Thinking about getting back into Magic The Gathering

[Heath]

I sold and gave away all my Magic The Gathering cards (except for a few I had signed by the artists) about 12 years ago. I hadn't really thought much about it since.

I was in the Student Union on the campus where I work and there was several tables of people playing Magic. After watching them for a few minutes it really sparked that urge to pick the game up again. Maybe it's something my son would enjoy playing with me.

I glanced around the MTG web site and feel completely lost.

[ian_house]

Hey dude, dunno if your a video gamer at all but I've been playing the new game MTG 2012 Duels of the Planeswalkers, its pretty cheap on PC (it's under £10 over here). If you don't want to have to plough loads of money back into the cards this is a pretty good way of getting back into the game. The only downside is you play with pre-constructed decks.

[Heath]

Having a bunch of cards and building your own decks... that's half the fun right there.

[xodacia81]

Having a bunch of cards and building your own decks... that's half the fun right there.

I always had good decks, just nobody to ever play with.

[Heath]

Anybody want to unload a bunch of common cards cluttering up their collection for cheap?

[superman-prime]

i pick up commons at about 5 k and 100 rares off the bay and have some choice in what i get from a guy i buy from
ill get his id for ya if ya want

my fav deak (has been for a LONG TIME

is 4 x millstone
4 x icy manipulator
4 kiljorian outpost
and 4 the rack
the rest i just make up based on who im playing if ive played them before and htey rely on mono color i toss in 4 cop of their color

[Heath]

You completely lost me...

[iccarus]

How you go about getting back into the game really depends on how you want to play. WotC has actually done a really good job at designing products to help casual/lapsed players. I still play frequently and keep up with the game, so hopefully I can help you out a little.

Biggest thing I would suggest is to find a way to get familiar with the rules again. Things have changed in the past 12 years. The two biggest revisions in the past few years are that mana burn no longer exists and that damage in the combat step no longer stacks. There are some other changes, but those are the biggest. If you don't know what "the stack" is, you probably want to brush up on your rules knowledge.

As was mentioned earlier in the thread, the Duel of the Planeswalkers game for XBOX/PS3 is actually a really good teacher. I've talked with several people who got interested in playing again after playing around with those. The rules are presented very directly and make it impossible for you to screw up, so it's even a pretty good tool for teaching the game to people with with no prior experience.

As for picking up product, check out an LGS or even WalMart/Target for the "Duel Deck" products. Those are two 60-card preconstructed decks that you can throw up against each other. They are fairly well made and are great against each other. The joy of the whole thing is you can of course customize them with other cards you pick up to make them more powerful. They also make "intro decks" with each set and "event decks" that operate under the same premise.

I would highly advise against buying packs when you're starting out. The randomness of them is almost always a losing game. I only crack packs when drafting. There are so many cards designed now with limited formats (draft/sealed deck) in mind that packs are really a huge waste of money if you're looking for something specific. You're better off in the long run designing a deck you want to build and then picking up singles off ebay or store sites. I would also avoid bulk lots on ebay. Those are usually filled with draft rejects and the better deck building cards have been picked out of them.

Another factor to consider is who you're going to be playing with. If it's a just at home thing, then you really don't need to worry much about how you build decks. Everything is going to be built out of the same card pool and power levels will probably be pretty evenly matched. However, if you're thinking about joining those guys at the student union, you want to do some research.

Magic breaks down in to several formats, all of which I see pretty closely observed in even casual circles. The main ones are:
-Vintage/T1 - All card sets are legal in this format, although there is a banned/restricted list. This is the format dominated by some of the most expensive cards in the game. Your moxes, black lotus, etc. are pretty much a requirement to build a competitive deck here.
-Legacy (formerly 1.5) - All card sets are legal here, only there is no restricted list. Cards are either allowed or banned outright. Most of the more expensive and degenerate/broken cards are banned here (stuff like Demonic Tutor, P9, Balance)
-Modern - Core and expansion set cards printed in Mirrodin/8th edition on are allowed, although there is a banned list. This is a new format that replaced extended. It's supposed to be sort of a "legacy lite" format, although it's still very much in its infancy.
-Standard - This is the most commonly played format out there. It includes the most recent core set (released each summer) and the last two "blocks" (3 set cycles released in Sept/Feb/May). Currently, this would be Magic2011, Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, Innistrad, and the soon to be released Dark Ascension.
- There are other casual variants out there. Commander would be the biggest one. That's a 100-card highlander format where your deck's color are restricted by the Legendary creature you select as your commander. It has a banned list as well. It's a super fun format, but I honestly would advise against diving into it until you have a stronger rules understanding again. It's designed with multiplayer in mind (usually 4+ players), so games can get very confusing if your basic rules knowledge is lacking.

Bottom line: You want to make sure the decks you build fit into the commonly played formats of a group, as throwing a standard deck against a Vintage deck really is not fair at all and will not be fun for you.

You can see examples of what's being played out there on sites like starcitygames.com, gatheringmagic.com, and channelfireball.com.

Hope that helps.

[Heath]

That actually does help a lot! I'll only be playing at home with my son. If he ends up not being interested, I doubt I'll stick with it. I planned on picking up a couple starter decks next time I came across some.

