The Ultimate Guide for Getting your Relatives into MTG over the Holidays

Happy Christmas eve to all who celebrate, and for those who don’t hopefully you still get time off from work or school this week! Its that time of year where we all get to kick back, have some eggnog by the fire, hang with the family, and play MTG all day. I’m sure for Christmas you will all be unwrapping your sweet new Aetherhub hoodies and Magic booster packs from under the tree, but what’s next after that? If none of your relatives play MTG, then what is there to do all day? Instead of being anti-social and playing Arena by yourself, I have compiled a handy dandy cheat sheet for the best way to convince your relatives to try and learn the game. Family’s love playing board and card games together on Christmas after all, so why not introduce them to the best game of them all!?

I have created a fool proof strategy for every member of your family, so make sure to bring a few extra decks with you to your relatives house because you will need them!

Grandparents

Christmas is the season of giving, and often the best gift you can give your grandparents is volunteering to do an activity with them. Typically that’s something like going to a musical, going to bingo, going to church, etc. etc. This year however, it is time to teach them MTG. There is no cooler person in the retirement community then the one that is the best Magic player after all. Back in the day, your grandparents were probably great athletes, great outdoorsman and great adventurers, but unfortunately father time slows down everybody. The one thing elderly people do have however, is a lifetime of accumulated knowledge. They are at the point in their life where they probably read books about people like Alexander the Great for fun and enjoy the tactical genius of those historical figures. They probably wish that they too could be a strategic mastermind, but unfortunately the weekly golf outing with the old drinking buddies does not provide the opportunity to quench this thirst. To illustrate, I sometimes work catering for fun on weekends, and last weekend I did a 70th birthday party for an extremely wealthy retired financial manager. In his living room, he had a massive centerpiece painting of two old guys playing chess. I unfortunately couldn’t find the exact piece online, but imagine something similar to this:

You should have heard the conversations people were having about the painting… they loved it. In a room full of retired business guys, they were all captivated by the image of two old philosophers duking it out in an epic battle of wits. Your job, is to paint a picture in your grandparents head of them winning that battle of wits, but via Magic not chess. You have to explain to them that just like an onion, there are many layers of strategy in Magic that you need to conquer. Deck building, reading your opponent, finding the best line of play, even shuffling flair all needs to conglomerate into one symphony of greatness to achieve that victory. Next thing you know, all your grandparent’s friends will be playing Magic, and you will be getting calls every 5 minutes asking you for deck building tips. You will become the hero of the retirement community, and your grandparents will probably live at least an extra 5 or 6 years because they are so focused on becoming a Mythic Champion.

Also, if that doesn’t work you could just ask nicely if they want to play with you, and there is a 95% chance they will just say yes.

Parents

If you still live at home or recently moved out, your parents are probably aware of the fact you are playing Magic for multiple hours a day. There is even a chance that *gasp,* your parents might be sick and tired of you playing Magic, and want you to do other things like “go outside” or “go to work.” If this is the case, do not worry. Most parents did stuff like knitting in their free time at your age, so they wouldn’t get it right away. In order to get your parents into MTG, you have to convince them that it is a positive use of your time. I would recommend the “apple a day keeps the doctor away” approach. Everybody is into these brain games that are supposed to help your memory and focus and what not now a days, but Magic is much more mentally stimulating. If your parents spend 10 minutes a day playing some Simon Says penguin game, they would be much better off playing Magic (I have no scientific proof to back this up it just seems right). If you can convince your parents that Magic is a fun way to passively make you smarter, they will be on board faster than you can say mana screwed.  

Over Christmas dinner, I would mention that you have been feeling much sharper mentally recently, and then credit it to MTG. Mention how all the brain power you have been using has been helping out in other areas of your life, and if you just got a raise at work maybe credit Magic for that as well. Yes this is completely going overboard, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Then during the boring part of Christmas (usually the hours of like 11-2 or like 4-6), whip out those cards and start teaching your parents the rules. They will be climbing the ladder on Arena in no time!

Siblings/Cousins

Sometimes, convincing people your own age can be the hardest group of them all! Some may not want to try Magic since they may think it’s a little geeky for them, or some may just be busy playing other video games of their own. The strategy here is to show them that Magic is more exciting then whatever lame game they are playing. I would pull up this hype video for starters, since young people love hype videos. Next, I would explain to them that in two short months, 16 elite competitors will be facing off with a $1million prize pool in what is sure to be the biggest Magic tournament ever. I would tell tales of the legendary Javier Dominguez, who has captivated the hearts and minds of America with his insane success at the highest level. I would tell the tale of Chris Kvartek, who has burst onto the scene this year to make two top 8s and worlds. I would tell the tale of Stanislav Cifka and Ondrej Strasky, who live together in the Czech testing house and concoct miraculous, format breaking decks all day. Then I would explain to them, that they two can become just as legendary as these competitors, by hopping on the MTG Arena ladder and making that MCQW. I literally can not think of anything as titillating as that!

Here’s to a great close out to 2019, and an incredibly exciting 2020 for MTG. I think I can speak for everyone here at Aetherhub when I wish everyone a happy holiday, and a merry Magic new year!