Opening Hand - Introducing Gamebros to Card Gaming

Hello and welcome to Opening Hand, my little corner of Gamebros.

Some of you already know me IRL, but just for formality’s sake: I’m Brian, I’m pretty much Gamebros' resident card gaming guy (Arvin does a fair bit of card gaming too, but I've...branched out more). I don’t really distinguish myself so much in tourney rankings but I’m well-known among the people I do game with, and I’ve played (as well as quit) a variety of titles over the years: Legend of the Five Rings a.k.a. L5R, Warlord: Saga of the Storm, VS (Arvin'll be able to tell you a ton more about that one), Magic: The Gathering (I focus solely on the EDH/Commander format), A Game of Thrones a.k.a. AGoT, Star Wars LCG (a very brief stint) and most recently Android: Netrunner.

What can I say? I love my card games and I sincerely wish more of my friends were into them. Maybe through my rambling on you’ll be inspired to pick up some cards of your own.

Just some quick definition for the uninitiated: card games involve people spending on printed pieces of cardboard and putting them together in decks (the number of cards in a deck varies from game to game), and then going at it with other people to see who built the better deck (or who copied the better deck off the internet). Like any game each one of them has rules, and there's competitive play for those who absolutely must prove themselves (or hey, simply justify their spending). Pretty much all card games work under the assumption that these players building their decks are going to go at it competitively in local, regional and (for some of the major titles) national league play.

Now, ask yourself: Why play a card game?

We all have our reasons.

Hey, nice card border.

The most common way someone gets dragged into this vice, err hobby sounds something like this: "Oh hey, we totally need someone else’s wallet to help share the pain of our spending on this totally addicting hobby that we’ve gotten into as a group but totally isn’t drugs." Others are in it for collecting the cards and totally hoarding overpriced pieces of cardboard that could’ve been put to better use by the members of the community who actually compete. Still others have such lofty goals as glory, competition or the ever-popular "I’m in it for the art."

What’s important is that you get into this hobby for the right reasons. It’s perfectly fine to get into something due to peer pressure and something or other, but make sure you’re getting into something for a reason that you can live up to. After all, any hobby is a commitment of time and money — your time and money. Can you live with blowing your hard-earned cash or hard-whined allowance on printed pieces of cardboard?

Enter the playgroup.

Disclaimer: The blogger does not endorse gaming under the influence.
(Photo Credit: Thanks to Joanne Gesite of the L5R Philippines community!)

We’ve established that the main drive for a lot of people getting into this sorta hobby is peer pressure. This is where we touch upon the concept of the playgroup: a mystical hivemind that is equal parts wolf pack, sports team and Alcoholics Anonymous-esque support group. This band of like-minded (and ideally, like-budgeted) individuals is literally defined by its members: some are merely casual gamers out to sit around and have fun. Others are the determined sort who dispute a single point of match rankings at a tourney if it means a slight bump in standings. And then there are the jolly sorts who’re often compared to a pot session, laughing at everything from other players’ cover photos to comedy value of the word “crustacean.”

Set some expectations.

Fellow call center workers are all too familiar with that phrase, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you and your playgroup know what you’re getting into. Define levels of competitiveness. Figure out how much you’re willing to spend and if need be, the division of costs. If you’re pooling your collections together so everyone has access to a larger selection of cards, make damn well sure you know who has which cards. Determine if you’re going to be playing among yourselves or you actually intend to get out and interact with the local community for your game(s) of choice.

Hell, if you’ve not much of a life beyond your cards you could even have multiple playgroups: one each for fulfilling a specific need. Your casual playgroup for when you wanna relax, your regular playgroup who you simply see a lot (maybe too much), your high-end competitive playgroup that brings out your “A Game” and reminds you that you’re far more skilled than you think you are.

The competitive spirit.

Like I mentioned above, pretty much all card games assume that players intend to play competitively. This is what sets card games apart from other geeky hobbies out there: no matter how far you are along the scrub-or-pro scale, you’re still playing against real people who also put together a deck that fits their personal taste (even if that personal taste were to simply find a decklist off the internet and throw money at people to get the cards for it). Yes, technology has reached the point where there are apps that let you play card games over the internet, simulating virtual tables with electronic copies of your printed pieces of cardboard.

Those can go fuck themselves.

I’m personally against playing with imaginary cards on your computer because really, common. Half the fun of playing cards is meeting people, being part of the community and, when it’s game time, reading your opponent like a book (even if that book’s got a blank cover and isn't giving hints to whether it’s got rainbows and unicorns on its pages or lovingly-crafted descriptions of various objects going into various orifices). For an analogy that (I hope) most of us’ll understand, think of how fun it was meeting the other kids and showing off your Teks or NBA cards before potentially swapping ‘em around.

Of course, if you’d rather not be gaming with other people then there’s always Solitaire. Or your hand (fine, finger for the ladies).

The stack that grows.

Assuming you haven’t been scared away from card games by some douche in the community or the initial investment to start the hobby up (the ‘buy-in price’ so to speak), your card collection undoubtedly grows. Your deck changes with it: as new cards are printed, you change your deck to match the changes in the gaming environment. Or perhaps you made a mistake with your initial choice of deck and you've decided on switching it out for something completely different (I certainly hope you didn't spend much on that first deck).

And here I come to what’s possibly the part that I truly love about card games: your deck is a reflection of yourself as a gamer. Hell, even those dicks who simply swipe decks off the ‘net put something into it (more money than the others, and the few minutes it took to hit up Google and read). From experience I know full well that simply playing a game or two against someone and seeing how their deck runs will tell you loads about them as a person.

It’s hard to go into detail on that particular thought without invoking game-specific jargon, unfortunately. But the point I’d like to make is this: every single card in your deck is a choice that you make (whether it’s your choice, a friend’s recommendation or a stranger’s forum post).

Of course, there are good and bad choices to be made for deckbuilding. Learning and dealing with those is another critical piece of the card gaming experience.

As a side note: Tabletop role-playing (i.e. Dungeons and Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade) is another hobby that involves players being similarly invested in their creations although that one involves making specific characters.

In the end, it’s just a game.

No matter how much you've committed to this hobby of yours, remember that it’s a hobby. You've probably heard horror stories of people who get way too much into the game, possibly with colorful descriptions involving friendships broken and/or money lost.

Let me say it again, rephrased: A game is defined by the people who play it. At the end of the day you’re still the one choosing which cards go into your deck, so too are you the one who figures out how your play experience goes. Don’t like a particular crowd? Find a different place to play. Not satisfied with how a game’s mechanics play out? Sell your cards to someone who does and use that money elsewhere. Don’t think for a second that it’s the game’s fault or someone else’s.

Always bear in mind that it’s a damn game, and the point of a game is to have fun. I’m not going to tell you how you’re going to have fun, and neither is anyone else.

Well, I think I've rambled on enough for now. Hopefully you learned something from what my brain shat out onto this piece of Gamebros. And hey, if I haven’t seen you across the table with cards in hand yet—by all means, let me know if you’re interested in starting.

UP NEXT: Brian's going to confuse you even more as he tries to define some universal terms used in card gaming (most of which people already defined in the worldwide MtG community anyway).

Meanwhile, have some Adventure Time. Because everybody loves Adventure Time!

Brian was born in Marikina but swears that Katipunan raised him. On weekdays he’s pretty elusive thanks to his night shift job but on weekends you’ll usually spot him gaming at the Appraisery, occasionally at Xocolat.