Persuasion, Procedure, and Planeswalkers: The Protocological Rhetoric of Magic: The Gathering

Kevin Brock

Persuasion, Procedure, and Planeswalkers:
The Protocological Rhetoric of Magic: The Gathering

Kevin Brock, Trevor C. Meyer, and Adam S. Lerner

In this webtext, we explore how Magic and other complex analog systems operate rhetorically as activity networks. First, we perform brief analyses of Magic’s rules, player archetypes, and common play styles in order to examine how the game’s protocological mechanisms and surrounding play culture have developed over the last 25 years. Second, we engage the game’s protocological qualities more directly through exploratory play using both pre-constructed starter and custom-built decks. Our scrutiny of Magic’s protocols then leads us to consider and compare the game’s anticipated activities (as described in its game rules and our social expectations, conventions, and norms involved in playing the game) with its realized expressions of those activities (as encountered when actually playing one or more iterations of the game itself).

A photo of Magic being played by multiple players. A number of individual Magic playing cards are laid out on a tabletop before each player, with some of the cards having dice or beads sitting on top of them. Next to each player is a stack of face-down cards.

Two Notes Before Reading

Magic Card References

Throughout this text, we discuss a number of cards and terms used in the Magic: The Gathering card game. All card references are linked through a JavaScript plugin to Magic's “Gatherer” online card resource. An example of the plugin's functionality is demonstrated as follows: Wizard Mentor. For those who can view images, hovering the mouse over each link will display a tooltip image of the card. The “Gatherer” link offers accessible information about each card (including all ability details, mana costs, and flavor text) as well as how the card’s rules have been officially interpreted and clarified since its printing.

Paths of Reading

While it is possible to read through this webtext linearly, following the arrangement provided in the main menu, we have also attempted to provide multiple paths for any readers looking to navigate across the narratives of research and of the Magic play experience included herein.

These alternate paths, centered primarily on thematic connections between pages, can be followed via the set of “Related Pages” buttons at the bottom of each page.

About the Authors

Kevin Brock is an associate professor of composition and rhetoric at the University of South Carolina, where he researches and teaches courses on technical communication, digital rhetoric, and composition.

Trevor C. Meyer is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Northwest Missouri State University. He teaches courses in rhetoric, composition, and profession writing. His scholarship focuses on writing pedagogy, rhetorical theory, argumentation, and violence.

Adam S. Lerner, Ph.D., is a technical writer. His interests include content strategy, user experience design, and proposal development.