Magic the Gathering: An Overview of the #1 CCG Game Part 3

Okay, as promised here is the last part of my ” Overview of Magic the Gathering ”

In the first two installments of this overview, I went over the Colors of Magic, and how they relate to building a deck & color in reference to Mana.

I also went over Creatures and Items in Magic.

I thought to end this overview, with basic gameplay and some basic terms ( some of which I might have already mentioned ) used in the game.

Basic Gameplay

In playing Magic, two people ( you and an opponent ) come to the table with a deck of cards with a minimum count of 40 cards.

You both draw seven cards.

You and your opponent decide who will play first.

The person who plays first, plays a card from his (or her ) hand, if they are able to. Usually, this first card will be a land card ( if they have one in hand to play ). If they have been able to play a Land Card, they may also be able to play another card ( if ) the card has no Mana cost to play, or if the card has a Mana cost of one. When the first player is done with his ( or her ) turn, they declare they their turn is over.

Then it becomes player two’s turn. Player two starts his turn, by taking a card from his deck. At this point, player two is now holding eight (8) cards in his ( or her ) hand. Player two will now play a card if able to. If not, he will also at this point state that his turn has ended.

Play goes back and forth between both players in this manner.

Let’s go over the Parts of a Turn

1) Untap - untap and tapped cards.

2) Draw- draw (1) card

3) Main Phase - plays cards

4) Combat - creatures attack

5) Main Phase - play cards

6) End of Turn - player’s turn ends

Winning the Game

In a game of Magic, both players start with a Life Total which is 20.

To win the game, you have to bring your oppanant’s life total down to zero.

You do this by causing direct damage to your oppanant’s life total.

Basic Terms in Magic

Tapping - This is a term that describes when a player turns a card sideways, either for mana, to play an ability, or when you are using one of your creatures for attacking another creature or player.

Mana - Used for playing creatures or items. In order to use mana, you have to tap a land card, or an artifact card that produces mana.

The Stack - This is a term that references what happens when both players are playing cards at the same time. Whens both players are playing cards at the same time they are placed on a stack. These cards then resolve in a last in, first out structure. This is more of an advanced term that should be covered in a future post.

Instants - these are cards that you can play at any time during the game, as long as you have the mana to pay for them.

Sorceries & Enchantments - these are cards that are to be played at certain times in your turn.

And this is the end of my basic ” Overview of Magic the Gathering ” and I am quite certain that I have probably left out something or somethings that are important to the beginner wanting to pick up the basics of this game, so if anyone out there has something to add to this post, please feel free to comment here or you can just send me an email at gamesgalore@citlink.net

Lew, your fanboy@50.