming, defining what it is as well as how what its uses are.
7 Metagame Clock Nov 10, 2005 3:58PM
Feature article on metagaming, specifically for Magic the Gathering and the current deck archetypes in Standard.
8 MtG Zone Nov 10, 2005 4:03PM
A major Magic the Gathering resource site.
9 Play or Draw Nov 10, 2005 4:09PM
A major Magic the Gathering resource site
10 Magic Workstation Nov 10, 2005 4:14PM
A software tool that allows players to develop and build decks on their computer.
11 Apprentice Nov 10, 2005 4:20PM
A social software program used for building and developing decks, as well as playtesting them online via IP connection.
12 del.icio.us Nov 10, 2005 4:22PM
A social software site that uses tagging so users can search for sites under specific search fields
13 Rojo Nov 10, 2005 4:27PM
A social software site like del.icio.us but for RSS feeds.
14 Magic City Nov 10, 2005 7:22PM
A resource site that allows users to post decks and comment on others’ decks without requiring a membership.
15 Sage Nov 10, 2005 7:38PM
Posted by mintzty at November 3, 2005 08:56 PM | TrackBackAn RSS feeder extension for Mozilla Firefox.
Nice work, Tyler! This is the best I’ve seen so far, you’ve done yourself a great service by writing paragraphs in addition to an outline. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to ge the draft done.
Posted by: Eric at November 5, 2005 03:35 PMman.. this is really thought out.. i like it.. its interesting.. the way that lines form between people.. especially when it comes to games..
ill love to read the final
Posted by: Babbs at November 6, 2005 10:56 PMNice draft/outline. Your writing is very interesting and makes people want to read more. I am jealous heh. It looks like you will be having a bit of work ahead of you as well. I feel that this project is an ACTUAL project that you will be doing instead of a paper. I am not saying it’s a bad thing but you might should check with Mark. If all else fails you could just add a bit more to what you’ve already written since it’s almost 3 pages so far. Beautiful start!
Posted by: Noah Hungerford at November 7, 2005 02:08 PMA number of comments, which if followed, would expand and expound this a bit more.
You should state at the outset that you are looking at the Magic game and finding that the online community development is poor. Then you make some proposals about how this can be changed. Finally, you could suggest a social software approach that could be used — Magicster? Is there a comparison here with RPGs?
Some extra sentences of explanation are needed in the following areas:
Leave out Crap Next So with all of this in mind, you’re probably wondering why anyone would give a damn about what I have to say.
Check for spelling (I can show you a good Mozilla extension for spell checking).
“With these tools I ventured to find get that quickfix on information ” Rephrase
“Though I find this information really useful, not every player put the time into learning Why, most player stop at What, being what cards are good, what decks are good, but not, why are these cards good, why are these decks good.” Please explain ‘What’ and ‘Why’ and rephrase and expand this statement.
Noah’s right — this does have the making of putting something into practice. Obviously you don’t have time to do this right now, but having analyzed the poor state of the online Magic community, what Social software would you use to try to improve that? How would encourage a vibrant online community that would give advice and information freely and how could members gain kudos for their contributions. If everyone knows how the archetypes work then skill becomes more important. Does it? Would an online community alter the game and direct it into a different, perhaps more interesting and productive, path?
Tyler,
Great update and I love the tooltips. Just two more comments:
TA!
Posted by: Mark at November 10, 2005 09:16 PMI found it a bit hard to keep track of the terms and what each meant, otherwise, its a very good paper. Flawless.
Posted by: nhlanhla at November 29, 2005 06:21 PM“unlike other tournament formats where how well you do is determined by how many 300 dollar cards you have in your deck.”
Having 300 dollar cards certainly helps, but having all of them doesn’t necessarily ensure you will win. There is still skill and strategy involved with formats other than Standard - they’re just more condensed and compressed due to the speed.
Posted by: Derick at December 27, 2005 12:27 PM