Hey everyone,
I believe I can say I am quite new to Magic world. I used to play a little more than 10 years ago, but I have sold my collection and left the game until now. Now I am back and ready to play again. I have reread most of the rules, browsed MTG Salvation Wiki for quite a while (that's purely amazing, I really love the way it's done), but I still don't understand quite a lot. Your help will be really appreciated.
1. Since I sold my old collection long time ago (dumb me, should never have done this), I am really interested in gathering a new one aside from just playing the game itself. I have bought a Duel Deck anthology first just to get the taste of the game with ready-made decks, already played with my experienced friend who had beaten me like 7 times in a row, yet I still had a lof of fun. I also got some booster boxes of the recent expansions just to amass some cards and possibly build a good starting deck. So, my question is: which expansions are the most interesting right now in terms of building both collection and deck? Which expansions are really bad to buy?
2. Secondly, I really have no idea how to improve my knowledge and understanding of the game itself. I read a lot of deck-lists, articles and many other stuff, but really, how does one get to know which cards are good to play and which cards are not? How do I advance in understanding all this? I watched some Spellslinger's episodes on YouTube and it made some sense to me, but when I watch videos from some serious tournamets, I really don't understand a single word that is said and hardly anything that comes into play.
3. Finally, I understand there are different formats that people play at the moment (Modern, Vintage, Standard), but again, aside from the expansions allowed, what is the major difference between them? Which one should I focus on when building my deck? I highly doubt I will ever go to some tournament, but still I want to have a deck to at least take part in some local events. A friend of mine said that draft is quite interesting and I offered him to organize it, but he said like it won't be interesting as you don't understand how it works and what you should draft. How do I get the understanding of it?
I would really appreciate your help guys, I am very motivated to advance as an MTG player and I'm really excited to go down this path.
1. That's really up to you. You should look up the mechanics of each block and see which interest you the most. Based on my answer to 3, however, I'd recommend more recent sets.
2. This is a hurdle that isn't easy to climb. One of things I would recommend is reading up on some of the primers here on the site that will explain things to you. I also recommend the Level One series of articles from Wizards. It'll also help you learn concepts and terms that probably confuse you. There is no reason a fresh player should immediately understand tournament jargon.
3. Look up what your local game stores offer. You might want to try drafting for a while, which is a great way to teach you how to value cards. For Drafting, I would recommend just jumping in or going to a store running a draft event. It's okay to lose! But play even just a few times and you'll quickly learn what cards seem cool but you never find a chance to play and which cards will save you all the time. If you want to play a deck you build beforehand, it'll probably be standard or modern. The formats vary on how they play - Standard tends to change pretty quickly, but also requires the most rotations of cards. Personally, I play EDH/Commander, which doesn't have an official format but generally has playgroups at game stores you can meet up with.
Thank you for the answer! I just looked at these Level One articles and they look really interesting, I will delve into them right now. Unfortunately, there are hardly any drafts in my area, but I think I will find a way to introduce myself into the scarce, yet existing community. Thank you again Jay! Will probably focus on the Standard format for now.
Regarding your second point, the recordings of the Pro Tours on Youtube are quite helpful, even if in the beginning you will need to google all the terms you don't understand and the cards you don't know (its's quite fastidious, but well worth it).
The video recording from Star City Games events are cool too.
You can as well play the MTG Duels video games, I have found them helpful to learn the rules in a simple manner (they won't bring you the most extensive knowledges of the rules, but it's a good start).
Thank you for the answer! I just looked at these Level One articles and they look really interesting, I will delve into them right now. Unfortunately, there are hardly any drafts in my area, but I think I will find a way to introduce myself into the scarce, yet existing community. Thank you again Jay! Will probably focus on the Standard format for now.
One of the things you can do is buy a box, then re-use those cards with friends for drafting (shuffling them to make 'packs'). Or you can draft on Magic Online, but the community is mixed about how good a client it is.
And to second Kranium, be patient! It takes some time for certain things to 'click'.
I believe I can say I am quite new to Magic world. I used to play a little more than 10 years ago, but I have sold my collection and left the game until now. Now I am back and ready to play again. I have reread most of the rules, browsed MTG Salvation Wiki for quite a while (that's purely amazing, I really love the way it's done), but I still don't understand quite a lot. Your help will be really appreciated.
1. Since I sold my old collection long time ago (dumb me, should never have done this), I am really interested in gathering a new one aside from just playing the game itself. I have bought a Duel Deck anthology first just to get the taste of the game with ready-made decks, already played with my experienced friend who had beaten me like 7 times in a row, yet I still had a lof of fun. I also got some booster boxes of the recent expansions just to amass some cards and possibly build a good starting deck. So, my question is: which expansions are the most interesting right now in terms of building both collection and deck? Which expansions are really bad to buy?
2. Secondly, I really have no idea how to improve my knowledge and understanding of the game itself. I read a lot of deck-lists, articles and many other stuff, but really, how does one get to know which cards are good to play and which cards are not? How do I advance in understanding all this? I watched some Spellslinger's episodes on YouTube and it made some sense to me, but when I watch videos from some serious tournamets, I really don't understand a single word that is said and hardly anything that comes into play.
3. Finally, I understand there are different formats that people play at the moment (Modern, Vintage, Standard), but again, aside from the expansions allowed, what is the major difference between them? Which one should I focus on when building my deck? I highly doubt I will ever go to some tournament, but still I want to have a deck to at least take part in some local events. A friend of mine said that draft is quite interesting and I offered him to organize it, but he said like it won't be interesting as you don't understand how it works and what you should draft. How do I get the understanding of it?
I would really appreciate your help guys, I am very motivated to advance as an MTG player and I'm really excited to go down this path.
2. This is a hurdle that isn't easy to climb. One of things I would recommend is reading up on some of the primers here on the site that will explain things to you. I also recommend the Level One series of articles from Wizards. It'll also help you learn concepts and terms that probably confuse you. There is no reason a fresh player should immediately understand tournament jargon.
3. Look up what your local game stores offer. You might want to try drafting for a while, which is a great way to teach you how to value cards. For Drafting, I would recommend just jumping in or going to a store running a draft event. It's okay to lose! But play even just a few times and you'll quickly learn what cards seem cool but you never find a chance to play and which cards will save you all the time. If you want to play a deck you build beforehand, it'll probably be standard or modern. The formats vary on how they play - Standard tends to change pretty quickly, but also requires the most rotations of cards. Personally, I play EDH/Commander, which doesn't have an official format but generally has playgroups at game stores you can meet up with.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
The video recording from Star City Games events are cool too.
You can as well play the MTG Duels video games, I have found them helpful to learn the rules in a simple manner (they won't bring you the most extensive knowledges of the rules, but it's a good start).
But it won't happen overnight, so be patient ^^
And to second Kranium, be patient! It takes some time for certain things to 'click'.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Active Player: 1994-1999, 2016-
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