Magic the Gathering

[old account]

So, I'm thinking about starting Magic the Gathering back up. I haven't played in about five years. Any players on the Escapist like to fill me in on what I have been missing. New rules, cards, what not? Also what kind of deck is strongest right now or what kind of deck should I start back up with?

 

[fanklok]

We have user groups for this sort of thing ya know [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Magic-The-Gathering]

As for rules changes, in play zone was keyworded to The Battlefield, removed from game is keyworded to Exiled, and combat damage has been removed from the stack.

 

[Asturiel]

The entire game pretty much had a rehaul nearly a year ago, many words changed/rules revised.

Please join the magic group as fanklok showed we need the members. One of the major things is that removal cards are in abundance in the recent sets and creatures are generally getting tougher than older cards. The power shift seems to be have been from spell to creature(so I have been told). Also core sets are updated once a year now instead of once every two.

Also Wizards has decided each set will break a previous boundary, like Lorwyn/Shadowmoor had four different sets in it, two major(250 or so) and two minor(120-150 or so). Shards of Alara block had a set with entirely multicoloured cards. Zendikar had two major sets and one minor. So they are getting crazy with their own rules and its pretty entertaining.

 

[rekabdarb]

Just... just make a sliver/allies deck

and get the item where it gives 1 fire mana every turn (second turn is 2 fire, 3rd turn 3 fire, etc etc)

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

As far as i can tell just another few sets have been released. But i could be wrong y'know.

 

[imaloony]

They've made a lot of stupid rules recently, like they've increased the deck cap to 60 cards, which is annoying. They've also made some sort of new rule (that me and my friends don't play with) that essentially renders the stack null and void.

Personally, I've got about 5 decks. In order from strongest to weakest, they're:

Zombies (Black)
Rogues (Blue and Black)
Burn (Red)
Beat Down (Red and Green)
Clerics (White)

They've also recently released creatures with an "Annihilate ability"

Personally, I figure if you buy a few packs from one of the more recent sets, you should come up with something good.

 

[TehCookie]

Does that mean it would be bad for me to start learning how to play with my brother's decade old deck?

 

[old account]

Zombies (Black)

You see, if I started Magic back up, I'd like to make a zombie/undead and demons deck. I remember back in 7th edition my friend would constantly return zombies and skeletons from the grave and sacrifice them for the demons tap abilities. I thought that was really cool; but I don't know if they have that stuff anymore in the new editions.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I used to play, but it got too expensive. Cards are phased out too damn much.

 

[The Madman]

For a few bucks I'll sell ya my old set. Used to be pretty good, no clue if it's even legit to use nowadays though. I remember I had this deck built around summoning avatars. Avatar of life, Avatar of... erm. Green? Can't remember its name. And Avatar of Woe, which kicked enormous amounts of ass!

Was a pretty fun card game, no real urge to start up again though so my old cards have just been gathering dust over the years.

 

[Tolerant Fanboy]

New Standard legal keywords (as of five years ago, defined roughly as when Tenth Edition came out) are as follows:

Enchant (foo) (Enchant permanents are now Auras with this ability. As always, if it's enchanting something that isn't foo, it dies.)
Lifelink (This dealing damage makes you gain that much life.)
Deathtouch (When this damages a creature, that creature is destroyed.)
Reach (This can block fliers)
Flash (You can play this whenever you could play an instant)
Shroud (This can't be targetted)
Cycling (Yes, they brought it back again. Landcycling, too.)
Exalted (Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn. This stacks with other instances of itself.)
Unearth (cost) (When this is in your graveyard, you can play it for its unearth cost. At end of turn, RFG. If it would leave play for any reason, RFG. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
Devour (number) (As this comes into play, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. Put (number) +1/+1 counters on this for each creature it devoured.)
Domain (Ability word. Counts number of basic land types among your lands. Only appeared in one set.)
Cascade (When you play this, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card with CMC<this. You may play that card without paying its mana cost. Put all other revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.)
Landfall (Ability word. When you play a land, stuff happens.)
Kicker (Also back.)
Multikicker (Kicker you can pay any number of times.)
Level up (cost) (Cost: Put a level counter on this. Level up as a sorcery. Power, toughness, and abilities are dependent on what level the thing is. Note that it starts at level 0. Level = number of level counters on it.)
Totem armor (Only on Auras. Whenever the enchanted permanent would be destroyed, this Aura is instead. Effectively one-shot indestructibility.)
Annihilator (number) (Whenever this attacks, defending player sacrifices (number) permanents.)

