How To Play: Magic The Gathering

Magic: the Gathering is a surprisingly complex game that has a broader appeal than many people think. In fact, it requires a great deal of strategy and critical thinking. Fantasy elements aside, it is an effective and fun way for serious card sharks to hone their skills.

Knowing the Basics

Step 1

Start the game with twenty life points and a deck of cards. The cards in each player's deck are either selected from a limited card pool or a larger personal collection.

Step 2

Draw seven cards. Players are only allowed to see the cards in their own hand.

Step 3

Determine who goes first by rolling a die. The player with the higher die roll gets to choose whether they want to go first or second.



Step 4

Know you card types. There are six basic types of cards: lands, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, sorceries and instants. These basic types of cards are split into two categories: permanents and non-permanents. Lands, creatures, artifacts and enchantments are permanents. Sorceries and instants are non-permanents. The difference is fairly straightforward: permanents stay in play until they are removed from play by another effect, non-permanents leave play as soon as they have been used.

Step 5

Produce mana. Each turn a player draws one card and may play one land card. Lands produce "mana," usually of a certain color, which is used to "cast spells" (play cards). When a player uses a land to produce mana it becomes "tapped" meaning that it cannot be used again for mana this turn. This is indicated by turning the land sideways on the playing board.

Step 6

Know the phases of your turn. There are five basic phases in a player's turn: beginning of turn, first main phase, combat, second main phase and end of turn. Permanents and sorceries can only be cast during the first main phase or the second main phase. Instants can be cast at any time.



Casting Spells

Step 7

Locate a card's mana cost. Each card has a mana cost printed in the top right corner of the card. Mana costs are indicated by symbols which correspond to different colored mana.

Step 8

Determine what kind of mana you need. Mana is usually "colored." This is because certain cards take certain colors of mana to cast. For instance, green cards require green mana to cast. Green mana is produced by forest cards. So if you have two forest cards in play, and you have a card that requires two green mana to cast, you can tap your two forests for two green mana and then use that mana to play your card.

Step 9

Know when you can bring the different cards into play. Permanent cards are brought into play by casting them during either the first or second main phase by paying the appropriate mana cost. Sorcery cards are played similarly and at the same time, but go directly to the graveyard after they trigger their effect. Instants, like sorceries, go directly to the graveyard, but they can be played at any time.
Combat and Winning



Step 10

Attempt to reduce your opponent's life point total to zero. Normally a player accomplishes this by "attacking" with creature cards.

Step 11

Attack! Once a creature card has been brought into play, a player can declare that creature as an attacker during the combat phase. The defending player can declare a creature card they have as a "blocker" if they have a creature that can block (meaning that it is untapped and has the ability to block).

Step 12

Dealing with blockers. If the defending player blocks, the two creature cards deal damage to each other. The amount of damage a creature card can inflict and absorb are indicated by their power and toughness, which are represented by two numbers in the bottom right of the creature card. For instance, a creature with a power of 2 and a toughness of 3 would have 2/3 printed at the bottom of the card.

Step 13

Send "dead" creatures to the graveyard. If a creature card takes more damage than it has toughness, it leaves play and is sent to the "graveyard."

Step 14

Deal damage to your opponent. If an attacking creature is unblocked, it inflicts damage equal to its power to the defending player and the player's life points are reduced accordingly. Various spell effects from instant cards and sorcery cards, and effects from other permanents such as enchantments and artifacts can also deal damage to a player.

Step 15

Declare victory! When a player's life point total is reduced to zero, that player loses.

in ehow.com