Am I ready for Magic?

[Mr. GameBrain]

So since Yu-Gi-Oh is pretty much dead now, (Well online it is anyway at least..), I need a new card game to dabble in.

So of course, it looks like Magic is the best bet. (a lot of people play it. It might be handy to have if I went to a convention or a meetup somewhere. (I want to try that sort of thing out in the future)

Anyway, I've purchased and played Duals of the Planeswalkers 1-3, and played them for a bit (got pretty far in the original, barely touched 2012, about halfway through the campaign in 2013 on default difficulty), and I am getting familiar with the sort of cards and strategies the game has.

Also, there is a comic shop that sells the cards in my town, and its got me wondering:

Should I try to play the real, physical thing?

I haven't actually played a proper multiplayer match, even in planeswalker (I only have 1 friend who plays it and trying to get into contact with him is hard since he's a science University student, doing all that sciency stuff).

So anyway, anybody out there think I should give it a go, or should I hold back until I complete 2013 and play some multiplayer

(Though with Yu-Gi-Oh, I always liked the idea of building my own deck. (My favourite being a machine-equip deck, which lets me quickly set up monsters, but then be able to boost their power in the long-run for heavy damage. It was not too successful, but with some luck it performed well (the other deck I liked to play was the necro deck, with zombie and dark monsters with effects that made it hard to keep them out of play for an opponent))

Of course if I do decide to try playing it physically I need some core decks.
I'm thinking about getting a few.
Chandra being my favourite deck out of the 2013 game so far (It combines my favourite strategy, reviving monsters, boosting them up, and tampering with the opponent's play ). so I would likely start with that one.

But I do wonder if any vets out there would know a good color or deck that would compliment Chandra's.

Anyway, better not get ahead of myself. Afterall I am asking for advice here. So any suggestions?

What's that cappy? "Count your change"? You might be right on that one... XD

 

[Aarowbeatsdragon]

I got into it recently and me and 3 of my friends play it all the time, its really fun and quite easy to understand how to play, i recomend getting into it!

 

[Jonluw]

So long as you aren't playing against hardcore professionals or anything, you can have fun playing magic pretty much right off the bat as soon as you learn the rules.

I've never had my own deck, but I've borrowed a friend's deck to duel with him on a couple of occasions, and I've won a good couple of times as well.

Just find a friend to play a couple of matches with. Aside from the rules, there really isn't that much of an entry-barrier. You don't have to be "ready" to play the game.

Here's a tip:
If you're able to say things like
"I need some core decks.
Chandra being my favourite deck
my favourite strategy
good color or deck that would compliment Chandra's."

You're more than ready to play the game. Hell, I have never had anything approaching a strategy, and I've done fine playing against my buddy.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

XD

Yeah, you are probably right.

I AM overthinking things!

It's not like its a hard game to play afterall.

But, I don't want to play someone then get embarassingly humiliated. (I'd feel like such a n00b! XD)

I think till the next time I can get to town, I'll play Planeswalker some more. Maybe try to get a feel for the other decks.

The discovery is half the fun eh?

 

[General Ken8]

Yeah, I'd highly recommend it. I started playing when 2012 came out, and I'm addicted. And now I have a playgroup of about 14 or 15 people too, because a lot of my friends play.
Also, if you ever feel like you're getting bored, build an EDH deck, we've been dabbling in that game type recently and it's amazing

 

[Krantos]

My advice starting out is to find a couple friends and start playing casual for a while. Playing in tournaments is all well and good, but most of the time in order to do well you need to build a "Net-deck" (i.e. a deck someone posted online that is good).

While this can work, and takes some of the guess work out of deck-building, I find you learn better when you build and play your own decks. It allows you to see what works and what doesn't and modify it accordingly. I've been playing for a number of years (casual mostly) and I still find that a deck is never "done." With rare exceptions I still find myself tweaking decks I made years ago.

 

[xavierxenon]

Yu-gi-oh is dead online? Guess you've never heard of dueling network then...

 

[Mitch DeWester]

Yes, if you liked Duels of the Planeswalkers you will most likely enjoy the real game. I would recommend that you go to your local game store and see what they have in terms of starter product and get to know your local community a little bit. For the most part, the majority of more experienced players will be more than happy to answer questions about the game, and some might help you build a deck or even help you out with some free commons and uncommons.

On a side note please ignore cotss2012, he or she is just old and bitter that they have taken the game in new design directions, and as a new player buying older product like fourth edition will actually hurt your ability to play more than help it, given rules about set legality and the poor wording and templating often used in older cards. Also as he or she pointed out, there have been significant rules changes since the old days of magic, and the rules you would learn from the older rule books would be largely outdated and may even conflict with the rule set you learned from playing Duels and that will exist at most local stores.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

Yu-gi-oh is dead online? Guess you've never heard of dueling network then...

Yeah. I know of that.

But I was kind of referring to the series and the cards. (And the official online game! XD)
It kind of got a bit ridiculous in its latest incarnation.
(I played the xbox 360 game, and the final person you duel? WTF? A whole army of high level monsters in 2 turns! Insane. Truly insane.)