Mechanical themes of a non-keyword persuasion:

Colored artifacts (mostly in white, blue, and black)
Power 5 or more matters
Multicolor matters
Allies (Creatures with type Ally with abilities that either trigger when your Allies enter play (itself included) or scale based on the number of Allies you control. Or both.)
Vampires (Yeah, they're the new non-Human black dorks. Go figure.)
Lands matter (Seriously. Lands are kind of awesome in the first two sets of this year.)
Walls matter (Again, seriously. Among other things, the new set has a wall that can ping the opponent for damage equal to the walls you control. And a white Wall of Blossoms.)
Eldrazi Spawn (0/1 colorless tokens you can sacrifice for one mana apiece. Useful for calling up their ridiculously expensive elders.)

 

[Composer]

well Elves apparently go undefeated at the club in my school
then again theres a deck full of defenders that runs surprisingly well

 

[Pokenator]

Zombies (Black)

You see, if I started Magic back up, I'd like to make a zombie/undead and demons deck. I remember back in 7th edition my friend would constantly return zombies and skeletons from the grave and sacrifice them for the demons tap abilities. I thought that was really cool; but I don't know if they have that stuff anymore in the new editions.

My main deck is Zombies- as well as being really effective, they're just a really fun deck to play.

 

[WorldCritic]

Tried to play once and my friends kept getting mad because I don't play card games.

 

[imaloony]

Zombies (Black)

You see, if I started Magic back up, I'd like to make a zombie/undead and demons deck. I remember back in 7th edition my friend would constantly return zombies and skeletons from the grave and sacrifice them for the demons tap abilities. I thought that was really cool; but I don't know if they have that stuff anymore in the new editions.

Zombies haven't been prominent for a while, but you could make a good Zombie deck. You'd NEED an Undead Warchief, and having some Cemetery Reapers and Death Barons wouldn't be a bad idea. Zombie Master is a great pick too. As for filler cards, Severed Legion, Festering Goblin, Carrion Feeder, and Venegeful Dead are all good picks. I also like to have some Gravediggers and a Corpse Connoisseur if possible. Then mix in some good revival cards like Disentomb, Reaping the Graves, and Raise Dead.

 

[rekabdarb]

OH OH OH OH OH make a morph deck. Blue

Get Brine elemental and Vesuian Shape shifter. That shit=gg you win, no come back
then get a fuck ton of counterspell/spell redirection morphs. Did i forget to mention that morph ignores the stack? so if someone tries to counter something and it has split second, JK unmorph a voidmage apprentice (morphling counterspell) and kapow.

 

[rekabdarb]

http://www.anycraze.com/deck_viewer.asp?id=383766

is also an insanely strong deck

 

[Asturiel]

Does that mean it would be bad for me to start learning how to play with my brother's decade old deck?

Depends, some old cards are quite broken, likely better to learn with the more current cards though no?

Also good way to play is play online with an ideal deck for a while.

You see, if I started Magic back up, I'd like to make a zombie/undead and demons deck. I remember back in 7th edition my friend would constantly return zombies and skeletons from the grave and sacrifice them for the demons tap abilities. I thought that was really cool; but I don't know if they have that stuff anymore in the new editions.

Not so much that anymore, more crazy abilities and quick decks nowadays. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that there isn't too much of that going on anymore(still happens in some cards but isn't very viable competitive wise)

For a few bucks I'll sell ya my old set. Used to be pretty good, no clue if it's even legit to use nowadays though. I remember I had this deck built around summoning avatars. Avatar of life, Avatar of... erm. Green? Can't remember its name. And Avatar of Woe, which kicked enormous amounts of ass!

Was a pretty fun card game, no real urge to start up again though so my old cards have just been gathering dust over the years.

I'll give you twenty then sell it for two thousand. I might relieve you fo them if its not too much, thats a maybe, and only if its on a Tuesday.