Magic: The Gathering - Playing Guide

To say that Magic: The Gathering has taken the world by storm might, for once, 
be something of an understatement. With well over a billion cards sold worldwide 
in several languages, the games publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has quickly 
become one of the most successful non-computer-games companies around. Now 
MicroProse have completed the impressive task of converting the game to the PC, 
its likely to become even more popular.
Of course, if youre an old hand at the card game, youll have little problem 
jumping straight into the Shandalar section of the game, which is by far the 
most interesting and challenging aspect of it. If the CD-ROM is your first 
contact with the game, though, things are a little tougher.
This guide is intended to introduce new Magic players to the most important 
strategic element of the game - building a deck of spells to use in your quest 
to save Shandalar from the five arch-mages that threaten its survival. One of 
the greatest strengths of Magic, both in the card game and the PC version, is 
the games infinite flexibility. What follows, then, is not a set of hard and 
fast rules, but rather a general discussion of basic deck design. Its possible 
to build very strong decks that completely ignore the advice given here, but to 
do so requires a lot of experience with the game. These guidelines will help you 
to create some playable, flexible decks to get you started - but never be scared 
of experimenting with ideas of your own.


FIRST THINGS FIRST
If youre new to Magic, the first thing youre going to have to do is learn how 
the game works, and how to play it. Luckily, those nice chaps at MicroProse have 
come up with a well-written manual that should teach you the basics. Before 
starting the Shandalar game, take some time to read through the manual and play 
some games in the Duel section, trying different decks for both you and your 
opponent. Only once you feel confident that you understand the basics of the 
game should you start thinking about trying to save Shandalar.
If youre having real problems learning how to play, there are a couple of other 
options. If youre lucky enough to know someone who plays the card game (ask 
around, youll probably find someone), get them to teach you how to play it. 
Alternatively, pick up one of the Starter Sets of the game, and read through the 
rulebook. It wont tell you anything about the interface used by the PC game, 
but it will do a good job of teaching you how to play Magic itself.


DECK DESIGN 101
Okay, so you understand the basics, and youre itching to start saving Shandalar 
from total destruction. Before you jump right in and start wandering the land, 
though, its worth giving some thought to what kind of deck you want to use.
Unlike the Duel, in which you can simply choose from a wide range of pre-
designed decks, before beginning the Shandalar game you must choose a colour of 
cards from the five available. Once the game starts youll find yourself with a 
selection of cards of that colour (and, depending on the difficulty level, a few 
of other colours as well). From this fairly humble beginning one of your main 
tasks in the game is to gather enough cards to create a powerful, flexible deck 
(or decks) that will allow you to take on the strongest creatures of the land, 
and eventually the arch-mages themselves.
Its a good idea, then, to start the game with a clear idea of what kind of deck 
you want, and then devote your early efforts in the game to putting it together. 
To do this, of course, you need to understand some of the basics of deck-
building.


SIZE ISNT EVERYTHING
The very first thing to consider is the size of your deck. Setting a limit right 
from the start is a good idea because it makes you think more carefully about 
your choice of cards, and prevents you ending up with a huge deck. Having a load 
of cards might seem like a good idea, but its actually one of the biggest 
mistakes you can make.
One of the keys to a good Magic deck is consistency - the more easily you can 
predict what cards youll end up with in your hand, the more you can plan ahead, 
and the more likely it is that youll get the card you want when you need it. 
The larger the deck, the more random it becomes, and the lower the chance of you 
getting a specific card in each duel.
The minimum number of cards youre allowed in Shandalar varies with the 
difficulty level, and can be as low as 30. However, too few cards can be almost 
as dangerous as too many - not only does it limit your decks flexibility, it 
also increases the chance of you running out of cards (and thus losing the 
duel).
So whats the answer? Well, 60 cards is a good size - large enough to allow you 
some variety (and be unlikely to run out), but small enough to ensure 
consistency.


