Moderator please move to the correct forum if this one is not the one for noobs. And my apologies.
I ain't too bright, not a regular board or card gamer and slow to learn. I have noob questions.
I have a hard time learning the game from youtube videos. Yes I pick up bits and pieces but still could not be able to play even with another noob.
Here are some questions, you don't have to answer them all. I am an older guy but please answer as if you are talking to a 12 years old noob
I do understand there are tutorials online and answers to some of my questions but most of the time it brings more questions on my end and the tutorial is not enough. Getting answers here have to be more accurate.
So far I know that lands are mana for spells and are turned sideways when being used. That players start with 20 points each. I know what a token is. Cards are either Mythic, rare, uncommon or common and know maybe a couple of other things I can't think of right now.
I think for me at this point the best would be to sit with someone that knows the game and has lots of patience LOL
1) What is a commander deck? Yesterday I was in a game shop buying boosters and a guy asked if they were having commander tournaments ? (I could be wrong on the wording as I was really looking at the boosters and not really listening to them but the word "Commander" was used for sure).
2)Why does MTG has some identical cards from sets to sets? It looks like easy money to me.
3)What is drafting? Lots of cheap lots on Ebay are advertised as "Great for drafting".
4)60 cards are a deck right? I don't understand much about these cards but can't a player just grab the most powerful cards in the game and kick ass?
5)When building your own deck can you use cards from different sets, or you have to stick with a particular sets (Can you mix cards from "Ravnika" with some from "Core 2012" for example ? (Really curious about the answer to that one)
6)Why do some sets have a name, like "Ravnica" and others have "Core with a year next to them"? Does the core has the main cards for the year and the named sets released in that year add new cards to the core one?
7)What is exactly a "Promo deck"? I found a sealed "Gideon Jura" promo deck for $1 at a goodwill. It has 30 cards. If I buy more of that particular deck, will I get some of the cards to be different or not? They have more of these $1 decks. I noticed all the cards are from existing series, like no new cards it seems. Could I get Guideon Jura planeswalker in one of these decks? Mine does not have it.
8) How to score some good deals on cards? Ebay is a solution and I bought 2000 commons for pennies each with no dups and fun to organize. Some people say craigslist but it's usually more expensive than Ebay. Mail order resellers, MTG forums? My local store has millions of singles, I am planning on buying some to somewhat complete the sets I have (Mostly rare and foils I would buy there and some mythic at Xmas), but they don't have either complete sets, or partially complete ones, only singles. It would be nice to buy some rare and maybe a couple mythic without breaking the bank. I am not dumb and expect to score mythic for a nickel. I am ready to buy a big lot at a discounted price. I collect for me and not as an investor, I know I will never recoup my money if I ever sell. Also played cards are fine as long as not completely destroyed.
9) Tired of me yet? Sorry more coming!
10) Why are there different mana and deck colors? I see written stuff like "No matter which color you prefer to play......" written on boxes. Colors you play have different game rules?
11) Another thing. When you have your deck of cards. Why can you have 3 or 4 of the same card? You have one, it's not enough?
12) Do cards get removed from the game when they lose a fight?
I hope I don't get flamed and if I do it's still better than when my wife let me have it
They are EXACTLY what you need to dive into a duel of Magic the Gathering. I would suggest buying 2 of the Rookie Decks or just one of the Magic Arena starter kits so you can duel against a friend whom is also learning. Don't worry about Magic Online, don't worry about Magic Arena, don't even worry about Commander until you get your feet wet in the 1 on 1 of a duel. Wizards of the Coast no longer sells "Intro Decks" so these Rookie Decks and Starter Decks are EXACTLY what you need to learn. I will leave it at that. No need to overload you at this point, you will discover anything and everything on your own but I would first discover how to actually play and that is through trial and error. Don't worry about your age, I've been playing since 1994 and am 51 years old, and still learning a little bit here and there as I go along. Good luck and seriously look into those "Rookie and Starter Decks".
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."
1) What is a commander deck? Yesterday I was in a game shop buying boosters and a guy asked if they were having commander tournaments ? (I could be wrong on the wording as I was really looking at the boosters and not really listening to them but the word "Commander" was used for sure).
Commander is a constructed format (meaning you bring a deck you built beforehand to the game), where you have one legendary creature as your commander (some planeswalkers are also allowed, as are two commanders if they have the partner ability) and a deck of 99 other cards, each one being a single copy, no duplicates allowed, with the exception of basic lands. The later is the reason why this player created format was originally called "Highlander" or "Elder Dragon Highlander" (EDH for short), after the motto of the movie "The Highlander": "There can only be one." The format was eventually adopted by Wizards as an official format. (Elder dragons are the 3-colored legendary dragons in the game).
Deck construction has to follow some additional rules. Each card has to be of a color identity that is a subset of your commander's color identity. Color identiy is determined by the colored mana symbols in the card's mana cost, plus the colors of any color indicators on the front and back face of the card, plus any colored mana symbols in the text box (except in reminder text). You can use cards that have all, some, or none of the colors in the commander's color identity, but not cards that have other colors.
The games start with 25 life, and your commander is in the command zone, from where you can cast it as normal. When your comander dies or goes to exile, you can put it back into the command zone, but you have to do that at that time. Casting the commander from the command zone again cost an additional 2 for each time it was cast from there before. This is known as the "commander tax". This means, that it's pretty hard to lose your commander for good, but it also means, that it is pretty hard to get rid of your opponent's commander for good.
