Am I ready for Magic?

[gideonkain]

Ya, anyone can learn to play Magic, it's just a matter of knowing the steps in a turn and being able to read between the lines of the card to find strategies.

How to play your turn:

1) Draw a card.
2) Lay a mana
3) Look at your cards to see which ones you can afford
4) Play a card
5) Attack or don't

The trick in Magic isn't always to just attack, attack, attack - your usually better off taking the first few damage dealt to you rather than sacrificing your monsters repeatedly to keep you at 20 health.

You forget 6) COMBAT TRICKS! amd
7)Actually cast spells which mess up your opponent's game here, after they spent all their mana dealing with your Combat Tricks, as well as
8) Blow up enemy permanents during your opponent's end step so you have the mana open for your turn.

well, it wasn't a comprehensive guide - I would also add that you remember to throw down Mana in your end phase if for some reason you didn't in your opening. Also, hold onto you big "wallop" cards until you can hurt them the most "Destroy all opponent's enemies works so much better after they spawn a couple adds

 

[gideonkain]

The game has changed to the point that overwhelmingly powerful cards aren't printed.

Oh really?

Jace, The Mind Sculptor
Griselbrand
Stoneforge Mystic
The Swords
Snapcaster Mage

And that's being conservative (I left out Ponder/Preordain for instance) and sticking with the past 2 years.

And he's not even being that elitist, the SCG commentators last weekend were doing it to a ridiculous degree, so much as calling for a ruling that white bordered Blood Moons should not shut down black bordered Tropical Islands (they were joking of course, but dead serious about berating the poor guy for not dropping the extra cash to get an older Blood Moon).

Oh and for a T2 kill in Standard:

T1: Forest/Glistner Elf
T2: Miracle Revenge of the Hunted + Mutagenic Growth, swing for 10 infect.

You can also do the same with other combinations but they involve multiple mutagenic growths which is unlikely but possible.

totally, this combo got me one time:

T1: Glistner Elf
T2: Titanic Growth
T3: Titanic Growth
T4: Dead.

 

[SciMal]

Anyway, better not get ahead of myself. Afterall I am asking for advice here. So any suggestions?

Yeah. Make sure you have the disposable income.

Yes, you can just make a few decks and play with friends, but eventually you'll have all the decks figured out and get bored. Since every local CCG shop I've been to has Friday Night Magic, you'll probably enter one of those tournaments and get involved with the crowd there.

You'll fail a lot at first because you don't know the metagame, how to recognize strong cards in new sets, or how to make a gimmick deck that's not already well-known.

As you play, you become better, and games eventually start becoming less laugh-fests of a few random creature cards pinging each other for 2 HP and more "who has the most power cards" or "who has the best power-combo."

There's a pretty set pattern of:
1st in the series - Well balanced, usually some power cards, lots of mediocrity.
2nd in the series - A few power cards, lots of shit.
3rd in the series - A slew of really powerful cards, and usually the most powerful set to end on a high note before moving to new mechanics.

The XXXth editions are just reprints of old cards from old sets, and serve two purposes: To devalue old cards, and to fill in the spaces between the actual story-related trio sets. There's usually a mix of a few powerful cards, a few cards that will ALWAYS be reprinted (Wrath of God, Shivan Dragon, Serra Angel, etc.), and very few set-related mechanics (Shadow, Phase Counters, Buyback, etc.).

There are several types of tournaments, and most are pretty fun. Some require you to purchase cards (Draft tournaments), and some never see the light of day at local stores (whatever the modern equivalent of T1 is, I forget).

However, if you get into MtG seriously, just realize that you'll probably be buying boxes of cards every few months as new sets come out in an effort to get the power rares. It will suck up as much time and money as you want to put into it, and unless you're very lucky, you're not going to make that money back.

It's a very fun hobby if you have the time and cash to spare, and want to hang around with other people while picking their brains on good strategies. I enjoyed it for years on-end, and if I hadn't gone to college, I might still be playing it.

