Magic the Gathering!

[BARGUILD]

I dunno hey, i make so much gold from just finishing daily missions and random games that when then new block comes out i will be able to 50 boosters which should be more than enough

I am in the same boat as you. The free to play reward system works so well I think. Just save up that gold and spam the store. Also, being able to use gold to enter some of the events is a great positive as well. I enjoy it. Works well.

 

[Elshubi]

Hi everyone,

resurrecting an old thread here but i been looking at this game for a little while now, never played or collected cards before but thinking it would be nice to learn something new. watched some videos on youtube and the idea of opening packs and scoring something cool also seems like something i could get excited about.

wanted to check in where is a good place to start, i probably would meet to play alot i have an extremely busy work and home life but i would like to at least start collecting. how do you guys go about it do you buy boosters (set or draft?) do you get boxes of boosters where is the best place to get them?

also if i do start collecting i definitely dont know which cards are worth anything or sort after, how would i know what i have is valuable should be kept pristine etc. want to make sure i dont destroy anything important, not that i will aim to but i have a toddler and i am just as much of a hazard as him.

thanks for any responses in advance

 

[Harbinger2000]

Ey, a deep rabbit hole you are looking into right now. MTG is fun, but there are multiple ways/formats of playing it, for example Standard/Commander (EDH)/etc with each having its own set of rules.
Best advise I can give is check out if there are any local shops selling the cards, and then ask if the host regular tournaments or weekend get togethers. Then pitch up at that time and make friends, the local player when I used to play were all very friendly and happy to help anyone new and wanting to get into MTG. Often they would even lend decks to play test games with to get an idea of how it works.

 

[Shab00]

Hi @Elshubi
I've collected and played magic for many years. In my time playing I've normally found about 1-5% of current friends actually do have / play with these cards just so few people know of it they don't exactly ask so I would start there if I was you. Always nicer playing with friends although teaching friends can be difficult*
If no friends play MTG then I'd suggest you download the online game to pc or cellphone and try get used to it there and see if it's something you can enjoy. I think the latest game was free to play and you could unlock more decks by playing / earning in game currency etc (Can spend real money but I wouldn't, real money is for real cards in my mind atleast).

If you come to find that you do enjoy the game and happy to go further then normally your small comic book, games store sells MTG cards. Hopefully they are also doing Friday night magic comps, there should be some way to find out where your nearest comp is. (Once you have a "current" deck, start attending these and mingling to learn new things and get tips etc)

From there as time goes by you'll gradually buy more cards and starting mixing it up even more.

To start I'd suggest you buy a box of 2 duel decks. This gives you two decks that are built to be played against each other so straight of the bat you've got two working decks. Also lets you start playing with friend / family / random strangers even if they don't have their own cards.

MTG sells cards in all formats, booster packs, booster boxes, pre-made decks, duel decks, Commander decks (slight variation from regular game).

So there's many doors of entry into mtg, every year they release a new set and theres a few releases as part of that set. When it comes to comp's they normally only allow the latest set + the last 2 years so if you wanna compete at tournaments don't buy old* decks as the type 2 comps are much less common.

Google what is the latest edition to be released and look at the pre-made decks there. Might find something that appeals to you. Alternatively look for specials on websites and get 1 or 2 decks and some additional cards to modify.

This got really long really quickly so going to cut it off here. If I've missed anything feel free to ask.

Stores I know of that sell:
BT games
Raru.co.za (decent specials on decks occasionally so would look here infrequently)

It's created by "Wizards of the coast" so there might be a way to see who all they import to, to find your local supplier / cheaper deals.

 

[Elshubi]

Hi @Elshubi
I've collected and played magic for many years. In my time playing I've normally found about 1-5% of current friends actually do have / play with these cards just so few people know of it they don't exactly ask so I would start there if I was you. Always nicer playing with friends although teaching friends can be difficult*
If no friends play MTG then I'd suggest you download the online game to pc or cellphone and try get used to it there and see if it's something you can enjoy. I think the latest game was free to play and you could unlock more decks by playing / earning in game currency etc (Can spend real money but I wouldn't, real money is for real cards in my mind atleast).

