Hi, I'm 16 and am trying to teach my 9 (almost 10) year old brother how to play. He has always been interested whenever my friends come over and finally just asked me if I could teach him. I assured him that I would and then built a few easy to understand decks that I felt correctly represented each color (a u/w, a mono g, a mono b, and a mono r). We're playing with our hands revealed, but I was wondering if this helpful forum had any other tips to help me out.
Thanks in advance.
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Use some starter decks from recent sets, especially Core Sets. They are pretty balanced, so they can go one against the other. Don't play your killer decks against his startup decks. Don't try to embarass him. After he gets the rules down fairly well, start playing for real, but using the starter decks still.
Also, the Duels Decks, like Jace v. Chandra, are made to be pretty even as well.
Some shops have the old flip charts to teach the game. They are decent for teaching, better, I think, than the new fold-out page in the decks.
Also, Duels of the Planeswalkers is decent for learning, especially the scenarios, where it involves using the tools you have to maximum advantage.
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
Keep it as simple as possible, duel decks are a great place to start! I also recommend duel of the planeswalkers, my little brother loves that game and hardly ever actually sits down to play cards, but when he does he knows the rules pretty good which is helpful to both him and I.
Okay, so you guys recommend either starter decks or duel decks? I would lean towards duel decks so that I don't flush that much money down the toilet, however, the recent ones haven't been great and the JvC cost a whole lot more than when I bought mine. I'm tending to letting him win about half the games we play and I'm trying not to burn him out because I'm thinking that if we play to much he may get bored. I learned off of the ravnica starter decks (technically that 8th edition online game that came with a blue/white deck and a foil serra angel, I still have the Vizzerdrix) and to this day I smile whenever I see a gruul guildmage win a game, so I'm more inclined to just giving him 1/2 of a duel deck package and hope that he responds well to having his own deck. Thoughts? Should I just donate a bunch of on color stuff with the duel deck to try to get him engaged in the deck building process or wait until he gets used to mtg in general? I learned at the age of 7 or 8 so I really don't remember much of how I was taught to play.
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Depending on your own skill to teach, duels of the planeswalkers does a pretty good job at teaching the game. Its cheap and has a bunch of decently balanced decks that aren't killing turn 3.
Give him both of the Duel Decks (the Phyrexia v. Coalition, Venser v. Koth, Knights v. Dragons are all around $20, same as when they were first printed). Then, you can borrow one of "his" decks to play him, or you can get another set for yourself and keep them back for playing him. There is no "flushing" money down the drain when you get other Starter Decks, either. The cards remain, they keep playing just the same. Sure, they won't remain standard for long, but with a 9 year old that really doesn't matter just yet.
Don't try to get him involved in deck building until he gets the rules down. Then, buy a bunch of booster packs, and get him to do a Sealed Deck with you. Give each of you six packs, and go at it. Show him your cards, why you chose to draft the way you did, and look over his cards and suggest different strategies based on the cards there. In fact, with my 11-year old son, we played several different sealed deck sets off of the same six packs each. Remember that in sealed deck you only need to make a 40 card deck, so it is easier to figure out the best 40 cards out of 90 than the best 60 in a much larger pool Just have plenty of lands available for filling the deck out.
Again, go back and forth with the same card pools, playing multiple times, swapping card pools, and so on. That would be the start of teaching deck building, but it comes well after getting the basics down for the rules.
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
I would ignore any suggestion that requires you to buy a new deck (WOTC pre-con or whatever else) in order to teach your brother how to play Magic. If you're a Magic player yourself, I'm sure you already have a large stock of cards which you can use to construct various decks. Your idea sounds great (building simple, mostly mono-colored decks) to teach interactions.
You don't need any fancy new products to teach your brother a simple game of Magic. Just stick to what you have and what you play.
One of the biggest tips I've learned to help players is to create plenty of visual aids. Get a big piece of paper and draw up your own play mat so you can label the various play areas, including a spot for the stack - having a visual representation of FILA in a specific spot on the playfield really helped me explain the concept of how spells resolve, which is generally one of the hardest aspects to teach. (Until you get into the idea of how to positively interact with available resources, heh.)
Don't try to get him involved in deck building until he gets the rules down.
This, also.
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UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner // (W/U)(W/U)(W/U) Grand Arbiter Augustin IV // RRR Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker // (R/G)(R/G)(R/G) Wort, the Raidmother // URG Riku of Two Reflections // RWU Ruhan of the Fomori
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This is why I started playing magic in the first place. It wasn't PT aspirations just making noobs cry by doing things that are perfectly fair.
I have been told mutiple times the best way to learn is duals of the planeswalkers when I teach people I run them through the tutorial on there really fast so they know where to start.
I have been told mutiple times the best way to learn is duals of the planeswalkers when I teach people I run them through the tutorial on there really fast so they know where to start.
Ive started more than a few players with duels, it keeps structure uniform and is probably the best starting point.
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
Computerized magic is pretty handy (doesn't let you make mistakes so you have to learn the right way).
I also like the old 7th edition starter pack that walks you through the first few rounds of a game then lets you finish it however you like.
But playing is the very best way to learn.
Creatures and lands only is one way to start. That has worked for me with kids before. Then slowly build up by adding in other card types.
I will have to completely agree with this.
The reason is my girlfriend's 9 year old brother. He is just learning magic and loves to play with the Knights Vs. Dragons deck that they bought but even with a lot of the more complicated cards pulled out of it he still gets very confused. He will do this like play Reprisal when he's the only one with a creature over 4 power, or play Test of Faith in the main phase of his turn.
