MTG Salvation

What is MTGO?

Magic: The Gathering Online, or MTGO is the official software from Wizards of the Coast (WotC) for playing MTG over the Internet. It's based on the concept of "digital objects" which are the cards or booster packs, among others. Previous versions of the game (currently we're at V4) were called "Magic Online with Digital Objects", or MODO. This acronym stuck and, to this day, it's still used as a synonym of MTGO.

Downloading and Starting the Program

First, you need to download the client and a $10 account (Paypal or Credit/Debit). You can do that here: https://accounts.onlinegaming.wizards.com


Once the game loads, you’ll be taken to the Home tab. The buttons on the top work as follows:

Collection: Takes you to your collection and the deck editor.
Play Lobby: Takes you to the list of available games.
Store: Takes you to the WotC online store.
Trade: Takes you to the Classifieds.
Account: Takes you to your account settings.
Help: Takes you to the in game help manual with useful links to wotc customer service.

Some Basic Concepts

MTGO is a client-based application. It connects to WotC's server to check for updates (See the 'Downtime' section) and synchronizes your collection.

Your $10 account gives you access to the server and some product (see below). There are no monthly fees or other charges, but you still have to spend money on product or win events if you want to increase your card collection.

When you open your collection for the first time you'll see a "New Player Starter Kit" right click and choose open one of these. It will give you the following items:

5 Event Tickets - Event Tickets (or simply 'Tix') are used to enter Tournaments. However, at a cost of $1, they are used as the de facto currency within MTGO. This means that "selling" and "buying" cards/packs can be done by trading for tix (See the 'Trading and Bots' section for more information).

20 New Player Points - These special, points let new players enter the two new tournament queues listed below that are designed to let them become familiar with how Magic Online works in a low-pressure environment. See the Events Section for more info.

5 Avatars - Mostly cosmetic these represent your player in the client. Some avatars such as Momir Vig (not included) are used for digital only formats.

650 Commons and Uncommons to jump start your collection. See the full list here: http://wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2288/related/1

Priority

MTGO automatically passes priority in certain situations, to speed up game play. Unless you set up a stop, you could go directly from your Main phase to declaring attackers, without any opportunity to cast instants or activate abilities beforehand. So, the first thing you want to do when you’re ready to play is to set up the stops on the steps/phases during which you want to be given the chance to take action.

To set up a stop while in a game, simply click on the step/phase indicator above your hand select whether you want to stop on your turn, your opponent’s turn, neither or both.

Want to turn them on and off during a game? Have a Silence in hand? Just set up a stop on your opponent’s upkeep, and when you have no use for that stop, simply remove it.

Whenever you cast a spell, or activate an ability, MTGO automatically passes priority to your opponent, so they can respond to what’s on the stack. However, in certain situations you want to respond to your own spells/abilities, so you want to keep priority, instead of passing it blindly.

To keep priority, hold down the Ctrl key while casting your spell. It is recommended that you hold the key during the whole process of casting the spell (tapping mana, selecting targets, choosing values for X, etc.) to avoid mishaps.

Sometimes you have done everything you can or want in a turn. To automatically pass priority use one of the commands described in the “MTGO Commands” section.


Conceding the Game

To concede the game, right-click anywhere on the playing area (battlefield) and select the concede option from the popup menu. You will be prompted for confirmation. Note that conceding will only have an impact on your rating if you're playing in an official tournament (includes pre-release and release events). If you can see that you have no way to win a casual game, conceding can let you get to the next game faster, without storing any kind of record of it.

(Source. Check bottom of this page.)

F2: OK (same as clicking OK button)

F3: Removes all auto-yields and cancel previous pressed F4/F6/F8. (Can again be used when you do not have priority, or right click on the play area and select "Remove auto-yields", which is identically functional to F3.)

F4: Pass priority until something is on the stack (Yield until EOT as long as nothing happens). (Can again be used when you do not have priority.)

F5: Lets you briefly look at face-down cards you control.

