My 5 Pillars of The Gathering Anatomy

Hello, readers, nerds, and my fellow Magic community members. This is my personal take on this game we love; what I've seen go right, and some so, so wrong.

Sharing thoughts about my favorite hobby will hopefully help reignite some players' passion or adjust the mindset of others who find these words and walk away with them.

Delightful Discovery by Manuel Castañón

Our Core

Our game is such a central part of our lives that, for many of us, it can be the pillar of our sanity, our relationships, and our greater sense of community. Everyone’s experience is different, whether you are an entrenched player from when tapped 4/4 attacking was an S-tier play, or current times, where the ways to win are as diverse as card types.

Over the years, we've had increased access to content, decklists, and databases. I have noticed that people are no longer willing to play the wild, wacky, or sub-optimal cards. Variance from the “meta” is not what it used to be.

I find a lack of understanding from competitive opponents who see others try cards that might be less good in 2026. Seeing different interactions to figure out how strong they might be, however, is the part of the game we fell in love with.

Don’t get me wrong, being competitive is awesome, and I love dialing in and tuning my deck, but Magic is more than that. I applaud anyone who tries to breathe life into an old deck, innovates around a new card, or tries something to see if it works. Too many players disregard cards until they pop off in a content creator video or become the new hotness.

Pillar of Origins by Dimitar Marinski

5 Pillars of The Gathering Anatomy

Many players first slung spells at kitchen tables or on porches. Now we show up to our weekly locals and face the fire and sweat in many match-ups. The format doesn’t matter; it’s in all of them. Here are my five pillars that I think make Magic enjoyable:

Fun
Community
Strategy
Player Growth
Clout

I won’t go into the different aspects that I think build our love for this game, which feels a little too corporate, but these layers support the game and create an enjoyable competitive environment.

When we look at who our community is and, honestly, who is left in the eternal formats, we see a mentality shift. Standard players who had nowhere to go, returning players who have started families and careers, and come back to their cardboard happy place.

People who have moved across the country, the continent, probably a couple of continents in many cases, and what are they greeted by at an eternal format local weekly? It’s sweaty.

It can be elitist. For a new player trying to break into an eternal format, it can be disheartening when someone says, “Oh, that was so 2024.” Most Magic communities are kind but set in their ways, which is disheartening for new players or those who just want to jam a deck that is out of date or suboptimal.

Clout of the Dominus by Jaime Jones

Clout vs The Gathering

When it comes to the competitive side, don’t get me wrong, I want to go 4-0 at locals and cheat in my Phyrexian Dreadnoughts, flip some Delver of Secrets, Show and Tell Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and hey, if you let me Natural Order for Craterhoof Behemoth, I might swoon.

I want to say to my friends, “Man, I was dialed in this week," and have just as much fun going 0-4 and playing mono beatdown, or Thoughtlash combo, maybe even winning once or twice via Chain of Smog or Smallpox.

There’s a time and place to celebrate your opponents and what they are trying to do. At your locals, acknowledge your opponent, and enjoy what they are trying to do. You don't have to take your foot off the gas, but you can encourage their bravado, instead of saying that combos have been dead for three years.

Help them innovate and share your competitive process to help get their serum to their vision, their search be less frantic.

Exceptions

Are you at a $1K, $2K, or $3K event, an RCQ, or even Eternal Weekend? In those cases, fuck 'em. Take 'em to the hole, go for the throat, and win. Earn that clout, as those are true competitive venues. You're there for the love of competition and to prove you're the best that day.

Forget by Mike Kimble

Don’t Forget The Gathering

I hope to leave you with this sentiment if you made it this far. Be competitive, be powerful.

I want to see you win, I want to see your glory, but be kind. Be welcoming.

Offer advice, wisdom, and encouragement before criticism or judgment when you leave the battlefield. Your local is not the big show; it’s a chance to build a true community, and from that, you’ll build a longer-lasting group to consistently jam and practice with and potentially even expand to grander things, too.