Magic: The Gathering Deckspeak

[Arayaz]

Anyone else out there an MTG nerd?

If so, it might be fun to translate MTG cards into your conlangs. You'd need to work out the deckspeak (e.g. "until end of turn," "target creature") and the names of the abilities. If you have a writing system for your language, you could write a card in it, since it's an image already anyway!

I happen to have a custom Magic card of myself, so I might translate that ─ but it will take a while, so I won't do it in this post.

[Arayaz]

I've translated my card. I used alokh "take, bring" for "draw," chal "leaf" for "card," mannú "drop, lose" for "discard," lyamók "spin" for "tap," china "fearsome animal" for "creature," shekhar "chosen" for "target," anyír "be upright" for "untap," and alya and alyaitsá "cast" and "spell" for "cast" and "spell/card," but I also used "cast" for "activate" (as in an ability).

Now, without further ado:
This is the original card... and this is the translated version!

Translation challenge: 10%!

[Khemehekis]

You know, it's funny. When I was in high school and college the nerds and geeks were majorly into Magic: The Gathering (including my brother). I never heard of anyone playing Dungeons & Dragons, on the other hand, and after a troll on the Fourth Turning message board posted something about the fictional "Gorderan Tribes", a self-identified geek named Robert Reed said, "Dungeons & Dragons died out a long time ago. Time to move on.", I figured no one must play D&D anymore.

Then I started posting on conlanging boards on the Internet, where tons of people talked about D&D. For some reason, I had never come across any of these people in person. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever seen anyone on the CBB or ZBB mention MtG, except for the time I mentioned my brother plays MtG to demonstrate how he's the one in the family with all the geek interests, and 37 (Thrice XandVII) mentioned that he has tons of Magic cards.

I myself have never played any of these games; no RPG's, no collectible card games like Pokémon or Yu-gi-oh! cards (to say nothing of Boy Crazy). I wouldn't know how to play if someone held a gun up to me. But I did find your particular post interesting because it sounds more like the people I knew at my high school and college than what I've seen on the CBB and ZBB so far. (Oh, and it also explains the non-picture-dictionary-related AI art you've been making on NightCafé! It's beautiful! Does the Arayas card really look like you -- without glasses?)

[Arayaz]

You know, it's funny. When I was in high school and college the nerds and geeks were majorly into Magic: The Gathering (including my brother). I never heard of anyone playing Dungeons & Dragons, on the other hand, and after a troll on the Fourth Turning message board posted something about the fictional "Gorderan Tribes", a self-identified geek named Robert Reed said, "Dungeons & Dragons died out a long time ago. Time to move on.", I figured no one must play D&D anymore.

D&D is still going strong ─ every one of my friends has played it, and we frequently have D&D games at our houses. Several campaigns are going on at the moment. It's one of the main identities of my group.

Then I started posting on conlanging boards on the Internet, where tons of people talked about D&D. For some reason, I had never come across any of these people in person. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever seen anyone on the CBB or ZBB mention MtG, except for the time I mentioned my brother plays MtG to demonstrate how he's the one in the family with all the geek interests, and 37 (Thrice XandVII) mentioned that he has tons of Magic cards.

Yeah, MTG and D&D are kinda niche. I know many people who specialize in one or the other, like most of my friends, but I don't know of too many people who are crazy about both. I guess I might fit that role.

I myself have never played any of these games; no RPG's, no collectible card games like Pokémon or Yu-gi-oh! cards (to say nothing of Boy Crazy). I wouldn't know how to play if someone held a gun up to me. But I did find your particular post interesting because it sounds more like the people I knew at my high school and college then what I've seen on the CBB and ZBB so far. (Oh, and it also explains the non-picture-dictionary-related AI art you've been making on NightCafé! It's beautiful! Does the Arayas card really look like you -- without glasses?)

Arayaz/Arayas is my planeswalker alter ego; he does not look much like me, especially considering that he's about 20 years older than I am. Thanks for the compliment, though ─ it's really hard to get magical effects to look right. I make quite a few custom cards, since I love experimenting with mechanics. There's some chance I'll grow up to look like Arayaz, though I doubt it. For one thing, my hair is much more orderly than that. I hope

[Khemehekis]

You know, it's funny. When I was in high school and college the nerds and geeks were majorly into Magic: The Gathering (including my brother). I never heard of anyone playing Dungeons & Dragons, on the other hand, and after a troll on the Fourth Turning message board posted something about the fictional "Gorderan Tribes", a self-identified geek named Robert Reed said, "Dungeons & Dragons died out a long time ago. Time to move on.", I figured no one must play D&D anymore.