F6: Pass priority for rest of turn no matter what happens (Yield until EOT no matter what happens (you still have to make decisions when required)). (Can again be used when you do not have priority.)

F7: Automatically place all untargeted triggers on the stack for the rest of the game if they allhave the same text. Removing auto-yields by right-clicking or pressing F3 will toggles back off.

F8: Turn off "bluffing" (Pass priority unless I can do something). This lasts UNTIL END OF GAME unless cancelled by F3. Good for multiplayer. For instance, you will normally get priority as long as you have a card in hand even if you're tapped out, because you might have a spell such as Pact of Negation. After activating F8, you would no longer receive priority in this situation (unless you actually *have* a PoN). (GR’s note: this won’t work if you have X activated abilities, since you can always activate those for 0)

F9 OR Alt+Y: Yes (same as clicking YES button)

F10 OR Alt+N: No (same as clicking NO button)

Alt+U: Undo, if possible.

Ctrl+announce spell/ability: Announce the spell or ability without automatically passing priority afterwards.


Speeding up Combos with Triggered Abilities

As stated above, you can auto-yield and auto-yes to specific card triggers. First, make sure you haven't hit F8 in the entire game or F4/F6 in the current turn. Otherwise, you should right click the playing area and choose "Remove auto yields". The second thing you need to make sure of, is that you have no floating mana, as floating mana overrides auto-yields.

Now you're ready to set up auto-yields. First, hit F7 (i.e. once for the entire game) to have multiple triggers go on the stack at the same time (this only works when the triggers are the same, ala Exalted, but it won't work with different triggers, as you must choose the order in which they hit the stack, nor with abilities that require targeting).

Once your abilities are on the stack, don't click OK. Right click on each ability for the auto-yield options. If it's a yes/no ability, you must first select the 'Always Yes' option, before selecting "Always Yield to this".

Within MTGO's Menu, you'll find the rooms. These are areas where you'll find different types of games, depending on the room, of course:


Casual Rooms
This is the place for games without any prizes involved. Some people play more seriously than others, don't count on others going into a game with the same expectations as you, unless the game is clearly labeled.

Just Starting Out
Formerly named "New Players". Where people with few cards go to play and learn the interface. It's one of two places that accept the Gold Bordered Planeswalker format. People with guest accounts also play here.

Just for Fun
Formerly named "Casual Decks". You'll find plenty Standard and Classic duels here, along with infrequent Extended and Legacy ones.

Anything Goes
Freeform decks duel here along with anything else that doesn't fit into New Players or Casual Decks.

Tournament Practice
In theory, this is where you go to test your deck for any upcomming constructed tournament. It is unfortunately not infrequent to see someone go: Mulligan to 4, concede. If you really want to play against competitive decks without early quits, we advise you to join a 2-man queue (at a cost of 2 tix) in the tournament rooms.

Multiplayer
Where you play 2HG, Commander (EDH), FFA and any other multiplayer format available. Note that this is the only other room than New Players to accept the Planeswalker format.

Some games here have 40/10 in their description, and the creator will have used the "Allow Starting Handicaps" option when the game was made. This means that once the game starts, every player is expected to set their life to 40 and hand size to 10. These games are usually expected to be played in a fairly relaxed manner.

Casual Drafts (almost always empty/nearly empty)
You can draft here, provided you get the required number of people (usually 2, 4, or 8). You have to provide your product, and there's no prize at the end, which is why the room is often empty.

Tournaments
All games here are for some sort of prize. Also includes all prerelease/release events, since they are played for prizes. Entry fees (in general) will be outlined here.

Scheduled Events
Formerly two rooms: "Premier Events" and "Daily Events". This is where the championships, PTQs, Thursday Night Magic and some pre-release/release events are held. Premier Events tend to be held on the weekends (Friday to Monday), with some exceptions.



