Learning to Play
Basic MTG: Part I

By Chad



The object of Magic is simple. You start with 20 life, and when your life is reduced to 0, the game is over and the other person wins. You and another person both have a deck of sixty or more Magic cards, which are used for the game. The players alternate in taking turns. Each turn involves drawing a card, putting cards into play, attacking the other player and then discarding if necessary.

The basic resource in Magic is called mana. Mana let you bring certain cards into play, and use abilities on cards that are already in play. There are five different colors of mana in the game, each representing a separate force Some cards do not have colors; these cards are either land (which produce mana), or artifacts (which are colorless and can be played with any kind of mana). All cards in the game are referred to as spells, except for land. Lands are not spells and are not cast. They are simply placed into play. You cannot play more than 1 land per turn, unless one of your other cards tells you to.

Another thing that the player must understand is the word tap. To tap a card is to rotate it sideways, indicating that it is being used. This can be used to represent an attacking creature, or a land drawn for mana. At the beginning of each turn you untap all your cards, so you can use their powers once each turn (and/or during your opponent's turn).

A spell's casting cost is the amount of mana you need to use to be able to play it. It is located in the top right corner of the card. If a card's casting cost is 3B, for instance, that means that you must spend one Black mana and 3 of any color to play it. The colored part is specific, and the numbered portion is nonspecific, and can be paid using any color mana.

Some artifacts are also creatures. Creatures can be used to do damage to your opponent (thus reducing his life total from 20 to 0). However, if your opponent has creatures of his own out, he can use them to block yours. Enchantments are cards played on existing cards, which usually modify what the card does. An example would be an Enchant Creature card, which would be played on a creature. It might make the creature weaker, or stronger. Some enchantments are not played on other cards, and have an effect directly on the game. Sorceries and instants cause a one-time effect on the game. Sorceries can only be played during your turn; instants can be played anytime. At the beginning of the game each player shuffles his deck. The players cut their deck to determine who chooses who goes first, whoever's card has the highest mana cost goes first. When you know who is going first, then each player draws seven cards. The player who chooses to go first does not draw a card on his first turn. The sequence of a turn is as follows:


Untap phase: Untap all cards you control. This means to rotate them so they are all facing upward and not rotated (tapped).
Upkeep phase: This is a maintenance phase. Some cards will make you do an effect during this phase, such as pay mana to keep the card in play, for example.
Draw phase: Draw a card.
Main phase:
a. Put one land into play
b. Declare one attack
c. Play spells. You can play spells before or after your attack, as well as both. Note that all cards (except for instants) can only be played on your turn during the main phase.
Discard phase: Discard your cards down to seven cards left in your hand.
Cleanup phase: Any effect that lasts until "end of turn" is over. Any damage on a creature, which does not destroy it, is over as well.

This is how the attack works: You choose any untapped creatures you control that you have in play and tap them. Your opponent either blocks them or takes damage equal to their power. If he blocks, both creatures deal damage to each other equal to their power. A creature has a pair of numbers in the bottom right corner of the card. These are its power and toughness. When a creature deals damage, it deals damage equal to its power. When it receives, the damage is applied to its toughness. If it takes damage equal to or greater than its toughness it will be destroyed. That means it will be played in a pile next to your draw pile called your graveyard. For example, an Imagecrafter has a power and toughness of 1/1. It deals 1 damage to a creature blocking or blocked by it, and if unblocked during an attack, deals 1 to the player it attacked. If it takes 1 damage during one turn, it will be placed in its controller's graveyard.

You should now be able to play the game of magic.