Discover The Magic Of The Original Trading Card Game

There are all sorts of trading card games you can play both in the real world and online. From Pokemon TGC and Yu-Gi-Oh!, to Cardfight!! Vanguard and Duel Masters, there are all sorts of diverse games played by millions every day. The game that started it all is Magic: The Gathering. Released back in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast, it was the very first trading card game and paved the way for so many others. Over the years, it’s grown and evolved to become a huge, detailed and compelling game with several different ways to play.

If you’re after an exciting and riveting trading card game adventure that’s just as engaging today as it was when it was released, stick with Magic: The Gathering. It’s all about battles between players acting as powerful and mighty wizards known as planeswalkers. Your objective is simple: defeat your opponent by using spells and enchantments to reduce their health to zero. Do this and you win. Of course, there’s a lot more to the game than that. If you’re keen to learn more about how the game works, don’t go anywhere. We’ve put together this guide to share with you what the game’s all about and what its features are. First, we’ll have a look at the basics. The fantasy world of 'Magic: The Gathering'

Get Ready To Cast Some Spells

Magic: The Gathering introduces you to a fantasy world full of awesome spells, fearful creatures and powerful artefacts. The planeswalkers you play as are wizened wizards who use all manner of spells, creatures and artefacts in their battles. When playing, it’s up to you to use the cards at your disposal to defeat your opponent and earn a victory.

Magic: The Gathering is played with two or more players and is a turn-based card game that requires the use of strategy if you’re going to stand a decent chance of winning. As with other card games, there is some luck involved, but gameplay mostly focuses on deck-building and putting cards to use as you play. There are a number of different rule formats that govern how games are played. These fall under two main categories: limited and constructed. If a game’s limited, you typically construct a deck of at least 40 cards using random cards. For constructed games, you create decks using your own cards with at least 60 cards per deck.

Real-World Wizardry And Online Spell Casting

There are two ways to play the game: with printed cards in person, or with virtual cards online. If you want to play the physical version of the game, you can purchase booster packs and sets from a wide range of retailers. There are thousands of cards in print, with several new collections released every year. Play with friends or take part in special organised competitions and tournaments.

If you want to play online, there’s Magic: The Gathering Online, an entirely digital iteration of the game that’s available exclusively on the Microsoft Windows platform. Downloading the software is free, though you need to register an account, which costs $9.99. this gives you a beginner’s package that includes avatars, cards, event tickets that are used to enter tournaments and player points used for special events. To obtain more of these, you can purchase them; there’s also the option to trade avatars, cards and event tickets.

There are also a number of video game releases – some of these stay true to the game’s standard format, while others focus more on fleshing out the world the game’s set in. The most recent of these is Magic: The Gathering Arena, a free-to-play computer game where you complete tasks and receive booster packs to build up your card collection. It also supports micro-transactions. Online versions of the game can be played on computers, tablets and smartphones, though not all games are compatible with all devices.

Become A Planeswalker And Claim Victory

Now, we’ll have a closer look at how Magic: The Gathering works. When you play, your planeswalker and your opponent’s both have twenty life points. Whoever loses all of these points first loses and the remaining planeswalker wins. This is the most common way to win, though you can also win if your opponent ends up drawing from an empty deck, or if a special card is drawn.

There are two types of card that can be drawn: lands and spells. Land cards provide you with mana, which is a magical currency used to power your planeswalker’s spells. Mana comes in five different colours, each one corresponding to a different topography and a specific type of magic. These are as follows:

White (Plains). Associated with light, order and peace; focuses on preventing damage, restoring health and reducing the opponent’s advantages
Blue (Islands). Associated with logic, intelligence and deception; focuses on interfering with the opponent’s spells and taking control of the opponent’s creatures
Black (Swamps). Associated with corruption, death and power; focuses on destroying the opponent’s creatures and sacrificing weaker creature cards to make others more powerful
Red (Mountains). Associated with chaos, warfare and freedom; focuses on highly offensive attacks and weaker creatures that can launch fast attacks
Green (Forests). Associated with nature, life and evolution; focuses on strengthening spells and generating mana

Each spell costs mana of one colour. Some, however, are multicoloured and require mana of two different colours in order to be played. Each land card can be used once per turn, though you can have many different land cards in play at once. As a game progresses, the spells you cast will get more powerful so you’ll need to have more mana in use to power them.