You can see which "Daily Events" are held here in the Magic Online Calendar. Rather than list all of the possible events, you can search that Calendar and click on the Event names to find the relevant information. In general, however:


Limited Queues
Formerly the Sealed Swiss Queues and 8-Player Draft rooms. You'll find 4-Booster Sealed Swiss events here, and most drafts (except the PE ones). To enter a given draft (in general), you have three entry options.
1) 14 Event Tickets. No product required. In effect, you're purchasing the packs from Wizards at a cost of 4 Event Tickets apiece.
2) 2 Event Tickets plus product.
3) 1 Draft Event Pack. This can be purchased in the Store. Opening it will produce the same result as #2, but people had trouble understanding that the Draft Event Pack was like a wrapper for product.
(Note: If the selected Draft Queue is Nix Tix, you will not be required to pay the entry fee of 2 Event Tickets. This equates to subtracting 2 Event Tickets from options 1 and 2, and voiding option 3.)

Phantom Events
Phantom Events are Limited Events where you only keep the prizes. Players like phantom events because they don't have to worry about how much cards are worth while drafting. and because they tend to be cheaper overall.

There are currently 3 types of Phantom Events.
New Player Phantom Sealed Deck Queue
A four player two round tournament that has an entry fee of 1 New Player Ticket and awards the winner a copy of the Thursday Night Promo Card.

New Player Phantom Draft Queue
A four player two round draft tournament that has an entry fee of 1 New Player Ticket and awards the winner a copy of the Thursday Night Promo Card.

MTGO Cube Drafts
ENTRY OPTION(S): 7 Event Tickets.
PRODUCT: Magic Online will provide 3 Phantom Magic Online Cube booster packs for this event. Cards players draft and play with in a Phantom event are NOT added to those players' collections. SIZE: 8 Players.
DURATION: Drafting and deck building time plus 3 rounds, single elimination OR 3 rounds, Swiss pairings depending on event entered.
PRIZES: Paid out in boosters of a retro set equivalent to what a regular 8-4, 4-3-2-2-, or Swiss draft would pay. (See what do these numbers mean below).

Release Queues

All prerelease and release event queues are hosted here. In general, prerelease drafts will be 20 15 Event Tickets for a 4-2-1 Swiss queue.


Constructed Queue
Formerly named "8-Player Constructed". Any constructed event that isn't in Daily Events or Premier Events is found here. Note that there are also 2-player events held here, despite the room name.




Leagues
Currently defunct. Check back later?


My Games
Serves the same purpose of the "Games" tab on the bottom right of your window.


Private Rooms
You can create your own private rooms by typing /join "room name" on any chat window. If the room does not exist, it will be created. If it does, you'll join the ongoing conversation. These are mostly chat rooms, that you can share with buddies, clan members or the like.

The most popular "private" room is the auction room. Guess what goes on on that room? As explained above, type /join auction to enter this room.

This is by far one of the most confusing things for new players to understand since 99% of the MTGO Economy is automated by "bots".

A bot is a set of background computer software automating a client to perform trade functions.

You trade with bots by opening a trade window. Go to the classifieds and search for either the bot's name, chain (brand), or for the individual card you are looking for.

Most bots trade cards for tickets (tix) and tickets for cards. Tickets are worth aprox $1 US, so a bot willing to trade 100 commons for 1 ticket is basically selling you cards for 0.01 each. Please keep in mind that MANY rare cards are significantly cheaper than paper, while certain older cards are more expensive than in paper. If you don't see a card listed in search it's likely bulk. You can check one of the many chains with an online price list to verify.

It is advisable when you first start that you do not leave credit on bots until you have been around a while and know which bots you can trust. Have a list of 'filler' cards that you can buy and know what the prices are to use the rest of your credit. Good filler cards are format staples that you don't yet have a playset (or if you play commander singletons).

An example would be buying a land for 2.5 tix. Since you can't trade a bot 2.5 tix it will take 3 tix and save 0.50 credit. Get more cards until you have less than 0.02 or so. If you don't see any good deals ask yourself if you want to pay 3 full tix for the card. Add any bots with credit to your buddy list, or keep track of them off client.

