Before I was introduced to Magic: The Gathering, I was an avid baseball card collector and I loved various playing-card games. Combining gameplay and collectibility was a natural progression from these humble beginnings, but what really drew me into MTG was the flavor of the game. Goblins, elves, and dragons? Sweet! Each card represents a page from a spellbook? How cool is that? Lightning Bolting people's faces? So much better than than winning a game of Thirteen.

That being said, I was always more interested in playing the game and enjoying the flavor of the cards on an individual level than following every aspect of the story. Sure, the story was interesting to me, but I would rather read a good book that people have actually heard of rather than one that only a subset of a subset of people would be able to discuss with me. This is as true today as it was then.

That's why I was so excited to see this tweet:

I've read the first couple posts on the site, and it's kind of like CliffNotes for MTG books—but with an FJM element as well (all who understood that reference without clicking the link are my new favorite readers, by the way). The breakdowns are informative and humorous, but most importantly, they're quick reads.

Count me as a fan of this blog. Having an idea of the story of MTG, even if you can't be bothered to read the books, can help you better enjoy the game and individual cards. A knowledge of the story also comes with a side-benefit related to MTG finance: knowing who's dead, where we left off in a particular storyline, or other small details can sometimes help you better predict what's coming based on small spoilers of an upcoming block. It won't always turn out the way you expected, of course, but even some cursory additional knowledge can push your speculations to the next level.

You can find the Sick Reads blog here. Enjoy!