Templetroll
Explorer
Fun game, ultimately costs too much. Play D&D; cheaper and more entertaining overall.
Total Newbie: Tell Me About Magic: The Gathering
- Thread starter Sepulchrave II
- Start date
Philotomy Jurament
First Post
My wife and I had a lot of fun playing MtG back in around the time The Dark was out. I still have a ton of cards from that period (Revised, The Dark, Fallen Empires, etc). Yeah, it's kind of addictive. To me, the fun of it was building and tuning new decks so that every card was valuable and they all worked well together. My wife was more into the "look at all my cool cards" thing, which meant her decks were full of weird cards that didn't work well together. The end result was that after a while she got tired of the game, because she always lost.
Anyway, I think you'll enjoy it. Have fun.
Anyway, I think you'll enjoy it. Have fun.
Magic is great fun - provided you don't take it too seriously. If it's just you and your friends you can buy a deck, trade a couple of cards between you to tweak a little and play for quite a while, when you fancy something a bit different buy some more cards and mix them up a bit.
Magic was actually created as a diversion to play while waiting for that late player for your D&D group - but some people get really into the tournement scene and spend a fortune on particular cards, which I just can't get my head around.
Magic was actually created as a diversion to play while waiting for that late player for your D&D group - but some people get really into the tournement scene and spend a fortune on particular cards, which I just can't get my head around.
Agent Oracle
First Post
A forewarning: I quit playing after Portal Which i believe came out just after 4th edition.
M:tG is a fun game as long as you do not take it seriously and just goof around with the decks, and have friends with the same philosophy.
Problem is, if you play against anyone who has any kind of disposable income or specific goal in mind, you'll quickly find yourself handed your own butt with a side of mashed potatoes.
Don't expect any of the Anime "If i believe in the heart of the cards" stuff going on here. If your opponent has big, bad, evil monster in play, odds are you're going to get killed.
The majority of regular players work with a "deck Du Jour". Some play with a "Horrendously Broken Deck That Was Banned From Regular Play Because of A Rules Loophole That It Exploits" Some cheat, some play with "proxies" (Cards taken from Google image searches and printed out, then inserted into deck protectors as if they were the real thing)
I actually had a friend who won two gaming tournaments by just asking that the other players remove all their cards from their deck protectors before play, and calling them on their proxies (which are almost never tournament legal).
Me? I built one nice deck that had three good tricks in it. I won some matches, but lost the grand majority of them to one-trick focused Deck Du Jours.
M:tG is a fun game as long as you do not take it seriously and just goof around with the decks, and have friends with the same philosophy.
Problem is, if you play against anyone who has any kind of disposable income or specific goal in mind, you'll quickly find yourself handed your own butt with a side of mashed potatoes.
Don't expect any of the Anime "If i believe in the heart of the cards" stuff going on here. If your opponent has big, bad, evil monster in play, odds are you're going to get killed.
The majority of regular players work with a "deck Du Jour". Some play with a "Horrendously Broken Deck That Was Banned From Regular Play Because of A Rules Loophole That It Exploits" Some cheat, some play with "proxies" (Cards taken from Google image searches and printed out, then inserted into deck protectors as if they were the real thing)
I actually had a friend who won two gaming tournaments by just asking that the other players remove all their cards from their deck protectors before play, and calling them on their proxies (which are almost never tournament legal).
Me? I built one nice deck that had three good tricks in it. I won some matches, but lost the grand majority of them to one-trick focused Deck Du Jours.
JiffyPopTart
Bree-Yark
Several points to make here...
1. You only have to sink tons of money into Magic if you want to compete in tournaments or in some other "not just for fun" type of play. If you are playing with friends and family then you can have a grand old time just buying some cheap card lots and making a go with what you can get.
2. If you normally only have one other person to play with, it gets a little old after awhile because playing different people gives you acess to different philosophies of play. The only way this is going to remain fresh is if you both change up decks fairly often, instead of playing the same old combinations week after week.
3. Preconstructed decks are handy to pick up and learn to play, but to totally get the full Magic experience you need some more cards to mix and match with.
4. NEVER EVER EVER under any circumstances try to collect all of ANYTHING. I started playing Magic with the first expansion (Arabian Nights) and at one timed toyed with the idea of collecting one of every card. As the expansions came out fast and heavy I had to alter my focus to collecting every GREEN card. Eventually I gave up on that after I had to buy the 300th version of the same card with slightly different artwork or whathave you. I stopped collecting after Ice Age, except to buy a pack or two to read up on the interesting new rules that were added.
Just picture going into Magic similar to starting to collect Legos. At first buy a couple sets (preconstructed decks) that give you everything you need to play SOMETHING. Then at the next available moment of spare income go for some bulk blocks to add to what you already have in sets (lots of common cards you can get for CHEAP from ebay or the local gaming store). You could make a lot of stuff with these two things, but if you want to add in some more "interesting" pieces later on you can start to buy a booster pack or some rares and uncommons to add to your growing collection.