He knows how to pay mana costs and turn big things sideways, anything more and you will probably be helping him beat you.
Now this is just my experience and you may have a very bright brother but I would say start him out very simple or with digital magic of some kind. What I wish Wizards would still give us access to is the old tutor programs that came with the core sets around 8th-10thed. Those were teaching programs with very simple decks.
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There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Thinking about continuing with the mono colored decks and also handing him the 8th edition computer tutorial disc to play with. I might start to filter the card types in his decks. (thoughts on maybe censoring abilities like lifelink and first strike until later?)
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Thinking about continuing with the mono colored decks and also handing him the 8th edition computer tutorial disc to play with. I might start to filter the card types in his decks. (thoughts on maybe censoring abilities like lifelink and first strike until later?)
When it comes to first strike, life link, or any of the damage abilities (ie wither) I would say yes to holding them off for just a bit.
First strike however isn't that hard to explain just think of it as a spear and normal damage as a sword. A spear would hit first. Then when he sees Double Strike, well that guy just has a spear and a sword.
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There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Buy a Set of all 5 Intro Packs of The Current Set and let him pick one, then you pick one. Once he has picked his Intro Pack read the rules to him and show him some Tutorials. Then play a few games, explain all the rules to him and take it slow. After a few games he will probably have a basic understanding.
~W
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Warlord has retuned! (Not really...)
No money for Magic at the moment. Still on here for the community.
More than anything, teach him to respect his opponent, and to give his opponent a reason to respect him. There is no shame in loss except when you gloat over your opponent.
EDH, on the other hand, is more like a monster truck rally. It's more about the spectacle than the race, the games go long, and it's not usually clear who's in the lead until there's only one truck left.*
Single player EDH is like two guys smacking each other with pillows... until one of them pulls out a shotgun.
If you own an Xbox and have xbox live, let him try out Duels of the Planeswalkers. It omits many cards and mechanics that aren't beginner friendly (walkers for example) and does a very good job showing the different steps and phases of the turn.
Have him play dredge or maybe morning sunrise combo. Those are both pretty simple decks for a beginner to use. /sarcasm
Standard RDW is easy to learn. Play burn spells, play creatures, and turn them sideways. It's pretty simple. I'd say have him play with that deck while you play the other decks against him so he can learn how a simple deck is supposed to win while learning what other possibilities are available.
Thanks in advance.
Also, the Duels Decks, like Jace v. Chandra, are made to be pretty even as well.
Some shops have the old flip charts to teach the game. They are decent for teaching, better, I think, than the new fold-out page in the decks.
Also, Duels of the Planeswalkers is decent for learning, especially the scenarios, where it involves using the tools you have to maximum advantage.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
Don't try to get him involved in deck building until he gets the rules down. Then, buy a bunch of booster packs, and get him to do a Sealed Deck with you. Give each of you six packs, and go at it. Show him your cards, why you chose to draft the way you did, and look over his cards and suggest different strategies based on the cards there. In fact, with my 11-year old son, we played several different sealed deck sets off of the same six packs each. Remember that in sealed deck you only need to make a 40 card deck, so it is easier to figure out the best 40 cards out of 90 than the best 60 in a much larger pool Just have plenty of lands available for filling the deck out.
Again, go back and forth with the same card pools, playing multiple times, swapping card pools, and so on. That would be the start of teaching deck building, but it comes well after getting the basics down for the rules.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
You don't need any fancy new products to teach your brother a simple game of Magic. Just stick to what you have and what you play.
BRG Loam Control (Assault - Loam) BRG
W Mono White Control (Martyr - Proc) W
This, also.
Ive started more than a few players with duels, it keeps structure uniform and is probably the best starting point.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=4832736
Trading 10 full art zen basics for 8 of yours!
I want
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
They have videos as well as a downloadable demo for teaching purposes. I thought that this might be a good resource.
I also like the old 7th edition starter pack that walks you through the first few rounds of a game then lets you finish it however you like.
But playing is the very best way to learn.
GModern Belcher
GGreen Deck Wins
3I'm the King
RBlazeTron
The video tutorials and Duels of the Planeswalkers are what I used to learn how to play MTG.
I will have to completely agree with this.
The reason is my girlfriend's 9 year old brother. He is just learning magic and loves to play with the Knights Vs. Dragons deck that they bought but even with a lot of the more complicated cards pulled out of it he still gets very confused. He will do this like play Reprisal when he's the only one with a creature over 4 power, or play Test of Faith in the main phase of his turn.
He knows how to pay mana costs and turn big things sideways, anything more and you will probably be helping him beat you.
Now this is just my experience and you may have a very bright brother but I would say start him out very simple or with digital magic of some kind. What I wish Wizards would still give us access to is the old tutor programs that came with the core sets around 8th-10thed. Those were teaching programs with very simple decks.
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
When it comes to first strike, life link, or any of the damage abilities (ie wither) I would say yes to holding them off for just a bit.
First strike however isn't that hard to explain just think of it as a spear and normal damage as a sword. A spear would hit first. Then when he sees Double Strike, well that guy just has a spear and a sword.
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
~W
No money for Magic at the moment. Still on here for the community.
On building a Celestial Kirin Stax EDH:
Standard RDW is easy to learn. Play burn spells, play creatures, and turn them sideways. It's pretty simple. I'd say have him play with that deck while you play the other decks against him so he can learn how a simple deck is supposed to win while learning what other possibilities are available.
Modern Junk Primer
Legacy ANT Primer
L1 Judge