Over 33 years of playing Magic the Gathering (MTG), people have learned to love the intricacies and the original style of gameplay. It has paved the way for many other card games including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and even the new Disney-inspired trading card game Lorcanna— these games would likely never be what they are today without the path that MTG laid out.

MTG has garnered interest across generations, from people who have played since the start to people who just started in the newest set. Players form a clear community around the game.

To foster growth in the community, local game stores host game nights where people can play MTG with others who have also fallen in love with the game. One store providing this service is On the Play Gaming. 

“[The original store] was in Santa Maria; same name, same everything,” Store Owner Luis Belmontes said. “It would have been nine years in December, but then I moved [the store] over [to Arroyo Grande] in November.”

The move to Arroyo Grande wasn’t made without ample forethought. 

“I want to really see what foot traffic does [to help the store], because I had virtually zero foot traffic at the other place,” Belmontes said. “Here, all of [the store’s customers are from] foot traffic— right on grand [and] right off the freeway.”

With the new attention, a slew of people have come to the shop. In the six months the shop has been open, business has steadily grown.

“We just opened a second store out on Vandenburg Air Force Base,” Belmontes said. 

This expansion of the store has placed it on the official Wizards of the Coast app. 

“Wizards of the Coast [are] the ones who own Magic the Gathering,” Belmontes said. “If you go to any new city you can find nearby stores, [but] being the only store in The Five Cities is a pretty big advantage.”

Business is going well for the legacy card store, but that isn’t the only thing that matters to Belmontes. 

“I ran the afterschool program at Mesa Middle School,” Belmontes said. “That’s actually the reason I started playing Pokémon.” 

This new hobby came about when he was asked to find something new to do with the students.

“I used to love cracking packs for Pokémon,” Belmontes said. “So, I was like, ‘you know what, I’m gonna learn how to play.’ So I did that.”

Belmontes holds competitive card games near to him, finding joy in fostering community just as much as playing the games.

“I mean, it sucks that I’m on this side [of the store’s counter] and unable to play,” Belmontes said. “But I’m doing something right if these guys keep showing up.”

Patrons agree with Belmontes’s statement of him doing right. Customers follow him from Santa Maria and are willing to go further.

“If [Belmontes] went two hours away, I would find a way to get to his shop,” long time player and customer at On the Play, Gary Work, said.

Beyond just a good store, Belmontes has built a good community on the floor. 

“I love the community [I’ve built] and the gathering of people,” another Santa Maria patron, Joanne Goble, said. 

As his community grows, longtime fans or new players have flocked into the store to play Magic the Gathering with old friends and new faces. 

“I started back in ‘98,” Kyle Taylor, a longtime MTG fan, said. “[Belmontes] runs a good shop and it’s centrally located, so it helps a lot in [terms of] getting new people to play the game.”

Fostering an environment for new people to play MTG, and for people who want to return, keeps Belmontes motivated to have a room that is ignited by the thrill and joy of a shared passion.

“I make an effort to learn everyone’s name,” Belmontes said. “Most people play at a store where they feel more comfortable.”

Card games, however, aren’t the only thing the business offers. Beside the people playing games is a small table set out with board games for anyone to step into an air conditioned room with some friends to relax and enjoy their company.

“The tables here are for the community, and Arroyo Grande High School is part of that community,” Belmontes said.

In the past 33 years, MTG has expanded to hundreds of thousands of players across the world, and now Belmontes and his store are a part of that.

Belmontes heard a quote once that really resonated with him: “Don’t love your job, job your love,” and from there, he made a business and built a community that does just that.