Magic: The Gathering

1993

Step into the shoes of a powerful wizard in Magic, the original collectible card game. Build your deck from over 25,000 cards and strategically duel to conquer your opponents.

20
minutes

2 - 2
player(s)

13+

Medium Heavy

About the game

Magic: The Gathering is a compelling and intricate board game that is sure to enthrall players of all ages. Steeped in a magical universe, Magic: The Gathering is a customizable card game where you play as a powerful wizard, known as a planeswalker.

The game’s setting is a multiverse, a limitless collection of fantastical realms, known as planes. These planes, each unique with their own inhabitants, cultures, and ecosystems, serve as the backdrop for epic battles between players. From the tranquil forests of Nissa to the fiery mountains of Chandra, the variety of planes adds to the game’s richness and depth.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Magic: The Gathering is a complex collectible card game with numerous components. Here are the key elements:

1. Cards: The primary component of Magic: The Gathering is the individual playing cards. Each card represents a spell that the player can cast or a creature they can control.

Creature Cards: These cards represent the creatures that players can summon to fight for them. Each creature card has a power level and toughness, which determine how much damage they can deal and take, respectively.
Spell Cards: These cards represent spells that players can cast to influence the game in several ways. They can directly damage players or creatures, manipulate the playing field, or have other unique effects.
Land Cards: Land cards are the resources players use to cast their other cards. Each land card can be tapped for a certain type of mana, which is then used to cast spells or summon creatures.

2. Deck: A player’s deck is their library of cards from which they draw each turn. In a standard game, a deck must contain at least 60 cards. The deck can be customized with any combination of card types, but it can’t contain more than four of the same card, excluding basic land cards.

3. Life Counters: Each player starts the game with a certain amount of life, typically 20. Players keep track of their life total with life counters. If a player’s life total drops to zero, they lose the game.

4. Dice: Dice are often used to keep track of a variety of game aspects, such as the number of certain counters a card has, a creature’s power and toughness, or the amount of life a player has left.

5. Counters: Counters are used to track various ongoing effects. For instance, a creature might get a +1/+1 counter every time it deals damage, which increases its power and toughness.

Each game of Magic: The Gathering involves two or more players who take turns playing cards from their deck. The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent’s life total to zero before they can do the same to you. Understanding and mastering the use of these components is key to becoming a successful player.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast. Players use decks of cards representing magical spells, creatures, and artifacts to defeat their opponents. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up the game:

Step 1: Determine the Number of Players

Although most often played with two players, Magic: The Gathering can be played by any number of players and various multiplayer formats are available.

Step 2: Choose Your Deck

Each player needs their own deck to play. This can either be a pre-made deck, a deck created from a player’s own collection, or a deck built from a limited pool of cards for a single game.

Step 3: Determine Player Roles

In Magic: The Gathering, each player takes on the role of a planeswalker. Planeswalkers are powerful mages that can summon creatures, cast spells, and use magical artifacts.

Step 4: Shuffle Decks

Each player shuffles their deck. A player’s deck becomes their library, from which they will draw cards during the game.

Step 5: Determine First Player

Players decide randomly who goes first. This can be done by any method, such as flipping a coin or rolling a dice.

Step 6: Draw Starting Hands

Each player draws a hand of seven cards from their deck.

Step 7: Decide to Mulligan

After drawing their initial hand, each player may decide to mulligan, which means shuffling their hand back into their library and drawing a new hand with one fewer card. Players may repeat this process as many times as they like, but each time they draw one fewer card.

Step 8: Begin the Game

The player who goes first does not draw a card during their first draw step. Apart from this, the game continues in clockwise order with each player taking turns. A turn consists of multiple phases including drawing a card, playing lands, casting spells, attacking with creatures, and so on.

Step 9: Planeswalker Points

Each player starts the game with 20 life points. Players can lose life points from being attacked with creatures or spells, and gain life through their own spells and abilities. The aim of the game is to reduce your opponent’s life points to zero.

Random Elements:

The random elements in Magic: The Gathering include the shuffle of the deck, the draw of the cards, and any effects that involve randomness, such as flipping a coin. The strategy of the game involves managing these random elements to your advantage.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game that is known for its complexity and strategic depth. A game of Magic ends when one or more of the game’s specific victory conditions are met. These conditions reflect the different ways a player can outmaneuver their opponent and claim victory.

The primary victory condition in Magic: The Gathering is reducing your opponent’s life total to zero. At the start of the game, each player begins with 20 life. Players use creatures, spells, and abilities to deal damage and reduce their opponent’s life total. Unlike other games, life totals can also increase above 20 through certain card effects.

Victory Conditions:

Life Total: If a player’s life total is reduced to zero or less, that player loses the game. This is the most common way games of Magic end.
Decking: If a player is required to draw a card and cannot because their library (deck) is empty, that player loses the game. This is often referred to as “decking” an opponent.
Poison Counters: If a player accumulates ten or more poison counters, they lose the game. Poison counters are a less common but still possible way to lose a game of Magic.
Card Effects: Some cards in Magic: The Gathering have effects that state a player wins or loses the game. These are often difficult to achieve, but can provide alternative paths to victory.

