emotional magic

content/post/2021/08/emotional-magic.md

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+---
+title: Emotional Magic
+date: 2021-08-25T13:37:00+02:00
+tags:
+    - games
+    - magic
+categories:
+    - braindump
+---
+
+Magic The Gathering is a great game---[I've said so before](/post/2021/07/how-much-should-i-spend-on-magic/). What is more, I am lucky to have converted my wife into a casual Magic player. So all those booster packs I buy is for _us_ and not just for _me_. Or at least that's the excuse. A few weeks ago, we drafted with a couple of new sets we were unfamiliar with, and Strixhaven's [_Go Blank_](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/72/go-blank) got my attention:
+
+![](../go-blank.jpg)
+
+The _flavor text_ says:
+
+> The only feeling worse than not knowing the answer is the uncertainty you once did. 
+
+When I showed that card to Kristien, she immediately said "Hey, that's just like me!". She's been struggling with the devastating consequences of a major burn-out for almost two years now, and its effects are is still not completely gone. She regularly forgets small things and still has trouble concentrating---complex board states and big combos in Magic are clearly not her thing. But for her, it's really frustrating, as she is fully aware that before the burn-out, forgetfulness and concentration issues were never a problem.
+
+I started paying more attention to the printed _flavor text_ on Magic cards. The game can call forth a lot of emotions, and not only during play: also when reading texts on cards such as _Go Blank_. Wizards of the Coast regularly prints alternate---and of course, more expensive---versions of cards so that players can identify with any piece of stunning art present on the card. But it suddenly struck me that the _flavor text_ is also a big part of the game. 
+
+And it can trigger a lot of emotions. 
+
+When I was poking around in [Commander Spellbook](https://commanderspellbook.com/)'s database this morning, I stumbled upon a combo with [_Blood Artist_](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/206/blood-artist):
+
+![](../blood-artist.jpg)
+
+The _flavor text_ resonated with me, as I struggle to keep my doctoral work---and my motivation for it---on track:
+
+> Great art can never be created without great suffering. 
+
+It almost feels like reading the daily philosophical quote from a traditional almanac! Not all texts go that deep though. Some are equally funny. Even the rule text of [Seven Dwarves](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/141/seven-dwarves) is funny: 
+
+> Seven Dwarves gets +1/+1 for each other creature named Seven Dwarves you control.<br/>A deck can have up to seven cards named Seven Dwarves.
+
+Paul A. Crutcher wrote an interesting piece on Magic The Gathering, calling it [A Literary Text](https://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2017/crutcher.htm). He noted that Magic has been given scholarly attention to study (a) ethereal or fantastic communities and identities, (b) a source for understanding economic principles, and of course (c) mathematically-sorted collecting and deck-building, including a bunch of contemporary neural networking analysis. But the game has never been taken up as a text itself. 
+
+Magic's expansion sets usually revolve around central themes which are further expanded with fantasy fiction. Multi-dimensional worlds called _planes_ connect, so-called planeswalkers regularly make an appearance, and the global story does evolve. Or at least it should: the last few years feel more like milking the cash cow than carefully expanding the universe. Still, the global story in itself also creates some kind of emotional attachment: Gideon died while protecting Liliana, time to shed those tears! Some _flavor texts_, like the ones above, are disconnected from the central story and simply offer a few moments of contemplation. 
+
+Enough for us to think, _hey, I should write that down_.
+
+_Opponent casts Go Blank._
+
+What was I doing again? I knew it was something relevant!