Wizards take over Oak Harbor game store on Fridays

In Oak Harbor, fans gather to play Magic: The Gathering on Midway Boulevard at the Book Rack.

By Sam Fletcher • September 17, 2024 1:30 am

For almost three decades, fans have filled game stores around the world on Friday nights to play Magic: The Gathering, a card game which, put simply, crosses roleplaying fantasy like Dungeons & Dragons with battling magical creatures like Pokémon. In Oak Harbor, this occurs on Midway Boulevard at the Book Rack.

“(Friday Night Magic is) sacred,” said Sam Klapta, sitting at a table in a filled game room with three other players he comes across regularly on Friday nights. “FNM has been going on, I think, since the fifth sets. It is a cornerstone of Magic.”

Friday Night Magic began as a marketing strategy in the late ‘90s to shift the focus of Magic away from tournaments and elite players to a casual game store setting, opening the game for all. It is a large contributor to the game’s longtime success.

“The rules are consistent, and they’re consistently complicated,” said James O’Boyle from across the table. O’Boyle was born in 1992, the year before Wizards of the Coast released Magic: The Gathering. His father was an early adopter. By the age of 5, O’Boyle knew how to play.

Like Dungeons & Dragons, Magic players represent characters, in this case dueling wizards known as Planeswalkers. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, Magic players don’t actively roleplay throughout the game. These Planeswalkers summon an army of creatures to fight another Planeswalker.

Players cast magical spells, be it a one-time effect or a lasting one, such creature, artifact, enchantment or battle card. Players also use resource cards showing the amount of mana, or power, they have to cast spells.

While the rules are simple, the creatures and spells interact in billions of ways, O’Boyle said, making the game somewhat complicated.

Oftentimes players align their strategies with the color of mana on the card, said Klapta. He almost always chooses red mana, which drains the opponent’s mana quicker, or green, which summons big creatures.

Jose Soria, to Klapta’s right, favors black mana, he said. Black mana defines right and wrong as how close it brings the player to success. Black mana destroys.

The Book Rack has held Friday Night Magic since January. According to Frankie Cruz, game host, this has been the vision since before the COVID-19 pandemic; they just needed the space.

“We wanted to make sure that the trading card community had a really good place, safe space to come in and play games,” Cruz said.

Tickets to Friday Night Magic can be purchased for $8 at the Book Rack, an official Wizards of the Coast sponsored store, or online. This grants players free Magic: The Gathering packs and occasional promotional materials.

The Book Rack also hosts game league nights, Magic: the Gathering showdown nights on Saturdays, Dungeons & Dragons nights and kids’ story time and silent book club on Sundays.

Cruz said this is just the start. In the future, the store hopes to serve alcoholic drinks in the café and introduce adult game nights, trivia nights, board game nights and more. For more information, visit bookrack.com.