That should be enough info for now on that topic, I think.
2)Why does MTG has some identical cards from sets to sets? It looks like easy money to me.
Two main reasons. First, as more and more cards are created, cards that function in a particular way are more likely to have already been done, so no reason the invent the wheel again. Second, the Standard format is a rotating format, meaning in regular intervals a lot of cards are suddenly not allowed anymore. But Wizards wants certain cards to still be present in the format. So they reprint them in a new set. Reprints also give newer players acces to staples of older formats without having to spend a fortune on a few pieces of cardboard. Older cards may also have been deemed too powerful for a long time, but with the changes in power level and such, they may be fine nowadays, and long time players may rejoice by getting to play with their old toys again.
3)What is drafting? Lots of cheap lots on Ebay are advertised as "Great for drafting".
Draft is a Limited format, meaning you don't bring a prebuilt deck to the event. Rather you build it at the beginning of the event, the draft. In a draft, you are sitting with (usually) 7 other players at the table. You are given three boosters. You open one. You take one card from it into your card pool, from which you later build your deck. The rest of the cards you pass on to the player on your right. Thus receive a pack with one less card from the player to your left. You take one card from that pack, and then pass it on. And so on, until all the cards from the first packs have been distributed among the players. Second round, you open your second booster, take a card, then pass it to your left, so the other way around. And again you take cards until all the cards from the second packs have been distributed. And a third round, with the third booster, passing to the right again. This leaves you with three boosters worth of cards, that you have preselected, to build a 40+ card deck from. Basic lands are free, you don't have to draft them, you get however many you want/need, and of whatever type. There is usually a time limit to build your deck (around 30-40 minutes). And then you play with your deck in duels against the other players.
Draft is a very skill intensive format, but also very rewarding and fun. You have to decide what to take based on what you already have, what you have seen so far that may come around again, what you may still get, etc. In essence, you have to already build your deck while choosing cards from the packs.
This forum has a Limited section (though it's currently deserted), where I did some fun community drafts. You can get an idea of what decisions you haver to make, what thing can influence your choices, etc. if you browse there.
4)60 cards are a deck right? I don't understand much about these cards but can't a player just grab the most powerful cards in the game and kick ass?
It's a pile. A deck has an actual plan, how to win the game, how not to lose the game, what to do early on, what to do later, how to deal with what the opponent is presenting, etc. It needs the right amount of lands with the right mix of colors. It needs the right mix of early game cards and late game cards. Because if you can't play anything until turn 4-5, you lose, your opponent is just going to run you over, or lock you down so hard that you will continue to be unable to do anything meaningful.
A "good stuff" deck can work, though. Such a deck then simply relies on the superiority of its cards to outmatch the opponent's cards. But a "good stuff" deck with built-in synergy between its cards is better. Getting the most powerful cards for a particular job is a good thing, but simply taking the best stuff in the format will not make the best deck. Also, powerful cards usually have cheap purpose built answers to them in the format.
5)When building your own deck can you use cards from different sets, or you have to stick with a particular sets (Can you mix cards from "Ravnika" with some from "Core 2012" for example ? (Really curious about the answer to that one)
Yes, mixing cards from different sets in your deck is a core principle of the game.
6)Why do some sets have a name, like "Ravnica" and others have "Core with a year next to them"? Does the core has the main cards for the year and the named sets released in that year add new cards to the core one?
Core sets are aimed at newer players. While they may have an overall theme to them (a mechanic or such), they are not tied to any particular world of Magic, unlike regular sets. So they are also a fine tool for Wizards to (re)print cards they want in Standard but that don't thematically fit into any of the Standard sets. Core sets consist in a large portion of reprints. And the cards are usually simpler, easier to understand.
7)What is exactly a "Promo deck"? I found a sealed "Gideon Jura" promo deck for $1 at a goodwill. It has 30 cards. If I buy more of that particular deck, will I get some of the cards to be different or not? They have more of these $1 decks. I noticed all the cards are from existing series, like no new cards it seems. Could I get Guideon Jura planeswalker in one of these decks? Mine does not have it.
I never bothered with any of those, so can't really say anything about those.
8) How to score some good deals on cards? Ebay is a solution and I bought 2000 commons for pennies each with no dups and fun to organize. Some people say craigslist but it's usually more expensive than Ebay. Mail order resellers, MTG forums? My local store has millions of singles, I am planning on buying some to somewhat complete the sets I have (Mostly rare and foils I would buy there and some mythic at Xmas), but they don't have either complete sets, or partially complete ones, only singles. It would be nice to buy some rare and maybe a couple mythic without breaking the bank. I am not dumb and expect to score mythic for a nickel. I am ready to buy a big lot at a discounted price. I collect for me and not as an investor, I know I will never recoup my money if I ever sell. Also played cards are fine as long as not completely destroyed.
This depends on what you want out of the deal. If you just want lots of cards to grow your collection, then buying those big piles of commons and uncommons is fine. If you want some good stuff, though, buying those cards as singles is the best way. You will not get the good stuff from bargain bins, as that is sold individually, because sellers want to make profit. And gambling for good cards with booster (boxes) will cost you even more money.
9) Tired of me yet? Sorry more coming!
