Magic The Gathering Club
OIST Magic: The Gathering (MTG) club
In memory of Seva Nikulin (1995–2022)
Vsevolod "Seva" Nikulin was a PhD student at OIST. He was also a very knowledgeable and skillful MTG player who loved this game in all its forms. Seva's tragic untimely departure was a great loss to his family, colleagues, and friends. The "OIST Magic: The Gathering (MTG) club" was officially constituted to honor his memory.
Come and join us! Everyone is welcome, both newbies and experienced players!
Join our Facebook group, Discord Server, or directly contact us via email.
MTG in a nutshell Magic: The Gathering (also known as Magic or MTG) is a tabletop collectable card game released in 1993. It is the first and most popular trading card game (TCG) in history, and has over 40 million players worldwide. Each player in MTG takes the role of a Planeswalker, a powerful wizard who can travel ("walk") between dimensions ("planes") of the Multiverse, who battles against other players by casting spells, using artifacts, and summoning creatures as depicted on individual cards drawn from their decks. |
How the ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Color Wheel Explains Humanity An interesting essay by Duncan A. Sabien (April 3, 2018)
The purpose of the club
- To promote well-being through the playing and teaching of “Magic: The Gathering” (MTG) collectable trading card game.
- To improve access to MTG resources within the community.
- To promote community involvement through holding and participating in MTG events in Okinawa.
Formats we play
Mostly casual tabletop
- Singleton (Commander/EDH *currently, one of the most popular formats)
- Constructed (Legacy, Vintage, Modern, Pioneer, Pauper, Standard)
- Limited (Cube Draft, Booster Draft, Sealed Deck)
- Sometimes also online (MTG Arena and Cockatrice
How to play Magic: The Gathering
- Official game rules
- Begginer's guides: Official website, Channel Fireball, Popular Mechanics, Dicebreaker, wikiHow
- How to play Commander/EDH: Official (Wizards of the Coast, Rules Committee), Channel Fireball, Dicebreaker
Youtube videos:
Where to play MTG off-campus
Only two stores in Okinawa regularly organize santioned (official) events, the participants are usually a mix of Japanese locals and US players (mostly military personnel and contractors):
- ABSOLUTE ZERO (Nakagusuku-son) [Google Maps] *Main store for MTG events. Every month they publish their event calendar on their social platforms (Facebook, Twitter) and on 'MTG Okinawa' Facebook group.
- CARDBOX (Chatan-cho) [Twitter][Google maps]
Other official MTG events in Japan/Okinawa can be searched here.
Local Japanese players/judges sometimes organize unofficial events. They are typically hosted in local community centers and TCG stores. They normally announce the events on Twitter or other social media: @matsuda_purehabu [blog, note], @im_kenji, @ham_arkroyal, @yosikakka [note]
Unofficial events organized by US military personnel are normally announced on 'MTG Okinawa'. If the event is hosted inside a military base, it is generally restricted to only US personel, unless you somehow have access to that base.
Where to buy/sell/trade MTG
In Okinawa:
- MTG Okinawa (non-OIST Facebook group)
- ABSOLUTE ZERO (Nakagusuku-son) [Facebook][Twitter][Google Maps] *Only shop in Okinawa specialized in MTG.
- CARDBOX (Chatan-cho) [Twitter][Google maps]
- Toreka Shop Shima [トレカショップShima] (Urasoe-shi) [Twitter] [Google maps]
- Cardkingdom Naha [カードキングダム那覇店] (Naha-shi) [Twitter][Google maps]
- BOOK-OFF Oroku [ブックオフ那覇小禄店] (Naha-shi) [Twitter][Google maps]
- Mangasouko Awase [マンガ倉庫 泡瀬店] (Okinawa-shi) [Google maps] *Second-hand store
- Mangasouko Urasoe [マンガ倉庫 浦添店] (Urasoe-shi) [Google maps] *Second-hand store
- Mangasouko Naha [マンガ倉庫 那覇店] (Naha-shi) [Google maps] *Second-hand store
- Kappa Castle Game & Hobby (Chatan-cho) [Facebook][Instagram][Twitter][Google maps] *Mainly boardgames, but has supplies.
- Sometimes you can find booster packs in Konbini stores (Family Mart, Lawson, 7-Eleven).
- Some GEO stores sell card sleeves.
Online:
- MTG Secret Lair (official seasonal drops of alternate-art reprints)
- Hareruya (Japan) *Often used as reference price
- Bigweb (Japan)
- Single Star (Japan)
- Card Rush (Japan)
- TokyoMTG (Japan)
- Project Core 1 (Japan)
- Cardshop Serra (Japan)
- Enndal Games (Japan)
- Magi (Japan)
- ToReMa TCGMP (Japan, marketplace)
- MTG Mint Card (China)
- TCG Player (USA, marketplace) *Often used as reference price
- Card Kingdom (USA) *Often used as reference price
- Star City Games (USA)
- Channel Fireball (USA)
- Troll and Toad (USA)
- ABU Games (USA)
- CoolStuffInc (USA)
- Cape Fear Games (USA)
- Cardmarket.eu (Europe, marketplace) *Often used as reference price
- Three-for-one Trading (Europe, high-end cards)
- Other: eBay.com, Amazon.com, Amazon.jp, Mercari (Japan), Rakuten (Japan)
Other resources
- Official website (Wizards of the Coast)
- Official app (Companion)
- Official card database (Gatherer)
- Official game rules
- Official MTG Judge Program: Judge Resources, Judge Academy
- Official online gaming: MTG Arena (PC/mobile), MTG Online (PC), Spelltable (PC, remote-play via webcam)
- MTG open-source simulators: Cockatrice (PvP), OCTGN+MTG (PvP), Magarena (PvAI), ForgeMtG (PvAI)
- Online Booster Draft simulators: MTGADraft, DraftSim, DraftPod
- Cards/decks databases (statistics, prices, decklists): Scryfall, MTGGoldfish, MTG Price, MTGStocks, TappedOut, Moxfield, TCG Player, EDHREC, MTG Salvation, MTG Assist, MTGTOP8, MTG Arena Zone, Deckbox, MTG decks, Aetherhub, MTG Assistant
- Card scanner/translator/manager apps: Dragon Shield, Delver Lens, TCG Player, MTG Familiar, Card Castle, Helvault, MTG stand
- List of MTG sets: Official (Products archive), Scryfall, Wikipedia, Wiki Fandom
- New sets spoilers: Mythic Spoiler, MTG Spoilers
- MTG wiki Fandom
- M:TG wiki (Japanese)
- Wikipedia (Magic: The Gathering)