LOOK AT THE COLOURS
The next basic decision to make about your killer deck is which colours to use, 
and how many. Single colour decks have the advantage of being the simplest to 
play, and youll never be stuck with the wrong type of Land for the cards in 
your hand. However, single colour decks are ultimately one-sided and inflexible. 
Each of the five colours of magic has its own strengths, but it also has its own 
weaknesses - and in single-colour decks those weaknesses are exaggerated. 
Single-colour decks are also vulnerable to spells and effects which target that 
specific colour.
Multi-colour decks, however, have problems all of their own, the main one being 
that its hard to ensure youll have the right Lands for the cards in your hand. 
For a
basic deck, then, the best idea is normally
two colours.
Which colours to choose is largely a matter of taste and style, but you should 
consider how the different colours work together. The two basic options are to 
choose colours that compensate for each others weaknesses, or colours that 
complement each others strengths. Green, for example, has a lot of powerful 
creature cards, and some good creature-enhancing features, as does Black. Red, 
on the other hand, has the most direct-damage spells like Lightning Bolt or 
Fireball. So, Green and Black would complement each other, producing a deck with 
masses of powerful creatures, while Green and Red would compensate for each 
colours weaknesses - Green providing good creatures and enchantments, while Red 
handles direct damage. All the colour combinations have something to recommend 
them, but its worth considering how to take advantage of the strengths they 
provide.


LANDS TO CONQUER
With the colours chosen, the next step is to decide how many Lands to use. Lands 
provide the magical energy required to cast your spells, and so its important 
to have enough. On the other hand, too many Lands will leave you with loads of 
Mana and no spells to cast.
Once again, there are no hard and fast rules here, but a good starting figure is 
to have a third of your deck as Lands - 20 cards in a 60-card deck. Again, for 
simplicitys sake its best to split these equally between the colours of your 
deck - 10 of each in a two-colour design.
The rest of your deck, then, should be made up of spells. Once again, there are 
limitless options here, and a lot will depend on what cards you come across on 
your travels in Shandalar. However, there are some basics to bear in mind.
In most decks its a good idea to split the cards (and Lands) evenly between 
your chosen colours. Once again, uneven splits can work, but theyre more 
difficult to deal with, and you should probably wait until youve got more 
experience with the game. Likewise, in most basic decks its a good idea to have 
a fairly even split between creatures and other spells (Interrupts, Instants, 
Sorceries, and Enchantments). Creatures are by far the simplest way to damage 
your opponent (and to protect yourself from your opponents creatures in turn), 
and as they stick around until killed they offer good value for mana. 
Try to have a range of creatures, including both weak and strong types - a 
Shivan Dragon is no use until you have enough Land to cast it, and in the 
meantime your opponents pesky 1/1 creatures will be picking off your life 
points. Likewise, try to have some with Flying and First Strike - useful powers 
for attack and defence.
Which other spells you use will largely be determined by what you can find and 
what colours you use. Never forget, though, that the aim of the deck is to 
reduce your opponents life to zero as quickly as possible. There are so many 
neat cards in Magic that its easy to get caught up in cool ideas that simply 
arent very practical.
Finally, give some thought to artifacts. Unless youre building an artifact 
deck, you shouldnt use too many of these, but a few can be very useful, serving 
either to make the most of your decks strengths, or to compensate for 
weaknesses.


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
If you start the Shandalar game with a good idea of what kind of deck you want, 
youre far more likely to succeed. Dedicate yourself to getting as many cards of 
the colours you want as quickly as possible - if you want Green cards, hang 
around forests and fight Green monsters, and dont go exploring Islands where 
youll end up winning Blue cards. As your deck grows and evolves, experiment 
with different combinations of cards, and if you have a particular idea you want 
to try out, remember that you can always use the Deck Builder to create it, then 
play a few games of Duel to see how it works, before risking everything in 
Shandalar. Most of all, though, never be afraid to experiment with new ideas and 
combinations of cards - the more you do, the better your deck will become and 
the more youll appreciate the subtleties of the game. And then you can advance 
to playing the card game itself. 
