Come In To Play

In the early days of Magic: the Gathering, the term for what cards do when you put them on the table was "come into play." For example, when you cast a creature spell and put the creature card onto the table, the creature is said to have "come into play." Some time later, the playspace started to be called "the battlefield," and cards were said to "enter the battlefield" when you put them on the table. I didn't really care much about the terminology here until the Wizards of the Coast, the people who make Magic, started releasing a series of documentaries about the people who play Magic. Naming the series after the phrase used in the game, they called the series "Enter the Battlefield."

This was the point at which I started caring what the term for putting cards on the table was called. You see, "enter the battlefield" implies that a fight is taking place, or is about to. If one "enter[s] the battlefield," one intends to join the battle, which is fine if we're talking about trading cards, but not so fine if we're talking about people. When I play Magic, I consider it a game, not a battle. I don't "enter the battlefield." I come in to play.

I think some people take some things too seriously. Sure, it can be fun to imagine oneself as a powerful spell-caster, engaged in a "battle of wits" against a fierce rival, but that's not how I play Magic. I don't play to win; I play for fun. And I also hope that those I play against have fun as well. I don't want to scare people off with an intimidating invitation like "enter the battlefield." I want to hold the door open with a welcoming phrase like "come in to play."

Of course, I know I'm adding a space there, which completely changes the words and their meaning, but I don't care. I'm not taking this too seriously, and I hope those I play with don't take it too seriously, either. I hope they don't see this as a series of battles that they feel compelled to win. I hope they see it as I do, as a series of games that, win or lose, we find fun to play.