Explain Magic: The Gathering
- Thread starter DreadPirateMurphy
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The Iron Mark
First Post
How long do games last? Is there a time limit?
If you're in a tournament, I believe you have 50 mins. to conclude who wins. Best 2 out of 3 matches.
How are the cards randomized? How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?
Why shuffle them of course. In tournament play it is required to let your opponent shuffle or cut your deck, as long as it is done fairly. If it isn't, they can be warned, or even banned.
Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?
Yes, though the opponent might find out from playing against you or watching other games you've played.
Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful? Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise? How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?
In general, uncommons and rares are more powerful, because you get less of them in a pack (only 1 rare per pack for example). No limit on them, they just usually cost more. A deck of only rares won't work well, as they usually have specific events. You need commons to back them up, to provide card draw, acceleration, creatures, etc.
Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?
This was already answered. It depends on which Type you end up doing. Type II uses the latest Core Set, and the latest 5 sets I believe.
If you're in a tournament, I believe you have 50 mins. to conclude who wins. Best 2 out of 3 matches.
How are the cards randomized? How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?
Why shuffle them of course. In tournament play it is required to let your opponent shuffle or cut your deck, as long as it is done fairly. If it isn't, they can be warned, or even banned.
Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?
Yes, though the opponent might find out from playing against you or watching other games you've played.
Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful? Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise? How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?
In general, uncommons and rares are more powerful, because you get less of them in a pack (only 1 rare per pack for example). No limit on them, they just usually cost more. A deck of only rares won't work well, as they usually have specific events. You need commons to back them up, to provide card draw, acceleration, creatures, etc.
Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?
This was already answered. It depends on which Type you end up doing. Type II uses the latest Core Set, and the latest 5 sets I believe.
Patryn of Elvenshae
First Post
DreadPirateMurphy said:
Until someone wins. An average game lasts about an hour or so, though.
Each player builds his or her own deck. As such, the cards in your deck aren't random. What's random is the order in which you draw them. Each player shuffles his or her deck before play starts.
Generally yes, but some cards have abilities that let you either go through your opponent's deck and look for particular cards, or let you see their top three cards, etc.
Usually.
Other than that they are harder to get a hold of and therefore get in your deck in the first place? Not really.
Yes, you could. As to how you maintain balance, you don't, really. Someone could spend a bazillion dollars and construct "the ultimate rare deck."
Of course, depending on how well they actually play, it may not matter. Skill counts for a lot, as does the luck of the draw.
ARandomGod
First Post
"How long do games last?"
Variable, of course... and depending wildly on the skill of the player/deck-builder (and luck). I've seen a game end in two "turns". I have a friend who built a deck based almost completely on the "This game will take so long you'll cede me the win just so you can move on."
"Is there a time limit?"
In 'official' or tournaments, yes. For casual play, your patience is your limit (see above)
"How are the cards randomized?"
Shuffling.
"How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?"
Cut their deck, or reshuffle a tiny bit for them.
"Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?"
Sometimes. In theory, yes. But once you've seen it played you know what's in it.
"Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful?"
Sometimes. They allegedly are. Sometimes they're just filler... and *sometimes* they definitely are, but you don't see why until it's used against you.
"Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise?"
Nope
"How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?"
You certainly could. But really some common cards are irreplaceable. The blue common "counterspell" for instance.
"Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?" Some tourney's are limited to only "current" cards, only ones in the latest (three?) expansions. Others are open to all spells. Note that in the tourney's where you can use all spells some spells are restricted to only one per deck, while others are completely banned (you just can't use that card). Still, the list of restricted/banned cards is proportionally very small.
Variable, of course... and depending wildly on the skill of the player/deck-builder (and luck). I've seen a game end in two "turns". I have a friend who built a deck based almost completely on the "This game will take so long you'll cede me the win just so you can move on."
"Is there a time limit?"
In 'official' or tournaments, yes. For casual play, your patience is your limit (see above)
"How are the cards randomized?"
Shuffling.
"How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?"
Cut their deck, or reshuffle a tiny bit for them.
"Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?"
Sometimes. In theory, yes. But once you've seen it played you know what's in it.
"Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful?"
Sometimes. They allegedly are. Sometimes they're just filler... and *sometimes* they definitely are, but you don't see why until it's used against you.
"Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise?"
Nope
"How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?"
You certainly could. But really some common cards are irreplaceable. The blue common "counterspell" for instance.
"Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?" Some tourney's are limited to only "current" cards, only ones in the latest (three?) expansions. Others are open to all spells. Note that in the tourney's where you can use all spells some spells are restricted to only one per deck, while others are completely banned (you just can't use that card). Still, the list of restricted/banned cards is proportionally very small.
