Magic the Gathering

Magic: The Gathering (colloquially "Magic" or "MTG") is a collectible card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic is the first example of the modern collectible card game genre and still thrives today, with an estimated six million players in over seventy countries. Magic can be played by two or more players each using a deck of printed cards or a deck of virtual cards through the Internet-based Magic: The Gathering Online or third-party programs.

The game has created more then 51 base sets and 11 Core or beginner sets to date with more on the horizon and has increased sales from a mere $100,000 dollars (at the release of Alpha) to more than $650,000,000 annually and shows no signs of decreasing even in this poor worldwide economy.

Davis has a good sized following of Magic players who play at the local comic and game shops and has produced several pro-tour players over the years, the most noticeable being Luis Scott Vargas (now a resident of Oakland, California. It has also produced fine Judges for the DCI (the Wizards of the Coast oversight organization for the game) such as Riki Hiyashi, a level 3 judge and long-time Davis resident who continues to excel and grow personally and assists others in becoming judges and better players with his knowledge. Local translation company Avant Page did some of the translations for Magic.

Stores that currently run events include Drom's Comics and Cards and/or Bizarro World. You will also find some players at Dragon and Davis Cards and Games.

Both of the stores mentioned above hold regular events for Magic the Gathering. Friday Night Magic is a particularly successful event at Drom's (currently the only location in Davis running DCI sanctioned tournaments). Other locations in Davis' history to have dealt with the game have been:

• Big League Sports
• The Endzone

Local Players

Many successful Magic: the Gathering players have lived in Davis, winning tournaments at the highest professional levels. During their stays in Davis, they accomplished the following feats:

Paul Cheon

• Won the 2006 United States National Championship, qualifying for the tournament via Sacramento Regionals. He participated in the 2006 World Championship held in Paris, France as a member of the US National team.
• Made the Top 8 of two Grand Prix tournaments in Dallas and Montreal.
• After moving from Davis, Paul continued his string of strong finishes, winning Grand Prix Vancouver (2008) and being a part of the 2008 US National team that captured the Team Championship at Worlds in Memphis.

Luis Scott-Vargas

• Won Pro Tour Berlin (2008) and was runner-up at Pro Tour Kyoto (2009). In between those two tournaments he won Grand Prix Los Angeles and Atlanta, making it one of the most dominant runs in Pro Tour history.
• Came in 3rd at the 2006 United States National Championship, earning a place on the National team that competed at the World Championship in Paris, France later that year.
• Won the 2007 United States National Championship, and again participated in the World Championship (held in New York) as a member of the National team.
• Won Grand Prix San Francisco (2007) and Atlanta (2008) and placed in the Top 8 of Philadelphia (2008) and Seattle (2009).
• Wrote strategy articles for several prominent Internet strategy websites including Blackborder.com, Starcitygames.com, and Channelfireball.com. He remains a columnist and managing editor for the latter to this day (2010).
• Since moving from Davis, Luis won a Starcitygames Standard Open in Los Angeles and made Top 8 at his third Pro Tour (San Diego) where he ran off a Pro Tour record-setting 17 straight victories.

2010-03-19 18:19:32   Do either of the gaming stores, or any players, in town buy Magic cards in bulk? I have a couple thousand cards from 3rd, 4th, and 5th edition, and would like to sell them off. A handful (quite literally) of my nicer rares were stolen back in high school, but there are still some solid cards. —TomGarberson