[iccarus]

I highly recommend the preconstructed products when it comes to getting used to the game. They have been designed with new players in mind and the cards typically work well around the central theme of the deck.

Trying to put something together randomly out of the 10k+ unique cards that exist can be very daunting. Those products are intended to help overcome that initial hurdle.

[Heath]

I picked up a couple starter decks from the core set and we've played a few games. The basics are the same. There are some special abilities I don't remember from before. My son has a White/Green deck, and I have a Green/Red deck. He's beat me every time so far, and I only held back the first game we played. A couple questions.

I see references on some cards to a "Planeswalker." As in "do damage to player or Planeswalker." What is that? I thought the players WERE Planeswalkers?

What is the minimum deck size? I couldn't find this anywhere on the "how to play" poster.

In one of the starter decks I got a blank card. Standard design on the back, but the front is just white with a black border. Is there anything special about this? Is it fairly common?

In one of the booster packs was a "Zombie" card. The back has an Ultra-Pro ad. The front has the Zombie art over the full card with a small bar at the bottom showing attack/defense. Is this just an advertisement card or something else? It looks like this:

[superman-prime]

The end of mana burn saved my tail alot. The game has changed a lot in 12 years do doubt.

[iccarus]

I see references on some cards to a "Planeswalker." As in "do damage to player or Planeswalker." What is that? I thought the players WERE Planeswalkers?

Planeswalkers are new permanent type that was introduced a few years ago (in Lorwyn). The rules on them are pretty simple, but there are some complexities that can be confusing. Read this. From a flavor perspective, you are summoning another planeswalker to the game to aid you. They have loyalty points that you can use while they are in play. Players can attack them directly (and you can block with your creatures) and point direct damage spells at them. Damage or using an ability removes loyalty and the card goes to the graveyard when it hits 0. You can use a +/- loyalty ability once on your turn at sorcery speed, as long as the PW has enough loyalty to use that ability.

PWs add an interesting dynamic to the game. Most have been very powerful and one is even banned in a couple formats because it warped games so much.

What is the minimum deck size? I couldn't find this anywhere on the "how to play" poster.

For a regular constructed deck (barring special formats), min deck size is 60 cards with no more than 4 copies of any card besides basic land. You can play with more, but deck consistency is best at 60 cards.

In one of the starter decks I got a blank card. Standard design on the back, but the front is just white with a black border. Is there anything special about this? Is it fairly common?

That's known as a "filler card" and they are not very common. They are worth around $20 on ebay for that style, but they can go for more.

In one of the booster packs was a "Zombie" card. The back has an Ultra-Pro ad. The front has the Zombie art over the full card with a small bar at the bottom showing attack/defense. Is this just an advertisement card or something else?

Those are tokens and ad cards, which were added to packs a few years ago. Distribution is random and rarity varies (Zombie is a "common" one). The tokens packaged with boosters usually go with a card in that set that produces that type of token.

[Drift]

I recently grabbed a few MtG bits so that I can get back into the game in preparation for selling the cards in the shop. I grabbed 2 theme decks and a fat pack. I played a few games with my sister so I could get the hang of it again and then de-constructed the decks and created 3 decks using the decks and the fat pack. I have yet to use the new decks but will be on it soon.

I really like the new Inistrad set. It has some really cool mechanics but I haven't used it enough yet to do my usual make-an-awesome-deck-from-cards-most-people-think-are-rubbish trick.

[BruceReville]

Here is a card for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Magic-Gathering ... 5189278dd9

[superman-prime]

NICE

[comicsyte95]

Nice piece to buy if you won the lottery and had allot of disposible income.

[ShadowTuga]

So...
ya, I am getting back into MTG, also. Granted, I've only been playing for less than 5 years now, so it's not like I missed a whole bunch of stuff. I am in touch with the recent stuff, just avoided buying any cards for a year or so.

But this new block is really cool. I got lucky in the sense that I got 2 good - and CHEAP- cards (Arashi Cleric and Abzan Kin-Guard) for my Modern "Lifegain" deck, which might just have a chance against those FNM half-assed builds, one sees everywhere ("kiddo, when you don't have a 'goyf, you don't try to replace it!!!!" ).

My most recent build, suggestions more than welcome, specifically some help with the sideboard. Just threw what I had from previous builds. Last night while testing, I managed to get a turn 4 scenario that had me with almost 40 life and a full-pumped, lifelinked, flying Ascendant hitting for 7. Pow!!!!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/serras-kitten/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NinJZA]

I recently wanted to get back into MTG, but after doing a bit of research on the meta and how much it would cost to assemble a deck in the current format, I figured I would just play Hearthstone instead.

[dornwolf]

I recently wanted to get back into MTG, but after doing a bit of research on the meta and how much it would cost to assemble a deck in the current format, I figured I would just play Hearthstone instead.

Could always play Magic Duels.

[NinJZA]

I recently wanted to get back into MTG, but after doing a bit of research on the meta and how much it would cost to assemble a deck in the current format, I figured I would just play Hearthstone instead.

Could always play Magic Duels.

I just saw a Youtube ad for that yesterday for the first time, I'm curious how others' experiences with it have been, I'll have to try it out myself if I can find space on my phone. The reviews on the app store so far aren't too encouraging