Magic: The Gathering

Learning the foundations of Magic: The Gathering is relatively simple, such as its turn structure and card types. The complexity in the game comes from the numerous ‘keywords’ it uses (single words that reflect a particular rule) and the interactions between the cards. There are an awful lot of keywords, but you’re not expected to learn them all before being able to play. Keywords are often defined on cards they are used on, so as long as you know the basic rules of Magic, you can apply the keyword to the game.

It’s also fair to say that some formats for MTG are more beginner friendly than others. While ‘Commander’ is the most popular format currently in Magic, it is one of the least beginner friendly formats, as it has one of the largest pool of legal cards, hence often sees play of advanced cards. It also is typically played at more than 2 players, which requires players to track 3+ board states. This can be overwhelming for new players or people new to trading card games.

‘Standard’ format has the smallest pool of cards, which rotates every three years to cover the most recent cards added to the game. This makes it a good jumping on point to play the game, as it doesn’t require as high an understanding of the game to play. 

The ‘Sealed’ format is a great way for both new and veteran players to enjoy a brand new set, as it’s the format usually played at the prerelease events before an official set release. In sealed, you’re given 6 booster packs of the set to crack open and build a deck with. You then battle against each other in a traditional tournament. Because the set is usually new, most players treat it as a casual experience and encourage new players to join in on the fun!

Single card prices in Magic: The Gathering are mostly driven by the effectiveness and popularity of a given card in MTGs most played formats, which are ‘Commander’ and ‘Modern’. If you crack open a pack of cards and think the card would be useful in either of those formats, there’s a decent chance that card would be worth something. 

The best way to check this is to look at the sale price on an open market. Generally speaking, the most widely used open market for trading card games in the UK is Card Market, and in the US, it is TCG Player. Search for your cards on either of these to see how much they are worth.

Magic: The Gathering is the oldest trading card game (TCG), having been released in 1993 by publisher Wizards of the Coast. Before MTG, trading cards existed mostly in the form of sports cards, though Magic was the first to attempt to make trading cards a game. Designer Richard Garfield was the first to create the idea of a trading card game. Soon after the release of MTG came numerous other TCGs, including Vampire, The Eternal Struggle, and Netrunner, which were also designed by Richard Garfield. It is believed that these had been conceptualised around the same time as MTG, though it was ultimately MTG that arrived on the market first.

Yes! Magic: The Gathering is mostly played casually now. Its most popular format (‘Commander’) was designed primarily as a casual, multiplayer format. The majority of the player base for Magic: The Gathering are casual players, and the most common MTG events are casual ‘Commander’.

Competitive formats still exist for Magic, but are usually run as ‘Modern’, ‘Pioneer’, or ‘Standard’, which are 1 vs. 1 formats.

If you are entirely new to trading card games (TCGs), the best starting point would be a Starter Kit or a Prerelease Kit.

The Starter Kits provide 2 ready-to-play 60 card decks that are designed to teach new players the basics of the game. The Starter Kits also usually come with a couple of exclusive cards and can be a great addition to anyone's collection.

If you fancy building your own deck, then a Prerelease Kit might be a better option for you. The Prerelease Kits have 6 Play Booster Packs included (previously Draft Booster Packs) which are opened and used to build a deck with. Each set usually has 10 different archetypes, which are based on the 10 different colour pairs and follow particular themes. Each of these archetypes has different pros and cons and is a great way to learn the benefits of the different colours of MTG. Prerelease Kits are usually widely available on a new set launch, but can become harder to find later in a set cycle. If you can’t find any Prerelease Kits, you can instead have the same experience with 6 Play Booster Packs or 6 Draft Booster Packs of your favourite set.