Anyone here play Magic The Gathering

Comparing it to Yu-Gi-Oh??

Yu-Gi-Oh is. Erm, how to say this without offending Yu-Gi-Oh players :S

Yu-Gi-Oh (yes, I have played it) is a fairly simple game compared to MTG. Yugioh is more about "my guy is bigger" and backing it up with some trap cards.

Admittedly, everyones early games of magic will be along the same lines, but once people have grasped MTG they end up expanding, and this is where I think MTG truly dominates.

Every colour in MTG has its own individuality, and it really shows.

More so than that, colour combinations have different feelings.

I've seen with all of my close friends that your decks end up being direct expansions of your personality.

Me as an example, being a predominant Red/White player.

Red is chaos, White is Law (generally speaking), and I am a lawfully chaotic individual.
But I sometimes dabble in Blue (I like to control sometimes) and Black (sacrificing anything for power/knowledge), which is something i've been known to do.

And because of this everyone really ends up enjoying MTG, as long as they give it enough time to find themselves in it.

At which point it stops being "biggest guy wins" and you can win without any creatures, or with the smallest creatures in the game.

MTG is more diverse, and has a pretty good storyline behind it.
 
[FnG]magnolia;22386255 said:
Please post more. I'm not even being ironic or argumentative; I'm actually invested in this thread and want to know more.

Tell us about red/white decks and why they matter.
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Can't tell if serious. Will answer anyhow.

Red/White, codenamed Boros, after the Boros legion.
The boros legion is an army of human and goblins, collaberating together as a sort of unofficial police force on one of the planes of the Multiverse.
(Multiverse, think numerous universes, which can only be visited if you have the power to "planeswalk" or, teleport as it were)

But the feeling of Boros can be represented in any Red/White deck from any of the magic sets. It is the combination of raw power, being harnessed in an attempt to create a lawful existence.

So when I make a red white deck it is usually using white spells, Removal, your kill spells, exiling single creatures or killing all of the things if really necessary, to slow the game down and keep it at a pace that I like, at which point I can use the raw power of Red and throw in a big red threat, like a cyclops or even a Giant/Dragon. At which point I have kept the game in a relatively peaceful state, and now i'm going to take control of it all with my big finisher.

The other way to play red white is to literally amass an army of small efficient creatures onto the battlefield, and just try to forcibly batter your way past/through/over your opponent, like a riot squad to push for a quick victory.

But the best thing about Magic is, EVERY deck has a weakness.

If I play the slow controlling red white, then someone playing a pure control deck, your strong blue player, will be able to sit there and dictate what I can and can't do, and has a good chance of out-playing, and even out thinking me and my deck.

And if I play a fast red white, I am vulnerable to a deck that can deal with armies of creatures. Like red, or black, or white's destroy all the things. At which point the game is a race, and the fast deck has to win quickly, or it'll probably be over for him.
 
[FnG]magnolia;22386255 said:
Please post more. I'm not even being ironic or argumentative; I'm actually invested in this thread and want to know more.

Tell us about red/white decks and why they matter.
Click to expand...

The different colours have different themes and thefore the cards have different abilities. (This is from a while back and so may not be entirely accurate any more). So Red is Fire based and has lots of direct damage cards, White is divine and has decent healing etc. Decks tend to be built around one or two colours. There is a freemium iPad app if you want to have a look at it (Magic 2013).
 
This thread is making me think about starting to play again (only played briefly when I was younger, and then again briefly on MTGO, but always really enjoyed it).

So i'm thinking of getting one of those M13 Deckbuilder Toolkits and a Avacyn Restored deck to get me started as recommended in this thread to others.

My problem has always been having people to play with. My friends aren't really very "geeky", and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, just that I don't know anyone interested by this kind of thing like I am.

If I just turned up with my M13 Toolkit / Avacyn Restored deck at a local TCG gaming store (Harlequins in Preston is the nearest one I can find to Blackpool) would I be good to just sit down and play on their MTG night? Booster drafts etc seem a bit daunting right now.
 
Jaffa, further on to the box I linked where are the white and black starter desks you were talking about.

Im probably going to buy a few, get rid of some of the rarer cards to make my cash back and then see what decks I can build.
 
RDM said:
The different colours have different themes and thefore the cards have different abilities. (This is from a while back and so may not be entirely accurate any more). So Red is Fire based and has lots of direct damage cards, White is divine and has decent healing etc. Decks tend to be built around one or two colours. There is a freemium iPad app if you want to have a look at it (Magic 2013).
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It has definitely expanded from there, but the basic principles are the same.

Magic became more "evenly" suited to creatures and spells several years back, and its coming to a time at the moment where creatures make up the arsenal of a deck. But this is because creatures have gotten more powerful, and a lot of creatures can now succesfully take the place of the spells.

Red still deals a decent amount of direct damage. Burn spells are still staple red, but they have been backed up with fast efficient creatures, or big rumbling powerhouses like Inferno Titan, a Giant fused with fire. A good red deck will beat a good Blue deck in theory.

White still gains life, but white also took a large step into being a secondary control colour. White has the power now to exile your opponents biggest weapons and pace a game to its liking. A good white deck will beat the red deck in theory.

Blue is still THE control colour. Blue likes to run permission magic, saying no to opponents spells, whilst making sure it always has cards in hand to keep its game flowing. Blue also has tricky creatures like Merfolk, or Artificers, people fused with Etherium metal to enhance their bodies. A good blue deck will beat the green deck in theory.

