#5 Swing

Magic players love swing.

They love swing because swinging in a game of Magic means they are turning their creatures sideways (tapping) and attacking the other player.

Swing, to the rest of the world, is a form of upbeat dancing that primarily goes with jazz music. This is not too far from how Magic players see and use the word swing.

Magic players love declaring their attacks with dramatic phrases like "Swing for 5." Swinging for 5 is quite impressive because players start the game with 20 life and 5 damage is a quarter of that gone, in a single step.

Coupled with this, the actual physical way most Magic players turn their creatures sideways to signal the attack is dramatic as their declaration. Some players pick up their creature cards and slap them back down sideways. Some players do a quick wrist flick so that the card rotates just right. There are tons of ways to "swing."

To the untrained eye, it looks like Magic players just have different quirks and habits when they handle their cards. However, closer examination reveals that players are executing fancy moves and complex steps when they send their creatures to battle.

Fancy moves and complex steps is actually just dancing, broken down. It is no wonder that dance contests are often called dance battles.



Some Magic players choose to use decks that have very little creatures to attack with, therefore have little opportunities to swing. This doesn't mean they don't love swing though, as the deck choice was probably a heavy weighed decision, just like how a shy person wallflowers and watches everyone else swing.

Swing brings some energy and life into how a creature card turns sideways, just like how dance brings energy and life into the mundane, everyday movements of legs and feet. Magic isn't supposed to be mundane and everyday, which is why Magic players love swing.