(June 19, 2006) — Focusing on your opponent, all your resources tapped, you wait for the perfect moment to attack. The moment comes, and you obliterate your adversary. Your reward: a brand new deck of playing cards. Such situations occur often in the world of card tournaments. Gaining in popularity for the past decade—card “tourneys” as they’re called—draw a variety of people to their cause. “Tournaments are pretty cool,” said junior Michael Seifert, who plays Yu-Gi-Oh!. “They let you check out new playing styles and strategies and see new cards too, as well as play with all sorts of different people.” Although card games other than the classic poker and blackjack variety may wax and wane in popularity, there is always at least one game that holds the attention of the public. Some of these, such as Wizards of the Coast’s Magic the Gathering (MTG), Yu-Gi-Oh!—and to a lesser degree Pokémon—have lasted as long as 12 years with a considerable following. Others, such as the Digimon card game, fall out of style before their television-generated publicity even ran out. MTG is one of the longest lasting card games, and offers not only game play but also card collecting. Cards range in price from five cents to $2400 and countless decks can be bought pre-constructed or constructed from scratch. New sets are usually released once a year, with prerelease and post-release tourneys held throughout the United States. Tourneys occur throughout the year all over the world. Upcoming card tournaments in the United States include the Origins International Game Expo on July 1-2 in Ohio and MTG’s next prerelease Coldsnap on July 8-9 (the date is to be announced).