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How long do games last? Is there a time limit?
Games normally last about 10-30 minutes. There is a 1 hour time limit in tournaments, which are played best of three. The game is very fast; one reason it's so good.
How are the cards randomized? How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?
You shuffle them.
The rules permit you to shuffle & cut your opponent's deck.
Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?
Yes. Unless they play a card that allows them to look at your deck...
Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful?
Sort of. They stay within the guidelines of the commons, but they tend to be more specialised and complex.
Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise?
No.
How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?
Although you could have a deck made up only of rares, it is *most* likely you'll want several commons in there as well.
e.g. A card that destroys ONE creature is common. A card that destroys ALL creatures is rare. However, that rare also destroys your creatures - more often, you'll want to only remove one creature to help you win.
Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?[/QUOTE]
It varies. There are several tournament formats.
Standard (the most popular) allows the past two years worth of sets, or thereabouts.
Extended allows the last... err... six years?
Vintage and Legacy allow any set, but those tournaments are somewhat rarer.
Cards are reprinted in later sets, and in the core set. You can use cards from any printing that are in a current set.
Games normally last about 10-30 minutes. There is a 1 hour time limit in tournaments, which are played best of three. The game is very fast; one reason it's so good.
How are the cards randomized? How do you keep somebody from manipulating the order of the cards?
You shuffle them.
The rules permit you to shuffle & cut your opponent's deck.Are the cards in one player's deck kept secret from the opponent?
Yes. Unless they play a card that allows them to look at your deck...
Maybe I missed this, but are silver and gold cards (uncommon/rare) more powerful?
Sort of. They stay within the guidelines of the commons, but they tend to be more specialised and complex.
Is there a limit on the number of silver and gold cards in a deck, percentage-wise?
No.
How do you "maintain balance?" Could I have a deck made up only of rares?
Although you could have a deck made up only of rares, it is *most* likely you'll want several commons in there as well.
e.g. A card that destroys ONE creature is common. A card that destroys ALL creatures is rare. However, that rare also destroys your creatures - more often, you'll want to only remove one creature to help you win.
Can you continue to use any of the sets in current tournaments?[/QUOTE]
It varies. There are several tournament formats.
Standard (the most popular) allows the past two years worth of sets, or thereabouts.
Extended allows the last... err... six years?
Vintage and Legacy allow any set, but those tournaments are somewhat rarer.
Cards are reprinted in later sets, and in the core set. You can use cards from any printing that are in a current set.
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
DreadPirateMurphy said:
The game lasts until one of the players has run out of life. The game is designed for two people. There are unoffical multiplayer varients where this kind of sucks because if you die right away and everyone else is still having fun you can have a very boring 20 minutes on your hands.
A typical two player game lasts 15 minutes or so, depending on the decks.
You shuffle the deck before play, you then cut the cards of your oppoent's hand.
That being said there is a statistical element to the game. If you got your math on, it's pretty easy to tune a deck. If the cards are not basic land cards you can have up to four of them in a hand (you can have as much basic land as you want). So, if you really want your Uber Card to come out, you'll have four of them in the deck. It's generally a good idea to keep the deck to 60 cards. Any more and you'll run the risk of not pulling out a card you want.
Yeah. But there's a metagame associated with it. If you know Player X likes blue-black decks for instance.
Yep. In a game-store level tournoment (prize: $20) I got my butt kicked by a dude with a deck worth about $3,000. I think I got to play one card. It was pretty humiliating.
Cards don't always carry over from year to year. So the answer is "don't count on it".
There are (or at least used to be) different kinds of tournoment levels. So you could play in a Just-About-Every-Card-Ever-Printed turoment, a Just-This-Year's-Cards turnoment, or a We-Give-You-Random-Cards-Here-And-You-Make-The-Best-Of-It tournoment.
By the way, I should warn you. The cards are covered in a thin layer of cocaine. You get a hit every time you open up a booster pack. Just say, no, son. Cards may have been fun to experiment with in college, but you don't want them to ruin your life.
Patryn of Elvenshae
First Post
The Iron Mark said:
That's also a good point.
In earlier editions, there were rare cards like "Goblin King."
He granted bonuses to every goblin you had in play. The trick is that the Goblin King was creature type "Lord." So, a Goblin King didn't grant bonuses to himself - you needed actual goblin cards (usually commons) in order to make the rare Goblin King useful.
The same trend continues.
Bullgrit
Adventurer
I used to play M:tG quite a bit. Haven't played more than a game occassionally, here and there, in a few years now. I've played in a few tournaments, and done fairly well sometimes. But my favorite games were the friendly games -- just folks playing to have fun.