Nah, happy to answer a new player's questions.
10) Why are there different mana and deck colors? I see written stuff like "No matter which color you prefer to play......" written on boxes. Colors you play have different game rules?
The game's rules are the same (as compiled in the mighty Comprehensive Rules rule book). Each color plays differently, they represent different magics, different philosopies, stategies, etc. That is called the color pie, and each color has its share of it. Some effects bleed over into other colors, but when you are facing an unknown deck, its colors can tell you what it is likely trying to do, and how it will try to deal with your cards. This especially helps in Draft and Sealed games. In short:
White is the color of order, unity, community, righteousness, light, healing, etc. Its creatures are usually angels, domesticated beasts, and hordes upon hordes of little guys like humans. Its effects range from destrution and exiling of offending creatures (the opponent's), clearing the board entirely (=destroying all creatures), buffing up all of its creatures, buffing a single creature through auras (=a lasting enhancement), protecting creatures (protection is a very powerful ability), etc.
Blue is the color of air, water, ice, knowledge, magic, control, etc. Its creatures are usually outmatched by creatures of the same cost of the other colors but make up for that with powerful abilities and a vast arsenal of spells to mess around. It's the spell color. It doesn't rely on hordes of creatures. Creatureless decks (yes, that's a thing) are most likely blue. Its effects range from tapping and untapping stuff at the most (un)opportune times, keeping it tapped for a while or more permanently, bouncing stuff back to hand so it has to be replayed, downright countering spells (so it got played but didn't do anything and the card is gone), drawing loads of extra cards, etc.
Black is the color of selfishness, death, undeath, decay, insanity, and such. Its creatures range from all kinds of vermin (rats and such), zombies, vampires, to demons and other monstrosities. It kills, one creature, some creatures, all creatures. It makes the opponent discard the cards in the hand (sometimes being kind enough to let the opponent choose what to ditch). Also draws a lot of extra cards, which usually costs the player some life. Reanimation (getting dead stuff back) is also one of black's many strengths.
Red is the color of earth, rock, fire, lightning, all manner of uncontrolled emotions, etc. Its creatures are hordes of little pests like goblins, lots of different elementals, big dragons, etc. It kills by dealing damage directly to its targets. This can be the opponent, a burn deck can get right into your face without ever deploying any creatures, until you are dead. Its creatures often have haste, which allows them to attack the turn they came into play. Usually, creatures cannot do that. Also has a knack for destroying artifacts.
Green is the creature color, a successful green deck without creatures is next to impossible. It has all kind of creatures of all kinds and sizes, most of them cannot fly, though. It makes up for that by making its creatures simply go though the opposition rather than over it (=trample). Destrcution of opposing creatures also usually occurs through creatures. From forcing a block to effects that make creatures deal damage outside of combat, that's how green deals with creatures. Also very adept in dealing with artifacts and enchantments. It has become quite good at drawing extra cards recently.
11) Another thing. When you have your deck of cards. Why can you have 3 or 4 of the same card? You have one, it's not enough?
You have to get that card, though. Drawing a singleton from a 60 card deck is very unlikely, in a normal game you don't see more than 20 cards of your deck. Especially key cards have to be in there with as many copies as possible (usually 4), so that the deck can actually manage to do what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it. Even a full 4 copies is oftentimes not enough, so so called tutors are employed (cards that let you get a certain card from your deck directly). Also, especially with powerful creatures, having more than one of it is a really good thing. And creatures get removed frequently, the more powerful they are the bigger the target on their heads, so having a spare is also good. If you are actually relying on combined effects between cards (= a combo) you have to have all the pieces. Try to draw 3 or more specific singletons from a 60 card deck in time to matter, while also still staying in the game.
12) Do cards get removed from the game when they lose a fight?
Creatures are destroyed by the rules of the game if they have been dealt damage equal to or greater than their toughness over the course of a turn. (Almost) as soon as that threshhold is reached, no waiting around. Creatures can deal damage, spells can deal damage, all sorts of things can deal damage to a creature. There is the "indestructible" ability that gets around this, an indestructible permanent cannot be destroyed, so it isn't if it would, simple as that. Many effects simply say "destroy" this or that, and then there is no damage involved, the destruction simply happens. Except indestructibles, of course. There is a similar effect that is not destruction, though, which means you can kill indestructibles this way. And that is to reduce toughness to 0 or less. Damage doesn't reduce toughness, but reduced toughness plus damage can result in destruction. To kill an indestructible this way, you have to reducue the tougness all the way down to 0 or less, damage doesn't do anything to assist here.
A destroyed/killed/used/discarded/etc. card is still in the game, it goes to the graveyard. Where it can be accessed by effects, sometimes even their own abilities work from there. Those cards aren't gone, in many decks they are a very useful resource still. Some deck go so far as to fill their graveyard by any means because they get better the more cards there are in "the bin". Exile is the "removed from the game zone" (that what is was actually called earlier in the game's history), though for many cards its more a temporary holding area until something specific happens to bring them back. Hardly any cards can interact with the exile zone freely. So if its just "exile this", that card is gone from this particular game.
1) What is a commander deck? Yesterday I was in a game shop buying boosters and a guy asked if they were having commander tournaments ? (I could be wrong on the wording as I was really looking at the boosters and not really listening to them but the word "Commander" was used for sure).