If you come to find that you do enjoy the game and happy to go further then normally your small comic book, games store sells MTG cards. Hopefully they are also doing Friday night magic comps, there should be some way to find out where your nearest comp is. (Once you have a "current" deck, start attending these and mingling to learn new things and get tips etc)

From there as time goes by you'll gradually buy more cards and starting mixing it up even more.

To start I'd suggest you buy a box of 2 duel decks. This gives you two decks that are built to be played against each other so straight of the bat you've got two working decks. Also lets you start playing with friend / family / random strangers even if they don't have their own cards.

MTG sells cards in all formats, booster packs, booster boxes, pre-made decks, duel decks, Commander decks (slight variation from regular game).

So there's many doors of entry into mtg, every year they release a new set and theres a few releases as part of that set. When it comes to comp's they normally only allow the latest set + the last 2 years so if you wanna compete at tournaments don't buy old* decks as the type 2 comps are much less common.

Google what is the latest edition to be released and look at the pre-made decks there. Might find something that appeals to you. Alternatively look for specials on websites and get 1 or 2 decks and some additional cards to modify.

This got really long really quickly so going to cut it off here. If I've missed anything feel free to ask.

Stores I know of that sell:
BT games
Raru.co.za (decent specials on decks occasionally so would look here infrequently)

It's created by "Wizards of the coast" so there might be a way to see who all they import to, to find your local supplier / cheaper deals.

Thank you so much for this, didn't mind at all that the post was Abit long tried to soak it all in.

I downloaded the game for Android and managed to complete the tutorial and white colour challenge already. It's an easy game to pick up but I imagine the amount of possible variation could make it very challenging to play different people.

Will definitely look at the sites you suggested for cards and decks. With a wife and toddler not sure when I would get a chance to go to a game night but will find out for when I do get a night that can work.

I must admit I'm tempted by the idea of buying a booster box and cracking packs (this is the lingo right?) To jump start my collection. Not sure if it's possible to build a deck with a booster box. Will also consider a Pre made pack as you have suggested.

Also one more question about building a deck, I seen a video on YouTube where a guy suggested buying two same colour theme boosters (35 cards) and then just adding lands to some combination of the cards to make a deck. The reason I ask is this looks like a cheap way to build an additional deck. Also how many decks should I be building should I be trying all the colours across two or three decks?

 

[JeffTheApricot]

@WillGavick

 

[Xunlimitedx]

i have one of these still sealed

https://imgur.com/a/OYr7Oou

 

[D3TTOL]

@Elshubi
Sheesh. You are looking at a very expensive hobby if you are looking to collect cards.
There are premade Commander decks you can buy, same with standard and event deck.
When I started years ago, I bought a couple premade decks and slowely built my own decks etc.
It was pretty fun, I had a green stompy deck and one of my favourite cards were Engulfing slagwurm. Green blue to bring it out, protect it and make it able to block multiple targets. Become unstoppable.
I stopped because of the community, I would go to friday night magic events or any events and get stomped by the same people using the same decks over and over. Granted it was only a handful of people that ruined it, even if you got into the top 3 or 2 you'd be facing one of them and you'd never win.
It's probably different now, Commander seems to be quite a popular format.

 

[D3TTOL]

i have one of these still sealed

https://imgur.com/a/OYr7Oou

A board game? with the original planeswalkers?
dafuq is this xD

 

[Xunlimitedx]

A board game? with the original planeswalkers?
dafuq is this xD

yea bought it about 6 years ago at a garage sale and haven't even opened it. i hope its worth something someday

 

[Kylothian]

Hey @Elshubi which area are you in? We have a amazing mtg community in CPT and also in SA. But to add on to what others are saying, It also depends format you wanna play, I mostly play commander because of my crack packing some of the cards I was only able to use in Commander and I cant afford Modern or keep up with Standard I also didnt know this thread exists... MTG is a fun game but an expensive one... I just sold my entire collection to buy one deck its silly money what people spend on a piece of cardboard

Anyway let me know what area you are in, Ill add you to the groups we are in you have access to an entire community that is more that willing to "convince" you mtg is the best game to play and will help along the way

regards
K

 

[Elshubi]

