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Magic game rules
How many players play? From 2 and more.
Recommended player age: 13+
Number of cards: depending on the type of tournament, no less than 40 or 60 cards.
Who won? When your opponent runs out of life points or cards.
Main card meanings
To delve into the game rules and learn to play, you first need to get acquainted with the cards. There are indeed many types, names, and meanings, so it might be a bit difficult to grasp everything at first glance, but after playing a couple of games and feeling the joy of the game, it will immediately become easier.ย ย
Each card has a name (in English, name), which is indicated in the upper left corner of the card. In addition, “Magic: the Gathering” cards can be divided into 6 types:
Creatures (in English, creatures)
Enchantments (in English, enchantments)ย
Artifacts (in English, artifacts)ย
Sorceries (in English, sorceries)
Instants (in English, instants)
Land (in English, land)
All cards, except lands, can perform spells.
Card type (in English, card type) is indicated below the card's image. It symbolizes which of the above spells your card has. If it is a creature card, its type is also indicated, for example, “dragon,” so โcreature dragonโ means your spell is a creature, and its type is a dragon.
Next to the card type, the expansion symbol (in English, expansion symbol) is always indicated, which reveals from which card set/edition/print your card is. Each symbol is of three colors โ black, which shows your card is common, silver symbolizes an uncommon card, and gold โ a rare one.ย
At the bottom, you will find the card description (in English, text box), which tells about the magical world of the card and describes the card's abilities (in English, abilities), which need to be activated and the activation cost specified in the description paid. Additionally, on the left side of the card, the card's power (in English, power) and toughness (in English, toughness) are indicated, and the numbers help decide which creature will win in a fierce battle.
Magical colorsย
As we mentioned, the game features five main card colors, each with its own meanings โ green, red, blue, black, and white. Each of these colors symbolizes different things and represents different aspects, allowing you to explore the colorful, unique, and magical world of the game. Additionally, each color's mana is obtained from different types of land cards โ forests, mountains, islands, swamps, and plains. Certain spells can also provide mana.
It is no secret that each color has not only certain powers but also weaknesses, and decks are usually mixed from two or more colors. This way, the aim is to reduce the dangers that are essentially difficult to withstand.
More about colors:
White color symbolizes order, adherence to laws, the idea of community, it heals and protects. This color also embodies fanaticism, reckless devotion, which is reflected in the game by spells. They can destroy many enemies at once, stop them, and try to explain that they are behaving badly, aiming to teach opponents. The cards restore the player's life points, send armies of weaker creatures into battle, and white mages sometimes summon very strong heroes.
Black in many cultures is the color of death, gloom, and bad things. In this game, it is the color of destruction, greed, life loss, and dirty deals. This card comes from eerie, gloomy, and dark swamps, where unimaginable horror resides. Black cards can “knock out” cards from the opponent's hand, resurrect terrible creatures from the dead, and, of course, destroy all opponent's creatures. However fierce and mysterious they may be, black card mages cannot deal with enchantments and artifacts.
Blue โ the color of the clear sky and deep sea, symbolizes scientific progress, the desire for knowledge and understanding. Of course, it has not only positive but also negative consequences โ it is characterized by manipulations, tricks, and illusions. These blue magic cards can cancel opponent's spells, summon strange water and air creatures that destroy the enemy in just a few moves after appearing.
Red, as you might guess, is the color of passions, hot fire, aggressiveness, and impulsiveness, which comes from the unbearably hot core of the world. Red cards harm the opponent and their creatures (usually mountain dragons or goblins), destroy the opponent's lands, and have many spells that work by flipping a coin, i.e., randomly. This passionate card is very effective, acting and winning the fastest.
Green, like many plants growing on earth, symbolizes life, living, growth, and prosperity. This color comes from the lungs of the earth โ lush forests. At the same time, this color card symbolizes primitiveness and brutality, rarely using complex strategies to achieve victory. The goal of the majestic nature's elements, mages, and creatures is to draw life and strength and quickly gather the necessary amount of mana of the required colors for valuable spells.
Let's start the Magic the Gathering game!
When playing “Magic: the Gathering” strategy and luck become equivalent โ not only perfect knowledge of the game but also a certain percentage of luck influences the final outcome of the game. So, let's begin!
The essence of the game is a duel, and the strength of the players depends on their ability to assess the situation, choose the most correct strategy, and cards. The spells each player knows are determined by the cards they have. Each game reflects a battle between powerful and mysterious wizards/mages (known as Duelists and Planeswalkers).
Game Start
Each player, as mentioned, has their own custom-built deck, meaning they devise their own game strategy. The game begins with players drawing 7 cards from the top of their deck, which are drawn from their carefully shuffled deck. These 7 cards are called the hand, and the remaining player's deck is the library.
Sometimes the drawn cards are not to the player's liking, in which case they can return the cards to the deck, shuffle, and draw cards again from the top of the deck. Important! When drawing cards again, only 6 cards can be chosen. With each new draw, the number of cards decreases. Once the cards are chosen, the game begins.