DS
1. You only have to sink tons of money into Magic if you want to compete in tournaments or in some other "not just for fun" type of play. If you are playing with friends and family then you can have a grand old time just buying some cheap card lots and making a go with what you can get.
2. If you normally only have one other person to play with, it gets a little old after awhile because playing different people gives you acess to different philosophies of play. The only way this is going to remain fresh is if you both change up decks fairly often, instead of playing the same old combinations week after week.
3. Preconstructed decks are handy to pick up and learn to play, but to totally get the full Magic experience you need some more cards to mix and match with.
4. NEVER EVER EVER under any circumstances try to collect all of ANYTHING. I started playing Magic with the first expansion (Arabian Nights) and at one timed toyed with the idea of collecting one of every card. As the expansions came out fast and heavy I had to alter my focus to collecting every GREEN card. Eventually I gave up on that after I had to buy the 300th version of the same card with slightly different artwork or whathave you. I stopped collecting after Ice Age, except to buy a pack or two to read up on the interesting new rules that were added.
Just picture going into Magic similar to starting to collect Legos. At first buy a couple sets (preconstructed decks) that give you everything you need to play SOMETHING. Then at the next available moment of spare income go for some bulk blocks to add to what you already have in sets (lots of common cards you can get for CHEAP from ebay or the local gaming store). You could make a lot of stuff with these two things, but if you want to add in some more "interesting" pieces later on you can start to buy a booster pack or some rares and uncommons to add to your growing collection.
DS
ShadowDenizen
Explorer
Thought I'd chip in my thoughts on the game. (I've been playing since Beta, and still have decks, but don’t really collect anymore unless a set interests me thematically.)
As always, these are just my thoughts, so YMMV.
True, to a degree, in my expereince. I'm not a tournament player (I'm struictly casual), but some of my friends are, and they try to buck the trend, usually. Some sets are so powerful that you can't really avoid them, though. (Think Ravager/Affinity from the "Mirrodin" block.)
[/quote]3) Poor time for money aspect. The three core D&D books and a little imagination will give you infinite adventures.[/quote]
Agreed. (We're on a D+D board, after all, so this goes without saying.)
Sort of true, IMO. If you want to compete, you need to stay current, and that requires $$$ (and lots of it!!!)
Personally, I have decks that go all the way back to Beta, and, as long as people know that, I can typically find a game with no problem. (Though I also explain my decks are't typically "killer", and don't use any of the Power Nine or other broken combos from that period.)
Several points to make here...
Not entirly true, IMO. Vareity IS nice, if it's available. But part of the fun of Magic, for me, is making new decks that people haven't tried yet. I have plenty of fun springing new decks against the same oppoenets, and seeing how both our decks fare against each other.
4. NEVER EVER EVER under any circumstances try to collect all of ANYTHING. I started playing Magic with the first expansion (Arabian Nights) and at one timed toyed with the idea of collecting one of every card. As the expansions came out fast and heavy I had to alter my focus to collecting every GREEN card. Eventually I gave up on that after I had to buy the 300th version of the same card with slightly different artwork or whathave you. I stopped collecting after Ice Age, except to buy a pack or two to read up on the interesting new rules that were added.
I think everyone started that way, but quickly realized there's no possible way to collect EVERYTHING.
Personally, I buy packs based on the themes of the set.
While I heavily bought the "Kamigawa" block, since I loved the mythological feel to it, I didn't really buy from the "Ravnica" block, other than a few starter decks because I liked the color combos.
As always, these are just my thoughts, so YMMV.
True, to a degree, in my expereince. I'm not a tournament player (I'm struictly casual), but some of my friends are, and they try to buck the trend, usually. Some sets are so powerful that you can't really avoid them, though. (Think Ravager/Affinity from the "Mirrodin" block.)
This, I agree with. And the new block "Time Spiral" seems to be even more powerful than the last few, perhaps on a par with the "Mirrodin" block.
[/quote]3) Poor time for money aspect. The three core D&D books and a little imagination will give you infinite adventures.[/quote]
Agreed. (We're on a D+D board, after all, so this goes without saying.)
Sort of true, IMO. If you want to compete, you need to stay current, and that requires $$$ (and lots of it!!!)
Personally, I have decks that go all the way back to Beta, and, as long as people know that, I can typically find a game with no problem. (Though I also explain my decks are't typically "killer", and don't use any of the Power Nine or other broken combos from that period.)
Several points to make here...
Agreed. There's lots of fun formats for multi-platyers games, and it's easy to obtain cheap cards (even rares) either online or even try your FLGS.
Not entirly true, IMO. Vareity IS nice, if it's available. But part of the fun of Magic, for me, is making new decks that people haven't tried yet. I have plenty of fun springing new decks against the same oppoenets, and seeing how both our decks fare against each other.
