My girlfriend and I were talking a few days ago and we just realized how both of us have passed by opportunities to play Magic: The Gathering so we decided that we would purchase a deck and start playing a little bit when we can. However, the problem that I/we face is .. neither of us know much about M:TG, let alone which card sets to begin looking for or at. So I was just wondering if anyone here that plays quite a bit could assist in choosing a starting deck/pack that would be efficient enough to play on our free time. Would be very much appreciated. ^.^

I don't know but, Nice avatar.

There are games you can purchase online that can pit you against computer opponents. If you want to go the cheap route there are online sites that give some good tutorials on the game. As for beginner's decks it's hard to say really to me they are all the same only difference is how they behave. Some decks are slower paced having spells and such like black/swamp decks while fire decks are fast paced having creatures that let you get them out on the first turn. With the new release they combined some old mechanics so now you have poison counters and such.

These are quite nasty and when a player gets 10 of them they essentially lose the game.

Ah, MTG. I remember when I collected so many cards while I was 9, I could have 5 separate decks. My favorite creature is a 12/12 Trample creature artifact that costs 1 mana and 1 sacrififed artifact.

EDIT: Nevermind still looking for a decent guide.
EDIT EDIT: Here's what you want, http://www.wizards.com/magic/rules/EN_MTGM11_Rulebook_LR_Web.pdf. It's a bit meaty, but comprehensive and has plenty of visuals to help.

I'm still unsure of what deck to pick. I've heard some people recommend blue/green decks to start, but I've no idea.

Also, I just read the guide you linked. It wasn't bad enough to give false ideas, was it?

?

Anyway, when I used to play as a kid, rules concerning colors didn't matter at all.

Don't (start playing magic). Its a trap.

Green has your Big Creatures and booting Enchantments
Blue is all about control - Counterspells and some direct damage critters
White is protection and healing
Reds direct damage spells
Black has some weakening enchantments and some powerful spells that require life/critter sacrificng.

With a Blue/Green, the problem you might face is those big critters need a lot of mana, which is going to take away your ability to counterspell. Make sure you've got extra mana producing cards in your deck (enchatments that increase mana, critters that produce mana, etc).

If you're going to play multiple colours, look out for those cards (I think they're artifacts mostly) that change one type of mana for another, or lands that have muliple colour types. A few artifact critters (which work with any mana) might also help in the event you're unlucky enough to only the wrong type of land.

Well, there are starter decks available. I had a look at the Magic 2011 decks at a convention, and they seem very, very solid and every pack specialises on the core capabilities of their colour, as agent_c already has described. The rulebook link is already posted, so there is not much more to say. It's a game that's simple to learn, but offers much, much depth through thousands of combos.

€: Oh, http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/489.

Oh boy I remember sweeping my first tournament with a white/black Platinum Angel deck. Good times...

All I know is, I bet I'd get absolutely swept with my ancient ass cards.

Hmm..... Phyrexian Dreadnaught?

I still have a few of my old decks, but nobody to play against. I started in 8th grade, right around the time Tempest came out, and played all through high school. The first booster pack I ever bought was from 4th Edition and it had a Shivan Dragon in it. I was hooked from then on. Still have that dragon, too.

Yep, and the picture is bad ass.

Don't forget to untap your monsters and mana. That is a biggie! I just got into it thanks to a friend. It is kinda hard to explain all the rules since I am new to it and it is kinda confusing but not really.

Id recommend picking up a http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/dbt/productinfo
Its a great starting point.

Ah I was Finalnds unofficial under 15-year old champion 4 years ago. Good times, I still play it. Feels in the wallet..

If you buy a starter set, do not buy a 40 card thing, they are useless. But if you do, buy two of the same to spice your deck up and eliminate bad cards. A good rule to follow is to have all your creatures have useful abilities, in addition to as high power/toughness you can get for X mana.

If you find 60 card starting decks, it's really a good idea to buy 3 of the same. That was my first deck, with only the land changing. I had the teneb the harvester deck, with harmonize, dread return, acid moss and other cheesy things But we live in the 2011 era, those cards cannot be used in T2 standard anymore.

Ahh I still have my deck floating around. It was a blue/red deck, it turned out pretty good, I jut wish more of my friends played it.

On the topic of Magic the gathering has any have any good counters against a elf deck that isn't using poison counters or/and wither? By friend has this deck with I CAN'T STAND TAUNTING ELF ANYMORE!
Sorry he is so difficult to beat in even in FFA. Wellwisher oh wow 20 health in one turn! , Taunting elf is now 12/13? Fantastic! I just hate it with a passion.

I thought my mono green deck back then was an easy pickup for starters. Fast mana with fast creatures (most of the time at least).

Also, what does "Protection from " actually do? I know a creature with protection from a certain color won't take damage from a spell of that color, but does that also mean it can't be targeted and blocked by creatures of the said color?

Protection from color:

Cannot be targeted by a spell of the color.

Cannot be blocked by a creature of the color.

If Protected creature blocks a creature of the color, Protected creature will receive no damage.

Cards with Protection rules CAN be affected by spells that have no specific target. IE: Destroy all creature spells.

Cards with Protection are also protected from friendly cards/spells that have the color.

Taunting Elf? High Ground is the first thing that comes to mind. Wellwisher is bothersome. Against such healing capabilities, you'd probably want a hugely buffed floater team. White and blue with High Ground and artefact combos maybe.

Does that thing have enough cards for 2 players? I want to try MTG with a friend but we don't want to buy two copies of the Deck Builders Toolkit in case we don't like the game. Would one kit be enough for both of us?

It comes with 285 cards. 100 of which are land (20 of each color). A deck one average is 60 cards so yes it should be enough to make atleast 2 monocolor decks.

I always wanted one of those.



Best way to deal with with elf-spam decks is cards that wipe the board. Wrath of God, for example. No elves, no problem. Red burn cards are also a good way to deal with pesky individual elves. Or you could go blue and counter them. Or build a sliver deck like mine that is a million times more evil than an elf deck (I have both kinds of decks ).

I'm a casual player. Came in during Odyssey. Though I didn't get all that into it. I would say my first real experience was later with Onslaught when I was given almost the entire set of Onslaught and Scourge. Though I'm only casual about it, playing with friends and such. I forgot about it for quite some time, and am looking to get back into it. Either with the 2011 or upcoming 2012 core. Would it be worth it to wait for 2012 core? Generally it's only me and my friends playing, so it's not like we're going to be going in tournaments and stuff.

Edit
I have a red/blue deck I like to use due to the versatility, but hard to pull off. My black zombie deck is fairly formidable as well.

Edit2
If I did go the 2011 set I would probably buy 2 fat packs for myself and call it a day for quite some time.

I got caught up in MTG over a year ago.
The hybrid cards are kind of neat.
I started with the blue/black, but now have a nice green/black deck (hybrids and pure colors in one deck).
...But they keep coming out with new cards and abilities, which is how they get you, and continue their biz.
So if people are coming in with new cards, it helps to keep up on what they do.