The cards in hand are kept face down, and those you want to play are turned face up and placed on the table. The place where the cards lie on the table is called the battlefield. During the game, when a card is used, it is slightly tilted to the side.
During the game, some used cards go to a pile called the graveyard, while others are placed in the stack. The latter pile is common to all players, and it contains spells, instant spells, and abilities cards. Important! The cards in the stack wait until they can be used, in game slang, “discharged.”
Each player also has 20 life points, and the game continues until one player has 0 life points. Additionally, the game can end if a player runs out of cards from their personal library, and it is already empty.
Special Moves
Each turn consists of 5 phases โ beginning, main, combat, second main, and ending.
Beginning phase. This is the very first phase, during which tapped cards are untapped. Additionally, in this phase, the use of spells or abilities is not allowed. In the second part of the beginning phase, necessary cards go to the stack.
In this phase, players can play activated abilities and instants, which we will introduce a bit later. In the third part of the beginning phase, players draw the missing cards.
Main phase. This phase follows the main phase. In this phase, you can play land cards, but keep in mind that only one land card can be played into the battlefield per turn. In the main phase, your opponent can only play activated abilities and instants, while you can play any spells and abilities.
Combat phase. After the main phase comes the combat phase, at the beginning of which you can play instants. After instants, the attacker chooses which creature will attack or not attack at all. The card of the chosen attacking creature is tapped. When the attacker is declared, the defender is chosen โ the opponent indicates which creature will withstand the attacking creature.
When the opponent declares the defender, instants and activated abilities are played. In the further game, combat occurs โ attackers reduce the defending player's life points by the attack power of the attacking creatures.
Second main. After the third, combat phase, the main phase is played again.
Ending phase. In this phase, players can immediately play activated abilities and instants. Later, the player needs to choose which cards to “bury” in the graveyard and which 7 cards will remain in hand. This rule applies if more than 7 cards are held in hand.
In this phase, all damage done to creatures is also removed, and effects that were supposed to last until the end of the game cease to work. In this stage, abilities or spells cannot be played unless triggered abilities are invoked.
Let the Magical Spells Unfold!
“Magic: the Gathering” uses special “hints” โ magical tricks called spells and abilities. It's important to remember and know that there are several types of abilities:
Static abilities. When this card is played, your ability works immediately and ensures continuity, in other words, a long-term ability effect. A static ability loses its power only when the card is removed from the game.
Activated abilities. It's important to note that this card needs to be activated, and the activation cost specified in the description must be paid. This card also has a colon, indicating certain game conditions โ if a turned arrow symbol is shown before the colon, it means this card needs to be tapped. When the card is tapped, it is considered used and can
be played only once. There are cards without a colon symbol, and they can be played as needed.
Triggered abilities. These cards indicate a certain condition โ something will happen only when the situation described on the card occurs. For example, if character x appears in the game, you gain/lose x additional life points, etc. As soon as the described event occurs (even multiple times), this card goes to the stack. It's very important โ the instructions and rules indicated by the cards must be followed, or penalties will be imposed!
To use a spell or ability in the game, you need to know certain special rules and follow them:
- Tell your opponent which ability or spell card you will use.
- If it is a spell, you must show this card to the other player.
- If the word target is used in the description of an ability or spell, it means you must choose a target โ a specific card that the spell or ability will affect.
- If the card description starts with the words “choose one of…”, it means you must select one of the available options.
- If your card's spell is an enchantment, you must again choose which card you want to enchant.
- If you play an ability, you will have to pay the activation cost, and if it's a spell, the mana cost.
- After performing these actions, your card immediately goes to the stack. Exception! Cards with mana abilities do not go to the stack because the player immediately receives that mana. Also, cards with permanent abilities are not put into the stack, as the ability takes effect immediately, and lands without spells.
Activated abilities and instant spells can be played at any time โ whether there are cards in the stack or when priority belongs to the opponent โ exceptions and special rules do not apply to these spells. As mentioned, other abilities and spells can only be played during the main and second main phases of the game, also when there are no cards in the stack and when the player has priority to make a move, discard a card, or pass. Of course, if you pass โ the turn goes to your opponent.
When the turn goes to the opponent, he can cast his spells onto your abilities or spells in the stack. If he also decides to pass, the turn to cast a card goes back to you. When both players pass, the ability or spell on top of the stack resolves and its benefits are gained. It is important to remember that cards resolve from top to bottom, so the last card placed on the stack resolves first.
You also need to check the target of the resolving spell or ability to see if it is still valid (the target is invalid when it no longer meets the requirements of the ability or spell). Once sorceries or instants resolve, they go directly to the graveyard. Other cards may remain in play, they just need to be tapped to indicate they have been used.
Magic the Gathering cards – extraordinarily valuable card collections
Card enthusiasts not only play with special cards, participate in tournaments, watch broadcasts, but also collect them. โMagic: the Gatheringโ card collection is a matter of honor for every fan of this card game!
Interestingly, today more than 11,000 completely different names of unique game cards have been created for the game, and each year an additional 3-4 different card sets are released โ a total of about 700 cards.
The main set is called the โCore Set,โ and it is released every two years. Moreover, colorful cards were created and illustrations drawn by more than 400 famous artists from various countries. Each card is a work of art, created from magical inspiration.
