Look for a duel deck. They have two decks that are meant to be played against each other. They also have a guide, life counter and a few other things. The Last two are Merfolk vs. Goblins and Elves vs. Inventors. Those are the most likely ones to find in retail stores.
There's a couple different formats for magic. If you are looking to get into tournaments the usual way is through standard (which is the last couple sets of legal cards) and is usually done at Friday Night Magic (FNM), but many stores run additional standard tournaments through the week. Recently Wizards released 4 Challenger decks which are standard legal decks that are designed for FNM https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/challenger-decks-lists-2018-02-23
If you are looking to get into standard or competitive magic I would absolutely start with one of these decks.
1. What is your budget?
2. What is your play style? Do you like duels, teams or community play?
3. Do you have experience with other CCGs (Collectible Card Games)?
Would be glad to help.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
If you want to just learn the basics of the game, I think the best bang-for-buck might be card kingdom's battle decks. They give you a fairly simple deck to learn with a nice description, so you can pick one that seems like it will be fun for you. And they're only $10.
Duel decks are also a decent idea, although you have less ability to choose and I think they're a little more expensive than the battle decks.
If your goal is to eventually get into standard, then the challenger decks are a great place to start, however there are many ways to play the game, and standard is only one of them. Personally I would pick out basic decks like the duel or battle decks first, and decide how you want to play the game before picking a deck that you're going to invest time and money into. Although challenger decks are cheap enough that, if you're willing to drop a little more coin, they're not a bad idea for a starter deck either.
You are getting introduced to the game within a game - the economy minigame. Don't forget to check places like mtgstocks.com/interests and similar sites to start watching for cheap pickups and watching price spikes. You can't avoid retail store prices if you're new, but afterwards start looking at marketplaces for buying and selling instead of buylisting at 50% yet buying for full price from retail outlets. You'll always lose if you'll always take retail buylists and pricing.
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Buy and sell Magic: the Gathering cards on the handy dandy itty bitty website I made: https://SpeedMTG.com
hi. im new to magic also. some might not agree with the items i bought but i had a small budget and there was a limited amount of products i could buy.
but heres what i bought so far to get started maybe it can help you
2 dominaria battle booster packs(it come with 2 different 30 color decks and 2 booster packs)
i got a free welcoming deck from my local card shop
1 planeswalker deck(it comes with a 2 color 60 card deck. 2 booster packs and a legendary planeswalker card. they have like 8 to 10 different decks you can choose)
and i bought 6 hour of devastation packs.
i bought these items separately, but if i had all this money at once i would of bought a challenger deck or a builders tool kit and some packs.
but if u have a nice amount to spend i bet other members of this forum have better recomendations than i do
good luck and i hope this helped
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its good to learn from your mistakes.but i prefer to learn from the mistakes of others.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/challenger-decks-lists-2018-02-23
If you are looking to get into standard or competitive magic I would absolutely start with one of these decks.
1. What is your budget?
2. What is your play style? Do you like duels, teams or community play?
3. Do you have experience with other CCGs (Collectible Card Games)?
Would be glad to help.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
SG
Duel decks are also a decent idea, although you have less ability to choose and I think they're a little more expensive than the battle decks.
If your goal is to eventually get into standard, then the challenger decks are a great place to start, however there are many ways to play the game, and standard is only one of them. Personally I would pick out basic decks like the duel or battle decks first, and decide how you want to play the game before picking a deck that you're going to invest time and money into. Although challenger decks are cheap enough that, if you're willing to drop a little more coin, they're not a bad idea for a starter deck either.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
but heres what i bought so far to get started maybe it can help you
2 dominaria battle booster packs(it come with 2 different 30 color decks and 2 booster packs)
i got a free welcoming deck from my local card shop
1 planeswalker deck(it comes with a 2 color 60 card deck. 2 booster packs and a legendary planeswalker card. they have like 8 to 10 different decks you can choose)
and i bought 6 hour of devastation packs.
i bought these items separately, but if i had all this money at once i would of bought a challenger deck or a builders tool kit and some packs.
but if u have a nice amount to spend i bet other members of this forum have better recomendations than i do
good luck and i hope this helped
chandra stole my heart
link to my card list
https://deckstats.net/collection/6022/