Commander is often considered the main casual format of Magic the Gathering, and it is one of my favorite two formats to play. As Rezzahan said, it is a 100-card singleton format where your deck is built around a legendary creature. The format allows nearly every card in the game, with the exception of a very small banlist.
You can find the rules here: https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/.
You can find content on lots of youtube channels, including these (just organized alphabetically, not by quality): The Command Zone, Commander's Quarters, EDH Deckbuilding, EDHRECast, The Eddi-H Channel, Jumbo Commander, Tolarian Community College.
I do need to one minor correction to the previous answer.
2)Why does MTG has some identical cards from sets to sets? It looks like easy money to me.[/card]There are several reasons. For rotating formats, like standard, it allows cards to remain or re-enter the format, and it allows a player's old cards to become relevant again. For non-rotating formats, like Commander and Modern, it helps keep prices in check, making the game more affordable, which helps both established players and new players alike. Additionally, all formats need a balance between threats and answers; reprints allow these to be printed in a set without having to make a card with a similar function but a different name. This benefits the rotating formats by bringing in cards with an established power level, and it benefits non-rotating formats by limiting over-saturation of a card/name complexity. After all, imagine a deck with four copies each of cards like Lightning Bolt but each with a different name.[quote from="Vaindioux1 »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/823976-noob-with-dumb-questions-be-ready?comment=1"]3)What is drafting? Lots of cheap lots on Ebay are advertised as "Great for drafting".[/card]Draft is a format where you select cards from a random pool, build a deck, and play it against others.
- Booster draft uses sealed booster packs - you pay at the beginning, and you keeps cards after the draft.
- Cube draft is different - one person curates a collection of cards intended to be drafted together. When everyone sits down to draft, they are given randomized "boosters" and draft just like a booster draft. There is no cost to play, and at the end of the draft, all the cards go back into the cube. This is my other favorite format to play, and I have four cubes, each designed to deliver an entirely different play experience. The best part is that you can do away with filler cards - in booster packs, the majority of cards are not actually cards you want to play, so you will often open a packs and maybe want 1-3 cards from it, while in cube you often have to make much more nuanced decisions because there will be several cards you really don't want to pass to your opponents.[quote from="Vaindioux1 »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/823976-noob-with-dumb-questions-be-ready?comment=1"]4)60 cards are a deck right? I don't understand much about these cards but can't a player just grab the most powerful cards in the game and kick ass?
In some formats, a deck is 60 cards. For draft, it's 40. Most constructed formats (Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, etc), it's 60. Commander is 100. Prismatic is 250 cards.
It's a pile. A deck has an actual plan, how to win the game, how not to lose the game, what to do early on, what to do later, how to deal with what the opponent is presenting, etc.
Once you've determined what format you are playing, you build a deck according to the rules of the format (what sets are allowed, what cards are banned, how many copies are allowed (singleton vs playsets of four vs draft, where you can play as many copies as you pull)), you need to build a deck that functions cohesively. You need a plan to win, and you need a way to prevent your opponents from winning. Is your deck aggro? Control? Combo?
As far as cramming all the most powerful cards into a deck, you might do well, but Magic is rarely a game of brute force. The way cards interact is more subtle, more strategic. Card synergy is important, even when you aren't trying to build a game-winning combo. What if one powerful card shuts down your other powerful card? I remember playing at a store 0over 15 years ago, where there was a guy with a deck running 7 of the Power 9 (considered by some to be the most powerful cards ever printed). I was playing decks worth $10-20, And he never won a single game. A pile of powerful cards, but with no good synergy or plan to win, is almost always inferior to a well-crafted deck that maximizes the power of its cards through a focused plan.
5)When building your own deck can you use cards from different sets, or you have to stick with a particular sets (Can you mix cards from "Ravnika" with some from "Core 2012" for example ? (Really curious about the answer to that one)
That depends on what format you are playing. Booster drafts often play only one set. But most constructed formats allow cards from various sets to be mixed. Standard allows somewhere around 5-8 sets to be mixed. Modern allows all the main sets since Eighth Edition to be mixed (so approximately 18 years worth of cards at this point). And Commander allows cards from the entire length of the game to be mixed (something like over 20,000 cards).
6)Why do some sets have a name, like "Ravnica" and others have "Core with a year next to them"? Does the core has the main cards for the year and the named sets released in that year add new cards to the core one?
Core sets are considered more beginner friendly and often contain a higher percentage of reprints (there was a time when they were 100% reprints, but those days are fortunately behind us).
7)What is exactly a "Promo deck"? I found a sealed "Gideon Jura" promo deck for $1 at a goodwill. It has 30 cards. If I buy more of that particular deck, will I get some of the cards to be different or not? They have more of these $1 decks. I noticed all the cards are from existing series, like no new cards it seems. Could I get Guideon Jura planeswalker in one of these decks? Mine does not have it.
A 30 card promo deck sounds like the new player decks they used to give out for free. New players could get two of them from a store and mix them together for a two color 60-card beginner deck. They were 100% reprints and often contained weaker or simpler cards just to get the player to understand the basics of the game.