However, there's also a lot of reasons I just sold my collection. It's a fun game, but as I said before - the game has the potential to be an endless time and money pit. It's designed that way. So, sure, I'd say you're ready to play MtG - it's not that hard, and deck building (with physical cards) is really fun. It really is a fun game, but just make sure it doesn't supercede more important things - like getting exercise, eating healthily, or learning really interesting stuff. It also might behoove you to know that even though MtG is marketed as a CCG, because almost ALL of the focus is on the latest sets, very few cards are actually "Collectible" in the sense that they'll be worth more than a few cents down the road. The ones that are worth more than $1 in 5 years are the bat-shit powerful cards that pair to make broken combos, and the EXCEEDINGLY rare cards (like stuff you can't buy in booster packs that have an incredibly short print run).

 

[MrDumpkins]

Start magic in paper it's a lot of fun, if you don't like spending money, try and find someone with a cube and play, cube drafting is the most fun you'll ever have with magic ever!

 

[VoidWanderer]

Well, if i ever get around to playing Magic again, it will only be in the EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) format.

 

[MrMixelPixel]

Oh and for a T2 kill in Standard:

T1: Forest/Glistner Elf
T2: Miracle Revenge of the Hunted + Mutagenic Growth, swing for 10 infect.

You can also do the same with other combinations but they involve multiple mutagenic growths which is unlikely but possible.

That doesn't sound too viable in a competitive standard match.
(Not sure if you were trying to prove a point with that, or if you were just enlightening us on an unlikely turn two kill.)


Anyway...

I'm real new to magic myself, I started playing a month before Innistrad (the latest block). I've had a blast with the game, and I've managed to get 90% of my friends hooked on it too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

 

[Syntax Error]

Way back when, there was a hobby shop near my place that almost exclusively catered to MtG. You can buy a shoe box full of cards for about $5. If the box contains rares, lucky you. Sometimes it contained four Rancor and the box is most certainly worth more than $5. With so much cards, you can build many basic decks to get a feel of the game.

EDIT:
As for what you need to become a better player, familiarize yourself with the stack. Everything in Magic goes in the stack and abilities get resolved in the proper order using the stack (Last in - First out). If you can follow the interactions on how you can burn your enemy for infinite damage using Worldgorger Dragon + Animate Dead + Fireball, then that's a start.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

*snip*

I'd definitely throw in a couple Oblivion Rings, probably over pacifism. For one extra mana it's definitely worth having a catch all removal. As Gideonkain suggested Mtgvault is pretty useful, but I personally prefer tappedout because it shows a spoiler of the card when you hover over the text instead of having to click the link

Ok. So I've taken in some of the advice here, and took out a pacifism, and Voice of the provinces (I just don't see myself using it. Sure it has flying and creates a token, but it has a really high cost and I never see it in my hand at all), and stuck in two Oblivion Rings, and switched out 2 whites for 2 reds.

Had another test match against my green deck, and boy was it close.
And I mean really close, my deck had only 1 life left when it won.
The oblivion ring basically won me the match.
Managed to take out the 7/7 wurm with trample my opponent had (which had also done huge damage the turn before since I played titanic growth on it and it trampled through a 1/1)

I might have to play with that Green deck too, because when it works, damn is it scary! 0_0
(He had like 8 green lands as opposed to my 4 red/white)

I only won because I lucked out and he kept drawing lands. (The other me that is! XD)

Maybe I should consider a Green/red deck...

EDIT: On second though, that green should have won, but I messed up and took away a land with acidic slime when I could have taken away oblivion ring and got the wurm back...

 

[vkola]

Magic is real nice, although it can cost you a quite alot if you buy boxes instead of boosters. Having a few friends that play and trade with them or just plain borrow cards to build your deck is recommended.

I am a returning player to magic after a break since -97 or so..

 

[Chased]

Anal Leak, O-Ring, and Diabolic Impostor do not belong on that list. Do you know what cards DO belong?

