Magic: The Gathering Advice for Slightly New Player?

Question

Ok, so I'm not new to the game; I understand the rules, how to play, how to use your cards effectively, etc. However, all of what I have learned has been from my best friend, who quit playing a while back so she doesn't have any of the newer cards. So, I'm wanting to break away from using her cards (though some of them are pretty strong and useful) and to start building my own casual deck. I'll probably only really be playing against her and her boyfriend.

So, for someone who doesn't have their own cards but who knows how to play, what would be the best decks/sets for me to buy to get me started?

My biggest worry is buying a deck/set that is outdated or full of worthless cards, so I'm asking for some advice. I'm not really sure what colors I want to use, but I have grown fond of white. I'll probably end up wanting to have decent cards of all 5 colors so I can try out different combinations.

Answer 1

IMHO, I think you're in luck as now is an excellent time to get into the game, as all of the new sets over the past three years have been exceptional and include a number of cards which are quite powerful and have become important in modern competitive play. I don't think you'll go wrong with any of the sets going back to the Ravnica block, which would be:

Ravnica, Guildpact, Dissension

Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight

Lorwyn, Morningtide

Shadowmoor, ???

These are listed from oldest (Ravnica was released in 2005) to newest (Shadowmoor was just released a couple of months ago), though any of these sets are probably still available at MSRP at a retailer near you.

A great deal of emphasis has gone into tribal mechanics over the past few years (creatures sharing creature types for cumulative effects), particularly within the scheme of two-color tribal decks from the Ravnica block, and again with the Lorwyn block from the past year or two.

To maximize your deck building, you might want to stick with one block for awhile. In that case, the most bang for your buck is probably in the Lorwyn block, where you can build a competitive deck cheaply though buying booster packs, and there are several "bombs" that resell on the secondary market for quite a lot of cash.

Ravnica is invaluable with its inclusion of dual lands, however you will probably find yourself buying far more packs of cards within that block as the 10 different guilds result in a huge cardpool with many incompatibilities for less advanced deck builders.

As for the Time Spiral block, it includes "time shifted" cards, which are reprints of many extremely powerful cards from earlier, long out of print sets. It introduces a ton of new game mechanics, and reprints many old one through its time shifted cards. It is an excellent set in terms of power cards, but its mechanics which include a lot of time, turn, and token manipulation can be very difficult to understand without some tutoring from an experienced group of Magic veterans.

Which sets you buy is up to you, but I'd say get started with Lorwyn and work your way back through the older sets.

As for *how* to buy, I'd encourage just purchasing as many booster packs as you can. Do not bother with Theme Decks and so forth. You'll find if you purchase about a box and a half of booster packs, you can build most any of the theme decks minus a card or two, but with the inclusion of multiples of the better commons or uncommons, and you'll have a diverse assortment of rares for your money.

Theme Decks are invaluable for learning mechanics in the set, but I think they're a bad idea for building a collection when you can get a broader assortment of cards in all five colors through boosters.

If you're looking for a place to buy, I like dacardworld.com for booster packs by the box. They're cheap and have low (or in some circumstances, no) shipping charges or sales tax for out of state buyers. dacard offers all shipping services as options (FedEx, UPS, DHL, and USPS) and accepts Credit Cards, PayPal, or Checks/MO.

Answer 2

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