Love and Oshikatsu Culture in TCG Fandoms – Magic: The Gathering

In the realm of Trading Card Games, there is a distinct difference between players and collectors – one group buys cards mainly for gameplay purposes, the other does so for the sake of collecting. On the surface, collecting without playing may seem ‘useless’ or a ‘waste’, but this habit can be seen as part of a larger subculture – oshikatsu (推し活).

A combination of the words ‘oshi’ (‘推し’) – colloquially referring to someone or something that you support – and ‘katsu’ (‘活’) – meaning activity – oshikatsu refers to the activities that people do to support something that they love. The ‘oshi’ can be anything from idols, fictional characters, sports teams or planes. The definition of ‘katsu’ also encompasses plenty of activities, from transformative fanworks, to collecting and curating merch, to organising community events. 

Oshikatsu comes from a place of immense love and devotion. Something resonates with you on such a personal level, rooted in memory or interest or community, that it comes to define a part of who you are. A card game introduced by a friend retains their memories in how you continue to play. A fictional character appeals to your enduring interest in the gothic and its explorations in terror. A black swan simultaneously reminds you of deceptive depictions in ballet with Odile’s 32 fouettés as well as of a community of indigenous islanders living in the Torres Strait. Everything has meaning to everyone in differing ways, and when the resulting love for something grows strong enough, it manifests in external expressions of oshikatsu.

TCGs cannot exist without love and oshikatsu. These games aren’t necessities for survival – nobody would continue buying and trading them without seeing some sort of personal or social value in these pieces of fancy cardboard and plastic. Whether these cards are played in games with a community or solely collected for a personal binder, the very act of intentionally participating in the scene is one of love.

In this regard, collecting TCG cards for the sake of collecting the ones you love is not a waste. Love is never a waste – not if it brings joy and hope and meaning to someone's life.

Of course, there is more to oshikatsu merch in TCGs than just cards and game accessories. There are keychains, standees, stationery, figures and statues, badges, apparel and so much more – the typical merch items you would expect a popular series to produce for fans to show off. Yet, the prevalence of this type of collectible merch and the strength of a fandom’s oshikatsu culture tends to vary among different TCGs. 

In this series of articles on love and oshikatsu culture in TCG fandoms, I examine the collecting cultures of the world’s top 3 TCG fandoms – Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon – to see what drives their fans towards collectible oshikatsu merch and behaviours. We’ll start this series with the oldest in the list – Magic: The Gathering.

My introduction to Magic: the Gathering was through my best friend writing alternate universe fanfiction of our original characters in the Magic multiverse. Each chapter began with a relevant card, the effects tied into the upcoming story. Some of our characters became planeswalkers with both selfless and selfish goals, some stayed on their home planes and dealt with the strangeness of having loved ones disappear and world-wandering interlopers taking their place. Innistrad’s gothic vampire terrors turn horrifyingly familiar yet unpredictable for a shy werewolf when his spark ignites and he faces a ship of conquistador vampires in sunny Ixalan. Mana colours are assigned based on character ideals and personality, even shifting over time as they influence each other. 

This is by far one of the strangest ways for someone to get to know MTG – the fanbase is not particularly known for oshikatsu. MTG has a wealth of lore and character stories, but when it comes to time and money, fans prefer to spend it on cards and events to play and win games. It is the complete opposite to the oshikatsu habits of most Pokémon TCG collectors – there isn’t as much pressure to chase or grade cards based on appearances. When it comes to Magic, resonance and good memories are mainly forged from gathering with other players. As such, cards are often valued based on playability rather than appearance or story. 

This is not to say that MTG can’t have a stronger oshikatsu culture – in fact, Universes Beyond, Secret Lair and showcase cards seem to be cultivating this kind of behavior through bringing in new IPs and artists into the Magic world. Newcomers collect the cards of IP and artists they love while being introduced to the game itself. Many players show love for their commander decks by getting cooler versions of cards to personalise and bling them out. The friend who introduced me to MTG has pared down her entire card collection to just one Malcolm and Breeches partner commander deck, simply because they’re her favourite characters.

Still, the distinct lack of non-card-related oshikatsu collectibles and fanworks for MTG was of particular interest to me. For a game with so much lore, it’s unusual to see so few merchandise of things like keychains and standees. It’s interesting to learn that MTG fans who are interested in lore and stories are given a title – “Vorthos” – as if it were not the norm to read the game's stories. As a niche group within an already niche hobby, it’s harder for Vorthos players to sit down and gush about a character when most players might not have the stories in mind as a point of reference. Harder still is showing love for an MTG character beyond the game and its accessories. 

Gatherers’ Tavern attempts to fill that gap in oshikatsu merch by making Kliggs keychains, scale statues, figurines and plush ARTY bags of MTG characters. Our artisanal DOMARU boxes are designed after iconic groups in each plane. To own our products is to express a love for Magic’s world and characters, whether someone is a Vorthos interested in characters and lore, or a game-focused fan who just likes to play certain cards.

Personally, I’m the kind of MTG collector who can play the game (and play it pretty well, according to my opponents) but chooses not to seriously pick it up. Deckbuilding and playing isn’t really what I want to invest my resources into, even if I find it fun. I only collect cards of certain characters and art that I enjoy and after prereleases, they’re never going to exit my binder. Having a company like Gatherers’ Tavern making oshikatsu merch for MTG allows me to express my love for MTG’s characters and lore outside of the card game.

As for how MTG could get more players to be interested in the universes within Magic and not just those of beyond, I think it might be a matter of accessibility and time. Perhaps there could be a way to better communicate the story through the cards so that more players could understand what’s happening in each set. It can also be hard to know when to start a story in Magic if they’re all interconnected, so clearly defined story arcs and standalone narratives might be easier to approach. Spending more time on a plane instead of quickly hopping to the next one helps familiarise audiences with the ins and outs of the world and its characters, while also allowing for richer, more ambitious stories. And really, who doesn’t love a good story?

Alternatively, one could experiment with a different format as an introductory point for MTG. Baldur’s Gate 3 and Pokémon use the medium of video games to let players become protagonists in their worlds and craft their own personal narratives. These games open the door for newcomers to get curious about joining the larger Dungeons & Dragons and Pokémon community. As I was introducing MTG to another friend, we discussed the possibility of MTG having a video game storyline to play through, where players could make their own personalised decks that helped them progress through the story. While it might be a deviation from Magic’s “the Gathering”, it may be an easier entry point for individuals to join the gathering in the first place. And even if they don’t join, at least they’ll get a chance to grow to love its world.

In the world’s biggest Trading Card Game fandoms, love is often engrained in experience and memory, fueling fans’ continued support for these IPs. At Gatherers’ Tavern, the products that we make are born from our love for these fantasy worlds, our team made up of a mix of different players and collectors participating in oshikatsu in our own ways. Next time, we’ll be looking at oshikatsu culture in Yu-Gi-Oh! and how it’s influenced by the division of its fanbase between the manga/anime and the card game.