8) How to score some good deals on cards? Ebay is a solution and I bought 2000 commons for pennies each with no dups and fun to organize. Some people say craigslist but it's usually more expensive than Ebay. Mail order resellers, MTG forums? My local store has millions of singles, I am planning on buying some to somewhat complete the sets I have (Mostly rare and foils I would buy there and some mythic at Xmas), but they don't have either complete sets, or partially complete ones, only singles. It would be nice to buy some rare and maybe a couple mythic without breaking the bank. I am not dumb and expect to score mythic for a nickel. I am ready to buy a big lot at a discounted price. I collect for me and not as an investor, I know I will never recoup my money if I ever sell. Also played cards are fine as long as not completely destroyed.
The best way to find good deals is to first figure out what you are trying to get. Are you playing a particular format? Or just collecting to have them in a binder? For example, if you want to play Standard, buying older cards will just waste money, while if you want to play Commander, buying all standard cards will limit your power level severely. If you are just collecting, buying bulk with 50 copies each of draft chaff (the cards no one would play outside of draft) will limit you to lots of copies of terrible cards and no copies of good cards.
Start with a plan. What format will you play? Or what collection are you trying to build (like complete sets or one of every dragon)? Only then can you figure out the most financially efficient way to accomplish your goals.
10) Why are there different mana and deck colors? I see written stuff like "No matter which color you prefer to play......" written on boxes. Colors you play have different game rules?
Opportunity cost. Each color has an identity and strategies to accompany it. They each have strengths and weaknesses, and you choose which ones you want to work with. Want them all at the same time? Now you have to juggle the ability to produce the right colors to cast the various spells. A mono-color deck should never have color issues, but it will suffer from the color's weaknesses - for example, a red deck can burn down the opponents quickly, but it can't deal with their enchantments. Two-color decks allow you to combine the strengths and hopefully one will overlap over the weaknesses of the other, but you start to worry about having the right color at the right time. The color pie is useful to know. And some colors will just fit your preferred playstyle more than others.
11) Another thing. When you have your deck of cards. Why can you have 3 or 4 of the same card? You have one, it's not enough?
Again, this is format dependent. A 60-card deck running 20 lands and 4 copies each of 10 cards will play very consistently; each game will go generally like the last one. A 100-card singleton Commander deck could play a dozen games and not see the same cards; each game will be a somewhat unique experience. Are you looking for more of the same or a more varied experience?
12) Do cards get removed from the game when they lose a fight?
Unless the card used to remove something says to exile it, they generally go to the graveyard. But don't think of the graveyard as a dead-end - many decks have ways to use the graveyard as another resource. Black reanimation decks are the most common example, but others exist based on mechanics or card abilities.
Thanks so much for the 3 who answered. Amazingly I understood quite a bit. It's nice to make sense of some of it. (Thxs Rezzahan and FunkyDragon)
I just went to target and purchased The arena starter kit (Thxs WarMachinePrime)
Thanks so much for the 3 who answered. Amazingly I understood quite a bit. It's nice to make sense of some of it. (Thxs Rezzahan and FunkyDragon)
I just went to target and purchased The arena starter kit (Thxs WarMachinePrime)
Patrick
Glad we can be of help. Familiarize yourself on the game with those starter decks and then go from there. It all depends on your imagination and your wallet.
Feel free to ask questions as well.
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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.
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Moderator please move to the correct forum if this one is not the one for noobs. And my apologies.
I ain't too bright, not a regular board or card gamer and slow to learn. I have noob questions.
I have a hard time learning the game from youtube videos. Yes I pick up bits and pieces but still could not be able to play even with another noob.
Here are some questions, you don't have to answer them all. I am an older guy but please answer as if you are talking to a 12 years old noob
I do understand there are tutorials online and answers to some of my questions but most of the time it brings more questions on my end and the tutorial is not enough. Getting answers here have to be more accurate.
So far I know that lands are mana for spells and are turned sideways when being used. That players start with 20 points each. I know what a token is. Cards are either Mythic, rare, uncommon or common and know maybe a couple of other things I can't think of right now.
I think for me at this point the best would be to sit with someone that knows the game and has lots of patience LOL
1) What is a commander deck? Yesterday I was in a game shop buying boosters and a guy asked if they were having commander tournaments ? (I could be wrong on the wording as I was really looking at the boosters and not really listening to them but the word "Commander" was used for sure).
2)Why does MTG has some identical cards from sets to sets? It looks like easy money to me.
3)What is drafting? Lots of cheap lots on Ebay are advertised as "Great for drafting".
4)60 cards are a deck right? I don't understand much about these cards but can't a player just grab the most powerful cards in the game and kick ass?
5)When building your own deck can you use cards from different sets, or you have to stick with a particular sets (Can you mix cards from "Ravnika" with some from "Core 2012" for example ? (Really curious about the answer to that one)
6)Why do some sets have a name, like "Ravnica" and others have "Core with a year next to them"? Does the core has the main cards for the year and the named sets released in that year add new cards to the core one?
7)What is exactly a "Promo deck"? I found a sealed "Gideon Jura" promo deck for $1 at a goodwill. It has 30 cards. If I buy more of that particular deck, will I get some of the cards to be different or not? They have more of these $1 decks. I noticed all the cards are from existing series, like no new cards it seems. Could I get Guideon Jura planeswalker in one of these decks? Mine does not have it.