Hey @Elshubi which area are you in? We have a amazing mtg community in CPT and also in SA. But to add on to what others are saying, It also depends format you wanna play, I mostly play commander because of my crack packing some of the cards I was only able to use in Commander and I cant afford Modern or keep up with Standard I also didnt know this thread exists... MTG is a fun game but an expensive one... I just sold my entire collection to buy one deck its silly money what people spend on a piece of cardboard

Anyway let me know what area you are in, Ill add you to the groups we are in you have access to an entire community that is more that willing to "convince" you mtg is the best game to play and will help along the way

regards
K

Yup I am agreeing more and more with your and @D3TTOL this is expensive. Thought to would see if second hand markets have anything but the sealed stuff is just as expensive as the stores and opened lots I imagine is just common cards people are letting go of.

I stay in Centurion so am a long way from CT. I think standard or modern is what the android app has that's all I have played so far. Half way through second colour challenge. Not sure how commander is different will have to watch some vids on it. I know one needs a 100 card deck to play commander.

It is bid money that goes into it but isn't there a possibility of pulling something expensive and making money off some good pulls?
Also seen a draft booster box that has 36 packs of 15 cards each. That's 540 cards! Seems like that would be enough to build some decks and call a collection then get an individual booster or two now and again to keep it going. Would get one of those duel decks if I know I will play consistently. I dont know but seems like this is the plan in my mind.

 

[D3TTOL]

Yup I am agreeing more and more with your and @D3TTOL this is expensive. Thought to would see if second hand markets have anything but the sealed stuff is just as expensive as the stores and opened lots I imagine is just common cards people are letting go of.

I stay in Centurion so am a long way from CT. I think standard or modern is what the android app has that's all I have played so far. Half way through second colour challenge. Not sure how commander is different will have to watch some vids on it. I know one needs a 100 card deck to play commander.

It is bid money that goes into it but isn't there a possibility of pulling something expensive and making money off some good pulls?
Also seen a draft booster box that has 36 packs of 15 cards each. That's 540 cards! Seems like that would be enough to build some decks and call a collection then get an individual booster or two now and again to keep it going. Would get one of those duel decks if I know I will play consistently. I dont know but seems like this is the plan in my mind.

It's hard to say what becomes valuable.
A friend and I bought two booster boxes and opened them together. It was a re release of some older cards. We were hoping to get some pretty expensive cards. At the time each box was about R2k. He pulled out a tarmagoyf(if that's how you spell it) and sold it for R8k. Some cards are worthless until later releases when they all of a sudden become essential for some combo.

 

[Elshubi]

It's hard to say what becomes valuable.
A friend and I bought two booster boxes and opened them together. It was a re release of some older cards. We were hoping to get some pretty expensive cards. At the time each box was about R2k. He pulled out a tarmagoyf(if that's how you spell it) and sold it for R8k. Some cards are worthless until later releases when they all of a sudden become essential for some combo.

That's cool though he paid for the box and made a profit. How do you know which cards are worth alot and how much they are worth? There's so many cards it's crazy I still don't think I understand the sets too well. Love the art work on some like innistrad but not sure how those sets play or is it just about color?

 

[D3TTOL]

That's cool though he paid for the box and made a profit. How do you know which cards are worth alot and how much they are worth? There's so many cards it's crazy I still don't think I understand the sets too well. Love the art work on some like innistrad but not sure how those sets play or is it just about color?

We used Starcitygames to judge what the value of cards were worth. I even ordered cards from them once or twice.

Colour doesn't really have anything to do with it. You get what they call white weenie decks which just amass small low damage tokens or creatures but green can do the same, Black can also do it if Im not mistaken.
But generally...
Green = Creature based, big damage numbers and trample(You have a 7/7 and they block with a 1/1, 6 damage goes through to them)
Blue = control, counters, search and quite a few other mechanics.
White = lots of small hitters, life leech(what ever its called), control(exile or destroy) and a some hard hitters.
Red = Small hitters, some big ones, a lot of direct damage spells
black = Sacrifice life, exile and destroy creatures, use creatures from the graveyard, Infect(One of my personal favourite mechanics, Most people hated me for it, Infect was also used with blue and green but im sure there were some white and red infect cards but black was were all the evil cards resided in)
There are a lot more that each colour can do and the mechanics are not exclusive to one colour but generally white/blue decks will be the most used as they control what can be in play, either counter spells, destroy creatures,Exile creatures etc so more often than not you will see decks with blue or white in them.
My knowledge of mechanics are not super upto date(as I stopped playing) but you can ask me if you want to know about a mechanic and I'll explain it if I can.

