Students can battle it out in a game of Magic the Gathering with San Diego State’s Tabletop Club. President and founder of Tabletop Chris Nguyen, welcomes all levels of players to join. Nguyen started the club this fall in hopes of finding more players to battle with.
“I wanted to play more Magic, with more people,” Nguyen said.
Tabletop currently has about twenty members that gather to play the card game Magic and the board game Pathfinder.
“For now we only focus on these two games, but we do plan to play others,” Nguyen said.
With the encouragement of his friends and the help of Tabletop’s adviser and marketing professor Andrew Baker, Nguyen was able to form the club as a recreational one.
“Had I not formed the club I wouldn’t have found these people,” Nguyen said.
Several Tabletop members meet outside of school where they hit up local San Diego hobby shops to play Magic. Going to hobby shops was also a platform that helped recruit Tabletop members, Nguyen said. Coincidently, Nguyen would meet SDSU students at draft tournaments who were interested in joining the club.
Nguyen’s favorite go to shop is At Ease Games Gaming and Tournament Center, where they have daily draft tournaments. Nguyen’s main goal for this year is to acquire sponsorship from local game shops in San Diego. With the help from sponsors, Tabletop would be able to compete in local draft tournaments.
Nguyen and three other members from Tabletop are preparing for the Magic Grand Prix, a weekend tournament on Oct. 17- 19, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. They will be competing for several cash prizes and will also get to meet several game card artist at the event.
“The best way to enjoy Magic, is by going to these events,” Nguyen said, which is why he wants to do a small draft tournament at SDSU. Hosting a free draft tournament at SDSU, is one of Nguyen goals for Tabletop this year. He hopes this event will attract new players that have an interest for Magic. “If someone doesn’t know how to play, I’ll teach them on the spot,” Nguyen said.
Computer science Pham Long is an active member of Tabletop. You can find him and other members playing cards on their spare time in East Commons Dining at SDSU. “Meeting new people, and playing with friends is the best part of Tabletop,” said Long.
Tabletop meets from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. every Friday at Student Services West, in room 2512.
Nguyen says not to be hesitant or intimidated if you don’t know how to play. He’s always willing to teach you. After all, he has more than 1,000 cards in his collection to spare. As for those who are avid Magic and Pathfinder players, Tabletop members are always up for a challenge.