8) How to score some good deals on cards? Ebay is a solution and I bought 2000 commons for pennies each with no dups and fun to organize. Some people say craigslist but it's usually more expensive than Ebay. Mail order resellers, MTG forums? My local store has millions of singles, I am planning on buying some to somewhat complete the sets I have (Mostly rare and foils I would buy there and some mythic at Xmas), but they don't have either complete sets, or partially complete ones, only singles. It would be nice to buy some rare and maybe a couple mythic without breaking the bank. I am not dumb and expect to score mythic for a nickel. I am ready to buy a big lot at a discounted price. I collect for me and not as an investor, I know I will never recoup my money if I ever sell. Also played cards are fine as long as not completely destroyed.
9) Tired of me yet? Sorry more coming!
10) Why are there different mana and deck colors? I see written stuff like "No matter which color you prefer to play......" written on boxes. Colors you play have different game rules?
11) Another thing. When you have your deck of cards. Why can you have 3 or 4 of the same card? You have one, it's not enough?
12) Do cards get removed from the game when they lose a fight?
I hope I don't get flamed and if I do it's still better than when my wife let me have it
Best regards and thanks
Pat
On question 7) I bought another deck and it's exactly the same I have.
Take a look at this website. (No I do not work for them, but I do quite a bit of business with them.)
https://www.cardkingdom.com/catalog/view/3006
There are also these that Wizards produces. You can get 2 decks for literally 7 bucks at a box store (Target or WalMart, if they are in stock.
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Gathering-Starter-Ready-Play/dp/B093CHZ62N/ref=dp_fod_1?pd_rd_i=B093CHZ62N&psc=1
They are EXACTLY what you need to dive into a duel of Magic the Gathering. I would suggest buying 2 of the Rookie Decks or just one of the Magic Arena starter kits so you can duel against a friend whom is also learning. Don't worry about Magic Online, don't worry about Magic Arena, don't even worry about Commander until you get your feet wet in the 1 on 1 of a duel. Wizards of the Coast no longer sells "Intro Decks" so these Rookie Decks and Starter Decks are EXACTLY what you need to learn. I will leave it at that. No need to overload you at this point, you will discover anything and everything on your own but I would first discover how to actually play and that is through trial and error. Don't worry about your age, I've been playing since 1994 and am 51 years old, and still learning a little bit here and there as I go along. Good luck and seriously look into those "Rookie and Starter Decks".
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."
Commander is a constructed format (meaning you bring a deck you built beforehand to the game), where you have one legendary creature as your commander (some planeswalkers are also allowed, as are two commanders if they have the partner ability) and a deck of 99 other cards, each one being a single copy, no duplicates allowed, with the exception of basic lands. The later is the reason why this player created format was originally called "Highlander" or "Elder Dragon Highlander" (EDH for short), after the motto of the movie "The Highlander": "There can only be one." The format was eventually adopted by Wizards as an official format. (Elder dragons are the 3-colored legendary dragons in the game).
Deck construction has to follow some additional rules. Each card has to be of a color identity that is a subset of your commander's color identity. Color identiy is determined by the colored mana symbols in the card's mana cost, plus the colors of any color indicators on the front and back face of the card, plus any colored mana symbols in the text box (except in reminder text). You can use cards that have all, some, or none of the colors in the commander's color identity, but not cards that have other colors.
The games start with 25 life, and your commander is in the command zone, from where you can cast it as normal. When your comander dies or goes to exile, you can put it back into the command zone, but you have to do that at that time. Casting the commander from the command zone again cost an additional 2 for each time it was cast from there before. This is known as the "commander tax". This means, that it's pretty hard to lose your commander for good, but it also means, that it is pretty hard to get rid of your opponent's commander for good.
That should be enough info for now on that topic, I think.
Two main reasons. First, as more and more cards are created, cards that function in a particular way are more likely to have already been done, so no reason the invent the wheel again. Second, the Standard format is a rotating format, meaning in regular intervals a lot of cards are suddenly not allowed anymore. But Wizards wants certain cards to still be present in the format. So they reprint them in a new set. Reprints also give newer players acces to staples of older formats without having to spend a fortune on a few pieces of cardboard. Older cards may also have been deemed too powerful for a long time, but with the changes in power level and such, they may be fine nowadays, and long time players may rejoice by getting to play with their old toys again.
Draft is a Limited format, meaning you don't bring a prebuilt deck to the event. Rather you build it at the beginning of the event, the draft. In a draft, you are sitting with (usually) 7 other players at the table. You are given three boosters. You open one. You take one card from it into your card pool, from which you later build your deck. The rest of the cards you pass on to the player on your right. Thus receive a pack with one less card from the player to your left. You take one card from that pack, and then pass it on. And so on, until all the cards from the first packs have been distributed among the players. Second round, you open your second booster, take a card, then pass it to your left, so the other way around. And again you take cards until all the cards from the second packs have been distributed. And a third round, with the third booster, passing to the right again. This leaves you with three boosters worth of cards, that you have preselected, to build a 40+ card deck from. Basic lands are free, you don't have to draft them, you get however many you want/need, and of whatever type. There is usually a time limit to build your deck (around 30-40 minutes). And then you play with your deck in duels against the other players.
Draft is a very skill intensive format, but also very rewarding and fun. You have to decide what to take based on what you already have, what you have seen so far that may come around again, what you may still get, etc. In essence, you have to already build your deck while choosing cards from the packs.
This forum has a Limited section (though it's currently deserted), where I did some fun community drafts. You can get an idea of what decisions you haver to make, what thing can influence your choices, etc. if you browse there.
