Starting Magic: The Gathering... Where do I begin?

[Playful Pony]

Today a friend of mine talked me into playing Magic: The Gathering for the first time in my life (borrowed one of his decks), and annoyingly I had a great time! That means I have a sudden and strong urge to get a few cards of my own and start playing, but it is nearly impossible to buy them where I live without traveling 8 hours by train! The only person selling them in my area was an induvidual that my friend said was obviously trying to scam people with poor deals at inflated prices, so I'm not taking my chances with him.

For this reason I am looking to buy my cards online, but a few google searches turned up a ton of alternatives with so many categories of diferent cards that I feel completely helpless. I come to you for aid, great people of The Escapist, in finding the best place to buy my cards and required accessories, and hopefully a wikia (or something like it) where I can read up on the rules and neuances of the game.

Any other information you feel like sharing about it is very welcome! I'm not operating on a particularily limited budget, but I'm always happy about shaving off a few bucks if I can, as long as I get good quality stuff ^^.

Thank you so much for any help! =3

 

[sanquin]

There should be 'starter decks/sets' available. They're basically a full deck that you can play with right away. They're generally weak, with mostly cheap cards. But they're a good starting point.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

First off forget lands. They're far too high-level right now. Babysteps and all. Walls and Flying creatures too. Stay away from all that until you've got your feet wet.

To get started you'll need some Planeswalkers and Phase creatures. They're good starting points. Tri-colour cards too.

 

[GothmogII]

First off forget lands. They're far too high-level right now. Babysteps and all. Walls and Flying creatures too. Stay away from all that until you've got your feet wet.

To get started you'll need some Planeswalkers and Phase creatures. They're good starting points. Tri-colour cards too.

Oh you're just mean! x)

Yeah, intro decks would be the best way to go. M14 is just around the corner, but if you don't want to wait try an intro pack from M13.

As for accessories, well, you don't need any really besides a pen and paper and a coin to flip to see who goes first. (Rarely will you have to flip a coin due to a card's rules but it's not impossible.)

The MTG Salvation Wiki is pretty in depth: http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Main_Page

If you're willing to trawl through articles, the official MTG Daily column might be more up your alley, it can get very into the nitty gritty but there is a ton of interesting stuff there, not just on how the game works but notes on the artwork, design and lore behind the game:

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/

 

[NBSRDan]

I suggest continuing to play with the friend who taught you the game, borrowing multiple decks until you get a sense of what kind of cards you like. Then you two can look up cards online and design a deck together, and you only have to buy those 60 cards.

I usually shop at Channel Fireball because it has good prices, and TCGPlayer when Channel Fireball doesn't have what I want in stock.

All you really need as far as accessories is some dice to keep track of life, counters, and tokens (you may see D&D dice floating around, but six-sided work just fine). Some people will tell you that sleeves and deckboxes are a must, but that's only if you have cards that need to be kept in good condition because they're worth a lot of money. Otherwise, you can hold your deck together with a rubber band and shove it in your pocket.

 

[The_Tron]

If your just planning on playing for fun I know you used to be able to order whole booster pack boxes for considerably cheaper than say buying them individually. I know I did this for Mirrodin back when and saved about 50$ and got some of the best cards from the set. But ya it's been said already, definitely get a better feel with some of your friends decks (preference for color and play styles) then you can start with a starter deck or two and build from there. Also you could think about checking out MTG online. It's purely online which has it's on pro's and con's.

 

[Jinxzy]

There should be 'starter decks/sets' available. They're basically a full deck that you can play with right away. They're generally weak, with mostly cheap cards. But they're a good starting point.

This is how I started. I bought a "dueling deck" from target, which is basically two decks in one box. After I started to get use to playing and understanding the game a little more I stuck with the color/element I liked and got another starting deck with the same element. That way I could mix my two deck and try new things. I also asked my friend if he had any cards he wouldn't mind giving me to start off with. But most of my cards I got were from local chain stores like target, toys r us, and even barns and noble.