Just For Beginners: Starting From Scratch

The basic idea behind magic is that you are an extremely powerful wizard that can travel between dimensions. As a "Planeswalker" you can use your powers to call forth creatures from the different planes of the multiverse and use those plane's energies to cast powerful spells. The most basic knowledge needed to play the game of Magic is so well known to veteran players that they have trouble explaining it to new players or simply skip over it and go straight into the meat and potatoes of the game. This leaves many questions that later must be answered anyway and often hinders the experience for both teacher and student. I figured I would just throw a little basic information out there before I started doing more "Just For Beginners" posts with more in-depth content.



Players:

-Any number of players may play a game of magic as long as their is a turn-taking structure that is established before the onset of each game.

- Normal tournament structure is "one on one" gameplay

-There are many different variations on multiplayer gameplay which are popular in many playgroups. Here are a few examples:

--Free for All: Any player may attack any other player in an every-man-for-himself free for all

--Two-Headed Giant: Essentially two versus two. You share a 30 point life total and each team takes turns together.

--Attack Left(or Right): Each player may only attack in a predetermined direction around the table.




Decks:


-Tournament decks must have a minimum of 60 cards along with a 15 card sideboard (covered later)


- There is no maximum deck size as long as you can shuffle your deck without assistance.


Zones:


-Library: Once you have drawn your hand the remainder of your deck is placed face-down in front of you. This is known as your "Library" and it is your draw pile.


-Hand: The cards that you draw from your library are known as your hand. Your beginning hand starts out at 7 cards.


-In Play: Creatures or other cards that remain in play permanently(or until removed) are known as permanents (covered in detail in a later post). The "In Play" zone is where your permanents are placed after they are successfully cast (played from your hand).


-Graveyard: The graveyard is where you place your creatures or other permanents after they have been killed or destroyed and your spells once they have been either unsuccessfully or successfully cast. It also serves as your discard pile.


-The Stack: This is where spells are placed while they are "waiting" to be resolved. After players have finished putting spells on the stack, they resolve in reverse order of which they were played and either move to the "In Play" zone or the "Graveyard" zone. The stack is extremely complicated and it will be covered, in depth, in a later post.


-Removed from the Game: Also known as "Exiled"(with the new Magic 2010 rules). This is where cards go when a spell or ability has "removed them from the game". This will also be discussed in detail in a later post.


First Turn:


-First turns are decided by the rolling of dice or flipping a coin. When rolling dice both players must agree whether the higher roll wins or the lower roll wins.


- Each player may draw a new starting hand if they dislike the cards they received. However each time a player uses a "mulligan" they must take one less card then they drew in the previous hand.


-The player who plays first in a one on one match may not draw a card during their draw step (turn structure outlined in later post). This is known as being "on the play"


-The player who plays second may draw a card during their draw step as they normally would. This is known as being "on the draw"


Later posts will have more detail and will be focused on a specific section of Magic gameplay.