It's a pile. A deck has an actual plan, how to win the game, how not to lose the game, what to do early on, what to do later, how to deal with what the opponent is presenting, etc. It needs the right amount of lands with the right mix of colors. It needs the right mix of early game cards and late game cards. Because if you can't play anything until turn 4-5, you lose, your opponent is just going to run you over, or lock you down so hard that you will continue to be unable to do anything meaningful.
A "good stuff" deck can work, though. Such a deck then simply relies on the superiority of its cards to outmatch the opponent's cards. But a "good stuff" deck with built-in synergy between its cards is better. Getting the most powerful cards for a particular job is a good thing, but simply taking the best stuff in the format will not make the best deck. Also, powerful cards usually have cheap purpose built answers to them in the format.
Yes, mixing cards from different sets in your deck is a core principle of the game.
Core sets are aimed at newer players. While they may have an overall theme to them (a mechanic or such), they are not tied to any particular world of Magic, unlike regular sets. So they are also a fine tool for Wizards to (re)print cards they want in Standard but that don't thematically fit into any of the Standard sets. Core sets consist in a large portion of reprints. And the cards are usually simpler, easier to understand.
I never bothered with any of those, so can't really say anything about those.
This depends on what you want out of the deal. If you just want lots of cards to grow your collection, then buying those big piles of commons and uncommons is fine. If you want some good stuff, though, buying those cards as singles is the best way. You will not get the good stuff from bargain bins, as that is sold individually, because sellers want to make profit. And gambling for good cards with booster (boxes) will cost you even more money.
Nah, happy to answer a new player's questions.
The game's rules are the same (as compiled in the mighty Comprehensive Rules rule book). Each color plays differently, they represent different magics, different philosopies, stategies, etc. That is called the color pie, and each color has its share of it. Some effects bleed over into other colors, but when you are facing an unknown deck, its colors can tell you what it is likely trying to do, and how it will try to deal with your cards. This especially helps in Draft and Sealed games. In short:
White is the color of order, unity, community, righteousness, light, healing, etc. Its creatures are usually angels, domesticated beasts, and hordes upon hordes of little guys like humans. Its effects range from destrution and exiling of offending creatures (the opponent's), clearing the board entirely (=destroying all creatures), buffing up all of its creatures, buffing a single creature through auras (=a lasting enhancement), protecting creatures (protection is a very powerful ability), etc.
Blue is the color of air, water, ice, knowledge, magic, control, etc. Its creatures are usually outmatched by creatures of the same cost of the other colors but make up for that with powerful abilities and a vast arsenal of spells to mess around. It's the spell color. It doesn't rely on hordes of creatures. Creatureless decks (yes, that's a thing) are most likely blue. Its effects range from tapping and untapping stuff at the most (un)opportune times, keeping it tapped for a while or more permanently, bouncing stuff back to hand so it has to be replayed, downright countering spells (so it got played but didn't do anything and the card is gone), drawing loads of extra cards, etc.
Black is the color of selfishness, death, undeath, decay, insanity, and such. Its creatures range from all kinds of vermin (rats and such), zombies, vampires, to demons and other monstrosities. It kills, one creature, some creatures, all creatures. It makes the opponent discard the cards in the hand (sometimes being kind enough to let the opponent choose what to ditch). Also draws a lot of extra cards, which usually costs the player some life. Reanimation (getting dead stuff back) is also one of black's many strengths.
Red is the color of earth, rock, fire, lightning, all manner of uncontrolled emotions, etc. Its creatures are hordes of little pests like goblins, lots of different elementals, big dragons, etc. It kills by dealing damage directly to its targets. This can be the opponent, a burn deck can get right into your face without ever deploying any creatures, until you are dead. Its creatures often have haste, which allows them to attack the turn they came into play. Usually, creatures cannot do that. Also has a knack for destroying artifacts.
Green is the creature color, a successful green deck without creatures is next to impossible. It has all kind of creatures of all kinds and sizes, most of them cannot fly, though. It makes up for that by making its creatures simply go though the opposition rather than over it (=trample). Destrcution of opposing creatures also usually occurs through creatures. From forcing a block to effects that make creatures deal damage outside of combat, that's how green deals with creatures. Also very adept in dealing with artifacts and enchantments. It has become quite good at drawing extra cards recently.
You have to get that card, though. Drawing a singleton from a 60 card deck is very unlikely, in a normal game you don't see more than 20 cards of your deck. Especially key cards have to be in there with as many copies as possible (usually 4), so that the deck can actually manage to do what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it. Even a full 4 copies is oftentimes not enough, so so called tutors are employed (cards that let you get a certain card from your deck directly). Also, especially with powerful creatures, having more than one of it is a really good thing. And creatures get removed frequently, the more powerful they are the bigger the target on their heads, so having a spare is also good. If you are actually relying on combined effects between cards (= a combo) you have to have all the pieces. Try to draw 3 or more specific singletons from a 60 card deck in time to matter, while also still staying in the game.