 

[Kylothian]

Also I will add on... if you want a card buy singles dont bother with booster packs you can end up spending 3k for R100 worth of cards, or you can buy one booster and pull a card worth $132 (I have had both instances). If you want (DM me your number) I can add you to our MTG community whatsapp group we have members across SA, playing from JHB to CPT to small villages in the middle of nowhere. They frequently have games online or arrange in person games, always keen to help be it advice, around formats and cards, rules, 90% the time the members on there have a card you will be missing to complete your deck Its all dependent what you want to play there are many formats, alot of cards, alot of play styles etc etc.

 

[Elshubi]

We used Starcitygames to judge what the value of cards were worth. I even ordered cards from them once or twice.

Colour doesn't really have anything to do with it. You get what they call white weenie decks which just amass small low damage tokens or creatures but green can do the same, Black can also do it if Im not mistaken.
But generally...
Green = Creature based, big damage numbers and trample(You have a 7/7 and they block with a 1/1, 6 damage goes through to them)
Blue = control, counters, search and quite a few other mechanics.
White = lots of small hitters, life leech(what ever its called), control(exile or destroy) and a some hard hitters.
Red = Small hitters, some big ones, a lot of direct damage spells
black = Sacrifice life, exile and destroy creatures, use creatures from the graveyard, Infect(One of my personal favourite mechanics, Most people hated me for it, Infect was also used with blue and green but im sure there were some white and red infect cards but black was were all the evil cards resided in)
There are a lot more that each colour can do and the mechanics are not exclusive to one colour but generally white/blue decks will be the most used as they control what can be in play, either counter spells, destroy creatures,Exile creatures etc so more often than not you will see decks with blue or white in them.
My knowledge of mechanics are not super upto date(as I stopped playing) but you can ask me if you want to know about a mechanic and I'll explain it if I can.

Awesome thanks, so what about sets do they affect gameplay or are different or do they print the same cards in new set. Like innistrad midnight hunt vs kamigawa neon are the cards distinctly different in how they play or is more about whether I like werewolves or ninjas?

Also I will add on... if you want a card buy singles dont bother with booster packs you can end up spending 3k for R100 worth of cards, or you can buy one booster and pull a card worth $132 (I have had both instances). If you want (DM me your number) I can add you to our MTG community
whatsapp group we have members across SA, playing from JHB to CPT to small villages in the middle of nowhere. They frequently have games online or arrange in person games, always keen to help be it advice, around formats and cards, rules, 90% the time the members on there have a card you will be missing to complete your deck Its all dependent what you want to play there are many formats, alot of cards, alot of play styles etc etc.

Thank you so much I have sent you my number

 

[Scarlet Scarab]

Got a few cards, been playing for the past few years. Recently found mtggoldfish to build and plan my decks. So here are some of the decks I have put on so far. The only one that isn't complete yet is the Eldrazi deck, missing some mana rocks and an eldrazi here and there. Love my Zombie Lord and first strike deathtouch. Want to throw my Hedron Alignment, Gruul, heroic, and mill deck on there as well. Let me know what you guys think of these three so far. 😎

Zombie Lord Phase 1 Deck

Zombie Lord Phase 1 deck list with prices for Magic: the Gathering (MTG).

www.mtggoldfish.com

First Strike Deathtouch v2 Deck

First Strike Deathtouch v2 deck list with prices for Magic: the Gathering (MTG).

www.mtggoldfish.com

eldrazi v2 Deck

eldrazi v2 deck list with prices for Magic: the Gathering (MTG).

www.mtggoldfish.com

 

[BuyOk]

Since the introduction of MTG Arena, there is no sense in playing paper Magic to me, unless you are into collecting cards or really want to socialize .

- It is less time consuming
- You get to build top-decks extremely cheap in any format be it Standard, Pioneer or Legacy
- You get much wider and overall more skillful player base to play with compared to any local community (club, friends and etc.)