Simply magical

Thai game player set to take on the world

Story by Suwitcha Chaiyong

Imagine this. You are in combat with someone and you are both fighting using magic power. There are many spells in your hands, but you have to choose the right spell to destroy the other side's power. Don't go thinking this idea is ridiculous.

You really can easily transform yourself into a wizard by picking up the card game Magic: The Gathering.

The card game was created by an American, Richard Garfield,10 years ago. The card game requires two players to play against each other. Each player builds up his own deck of cards that can contain a total of 60 cards. There are six main types of cards, each type having special powers. Players play in phases to try and use their cards to lower the other player's score.

And don't think that this is just some game for geeks and Harry Potter wannabes. It has been accepted as an indoor sport and a hobby game in 80 countries and is played by 10 million people around the world. And plenty of those people are right here in Thailand.

Bangkok recently hosted Magic: Gathering Grand Prix Bangkok, the first international card game tournament in Thailand. It was attended by Magic fans from around the world. While the top three players were from Japan, Thailand's own Peerapat Ekpoothorn came in seventh.

battle plans

Peerapat started playing Magic four years ago with his high school friends. He practiced hard and has since entered into a national and international tournament. "I learned how to arrange the deck effectively and how to set up battle plan from the Internet," Peerapat said. "I also practiced a lot with my friends."

Peerapat was quick to point out that the game isn't gambling and requires a great deal of skill. "In other card games a player counts on fortune, but a Magic card game player has to arrange the whole deck himself. All the cards are printed in English. A player has to read them carefully in order to understand the power of each card."

Playing against international competitors at the Bangkok tournament was a first for Peerapat. He said he learned

a lot.

"I was very excited to play with foreigners who were very strict with rules and to see my hero, who was the winner, Fujita Tsuyoshi. He was a great planner."

Because Peerapat came in the sixth at the Thai Champion competition, he was one of eight Thais to qualify for the world tournament in Germany.

"In August, I will go to Germany for the Magic Gathering World Championship, which is the largest international card game competition. In other countries, players do this for living, but for me, I just don't want to miss the largest competition in the world."

Vocabulary

combat (v): to fight against an enemy
spells (n): words that are thought to have magic power or to make a piece of magic work; a piece of magic that happens when somebody says these magic word
ridiculous (adj): very silly or unreasonable
transform (v): to completely change the appearance or character of something, especially so that it is better
phase (n): a stage in a process of change or development
effectively (adv): in a way that produces the intended result or a successful result
fortune (n): chance or luck, especially in the way it affects people�s lives