Magic the Gather is one of the earlier Collectable Card Games (CCG). Success of the game has lead to oter CCGs such as Pokemon and Yugioh.

In Magic, opposing players assume the roles of wizards with an array of magic spells to cast, drawing mana from the land to power their spells and summon their monsters. Opposing Wizards use the spells and creatures to try and defeat the enemy players.

Each player assembles a deck of cards before the game begins. The deck contains land cards, spell cards, and monster cards. As a player draws land cards from his or her deck, they place them down and "tap" them to fuel of the spell cards or summon creatures.

The cards come in 5 different colors, with every color having different spheres of influence; they derive their power from different kinds of land. The colors are as follows:

	Blue - Blue magic is the power of the spell. Blue magicians draw their power from the islands and they wield a powerful array of counter spells and wards. Blue magicians wield few, but very powerful creatures.
	Black - Black magicians draw the decay and corruption of the swamp to power their dark magics. Black magicians raise the dead and cause disease and insanity as a weapon.
	Green - Green mana is the mana from which all life is born. It is the power of the forest and the animals. Green magicians command more creatures than any other color.
	Red - Red magicians enjoy raw power, the power of flame and violence. Red magicians use hordes of corruptible creatures to swarm their enemies as they draw power from the mountains to do harm.
	White - White is the color of healing and nobility. White mages summon their power from the plains. Knights, priest and warriors often follow the white mages.

Players usually build a deck using one, two or three colors of 60 or more cards. Cards are bought through various sizes of packs with random assortments of cards. Some cards are more rare than others. Some card packs are limited to one or two colors, while others are totally random.