I thought you stopped playing after 6th, how would you even know about Oblivion Ring?
I purposely listed decent Magic cards that are monetarily inexpensive and easy to come by if you're a new player. I hope you're not one of those dudes that's like, "Man, I hate this game but I'm going to keep playing it so I can tell others about how much it sucks."

 

[General Ken8]

My advice has been the best so far. I gave price estimates and everything.

$150 to dip your feet into a card game? Sorry but that's terrible advice especially seeing as the OP may not agree with your preferences.

Also a deck building pack for 2013 edition is about £17 on ebay! XD

(It might be "crappier" but it definately is cheaper! XD)

I'd start with a deck builder, it's a great start because there really aren't a whole lot of "fluff" cards in them, plus all of the cards are versatile

 

[Xanadu84]

Fair warning: Deep into the grips of Magic, you may start thinking about your hourly wage not in dollars, but in booster packs. It can get very pricy. Rewarding, but pricy. But complexity wise? Yes. You will run into a few hitches and rules confusion, but that will be minor details.

One thing to remember also is that in physical Magic, Deckbuilding is as, or more likely, MORE important then impeccable play. And you have infinite choices. This is where the mastery is. Remember, there's very little reason to make a deck of over 60 cards no matter how tempting it is, 24 lands is a good rule of thumb for moderately mana intensive decks, and pay attention to the metagame since few things are more frustrating then not having enchantment destruction and finding an enchantment that shuts down your entire deck.

A good starting color? Well there's a straightforward formula that works reasonably well no matter where Magic goes.

Start with a good mana base of Red and Green. Add a bunch of tiny, mana producing creatures, artifact mana sources, land searchers like rampant growth or the like. Add beefy green creature, in the 3 to 5 cost range. Add a few creature enhancements that don't risk card disadvantage (as in, one creature destruction spell won't always take out 2 of your cards. Rancor used to be the prime example). Fill out most of the rest with burn, and sprinkle a few utility spells like Naturalize. Then, play fast mana, get beefy creatures wicked soon, burn problematic blockers to get a few good whacks in with your green monsters, and maybe finish with a few burn spells. Even without a lot of experience in designing decks, you can still catch a lot of decks off guard, a very well synergized deck can get momentum and win in 5 or 6 turns, and you can make a pretty decent deck for rather cheap. Star City games is a GREAT resource for hunting down a few cards you need.

Good luck and may god have mercy on your soul.

 

[Xanadu84]

My advice has been the best so far. I gave price estimates and everything.

Oh, and if you decide to stick with playing an electronic substitute for the paper game, there is only one appropriate choice. Ask around various forums about "Shandalar" and see if you can get a second-hand copy.

Greatest. Magic game. Ever. I played that endlessly. Still the only single player magic game with real deck design, and even has some roleplaying elements which really make you feel like you have control over what your deck is. A modern day take on this game would be absolutely amazing.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

if all you intend to do is play with friends in your kitchen then you don't really need to pay attention to formats, just use whatever you can find and have fun.

However if you have any interest in playing at stores or bigger events then you need to get to know the Standard format because that's the most popular one.

My recommendation for a new player would be to not invest in the older cards, focus on the new sets as they come out so you can get in on the Standard rotation early and your cards will stay legal for a longer time. So for now that means picking up some m13 cards, some Innistrad Block would still be worth it since they'll still be around for another 14 months.

Another good way to learn the game and the cards from a new set is to Draft that set. I would probably wait a bit till you are more comfortable with the game itself, but by the time the new set is released("Return to Ravnica" in October) you should be good to dive in =)

hope you enjoy yourself, good luck and don't get discouraged when you get a bad streak!

 

[GrandmaFunk]

if you can find a store that does casual events then that's great for you, however that's not the case in most areas.

you don't need to keep repeating your opinion, we get that you only like casual and you hate the last ~10 years of changes in the hobby. The problem is that your opinions are not very helpful to new players who have nothing to gain from your baggage, so please show a bit of respect and stop spamming the thread with your little memes and vulgarity.