Magic Comes In Many Colours

Colours are important in Magic: The Gathering and they’re something you’ll learn more about the more you play the game. Each card has one colour (however, some of the more recent releases can have more than one). To play a card, you need to spend mana of the same colour. Cards interact with cards of other colours in different ways. For example, the colours blue and green are seen as opposing, so decks composed of cards of these two colours might not work so well. Decks can have cards of as many different colours. However, the more colours there are in a deck, the harder it may be for you to find the right amount of mana to power your spells. On the other hand, having more colours represented in a deck gives you a greater variety of gameplay options.

The game’s five colours are arranged into a wheel or pie. The way it’s designed, for each colour the two adjacent to it are beneficial, while the two furthest away aren’t beneficial. For example, the wheel has white at the top with blue and green adjacent to it and red and black at the bottom. Therefore, if you’re playing with predominantly white cards, blue and green cards should help you out, while those red and black in colour will likely be a hindrance to you.

Cast All Manner Of Spells

In case you’re wondering about how spells work in Magic: The Gathering, we’ve got you covered. There are loads of different ones you can cast against your opponent, some more powerful and complex than others. Spells can be grouped into two main categories. There are those that have a single, instant effect and those that have a longer-lasting effect. Instants and sorceries are one-off spells that get put into the discard pile once they’ve been used. Artefacts and enchantments are spells that, once cast, remain in effect for a while. Then there are creature spells. These are long-lasting spells that summon a creature which can either attack your opponent or help defend you against your opponent’s attacks.

Even with all of these at your disposal, you may still need help in taking down your opponent. Thankfully, there are planeswalker ally cards that can be of a great help to you. These are very powerful cards that can give you an advantage, but they work in a different way to most other cards. For starters, these cards essentially act as another player. If you have one of these cards in play, when your opponent attacks they have to decide whether to attack you or the ally planeswalker. It can take some turns to charge up these cards and unleash their full potential. It’s worth employing strategies to protect them so that you get the most out of them before they’re knocked out.

Let The Battle Commence

Now we’ll get on to the good stuff: the actual battles! When playing Magic: The Gathering, first of all your deck is shuffled. Then, you draw a total of seven cards that make up your hand. When it’s your turn, you get to draw a new card. Any cards you discard or use, along with used spells and dead creatures, go onto your discard pile, which is known as the graveyard. Each card shows in its top right corner how many mana and what type(s) of mana are needed for it to be used. Basically, you need to have enough mana to activate a spell to cast against your opponent. Each turn consists of five phases:

Beginning Phase. Deactivate (or untap) mana cards, then draw a card
Main Phase. Put down a land to activate mana. Choose creature and spell cards to use
Combat Phase. Declare attack and confirm your attackers. Your opponent confirms which of your attacks s/he wishes to defend against. Damage is calculated and dealt. Both sides may lose attackers
Main Phase. Identical to the first Main Phase
End. Healing and some spell casting takes place. Number of cards reduced to 7 if more than 7

That’s the gist of how a typical turn works in Magic: The Gathering. Since there’s the chance to defend attacks, you also get to act when it’s the opponent’s turn and s/he decides to attack you.

A World Of Magic Awaits

With Magic: The Gathering having first come out nearly thirty years ago, it should come as no surprise that the game has grown considerably over the years. Nowadays, there are thousands upon thousands of cards and loads of sets – the number of cards is constantly going up as the creators come up with new features, spells, effects and creatures. The game is huge and there’s so much depth to it that we’ve only really just begun scratching the surface. It may seem overwhelming at first, but it’s not like that at all. Once you start playing, you should get the hang of how everything works and eventually, you’ll be familiar with all the different gameplay effects, strategies and tactics.

The good news is that there are entry points for beginners. If it’s the printed card game you’re going for, there are special sets aimed at those new to the game. These are designed to introduce you to the game’s core features and get you practising strategies to give yourself an advantage. If you’re looking to play online, the digital versions of the game offer plenty of help, advice and information about the game – plus, they let you play as much as you want so you’ve got plenty of opportunity to build up your confidence. There are also loads of third-party videos to do with the game that cover all sorts of aspects. Watching these can be a great way to see how the game’s played and pick up some more tips.

Magic: The Gathering has earned a loyal, dedicated fanbase and remains strong after nearly thirty years of being played. It’s a hugely popular game with exciting gameplay and in-depth strategies. We’ve got lots of useful information about the game waiting for you to read. Brush up on your knowledge, then get ready to embark on a magical card game adventure that’s bound to satisfy, entertain and challenge you.