SHEFFIELD, Ohio — Mr Magic is a new store specializing in collectible trading cards and board games. It’s the result of over a decade of gameplay and business by owner Noah Sholl. The first brick-and-mortar store opens next week in Sheffield.
Sholl first played trading card games like “Pokemon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh” card games when he was six or seven years old. As a teenager, he enjoyed “Magic: The Gathering,” a popular deck-building playing card game. The game, developed in 1993, pits players against one another with specialized decks of fantasy-themed character cards.
“‘Magic’ was the one that really caught my attention, and that was the one that I really started running with,” Sholl said. “That’s what really got me involved in the scene to begin with, was just a love for it as a kid, and now it just expanded out as a business.”
Six years ago Sholl launched his Mr Magic online store, specializing in cards for gameplay. Business was so consistent and steady online, Sholl said, that it made sense to open a physical location.
Mr Magic’s is located at 5204 Detroit Rd., next door to Sugarcreek restaurant. The store focuses on card play games like “Magic: The Gathering,” “Pokemon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh,” but also includes other collectible-focused games like “Warhammer 40,000.”
The store’s namesake comes from “Magic: The Gathering,” and it has a selection of hard-to-find cards from the game in stock. Sholl said that, at the upper end, his shop sells some cards that cost a whopping $2,000. And that kind of cost is not unheard of in the “Magic” world; last year, a rare “Magic” card auctioned for more than $87,000 on Ebay.
But at Mr Magic, the majority of “Magic” cards range from $2 to $5, with some reaching into the $20 to $30 range.
“Those are the more friendly cards to purchase, to be able to get into the game and have a great time and enjoy it with your friends,” Sholl said.
Mr Magic will be friendly to beginners and experienced gamers alike. The shop will host tournament nights friendly to every level, playing a format called “draft” where every player draws cards from the same pool.
Other tournaments will follow duel formats meant for more advanced players, with limits on the value of cards in the decks. Sholl plans to give away prizes and store credit to the winners of his game store events.
Sholl plans to host a grand-opening event 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sept. 25, with a ribbon cutting by Sheffield Mayor John D. Hunter. Customers can get 10% off an item in the store, after showing a Facebook post at checkout, and play games like “Yu-Gi-Oh,” “Magic” and “Pokemon.”
Sholl said he’s eager to join the Northeast Ohio board game community.
“The community up in Northeast Ohio seems to be very receptive to new people, to people who want to do it as a more serious hobby and people who just want to come in and have a great time,” Sholl said. “From what I hear at least, it’s a fantastic community, we can’t wait to bring it in and foster it here in the shop as well.”
You can follow Mr Magic on Facebook for more updates on the store.