Magic The Gathering

[Charly]

Out of the many online forums I am a member of, this is by far the most geeky. So hopefully I will get a useful response.

I saw an article in a newspaper today on Magic the Gathering , and how it has outsold monopoly and trivial persuit. So my wife asked me, why dont we give it a go (ooh err).

I thought I would check online to see how much, and after lookig on the official site, I found that there are 10 editions, and what looks like 100s of packs.

So my question is this: As a complete beginner, what should I be buying, and what should I maybe be looking at buying if we enjoy playing to expand?

Cheers!

[Gillianren]

when I played (ten years ago!), you could buy starter packs. if you have a gaming store in your area, I'd advise going to them and pleading complete ignorance; they're usually trustworthy enough not to try selling you 100's of dollars' worth of junk. (though that's what I consider the game; it didn't do much for me. I just had a lot of friends who played, and even then, I burned out pretty quickly.)

[BAroxMysox]

I grabbed a 5-color premade deck (generally $10-11 US) to hold me over until I got the hang of it, learned everything I could, then just tweaked my deck to preference with random boosters and loose cards from other players.

Most past editions aren't sold in local shops and AFAIK, they're kind of expensive online. I would just grab one of the current editions. Being a beginner, I don't imagine the weird card types would be much of a problem to get the hang of.

It really is a fun game to play with friends to have a good time, but nothing to go pro or spend more money than it's worth on.

[TriangleMan]

Magic the Gathering (MTG) is not a typical game like Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit but a collectible card game. At this time there are over 5000 different cards, you use the cards to make decks then play your deck against other players. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_The_Gathering) has a good entry on it. Players are generally in their teens to early twenties but there are some older players as well.

Any decent gaming store should have starter decks and packs of the basic set available, I'd recommend starting with those. You'll also want some extra cards called "basic lands". Hopefully the store has some that it can sell individually, usually for 10 cents a card. The rules will seem complicated at first but I find that most people get the hang of it after a few games.



[geek brag] I started playing during Beta back in 1993, still have tons of Beta cards :P [/geek brag]

[snowcelt]

when I played (ten years ago!), you could buy starter packs. if you have a gaming store in your area, I'd advise going to them and pleading complete ignorance; they're usually trustworthy enough not to try selling you hundreds of dollars' worth of junk. (though that's what I consider the game; it didn't do much for me. I just had a lot of friends who played, and even then, I burned out pretty quickly.)

Same here. Started playing just when the betas came out. I found out quickly that some were so into the game that they could take your pack quickly because they could male cattle excrement you. I burnt out because it seemed like too much work to stay on top of interpretations.

My nephew started playing and I thought I could show him a thing or two---had not played in ten or twelve years---I thought all of my vintage cards would do damage. Well, it seems that most of those vintage cards are still printed: The little weasel took my deck then gave it back because he thought all of the cards were pretty much useless.

charley. You may be one of those who enjoy. For less than 100 bucks you and your old lady can probably have some fun for at least awhile.

[Matherly]

Howdey,

Here's my advice for someone getting into Magic without an old hand teaching them (like it sounds like you are doing)

There is a product called the "Core Game". What it has is the starter rules and enough cards to keep two players entertained for a while. The Core Game also explains how one goes about collecting more Mgaic cards and using them together.

One thing to note, the newspaper article was probibly prompted by the fact that there is new Core Game coming out ot the end of the month. You might want to wait until it comes out, altrhough if you bought the core game today it would not be obsolite... all of the cards that have ever been printed can be played together if one is so inclined.

Oh, and welcome to the world of "cardboard crack"

(Side note: The Magic:the Gathering webpage is here (http://www.magicthegathering.com)

[gethen]

Great. When my youngest went off to college I stashed our Magic set in a closet and managed to break the addiction and even forget where the game was. Now I remember. Another summer about to be wasted. :wink:

[Kesh]

The key part is that the game is collectable. Thus, older card sets are out of print, and expensive to get.

I'd recommend buying the Starter Set for the two of you, and give it a whirl. After that, maybe pick up a few pre-built decks for the current game (8th Edition). Then, we can give advice on what to do next.

[Charly]

Thanks to everyone...

There is a product called the "Core Game". What it has is the starter rules and enough cards to keep two players entertained for a while. The Core Game also explains how one goes about collecting more Mgaic cards and using them together.


.. all of the cards that have ever been printed can be played together if one is so inclined.

(Side note: The Magic:the Gathering webpage is here (http://www.magicthegathering.com)

Thats what I wanted to know. And the second part answers my next question about older editions being compatible.

I checked the website just before I posted my question, and found it completely useless if you know zilch about the game, being designed more for the fans.

And all of the millions of online guides I saw all wanted to tell you how to play the game, and not what to buy before you get to play.

Cheers!

[Matherly]

Another thing I'd like to mention...

There is an online version of the game. It plays exactly like the so-called 'paper' version, but requires a computer per player (which might mean you and your wife cannot play at the same time) plus internet connection (you play through a central server to help curtail hacking). The advantage to playing online is that you can play people from all over the world at any time. This was nice for me since I used to work a retail job with a wacky schedule.

Now then, the afore mentioned "Core Set" also comes with the software for the online version, so it is still the first thing you will want to purchase.

If you do decide to play on-line, please feel free to email me at carl_matherly@yahoo.com . I would love to show you the ropes and help you start your collection out.

Have fun!

[PatKelley]

My recommendation: Run. Run fast. Don't stop running!

It's an addiction for some, and can eat up a lot of time, money, and brain cycles. There are other simple games like "Lunch Money" and the like that don't take nearly as long, and there are always good old fashioned playing cards - poker's fun, I hear.

I speak as one who got in during 1994 and got out by 1996.

[TriangleMan]

I speak as one who got in during 1994 and got out by 1996.
I hope you got some good money for your cards, sounds like you had some top-dollar stuff.

[PatKelley]

I speak as one who got in during 1994 and got out by 1996.
I hope you got some good money for your cards, sounds like you had some top-dollar stuff.

Nah. They sat in a box. My five-year-old son rummages through them every now and again for things to stick in the VCR or DVD.

[Gillianren]

I played for about the same length of time. I didn't have much that was very good, but I got some comic books and a CD and $20 bucks. maybe one or two other things. I don't read the comic books very often, but it's still more often than I'd play with the cards.

I had a boyfriend who played, long after I stopped, who set his cards on fire to stop himself from playing anymore. (well, they also had cat pee on them.) three days later, he came home with more cards.

[Stregone]

I know people in highschool (over 5 years ago. I feel old :( ) who had huge binders full of magic the gathering cards. If they didn't lose/sell/give them away they could have bought a damn house and a car with what the cards are worth today. its insane :p

I wish I didn't think it was so dorky and got into it, because I am a huge packrat and would definitly still have my cards, heh.

[TriangleMan]

If they didn't lose/sell/give them away they could have bought a damn house and a car with what the cards are worth today. its insane :p
Well maybe not a house and a car but a number of those old cards can fetch up to $200US each in mint condition. I figure my collection of 'oldies' (I haven't played for years) is now worth around $8-10 thousand.

[Matherly]

Well... just because a couple of cards are worth upwards of $200 doesn't mean they all are.

The "Power 9" (9 cards from the very eairly sets that were extreamly powerful and thus have not been reprinted) are worth that much. But the vast majority of cards (even the rare ones) just arn't in high enough demand to fetch money like that. Add that to the fact that a lot of the cards have been reprinted in a core set over the years and demand for one of the original sets goes down even more.