Green is the K.I.S.S colour, it doesn't really worry about being tricksy or messing about with the opponents brains, Green likes to put its power on the field any way it can, bigger is better. Like YuGiOh, you might like Green.
Green also has many ways to have more mana (needed to cast creatures and spells) than their opponents, meaning bigger things much faster.
A good green deck should beat a black deck in theory.

Black is the mind altering, win at any cost colour. It likes to rip apart its opponents memory/mind and makes them throw away their spells before they even get to use them. It also pays life to do a lot of things, because being black, death is always an option, as is undeath. A black player doesn't mind throwing their own life away in a quest for knowledge/power. (sacrifice health points to draw cards). A good black deck should beat the white deck in theory.

But of course, when the colours start getting combined, thats when the really interesting things come about.

Your blue/white decks, trying to have complete control of the game, they have the say in what does and doesn't go on, and if it doesn't go their way they may just blow everything up and start it all over again.

Your Blue/Black decks, really meddle with your opponents mind. Make them throw away their best spells, and then make them lose their mind as you "mill" their library into the graveyard.

Red/Green. When stomping face with big guys just won't do, green turns to red for some fiery backup. A green deck makes so much mana that it has no quarrels with casting a gigantic fireball to roast the opponent.

Obviously, there's more combinations.
 
There was a video, I'm sure someone posted it here of some overly exuberant fellow having a yu-gi-oh duel. Basically shouting out his moves as though he was in the cartoon.

Was hilarious!
 
Greenja said:
This thread is making me think about starting to play again (only played briefly when I was younger, and then again briefly on MTGO, but always really enjoyed it).

So i'm thinking of getting one of those M13 Deckbuilder Toolkits and a Avacyn Restored deck to get me started as recommended in this thread to others.

My problem has always been having people to play with. My friends aren't really very "geeky", and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, just that I don't know anyone interested by this kind of thing like I am.

If I just turned up with my M13 Toolkit / Avacyn Restored deck at a local TCG gaming store (Harlequins in Preston is the nearest one I can find to Blackpool) would I be good to just sit down and play on their MTG night? Booster drafts etc seem a bit daunting right now.
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I recommend trying to get one of the Avacyn Restored EVENT DECKS. They are a REALLY good starting point, its a shame there's only 2 of them. But an event deck is a complete 60 card deck, with sideboard, that has some decent money cards and power in it, you also get a 20 sided dice to keep your life on.
Or if you're feeling more brave go for a starter deck and as you say a deckbuilders toolkit and build your own deck from the ground up.

Most gaming stores hold events, a lot have a entry fee on the door to pay for a prize pool, but everyone is usually welcome (there's always someone somewhere who'll ruin the good name of anything, so usually applies to, well, everything ever).

One thing I can say, and it is important, is that if you are diving into the deep end and going straight to a Friday Night Magic event or whatever, don't get disheartened if you lose, those players will likely have been playing longer and may have better cards. Don't lose heart, the only way is up.
Be friendly and don't be afraid to ask people for advice on how to improve, either your playing or your deck.
If you can't remember the basics of a game, go to the store/event well in advance and politely ask if someone will show you the ropes.

In the end magic is a complicated game, and it may take a little while to get a grasp of how it all works, but once you have the basics down the only way is up.

When I started playing I had no one to play with, I managed to talk some of my friends into playing a couple of games with me and they ended up really enjoying it, I now run weekly tournaments in my home town for up to 20 players, and we are a right mish-mash of people.
We have the artistic uni students, a religious education master, a guy who works with mentally handicapped individuals, the hipster gay guy, the loud farmer who's a bouncer in his spare time. You'd be surprised at how many people will enjoy mtg, but don't be surprised at how many of them will be embarrased about the fact they play MTG.

A lot of people see MTG as a childrens card game, and yes, children can and do play it (some of them really well) but the majority of people I see playing MTG are people in their late teens up to and including mid sixties.
It's an anyones game, you just have to give it a chance, and like every hobby, be prepared to put a little finance into it.
 
[FnG]magnolia;22386603 said:
This is great stuff.

Tell me about the other decks.

e : ^ you did just that. Can I ask if you play for fun or something more organised?
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We do Tournaments every Monday, ranging in all different sorts of decks (tribal games, commander games, 2 headed giant games, Modern, etc)

Then the other mondays are casual mondays, turn up and play with anyone who's there. Chill out and drink some beer while your at it (I got us a local club as our venue, nothing better than beer with magic and friends) though I would presume we are not the norm with that.

And then we have a lot of friendly games whenever friends are around. Kitchen table magic.
 
Just bought the deck builders toolkit from the troll trader.

Im really interested in building and white and black deck so will buy the white booster pack when I get the toolkit in to learn and stuff.
 
DAMN this thread has me tempted to get into this. I've enough games for now, though, and haven't given enough time to the Call of Cthulhu LCG despite buying a number of boosters/expansions!
 
Ah, I always used a red/black deck. Though I also found it just as much fun to just get all my cards out and spend ages building them into an awesome deck.

Then again, I enjoy playing EVE Online, so that says more about me than M:TG.

Can't remember the cards I used though, this was back around the Majora's Mask block. The problem with MAgic was that it moves fairly quickly. New blocks get released, older ones get taken out of tourney cycles, os you have to constantly keep buying. Not a problem for me as I just played with a few friends. Did go once to a club that met in a bar and got kerbstomped by their expensive cards, so never went back XD
 
kaiowas said:
Sold most of my more valuable cards a few years ago but I've still got loads of cards left taking up sapce. If anyone just starting out wants to beef up their collection I'm quite happy to send out as many commons as you want for the price of postage.
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So, I may take you up on that offer, should we trust?
 
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