The Book Of Garfield
(Originally published on The Dojo)

[Ed: one spelling error corrected since original publication]

<<Begin Reading, The Book of Garfield, CH 1-10>>

In the beginning, there were few cards, but potent. And
Garfield and his friends played, and enjoyed the game win
or lose, and it was good, and they shared the game with
many many others.

It was not in the mind of Garfield that people would empty
their savings to purchase cards, and the abuses and excesses
of the people tended toward speed. Moxen, Loti, Channel and
Juzams conspired to make the game too quick. Many cried out
that too much happened too soon in the game, and there was
excitement, but no strategy.

On the second day, there was the restricted list, and there
was some rejoicing, but not much, as the game depended too
much on who drew the first-turn-kill combo, and who went first.
And still many cried out that the game was too fast. The
editions of Arabian Nights and Legends only made the problem
more clear.

Then there came the age of Revised. Gone the super-fast mana
of moxen, loti, and the many cards given by ancestral recall,
and the game did slow down somewhat, and the Types of
tournaments were divided, each by their kind: I and II. And
for the first time there were serious rewards for winning,
and winning began to matter to the people all the more.

And the Type I people went off and had their own fun, but
Garfield focused his thought and love and resources on the
legions that played Type II.

And in Type II you could play Jayemdae, and Serra, and Lord of
the Pit, and many others, but still the people were not happy.
The people cried out against Armageddon, and Wrath of God,
and asked that there be more speed in the game, though not
*quite* as much as before, when things had clearly been too fast.

Thus WOTC considered: The early mana, this is bad, since the
mana curve should remain steady, but the draw is still a limited
resource, let's just make the spells cheaper. And so creatures
that had once cost 4, now cost only 3, and speed would be balanced
against control.

Unfortunately, twin taints, present since the making of the game,
conspired to wreak havok on the one-turn-one-draw assumption, and
they were named Discard and Draw-way-the-heck-too-many-cards,
or Draw for short. And the term Card Advantage was made
to refer to them both.

And as each edition came out, the people scoured the landscape
for the cards that would change the number of draws they got
and cards they could hold, and those that would reduce the same
for their opponents. Thus came Necro, and ProsBloom, and
Zvi, and Deep Blue.

And card advantage, combined with the new, cheaper spells,
turned out to be very very fast.

And the people cried out again, saying they were back to the
first- and second- turn kills and that again they were having
no fun.

And Garfield sold off his interests and went fishing. Good for him.

<<End of Reading>>

Comments?
--
Jeff Evarts
amarth@abyss.ecst.csuchico.edu
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~amarth
Do not mistake my opinions for those of my employer.