Since most folks above are answering on the assumption of tournament games, I'll answer from the point of view of friendly games:
I used to have a 500-card deck that had 4 of every healing or damage-prevention card printed. It had no way to directly win; it was all defense. It drove more players crazy trying to beat me than any other deck I ever built. Guys with killer decks (of ~60 cards) would get really mad when they couldn't kill me in 10 minutes. An hour would go by, then another hour. One game went on for over 5 hours, no lie, before my opponent gave up (and I still had a few hundred cards in my deck). All my victories with that deck (maybe 50% of my games) came from the opponent conceding the game.
If you have only one deck, the folks you play against figure it out after you play them a few times. But many people were always tweaking their deck, so they always evolve over time. Most people had more than one deck, anyway. There were many times when players completely show one another their deck. Among friends, deck contents were not state secrets.
A rare card by itself is not a game winner. I've seen whole decks of rare cards loose to a deck of all commons. There was nothing inherently powerful about a rare card. For instance, you could have a bunch of weak common white creatures in your deck (weak usually also means easy to get into play quickly), and then have a rare "boost all white creatures" card to make them all better.
One of my fellow players in my D&D group bought 4 special decks from Origens last year. They are prebuilt decks, with special backs (not legal for tournament play), but we played them against each other for several games and had fun.
Also, you can play multiplayer Magic, as well. I used to love having 4-6 players. It opens up all kinds of different strategies, and those fast killer decks that everyone plays at tournaments don't work so well in a multiplayer game.
Bullgrit
Since most folks above are answering on the assumption of tournament games, I'll answer from the point of view of friendly games:
No time limit. Play until someone wins or you get bored. Most, average games take anywhere from 15 - 60 minutes.
I used to have a 500-card deck that had 4 of every healing or damage-prevention card printed. It had no way to directly win; it was all defense. It drove more players crazy trying to beat me than any other deck I ever built. Guys with killer decks (of ~60 cards) would get really mad when they couldn't kill me in 10 minutes. An hour would go by, then another hour. One game went on for over 5 hours, no lie, before my opponent gave up (and I still had a few hundred cards in my deck). All my victories with that deck (maybe 50% of my games) came from the opponent conceding the game.
Shuffle the cards just like a normal deck of playing cards. Cheating is cheating. You deal with cheaters the same way you do in poker: shoot the offender. I only had to do this twice. (Afterall, I usually played with friends
Like an RPG character sheet. Some are mortified if you saw their deck contents, some didn't care.
If you have only one deck, the folks you play against figure it out after you play them a few times. But many people were always tweaking their deck, so they always evolve over time. Most people had more than one deck, anyway. There were many times when players completely show one another their deck. Among friends, deck contents were not state secrets.
Rarer cards were not really "more powerful", but often they had more interesting twists. Just like in D&D: a 5th-level human fighter is CR5 (common); a troll is also CR 5 (uncommon); a young black dragon is also CR5 (rare).
A rare card by itself is not a game winner. I've seen whole decks of rare cards loose to a deck of all commons. There was nothing inherently powerful about a rare card. For instance, you could have a bunch of weak common white creatures in your deck (weak usually also means easy to get into play quickly), and then have a rare "boost all white creatures" card to make them all better.
One of my fellow players in my D&D group bought 4 special decks from Origens last year. They are prebuilt decks, with special backs (not legal for tournament play), but we played them against each other for several games and had fun.
Also, you can play multiplayer Magic, as well. I used to love having 4-6 players. It opens up all kinds of different strategies, and those fast killer decks that everyone plays at tournaments don't work so well in a multiplayer game.
Bullgrit
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
Mmmm...you're reminding me of my old Merfolk deck. 4 copies of Lord of Atlantis (the merfolk equivalent of Goblin King) a bunch of Merfolk (many of which were commons or uncommons), and some enchantment (the name escapes me at the moment) that turned a land (usually the opponent's) into an Island. The combo, if it worked, made the Merfolk tough, and unblockable.
To chime in on "how long it takes to play", I've played 3-minute games, and I've played single games that lasted well over an hour. If you get two players who are both playing decks that specialize in stall tactics, it can get excruciating.
Eternalknight
First Post
ARandomGod said:
Huh? I respectfully disgaree.
I also respectfully disagree with those who say uncommons and rares are usually more powerful; uncommons and rares are usually more specialized, but not neccessarily more powerful. Sure, many of the 'power cards', so to speak, are rare, but many, many commons are just as powerful in the right deck (I'll use lightning bolt, giant growth, lotus petal, rancor... etc ect as examples). The trick is, commons are useful in more situations generally than rares, but if you build a deck that is based around the rare that is where there power comes through.
Also, as an addition to the Black Lotus, it is common to see it go for over $1000 on the secondary market.