Due to artistry and meticulous work, many โMagic: the Gatheringโ cards are very valuable and expensive โ beautiful, old, rare, and very carefully illustrated cards are sold online for very high sums.
For example, the impressive ย Black Lotus card can cost over 10,000 US dollars. Of course, you can also buy very cheap cards costing just a few cents, but they are also very important โ the value of a card is assessed based on its power, demand, and rarity.
Collectors of these cards can mostly purchase them in online stores, where they are sold individually โ you can choose the rarest cards. Moreover, buying cards separately to build a very powerful deck is cheaper than buying a themed (consisting of 40 or 60 cards), tournament pack (45 cards), or booster (15 cards).
Additionally, the game โMagic: the Gatheringโ is translated into 11 languages โ English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Magic: the Gathering and the mysterious history of the game
โMagic: the Gatheringโ (lit. magic: gathering) โ the most popular magical card game in the world, sometimes simply called โMagicโ or using the abbreviation MTG.ย
The collectible card game in the style of magical fantasy โWizards of the Coastโ was released by the company in the last century โ in 1993. It was created by then-mathematics doctoral student Richard Garfield, who initially named the game โMana Clashโ.
From the very first card sets, the game became exceptionally popular
Initially, it became popular among role-playing game enthusiasts (in these games, the player identifies with a fictional, imaginary character, traveling, fighting, and acting on their behalf in an imaginary, fantastical world), and later it attracted many other game fans, especially those who love various types of games that require clear, logical, and strong strategy.
Thus, fantasy and a clear game-winning plan are the main aspects of the game.
โMagicโ‘s popularity led to the emergence of many other similar games โ both physical and computer-based. It seems that players were enticed by the rather unusual genre of the game at the time โ magical fantasy. It aims to create a unique and mysterious setting, with action taking place in times reminiscent of the Middle Ages, where technology is replaced by fantasy, magic, spells, and enchantments.
To create a mysterious mood, elements from various mythologies, depictions of magic, supernatural phenomena, and unlike in science fiction, the rejection of modern technologies are often used. It's no surprise that the 1994 game won an award for the best magic fantasy or science fiction game of 1993.
After a few years, the game's popularity wave only grew, and to satisfy the desires of game enthusiasts, international โMagic: the Gatheringโ tournaments โ “Pro Tour” โ were started, with a prize pool today reaching up to 1 million USD! In 2002, with the flourishing of information technology, the game moved into the virtual space.
So, it's interesting and somewhat mysterious that this fantasy-filled game was the first and remains the most popular non-computer game of this genre in the world โ it is played by approximately over 20 million players, and the card print runs are simply unimaginable โ in 2018, the company โWizards of the Coastโ announced that they have printed over 20 billion โMagic: the Gatheringโ cards in just 8 years.
Breathtaking Magic the Gathering Tournaments
This strategic game attracts thousands of players from all over the world to test their skills in international tournaments โ some play and strategize, while others simply watch their broadcasts and learn the secrets of the game.
For organizing, supervising, planning, judging, and providing all the information for these magical collectible card game tournaments, a special organization “Duelists Convocation International,” also known by the acronym DCI, was created. In 2005, the first tournament took place in Lithuania, attracting even 1000 game enthusiasts from across the country.
Tournaments are organized in two main types โ “Constructed” and “Limited.” Additionally, “Standard,” “Vintage,” “Legacy,” “Extended,” and others are also organized.
More about the tournaments:
- ย In “Constructed” tournaments, a special tournament format applies, meaning each player plays with their own deck of cards, assembled according to certain restrictions. The main restriction is the exclusion of very old cards from the game. In most “Constructed” tournaments, the deck must contain at least 60 cards. Additionally, in a specially assembled deck, there cannot be more than 4 cards with the same English name. This rule does not apply to “basic lands” cards.
- ย In “Limited” tournaments, players receive a variety of different cards and must assemble a deck of at least 40 cards of impressive value, with which they continue to play.
- Another tournament format โ “Standard” โ allows the use of cards only from the last two released card blocks and the latest main card deck set “Core Set.” As mentioned, at least three or four new card releases come out each year, so players participating in tournaments, if they want to play qualitatively and have a deck that meets all requirements, must constantly invest and thus renew.
- Some tournaments, such as “Vintage” and “Legacy,” allow the use of almost all cards. Here arises another problem โ really strong decks use very old, no longer printed cards, which due to their collectible value, rarity, and strength in the game are usually extremely expensive, and the price can reach tens or even hundreds of dollars per unit.
Sometimes it happens that players, aiming for victory, copy the decks of tournament champions โ professionals โ learn their game strategy and claim achievements that are not theirs. This phenomenon in the โMagic: the Gatheringโ world is called “Net Decking.”
You probably agree that the game is magical and enchantingly appealing to all card game enthusiasts โ both beginners and professionals. Don't hesitate, try this game online, and if you like and are captivated โ be sure to acquire beautiful, colorful, miracle-inspired cards and immerse yourself in the magical and unique world of the game!
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