Creatures are destroyed by the rules of the game if they have been dealt damage equal to or greater than their toughness over the course of a turn. (Almost) as soon as that threshhold is reached, no waiting around. Creatures can deal damage, spells can deal damage, all sorts of things can deal damage to a creature. There is the "indestructible" ability that gets around this, an indestructible permanent cannot be destroyed, so it isn't if it would, simple as that. Many effects simply say "destroy" this or that, and then there is no damage involved, the destruction simply happens. Except indestructibles, of course. There is a similar effect that is not destruction, though, which means you can kill indestructibles this way. And that is to reduce toughness to 0 or less. Damage doesn't reduce toughness, but reduced toughness plus damage can result in destruction. To kill an indestructible this way, you have to reducue the tougness all the way down to 0 or less, damage doesn't do anything to assist here.
A destroyed/killed/used/discarded/etc. card is still in the game, it goes to the graveyard. Where it can be accessed by effects, sometimes even their own abilities work from there. Those cards aren't gone, in many decks they are a very useful resource still. Some deck go so far as to fill their graveyard by any means because they get better the more cards there are in "the bin". Exile is the "removed from the game zone" (that what is was actually called earlier in the game's history), though for many cards its more a temporary holding area until something specific happens to bring them back. Hardly any cards can interact with the exile zone freely. So if its just "exile this", that card is gone from this particular game.
Former Rules Advisor
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You can find the rules here: https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/.
You can find content on lots of youtube channels, including these (just organized alphabetically, not by quality): The Command Zone, Commander's Quarters, EDH Deckbuilding, EDHRECast, The Eddi-H Channel, Jumbo Commander, Tolarian Community College.
I do need to one minor correction to the previous answer. Starting life in Commander is 40, not 25. In some formats, a deck is 60 cards. For draft, it's 40. Most constructed formats (Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, etc), it's 60. Commander is 100. Prismatic is 250 cards.
Rezzahan gave a great answer here: Once you've determined what format you are playing, you build a deck according to the rules of the format (what sets are allowed, what cards are banned, how many copies are allowed (singleton vs playsets of four vs draft, where you can play as many copies as you pull)), you need to build a deck that functions cohesively. You need a plan to win, and you need a way to prevent your opponents from winning. Is your deck aggro? Control? Combo?
As far as cramming all the most powerful cards into a deck, you might do well, but Magic is rarely a game of brute force. The way cards interact is more subtle, more strategic. Card synergy is important, even when you aren't trying to build a game-winning combo. What if one powerful card shuts down your other powerful card? I remember playing at a store 0over 15 years ago, where there was a guy with a deck running 7 of the Power 9 (considered by some to be the most powerful cards ever printed). I was playing decks worth $10-20, And he never won a single game. A pile of powerful cards, but with no good synergy or plan to win, is almost always inferior to a well-crafted deck that maximizes the power of its cards through a focused plan. That depends on what format you are playing. Booster drafts often play only one set. But most constructed formats allow cards from various sets to be mixed. Standard allows somewhere around 5-8 sets to be mixed. Modern allows all the main sets since Eighth Edition to be mixed (so approximately 18 years worth of cards at this point). And Commander allows cards from the entire length of the game to be mixed (something like over 20,000 cards). Core sets are considered more beginner friendly and often contain a higher percentage of reprints (there was a time when they were 100% reprints, but those days are fortunately behind us). A 30 card promo deck sounds like the new player decks they used to give out for free. New players could get two of them from a store and mix them together for a two color 60-card beginner deck. They were 100% reprints and often contained weaker or simpler cards just to get the player to understand the basics of the game. The best way to find good deals is to first figure out what you are trying to get. Are you playing a particular format? Or just collecting to have them in a binder? For example, if you want to play Standard, buying older cards will just waste money, while if you want to play Commander, buying all standard cards will limit your power level severely. If you are just collecting, buying bulk with 50 copies each of draft chaff (the cards no one would play outside of draft) will limit you to lots of copies of terrible cards and no copies of good cards.
Start with a plan. What format will you play? Or what collection are you trying to build (like complete sets or one of every dragon)? Only then can you figure out the most financially efficient way to accomplish your goals. Opportunity cost. Each color has an identity and strategies to accompany it. They each have strengths and weaknesses, and you choose which ones you want to work with. Want them all at the same time? Now you have to juggle the ability to produce the right colors to cast the various spells. A mono-color deck should never have color issues, but it will suffer from the color's weaknesses - for example, a red deck can burn down the opponents quickly, but it can't deal with their enchantments. Two-color decks allow you to combine the strengths and hopefully one will overlap over the weaknesses of the other, but you start to worry about having the right color at the right time. The color pie is useful to know. And some colors will just fit your preferred playstyle more than others. Again, this is format dependent. A 60-card deck running 20 lands and 4 copies each of 10 cards will play very consistently; each game will go generally like the last one. A 100-card singleton Commander deck could play a dozen games and not see the same cards; each game will be a somewhat unique experience. Are you looking for more of the same or a more varied experience? Unless the card used to remove something says to exile it, they generally go to the graveyard. But don't think of the graveyard as a dead-end - many decks have ways to use the graveyard as another resource. Black reanimation decks are the most common example, but others exist based on mechanics or card abilities.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
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Thanks so much for the 3 who answered. Amazingly I understood quite a bit. It's nice to make sense of some of it. (Thxs Rezzahan and FunkyDragon)
I just went to target and purchased The arena starter kit (Thxs WarMachinePrime)
Patrick
Glad we can be of help. Familiarize yourself on the game with those starter decks and then go from there. It all depends on your imagination and your wallet.
Feel free to ask questions as well.
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."