D&D is still going strong ─ every one of my friends has played it, and we frequently have D&D games at our houses. Several campaigns are going on at the moment. It's one of the main identities of my group.

Dunno, maybe it's just a regional thing. I don't hear of anyone playing it where I live (in the Bay Area).

Then I started posting on conlanging boards on the Internet, where tons of people talked about D&D. For some reason, I had never come across any of these people in person. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever seen anyone on the CBB or ZBB mention MtG, except for the time I mentioned my brother plays MtG to demonstrate how he's the one in the family with all the geek interests, and 37 (Thrice XandVII) mentioned that he has tons of Magic cards.

Yeah, MTG and D&D are kinda niche. I know many people who specialize in one or the other, like most of my friends, but I don't know of too many people who are crazy about both. I guess I might fit that role.

Have you observed any differences in personality or demographics between D&D players and MtG players? The impression I got was that D&D players were teens during the eighties, while MtG players were born about 1975 or later.

I myself have never played any of these games; no RPG's, no collectible card games like Pokémon or Yu-gi-oh! cards (to say nothing of Boy Crazy). I wouldn't know how to play if someone held a gun up to me. But I did find your particular post interesting because it sounds more like the people I knew at my high school and college then what I've seen on the CBB and ZBB so far. (Oh, and it also explains the non-picture-dictionary-related AI art you've been making on NightCafé! It's beautiful! Does the Arayas card really look like you -- without glasses?)

Arayaz/Arayas is my planeswalker alter ego; he does not look much like me, especially considering that he's about 20 years older than I am. Thanks for the compliment, though ─ it's really hard to get magical effects to look right. I make quite a few custom cards, since I love experimenting with mechanics. There's some chance I'll grow up to look like Arayaz, though I doubt it. For one thing, my hair is much more orderly than that. I hope

You're welcome! And yeah, Arayas didn't look 13 to me.

Does a planeswalker mean he traverses different planes of existence?

[Arayaz]

Dunno, maybe it's just a regional thing. I don't hear of anyone playing it where I live (in the Bay Area).

Maybe. I live in Louisiana, so it could be that it's more popular here. Check Google Maps for shops, maybe?

Have you observed any differences in personality or demographics between D&D players and MtG players? The impression I got was that D&D players were teens during the eighties, while MtG players were born about 1975 or later.

Not really, though of course I haven't met too many of either. But I think you are correct.

You're welcome! And yeah, Arayas didn't look 13 to me.

Does a planeswalker mean he traverses different planes of existence?

Yes. In the lore of MTG, the players are planeswalkers, who travel across the many planes of existence of the world (it's called the Multiverse, according to the old handbook, though I think that's been largely forgotten). The planeswalker cards are supposedly other planeswalkers that you call on to help you. They're powerful, so most pros have them in their decks; I myself rarely use them.

[Iyionaku]

You know, it's funny. When I was in high school and college the nerds and geeks were majorly into Magic: The Gathering (including my brother). I never heard of anyone playing Dungeons & Dragons, on the other hand, and after a troll on the Fourth Turning message board posted something about the fictional "Gorderan Tribes", a self-identified geek named Robert Reed said, "Dungeons & Dragons died out a long time ago. Time to move on.", I figured no one must play D&D anymore.

D&D is still going strong ─ every one of my friends has played it, and we frequently have D&D games at our houses. Several campaigns are going on at the moment. It's one of the main identities of my group.

I think it's more accurate to say that DnD is now going strong, and is stronger than ever before. The rise of grand-scale fantasy adventures such as Skyrim and Game of Thrones helped revive the fantasy genre which had lain dormant for a good decade (after Return of the Kings finished), and other mainstream media such as the Netflix series Stranger Things and the new DnD movie popularized DnD in particular. This all coincided with the release of DnD's 5th edition in 2014, which simplified a lot of its rules to make it easier to get started than ever. Where in other popular tabletop games you basically have to get a small college degree to get started playing, DnD 5e is simple enough that you can start playing with one or two weeks of prep, while still being complicated enough at its depths to cause long-term enjoyment. Now, DnD has probably more players than ever (I don't have any statistics for that but I'm all but sure about it) and also lost the "nerd-game" stigma almost entirely.

[Reyzadren]

griushkoent



Original card