"Magic the Gathering murder" Topic

Saw this on on Drudge Report this morning.

Pensacola, Florida (PNJ) -- For someone who doesn't play the fantasy card game "Magic: The Gathering," watching a round and trying to understand what is going on is difficult.

The pace is fast. There are cards and dice. A round can be over before you know it.

The game has recently taken the local spotlight for a very dark reason: Sean Dugas, 30, one of the area's most active players, was killed, according to police, by two Magic players who robbed him for his collection of cards.
…
William Cormier, 31, is accused of beating Dugas to death Aug. 27 at his home in Pensacola.

Dugas' cards, valued at somewhere between $25,000 USD and $100,000 USD, ultimately were sold in Pensacola, Georgia and Tennessee, police said.

Dugas' body was taken to Winder, Ga., where it was found Oct. 8, buried in a plastic container in the backyard of a home. Now held in Georgia, William Cormier and his twin brother, Christopher, will be returned to Pensacola to face charges in the homicide.

The killing has rocked Pensacola's close-knit "Magic" community of about 150 people who are stunned that a hobby, albeit one that many of them take very seriously, could bring about such tragedy.

This is simply a game with a collectible element, they say.

Much as with baseball cards, Magic cards are packaged at random. Just as a kid might go through several packages of baseball cards looking for his favorite player, so might Magic players buying package after package of cards looking for a powerful rare card.

A theft is conceivable. A murder is not.

"We've been doing this for 26 years, and we've never even had a fight," said Ed Nehring, who owns TBS Comics on Ninth Avenue in Pensacola, where Magic and its predecessors have long been played.

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Tragic.

I remember something like this in Madison, Wi back in the 90s. A guy got jumped and murdered in the street for his Magic cards. It is a horrible thing, but no more horrible than any other murder. And when dealing with stuff worth 25000+, unfortunately it is not all that surprising. And though I'm gald it doesn't, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more.

This is kinda close to home. I don't hang in the usual magic shops but I did hear someone talking about it a few weeks ago.

valued at somewhere between $25,000 USD USD and $100,000 USD USD

People get offed for their pocket change. It should be no surprise that someone would get offed for something that valuable.

Doug

The article was surprisingly well-informed and rational. It's very easy to get scaremongery, exploitative articles whenever something happens in a fringe community.

Magic is not a "fringe" community – it's everywhere and it crosses all borders when it comes to people from every walk of life. Still a tragic incident – I hope they get a nice long prison term – and the prison denies them the ability to participate in any games what so ever.

I play Magic (along with wargames, and board games, and video games) and it's true that some of these little cardboard squares can command impressive price tags.

Note that the article didn't even touch on the misguided controversies that plagued Magic's earlier days: demonic imagery, satanism, etc. I guess we can thank Harry Potter and Twilight for making it OK for teens to be interested in this sort of stuff. My how things change.

Note that the article didn't even touch on the misguided controversies that plagued Magic's earlier days: demonic imagery, satanism, etc.

No, but it did try to tie it to D&D for some reason which I'm guessing has more to do with that game's odd reputation than any real tie between the game (despite being put out by the same company nowadays).

I remember back in the 90's, a kid from the FLGS got jumped and had his binders of Magic cards stolen. I thought that was crazy, never mind murder. Unfortunately, elsyrsyn is right. People get killed for far less. What's worth mentioning, however, is that this kid was killed by other players.

Wow. The twins are 31 years old. Predators. How long would it have been before they started attacking the younger people of the group?

a) theres no way those cards can be "valued" at 25k. thats just something like, "i heard his collection was worth…".

b) i'm not much of a betting man, but i'd wager theres more to this than a bunch of stupid cards.

theres no way those cards can be "valued" at 25k. thats just something like, "i heard his collection was worth…".

The article mentioned a Black Lotus card, which they estimate at $10 USDK. Prices vary widely, but $10 USDK is not outside reason for that one. If he also had a "blue hurricane" (the misprint one), those two alone could push $25 USDK.

Ahhhh, a friendly game of "Magic the Gathering…"

I never could get into these sorts of games for multiple reasons, but the whole 'requires concealed weapon or armed escort' thing just reinforces my sentiments.

Nobody has been killed for their Finecast miniatures… Yet.