A Magic: The Gathering Beginner's Guide for Newcomers

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I've said it a ton implicit the past fewer weeks, but involvement successful Magic: The Gathering is astatine what feels similar an all-time high. With the precocious released Final Fantasy Universes Beyond crossover set, caller players that whitethorn person ne'er picked up a paper are present inching ever truthful dilatory towards 1 of the astir addicting and time-consuming hobbies around. If you're 1 of these people, oregon idiosyncratic looking to dip your toes into the fantastic satellite of hundred-dollar cardboard, IGN has you covered with our Magic: The Gathering beginner's guide.

Where to Start Playing successful Person

For newcomers, the champion spot to commencement playing successful idiosyncratic is with what we telephone "kitchen table" Magic. No formats, nary banlist, nary meta, conscionable bully aged fashioned vibes. Find a starter kit you like, drawback a friend, sleeve them up, and leap in. These starter decks are large ways to larn the rules. I'd besides highly urge picking up MTG Foundations, arsenic this acceptable is specifically designed with marque caller players successful mind.

Wizards Event Locator

Find in-person events and stores to play Friday Night Magic

Wizards Event Locator

Now that you've learned the rules, recovered the colors you like, and learned a strategy that suits you, you astir apt privation to determination up to playing astatine a section crippled store (LGS) successful your area. Your mileage volition vary, arsenic immoderate stores' subordinate bases favour definite formats implicit others. But for the astir part, galore LGSs volition tally the Standard format arsenic their superior Friday Night Magic (FNM) event. To find an LGS adjacent you, usage the Wizards Event Locator to participate your code and region you privation to check.

MTG Formats

Every store is different, and not everybody enjoys playing the aforesaid formats each the time. Here's a speedy breakdown of immoderate of the astir fashionable formats:

Standard: This is the astir entry-level 60-card, best-of-three format successful Magic. You tin usage cards from the past 2 years, and cards volition rotate retired each Fall.
Limited: Limited formats are 40-card events wherever you don't amusement up with your ain preconstructed decks. The 2 options are Booster Draft, wherever pods of 8 players volition unfastened booster packs and prime a paper 1 by one, passing their battalion to the adjacent subordinate until 3 packs person been drafted. Sealed is wherever you get six booster packs, unfastened them, and physique your platform from this pool.
Pioneer: Pioneer is the adjacent measurement up successful presumption of powerfulness level from Standard. This format is non-rotating, and lone cards from Return to Ravnica to existent sets are legal. No supplementary sets are allowed, similar Commander decks oregon sets similar Modern Horizons.
Modern: Easily the astir fashionable format among competitory players, Modern allows you to usage cards from Mirrodin onward, prevention for Commander platform cards. Direct-to-Modern sets similar Modern Horizons are legal, and are large contributors to the format's existent meta.
Legacy: Every Magic acceptable is ineligible successful Legacy, including Commander decks. This means it has immoderate of the astir almighty decks successful the game, the astir expensive, and is the astir hard to learn. If you're starting out, you apt volition not interaction Legacy immoderate clip soon, if ever.
Pauper: One of my idiosyncratic favourite formats, Pauper is fundamentally Legacy Lite. Every acceptable is just game, but you tin lone usage communal rarity cards. Many of Legacy's strongest cards are common, similar Brainstorm and Ponder, truthful Pauper is simply a large format to larn erstwhile you're funny astir these interactions.
Commander: Commander is the format astir caller and casual players are acquainted with. Commander is simply a format wherever up to 4 players conflict it retired with 100-card decks, wherever each platform is built astir their Commander (a Legendary carnal of their choice). You tin lone physique your platform utilizing your Commander's colors.

TCGPlayer Is a Great Place to Buy Cards

TCGPlayer

TCGPlayer is 1 of the biggest online TCG storefronts

TCGPlayer

All Constructed formats person a database of banned cards to assistance equilibrium retired the meta and region insane combos from their respective formats.

For the champion spot to prime up singles to circular retired your decks oregon find sealed product, I urge Card Kingdom and TCGPlayer. These are the 2 biggest and most-trusted TCG vendors successful the world.

Where to Start Playing Magic Online

MTG: Online

The Gathering Online

Buy, sell, trade, and play Magic with MTG Online

Magic: The Gathering Online

Magic: The Gathering Online has been astir for years, and is simply a beauteous bully translation of in-person play to this online client. You tin play each format disposable successful paper, buy, sell, and commercialized cards with different players, and it's the champion mode to grind retired games to signifier oregon larn antithetic strategies.

MTG: Arena

The Gathering Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena

MTG: Arena is the astir caller online Magic client, launching successful 2019. Taking ocular cues from games similar Hearthstone, Arena is my preferred mode to play the Standard and Pioneer formats - Modern, Legacy, and different older non-rotating formats aren't contiguous connected Arena. You tin inactive bash booster draught and sealed, however. Arena besides has a fistful of its ain bespoke, digital-only formats. Aside from Standard, Pioneer, and Limited, here's what's exclusive to Arena:

Alchemy: This is fundamentally standard. It has the aforesaid rotation docket and comparatively the aforesaid paper pool. However, Alchemy versions of preexisting cards person digital-only mechanics that wouldn't beryllium imaginable successful paper, similar Conjuring cards into your deck.
Historic: This is simply a non-rotating format, akin to Pioneer, that leans mode harder into the client's integer lone mechanics. Conjure, Seek, and giving cards perpetual buffs oregon debuffs are the main draw.
Historic Brawl: Brawl is simply a little fashionable Standard variant of Commander, and Historic Brawl is precisely what you'd expect: Digital-only cards are disposable to physique your Brawl platform with.

Where To Go From Here

There you person it! Everything you request to cognize to commencement playing Magic: The Gathering some in-person and online. Whether you're the adjacent champion Pro Tour grinder oregon tally the Commander tables astatine your LGS, determination are countless ways to play and bask the astir fashionable trading paper crippled successful the world. There are countless sealed products to bargain and physique your collection, and caller sets are released each fewer months. For hardcore collectors, we've adjacent helped way immoderate of the astir invaluable cards to pursuit successful the Final Fantasy Through the Ages collection. And if you're looking for large gifts for that peculiar Planeswalker successful your beingness oregon funny successful immoderate of the champion MTG accessories and supplies, cheque we've got a usher breaking down dozens of my idiosyncratic recommendations.