Magic: The Gathering is one of the oldest, and best selling TCG (Trading Card Games) around. Aimed at at ages 12-adult, its fantastically popular, as shown by an estimated 6 million players around the world. Tournaments range from casual fun tournaments between friends, all the way to elite of the elite tournaments offering huge cash prizes, up for grabs to any entrepeneuring player.

Personally, we're magic fanatics. Its a game that can be played at a wide variety of levels, ranging from big monster eats small monster, though to playing series' of card gyrations that make ballet seem more like a tree growing than movement, resulting in unlimited potential. (Hence the catchphrase "Theres one thing you can be sure of- no two games will ever be the same")

To people who don't play- get a starter pack. The game can be expensive, its true, but its only as expensive as you let it be. For casual play you can build a decent deck spending as little as an average of £2 a week. Of course, if you really immerse yourself in the game you can spend prettymuch all the money you want, and still find new cards around. Thats not to say money buys wins, though. A poor player with the best deck in the world could lose to a talented player with a well constructed deck made entirely out of common cards. A starter pack contains everything you need- 2 decks for you and a friend to compete, a rulebook, and even a very cool promotional foil Serra Angel card, which is rare, has amazing artwork, and is a powerful card.

Of course, there was an error in the previous statement- there is no single best deck in the world. For a start, there are several different formats. If you fancy a minor investment, where no one else will have any great advantage over you, you can aim for block play, using only cards from one specific set, I.E Mirrodin. On the other hand, if you feel like ploughing hundreds into the game, you could make a type 1 Minds Desire deck, able to kill the weak without pity immediately. There are several different formats, Type 2, extended, type 1 and block to name just a few. So no matter how long you've been playing, or how much you intend to invest (and with the prizes you can win, and the fun you'll have along the way, it really can be a good investment), you'll always find a setup thats well suited for you to play in.

Even if no one in your area plays, which is unlikely, really, theres Magic online. Exactly the same, except played over the internet with virtual cards against players around the globe. If you get an entire set of virtual cards, you can redeem them for real equivalents for just P&P fees =)

We at Hungry Hungry Hamsters recommend you buy magic at Travelling Man. This shop sells boosters at the lowest prices we've seen so far (only £2 for an individual booster (RRP is £2.50) or £60 for a sealed box of 36 (RRP is £75)), in addition to having staff knowledgable about the game, and a friendly atmosphere. They offer games nights for players to meet and compete, and even hold tournaments which are great fun, and excellent value for money. (I'm pretty sure with the number of prizes they give out they must be making a loss on each tournament, but I couldnt say for sure without seeing their financial records...)

((They also have air conditioning for those shorter,fatter and sweatier of gamersxoxo)

If you want to know more about Magic, go to www.magicthegathering.com.

(Please note that we are not affiliated with Travelling Man in any way, nor do we claim to own any rights to this advertisement. Its simply a scanned copy of one of their advertisements they distribute. We simply like Travelling Man, is all.)