Intro to Magic part 1: What is Magic: the Gathering?

It occurs to me that not all of the people who read my blog regularly know how to play Magic. And I talk about it a lot, because it's a thing I enjoy and do a lot of. Here's a brief introduction to what the game is and how it works, so that you are not confused by my continuing to talk about this complicated thing that I enjoy.

Note to experienced Magic players: This is a general overview, so I will not be discussing set-specific mechanics. Please do not leave comments asking "but what about...". Please do leave comments elaborating on things you think I've missed, but bear in mind that this is a series and I will probably get to your point eventually.

The Lore

As a player of Magic, you play the role of a kind of powerful wizard known as a planeswalker (hence the name of my regular playgroup, the Lady Planeswalkers Society). A game of Magic is two planeswalkers fighting a magical duel, summoning creatures from various planes of existence to attack each other with, and casting spells to do further damage and/or change the environment the game is played in. Most Magic games start with each player at twenty points of life and the goal of reducing their opponent's life total to zero.

The cards

Here are the types of cards that normally show up in a Magic deck. Any generalization I make from here on out comes with the caveat "unless someone has played a specific card that says otherwise."

• Lands produce the mana you need to cast spells, and make up between two-fifths and one-third of a deck, depending on the size of the deck and what strategy you're using. You can play one land on each of your turns, and each land card taps for one mana. To show that a card is tapped, you turn it sideways.
• There are five types of basic land, each of which produces a different color of mana. Each color is associated with different kinds of spells and creature abilities, and plays a different role in the underlying philosophy of the stories that accompany the game (more on that in a later post).
• Plains produce white mana,
• Islands produce blue,
• Swamps produce black,
• Mountains produce red,
• Forests produce green.

All card images in this post are from magiccards.info.

• Nonbasic lands are any other kind of land. Some of these produce multiple colors of mana, or colorless mana (represented by a number or a diamond symbol). Some have abilities in addition to or instead of mana production.

• All spells (that is, any card that isn't a land) have a casting cost, shown in the upper right corner of the card, that tells you how much mana of what colors is needed to cast that spell. This can include any of the five colors, any number of generic mana (you can use any color), and in some rare cases, mana that must be colorless.
• Creatures usually make up another third-plus of  a deck. These are people, animals, plants, and sometimes magic-powered robots from the planes you have access to as a planeswalker.

 

• Each creature has one or more types (such as Bird, Soldier, Elf, and Druid), and a power and toughness that show how it attacks and blocks other attacking creatures. Aven Sentry has three power and two toughness; Llanowar Elves has one power and one toughness.
• Most creatures also have abilities. For example, Aven Sentry can fly, making it harder to prevent from attacking successfully, and Llanowar Elves can be tapped (the curved arrow symbol means "turn it sideways") to create one green mana.
• Legendary is a card type that is most often associated with creatures, but can appear on other kinds of card. If a card is legendary, you can only have one of it in play at a time. Legendary creatures often represent named characters in the stories associated with Magic sets.

• Enchantments are spells that stick around after you cast them and have a lasting effect. They come in a number of subtypes, including Auras, which are cast enchanting a specific other card.

 

• Instants and Sorceries are spells that have an effect for a short time and go away after you cast them. Instants can be cast at more different times during a turn than Sorceries; I'll explain that when I describe the structure of a game.

 

• Artifacts represent magical objects or machines. They stick around and are almost always colorless. There are a variety of types; some act like enchantments, some (called Equipment) act like Auras, and some are creatures in their own right.

• Planeswalkers are a rare card type that represent you calling on another wizard for help. They have loyalty, represented by the number on the bottom right, and abilities that require you to add or subtract loyalty from them. If they run out of loyalty, they get tired of helping you and leave. Planeswalker cards often represent the main characters of the stories associated with Magic sets, and they are always Legendary.

That's probably enough to think about for now. Next time I'll go over the structure of a game of Magic.