4. NEVER EVER EVER under any circumstances try to collect all of ANYTHING. I started playing Magic with the first expansion (Arabian Nights) and at one timed toyed with the idea of collecting one of every card. As the expansions came out fast and heavy I had to alter my focus to collecting every GREEN card. Eventually I gave up on that after I had to buy the 300th version of the same card with slightly different artwork or whathave you. I stopped collecting after Ice Age, except to buy a pack or two to read up on the interesting new rules that were added.
I think everyone started that way, but quickly realized there's no possible way to collect EVERYTHING.
Personally, I buy packs based on the themes of the set.
While I heavily bought the "Kamigawa" block, since I loved the mythological feel to it, I didn't really buy from the "Ravnica" block, other than a few starter decks because I liked the color combos.
Why no Rav love, ShadowDenizen? Ravnica was my fave set since Odyssey or Invasion.
Eh, I don't notice a lot of raw power creep, the oldies still hold up real good.
Yeah, some mechanics lead to some strong decks and you really can't ignore them. Hellbent and the like not so much, but Madness/Threshhold, guilds putting you in certain colors, Affinity, those spring right to mind.
Eh, I don't notice a lot of raw power creep, the oldies still hold up real good.
Yeah, some mechanics lead to some strong decks and you really can't ignore them. Hellbent and the like not so much, but Madness/Threshhold, guilds putting you in certain colors, Affinity, those spring right to mind.
Joshua Randall
Legend
Sh*t, Sep. Here we were, thinking you'd gotten back into a groove of updating your story hour, and then you go and willingly addict yourself to the cardboard crack. You can kiss your free time goodbye, my friend, because once you crack open those first few packs, once you grok how the rules work, once you start scouring the web for deck-building advice, once you stay up all night playing "just one more game" -- well, sh*t.
I know this path well, all too well. I've trod it myself. It's a maddening mixture of fun and frustration, of knowing you're hooked, but telling yourself that it's worth it, and besides, you can stop whenever you want.
Yeah, right.
You'll stop when you get burned out, or when you get really addicted and drag yourself back from the abyss.
I'm not saying it's not a fun ride. I'm just saying to keep both hands on the wheel and buckle the freakin' seatbelt.
Don't forget to come up for air once in a while.
I know this path well, all too well. I've trod it myself. It's a maddening mixture of fun and frustration, of knowing you're hooked, but telling yourself that it's worth it, and besides, you can stop whenever you want.
Yeah, right.
You'll stop when you get burned out, or when you get really addicted and drag yourself back from the abyss.
I'm not saying it's not a fun ride. I'm just saying to keep both hands on the wheel and buckle the freakin' seatbelt.
Don't forget to come up for air once in a while.
Disclaimer - I haven't played Magic in months... (no one to play against)
I get magic cards for the game and for the art. I usually end up buying one box of each set ($80-$90), this nets me 15*36 cards. I get 36 Rares, 108 Uncommons, and a CRAP load of Commons. This is easily enough cards to build 5-6 decks of any normal set. However you should know that the Rares are usually the deck builders.
I love the art, I love the ideas, and I like playing pre-release tournaments (everybody is on an even foot cards wise - well almost, some people get the rares that are better).
So, if you have a friend/loved one willing to play, have fun, make a few different decks (not like me, I have 60-80 decks last time I checked an none of those are from sets in the last 2-3 years) and play varied games. By the way, elves are a cheap eveil deck usually....
Bill C
I get magic cards for the game and for the art. I usually end up buying one box of each set ($80-$90), this nets me 15*36 cards. I get 36 Rares, 108 Uncommons, and a CRAP load of Commons. This is easily enough cards to build 5-6 decks of any normal set. However you should know that the Rares are usually the deck builders.
I love the art, I love the ideas, and I like playing pre-release tournaments (everybody is on an even foot cards wise - well almost, some people get the rares that are better).
So, if you have a friend/loved one willing to play, have fun, make a few different decks (not like me, I have 60-80 decks last time I checked an none of those are from sets in the last 2-3 years) and play varied games. By the way, elves are a cheap eveil deck usually....
Bill C
Presto2112
Explorer
VoidDragon said:
Time wasn't the problem for me when I played, money was. I was never the type to assemble the Deck Of The Month; I was always trying (and usually failing) to come up with original decks out of the cards from booster packs and singles I could usually afford. But a myriad of reasons (buying booster after booster after booster, and watching the singles get so darn expensive, bratty kids whose mommies and daddies bought them whatever cards they wanted, the stereotypical god-awful hygeine of some tournament players) just forced me to give up playing in tourneys and the like. Instead, I made a 1500 card deck made of 1/4 to 1/3 land, and one of every card that I owned, and me and my friend all drew from the one common deck. I eventually even got rid of those cards.
But lately I've been getting the itch again. My son just turned 7, and is showing interest in D&D and other games like *shudder* Yu-Gi-Oh. So I might just have to go out and purchase a box of cards and teach him the granddaddy of all CCGs.
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