I don't know. I think I'm a little bored of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Looking at the prices, it is a little steep physically. Really need to try to get some friends into it, (or try to make some at the Comic Book shop).

Maybe I should try to track down that old PC magic game, since that had proper deck building and more content.

But for now. I think some more practice on Planeswalkers is in order!

 

[NLS]

I recommend finding some alright friends that just play it casual and not for the winning and rules aspect. Sure you'll have some okay duels at your local tournaments, but they can quickly degenerate into matching up against some shit who corrects you on your every move and isn't much enjoyable to play against. Having some informal plays with friends without (high) stakes makes it less about winning, and more about having a good time learning from eachother.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

My advice has been the best so far. I gave price estimates and everything.

$150 to dip your feet into a card game? Sorry but that's terrible advice especially seeing as the OP may not agree with your preferences.

Also a deck building pack for 2013 edition is about £17 on ebay! XD

(It might be "crappier" but it definately is cheaper! XD)

 

[Navvan]

buying older product like fourth edition will actually hurt your ability to play more than help it, given rules about set legality and the poor wording and templating often used in older cards.

Those issues were thoroughly ironed out by 4th Edition.

Also as he or she pointed out, there have been significant rules changes since the old days of magic, and the rules you would learn from the older rule books would be largely outdated and may even conflict with the rule set you learned from playing Duels and that will exist at most local stores.

The older rules are better and you should be playing by them anyway.

$150 to dip your feet into a card game? Sorry but that's terrible advice especially seeing as the OP may not agree with your preferences.

The feet have already been dipped. The OP is asking about diving into the deep end, and trust me, $150 or more WILL eventually be spent if the move to physical cards is made - not necessarily all at once, but eventually.

Also a deck building pack for 2013 edition is about £17 on ebay! XD

(It might be "crappier" but it definately is cheaper! XD)

Except that's not really magic, that's some piece of shit abomination that shares a name and little else with the game that popularized the entire concept of CCGs.

Whether the the older magic sets and rules were "better" or not is subjective. Objectively current Magic sets are more commonly played. If the goal is to play the game with other people at conventions and such like the OP wishes then you should stick with more modern sets and definitely with modern rules.

OT: I would say you are ready to pick up the physical game and play. The game is currently designed to be able to be picked up and played by anyone via Intro Decks. I recommend you buy one of them first for around $12-$15 as they come with a basic instructions on how to play and are specifically designed for new players. It isn't competitive, but it is a useful tool to beginners.

Alternatively depending on how friendly your local Friday Night Magic is you could go and ask for someone to teach you the basics and help you get into the game.

 

[madwarper]

Magic is a great game if you stick to the pre-6th Edition stuff.

6th edition killed the game,

/disagree

6th Edition, and '99 in general, was when the first Comprehensive Rulebook was introduced to MtG.
Prior to that, you only had a series of conflicting and contradictory rulings.

What killed the game was M2010, when they took the Rules and Noobified them.
That's to say, they asked people, who didn't know how to play, how they thought the game should be played and changed the rules to match it.

@ OP;
Just find a local shop and see if the have FNM (friday night magic).
It's the most casual of tournaments, and will either be Standard (the most recent sets) or Limited (you buy product and construct your deck on the spot).

Also, Consistency; It wins games.
If a card is good, get 4 of it in your deck. Do NOT simply build a deck of 1-of's.

 

[Mitch DeWester]

To cotss2012

Your opinion may be that the game of Magic was better back then, but the Magic community on the whole has moved on and left behind many of the poor concepts that existed at that point. The OP is trying to get into Magic the Gathering, the game he or she learned from playing Duels of the Planeswalkers. Duels is built on the concepts of modern Magic, it uses the current rules and applies to all of the cards, even the ones from older expansions like 4th edition. The problem with recommending those older cards to the OP is that if he or she tries to go to a local game store and play with those cards by those old rules, then they are going to be frustrated as every one tells them that they are doing it wrong, or that their cards aren't legal for any number of reasons. I don't want to debate the quality of "old school" MtG vs "modern" MtG, as it is basically just a set of personal opinions anyway, but it is my sincere belief that if the OP wants to get into Magic as it exists today, then he or she needs to buy the cards from today and play by the rules of today, not invest in product from 1995.

 

[nuba km]

Yu-gi-oh is dead online? Guess you've never heard of dueling network then...

oh god, dueling network is what killed yugioh for me, seeing how many times top teir archetype decks were used even in the non ranked matches and seeing that also at local conventions is what me jump boat from yugioh to magic. Though I still love tearing through any top tier archetype with my over 5 year old banishment deck that still meets the tournament card restrictions.

OT: Just get a magic builders toolkit (or two) and a box of boosters and go a head and make some decks that's what I did. just as long as you have people to play with it should be pretty damn fun. Also the removal of the archetype restrained allows you to come up with a lot more creative control over your deck and allow you to make it your own.