Even when you are comfortable trading, it is advisable to only leave credit on 2-3 major bot chains because otherwise it gets hard to keep track of it.

I am currently in the process of documenting a video primer for this. I tried to do it in the beta client, but I could only do minimal functions. At this time it is best to trade in Version 3.

Learn more about the MTGO Market Place in our very own section of Market Street Cafe. http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/forumdisplay.php?f=720

1) What's the best chain to buy/sell from?
We get asked this A LOT, and this isn't even the right forum to ask. The answer is that there is no one best chain. Just like there is no one best online store for paper cards. Some stores have more selection. Some only deal in standard packs and cards. Some specialize in specialty formats. You might have to look elsewhere if you like foils. Once you find 2-3 you like, you'll find yourself looking at them over and over. Need ideas? See Question 2.

2) How much is Abc Card, or What are my cards worth?
The following online price guides should give you a general idea of what something is worth. (Listed in no particular order).

Http://www.supernovabots.com
Http://www.mtgotraders.com
Http://mtgowikiprice.com
http://www.goatbots.com/prices.php
http://marlonmtgo.com/prices.html
http://www.cardbotmtgo.com
http://thecardnexus.com/mtg-online/

Price histories:
http://www.mtggoldfish.com
http://mosouba.com/

(Own a bot chain with an online price list and very reliable uptime for your website and want it listed? Message Me).

http://www.mtgotraders.com/articles/mtgotipsandtricks.html

Downtime occurs every Wednesday. You can find out more if you ask an ORC (Online Response Crew) in the channels; chances are you'll get a link to the status blog.

About the Store

The Store is found by clicking the 'STORE' tab at the bottom of the game screen or the 'SHOP' button on the left side of the main screen. There you can purchase Booster Packs, Intro Packs, Theme Decks, Event Tickets, and any other product released by WotC. You can also search by expansion using the icons at the bottom of the screen.


How to buy

The store features a cart, where you add the stuff you want to buy. Then you have to complete the checkout process. You can use the following paying methods:

Credit and Debit Cards - Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express only. You will be required to enter the Card Verification Number printed in the card.

PayPal - Verified accounts only.

Gift Cards - They must be associated with accepted credit card companies and registered with your name and address.

Compensation Codes - Given by WotC, they can be used alone or combined with credit/debit cards.

Once the payment goes through, the purchased products will be delivered directly to your Magic Online account.



More on the Products

Booster Packs - Each contains 15 randomly assorted cards, including one rare or mythic rare card, three uncommon cards, and either eleven common cards or ten common cards plus one basic land card.

Theme Decks - Ready-to-play 60-card pre-constructed decks.

Intro Packs - Ready-to-play 41-card pre-constructed decks that come with a Booster Pack.

Event Tickets - Used to enter tournaments in Magic Online.

Event Packs - Include the Booster Packs and Event Tickets needed to play in a given Magic Online event. Each Event Pack description explains its contents and use.

Redemption Requests - Used to convert complete sets of digital cards into equivalent sets of physical cards.

(Source)

Read this Sticky by the_cardfather: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=271925

Server Status:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magiconlineserverstatus.asp

Official Announcements:
http://community.wizards.com/magiconline

MTGO Calendar:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/digital/magiconline.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/calendar

I have a Mac:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=286027&highlight=boot+camp
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

Recommended bots for new players:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=236319

MTGO Traders’ Summary of Tips and Tricks:
http://www.mtgotraders.com/articles/mtgotipsandtricks.html

About the randomness of the Shuffler:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=336524

Video Tutorial:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=343447

Banned/Restricted Lists:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=judge/resources/banned

Top 10 MTGO Beginner Mistakes:
http://www.mtgoacademy.com/top-ten-mtgo-beginner-mistakes/

Primer to the Planeswalker Format:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10064559

Introduction to the Wide Beta Client:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/wild-beta-client-tutorial