Supplies
The first thing you need to have to begin your journey as a
Planeswalker is cards that you can play with. Magic is offered as
several different products to help players of all levels collect the cards
they need. Magic cards card in:
Single 15 card booster packs.
Fat packs with 9 Booster packs and some extra lands.
A box with 32 individual packs.
One of best ways for a brand-new player to start is with an
Intro Deck. These are specially designed so that you can play out-of-
the box and have fewer rules to learn than a random booster from a
newly released set. They also come with the lands you will need to
play spells, which is important as you begin to build your collection.
This is typically the best option as it offers an easy, inexpensive way
for each player to access a deck and begin playing.
If you’ve already found a locally established hobby store or play
group, a better choice for you may be an event deck. Similar to an
intro deck, these are designed to be playable right out-of-the box. The
difference is that the power level on the cards and how they work
together is a bit more complex. This will, however, allow you to play
with others who have more powerful collections without becoming
frustrated by feeling like you can’t compete.
If you’ve already found a locally established hobby store or play
group, a better choice for you may be an event deck. Similar to an
intro deck, these are designed to be playable right out-of-the box. The
difference is that the power level on the cards and how they work
together is a bit more complex. This will, however, allow you to play
with others who have more powerful collections without becoming
frustrated by feeling like you can’t compete.
Once you have your cards, the only other supplies you need are
counters and a way to record life totals. Many spells create unusual
effects that require you to keep track of things, so counters (ranging
from coins to dice and even slips of paper) are important. It is also
aritical to record all changes in life totals to ensure fair play. This can,
of course, be done with pencil and paper, but there are even smart
phone apps that will take care of this for you.
Rules
Once you have gathered the necessary supplies and found a
friend with a deck, you both need to understand the mechanics of the
game. There are many rules in Magic: The Gathering, but the most
important one to learn first is that the cards trump all rules. If there
is a rule that would be broken by the text on a card, the card will
always win!
So, What are the rules? As you already know, you will begin the
game with 20 life points. The only other thing you will have at the
beginning of the game will be your deck. Your deck represents your
knowledge-all the lands you’ve visited and the spells you’ve learned,
although (technically) your deck can include your entire collection as
long as you can shuffle it.
Just say for now you have a 60 card Intro or Event Deck. This
is What you need to do:
1. Shuffle your deck. Each game of Magic is
between randomized decks.
2. Draw seven cards. These seven cards will be
your opening hand, the spells most readily
available in your mind.
3. Make a decision. Do you want to keep the hand
or not? Magic duels allow you the opportunity to
mulligan (or re-do) hands that will not play well. While good mulligan discipline will only
be built over time, a good rule of thumb is that
you want a mix of lands and spells that give you
the opportunity to sculpt a battle plan over the
first few turns of the game.
4. If you don’t like the 7 cards you’ve drawn,
shuffle them back into your deck and re-draw a
new hand with one less card. You may do this as
many times as you like, though it’s not
recommended to go below four starting cards.
5. Prepare for battle. Once you’ve drawn your
hand, you will be ready to battle.
Mana makes the world go round
In Magic: The Gathering, nothing happens without “mana”.
Mana is the mystical energy harnessed by Planeswalkers. It is this
energy that in turn allows them to cast their powerful spells, summon
creatures and other Planeswalkers to their aid, and create powerful
artifacts. Mana is created by lands and each type of land creates a
special type of mana.
There are five basic land types in Magic and each corresponds to
a certain color of Mana. Each color embodies a particular philosophy,
a way of accomplishing its goals that is unique to that school of Magic.
- White Mana – White mana is derived from the
open fields and plains and is the color of order,
balance, justice, and law. “Thite magicians
believe in the whole being greater than the self.
White is the color of well-disciplined armies
with each unit boosting the other so that the
overall goal is achieved. ‘Vith White’s focus on
balance and healing, many of its spells will only
temporarily deal with problem creatures instead
of killing them outright. ‘Vhite mages also have
access to “reset” spells that will wipe the entire
board of spells that have been cast, even those
cast by the White mage herself. - Blue Mana – Blue mana comes from islands,
rivers, and oceans. It is also the color of
intellect, knowledge, creation, and the triumph
of the individual. As water is easily malleable,
blue mages seek to manipulate the mind-both
their own as well as that of their opponents.
Blue is the primary home of spells that will stop
your opponents’ spells from taking place while
also allowing the most manipulation of your
mind (as represented in game terms by your
library) allowing you to draw and move cards within your library - Black Mana – Black mana is taken from the
dankest swamps and places rife with decay and
corruption. Black magic is the magic of death,
corruption, and power at all costs. Black mages
will make deals with the devil and will hurt
anyone and anything in order to gain access to
the knowledge and power they seek. Black is the
color of winning, no matter the cost and all who
don’t like it can be damned. - Red Mana – Red mana flows like lava from the
mountains and, like a volcano, is very
unpredictable. Red is the color of raw, fiery
emotion, of elemental forces, chaos, and
passion. Red mages defy order and
conventional wisdom and instead blaze their
own path. Leaning more towards acting than
thinking, red magic can be random, chaotic, and
change very quickly. - Green Mana – Green is the color of growth and
green mana comes from the depths of lush
forests. Green mages care about natural order,
life, and evolution. They believe that natural
selection will produce the best creature for any
given task. A green mage will rely more on
creatures than practitioners of different colors,
feeling that large predators will take down the
biggest game, namely the other Planeswalkers
opposing her.