Before the final scoring can be done, players must ensure all actions and triggers have been resolved. This includes resolving any spells or abilities on the stack, and checking state-based actions, such as creatures with lethal damage or zero toughness being sent to the graveyard. Once all actions are resolved and a player has lost, the game ends immediately and no further actions are taken.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Magic: The Gathering is a complex trading card game with a unique scoring system. Each player starts with a certain number of life points, and the aim of the game is to reduce your opponent’s life points to zero.

Initial Life Points:

At the start of the game, each player begins with 20 life points. These points represent the player’s health. Players can gain or lose life points through the effects of cards or by taking damage from their opponents’ creatures.

Damage and Loss of Life Points:

Players lose life points when they take damage. Damage can come from being attacked by creatures, spells, or abilities. The damage dealt to a player reduces his or her life points by a corresponding amount. For example, if a player is attacked by a creature with a power of 5, they lose 5 life points.

Winning the Game:

The game ends when one player’s life points reach zero or when a card’s specific win condition is met. The player who still has life points remaining or who meets the win condition of a card is declared the winner.

Tie-Breaking Rules:

In the rare event of a tie, where both players reach zero life points at the same time, the game is a draw. However, certain cards and rules can change this outcome. If a card effect states that a player wins the game, that effect takes precedence over the life points. Similarly, if a card effect states that a player loses the game, they lose regardless of their life points.

Scoring in Tournaments:

In competitive play, such as tournaments, match points are awarded to players based on their performance. The scoring system is as follows:

Win: 3 points
Draw: 1 point
Loss: 0 points

The player with the most match points at the end of the tournament is declared the winner. In the case of a tie in match points, the player with the highest game-win percentage, then the player with the highest opponent match-win percentage, is declared the winner.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Magic: The Gathering is a game with a complex rule system. Here are some rare or special rules, exceptions, and rule clarifications that might be important:

1. The ‘Legend Rule’

In Magic: The Gathering, there’s a unique rule known as the ‘Legend Rule’. This rule states that if a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is a state-based action.

2. Double-Faced Cards

Double-faced cards have two faces and no traditional magic card back. They start the game with their front face up, but certain abilities can cause them to transform, flipping to their other face. They also have a special rule for handling in the library or anywhere the card’s identity is hidden – they can’t be turned face down.

3. Split Cards

Split cards have two sets of characteristics while they’re not on the stack. While they’re on the stack, only the characteristics of the half being played apply. The converted mana cost of a split card is the combined mana cost of both halves.

4. The ‘Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule’

This rule states that a player can control only one planeswalker of a particular type at a time. If a player controls more than one planeswalker of the same type, they choose one to keep and the others are put into their owners’ graveyards.

5. Protection

A permanent with protection can’t be targeted, damaged, or enchanted by anything of the specified quality. For example, a creature with protection from red can’t be targeted, damaged, or enchanted by red spells or red permanents.

6. Indestructible

An indestructible permanent can’t be destroyed by damage or by effects that say “destroy”. However, it can still be sacrificed, exiled, put into a graveyard due to the state-based action for having 0 or less toughness, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Magic: The Gathering is a complex and strategic game with countless ways to play. Here are some advanced strategies, beginner tips, common mistakes to avoid, and ways to optimize gameplay:

Advanced Strategies:

Understand the meta: Knowing what other players are likely to play can give you a significant advantage. Pay attention to the trending decks in the meta and consider keeping sideboards to counter them.
Utilize card advantage: Try to use cards that allow you to draw more cards, or force your opponent to discard cards. This way, you have more options during your turn and your opponent has fewer.
Manage your resources: Be careful not to exhaust your hand too early in the game. It’s often advantageous to wait and play cards at the most opportune moments.

Beginner Tips:

Learn the basics: Understand the rules, card types, and phases of a turn before attempting to play a competitive game.
Practice deck building: Start with a pre-made deck, then gradually learn to build your own. This will help you understand the synergies between cards and how to create a balanced deck.
Play with friends: A friendly game can be a great learning environment. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek advice.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Overcommitting on the board: It’s easy to get excited and play all your cards at once, but this can leave you vulnerable to board-wiping spells.
Misunderstanding card interactions: It’s important to read each card carefully and understand how it interacts with others. Misunderstandings can lead to poor strategic decisions.
Not planning for the long game: It’s easy to focus on the immediate game, but Magic is often about the long game. Make sure to plan for future turns and consider the long-term implications of your decisions.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Keep a balanced deck: A deck with a good balance of land, creatures, and spells tends to perform better than one that is skewed heavily in one direction.
Know your deck: The more familiar you are with your deck and its capabilities, the better you’ll be able to make strategic decisions during gameplay.
Stay flexible: While it’s good to have a plan, it’s also important to adapt to the situation on the board. Be willing to change your strategy as the game evolves.