Getting back into Magic the Gathering

[Mendoza]

The two mtg duels of the planeswalkers games and now living near a friend that plays have lured me back into the game on a limited basis.

I'm not playing standard, but i have bought some cards piece meal to make a deck or two that i used to play in my day. Since my friend only really plays casual, the costs have not been much.

I am very impressed with how the game has changed while i have been gone, in particular the core set now being way more interesting.

I started after Mercadian Masques came out and 6th edition was the base set.

I stopped playing at Mirridon.

Its funny that i stopped playing in a set that had cards banned in standard, and when i come back they have cards banned in standard again.

Anyone else playing?

[Ivo]

I used to play a bunch of Magic Online, and it is funny as after some 2 years of not bothering I recently restarted playing.

Although the software basically sucks, it works and still lets you play Magic in a very convenient way. Instead of investing in "real" cards, I strongly suggest you and your buddy go with the "virtual" ones (but as I say, be prepared to accept that the software client sucks). The vast majority of cards are available online on the secondary market at lower prices than the equivalent paper cards. Feel free to PM me if you want more information.

Now, playing online is very far from the social interaction you get when playing "paper Magic" (whether that counts as a positive or negative is up to you). What you can do is get games essentially 24/7.

If you like eternal formats (formats without rotations) it is a very interesting time as there is in my opinion a strong chance that we may be getting another one supported officially. You can try it out already in Magic Online every Tuesday in a free to enter event with small prize support, organized by players. This was what made me return to playing in fact.

Ivo.

[o.pwuaioc]

I'm selling all my cards if you want to buy them...

[Erik_Twice]

I have more than half of a Stax deck lying around. A friend wanted to play and we got cards, but then she lost interest, leading to a waste of money. We may one day finish the decks and play.

If I ever come back, I will only go to tournaments and ignore discussion forums, I can get my metagame running in just one day of browsing around. It's one of the best games around even if the entry fee is a bit too high sometimes.

I remember I quitted Magic in the worst possible way, selling my cards as fast as possible and with no regards to getting my money back. I really regretted it afterwards since I knew I was going back sooner or later.

[Mendoza]

I have more than half of a Stax deck lying around. A friend wanted to play and we got cards, but then she lost interest, leading to a waste of money. We may one day finish the decks and play.

If I ever come back, I will only go to tournaments and ignore discussion forums, I can get my metagame running in just one day of browsing around. It's one of the best games around even if the entry fee is a bit too high sometimes.

I remember I quitted Magic in the worst possible way, selling my cards as fast as possible and with no regards to getting my money back. I really regretted it afterwards since I knew I was going back sooner or later.

Yeah the netdecking is probably worse now than it has ever been.

When i quit i was in a bad situation and needed money super fast. I sold everything off. The guy that bought it got a steal as the 6 true dual lands i had are now worth more than i got for the whole thing.

[AmishSamurai]

In terms of power creep, you'll find that creatures are far more powerful, and actually mean something, but they've replaced a lot of spells with not as good versions (counterspell has been replaced by Cancel in Standard for example). After the New Phyrexia and Zendikar blocks, especially the nightmare that is Jace the Mindsculptor, they've nerfed blue a lot.

If you don't want to buy all new cards for Standard, I'd try out the EDH/Commander format. You have a 100-card deck, one of which is a legendary creature who is your General. Your deck can only be composed of colors that your general is, and you can only have 1 of any card type besides basic lands (or snow-covered lands if you're using the Ice Age block). The general goes in a special zone, and can be played by paying the mana cost at any time. If he's destroyed, you can send your general back to the General zone, or into the graveyard, your choice. If you send them back to the general zone you can play them again, but you need to pay two mana more each time you do that.

This is meant for multiplayer huge games, and you start with 40 life instead of 20.

[Mendoza]

In terms of power creep, you'll find that creatures are far more powerful, and actually mean something, but they've replaced a lot of spells with not as good versions (counterspell has been replaced by Cancel in Standard for example). After the New Phyrexia and Zendikar blocks, especially the nightmare that is Jace the Mindsculptor, they've nerfed blue a lot.

If you don't want to buy all new cards for Standard, I'd try out the EDH/Commander format. You have a 100-card deck, one of which is a legendary creature who is your General. Your deck can only be composed of colors that your general is, and you can only have 1 of any card type besides basic lands (or snow-covered lands if you're using the Ice Age block). The general goes in a special zone, and can be played by paying the mana cost at any time. If he's destroyed, you can send your general back to the General zone, or into the graveyard, your choice. If you send them back to the general zone you can play them again, but you need to pay two mana more each time you do that.

This is meant for multiplayer huge games, and you start with 40 life instead of 20.

Yeah one of the first things my friend told me about was going to a tournament and every deck he played against was the Jace Cawblade deck. I looked up the card and deck and thought "Really, they thought that was a good idea?"

I'm not too keen on this new rarity bit, but i can understand the counterspell thing. I was still playing when it got taken out in 7th edition. I think of it the same way i do dark ritual.

Its not broken, but when its an auto 4 of in any deck that has the mana base to sustain it, I can see why it got axed. Though then they go and print a free cost counter and just make sure that vintage is even more blue dominate.

Commander looks fun, but since its normally just me and one other person playing its not very likely.

One of my other friends is thinking about starting up again (he was my main tournament runner back in the day).

I'm thinking about buying him a deckbuilders tool kit or one of the event or duel decks to give him a start and if he doesn't want to go from there he hasn't lost anything.

[Haoie]

Was MtG ever cool?

Man I remember 96, I so wanted a deck of my own!

[Ivo]

Was MtG ever cool?

Man I remember 96, I so wanted a deck of my own!

Depends on what you mean by cool. If you are talking in terms of "popularity" with peers, probably it was never "cool" to be playing, unlike videogames which can get mildly fashionable I don't think MtG ever had that status.

If you mean is it a cool game, though, yes I would say so.
It is a very well designed game, the main issue with it is that it is quite expensive so may not be exactly good value for money despite being very good.

Ivo.

[o.pwuaioc]

Was MtG ever cool?

Man I remember 96, I so wanted a deck of my own!

Depends on what you mean by cool. If you are talking in terms of "popularity" with peers, probably it was never "cool" to be playing, unlike videogames which can get mildly fashionable I don't think MtG ever had that status.

If you mean is it a cool game, though, yes I would say so.
It is a very well designed game, the main issue with it is that it is quite expensive so may not be exactly good value for money despite being very good.

Ivo.

Expensive to play regulation. I stopped playing tournaments when I realized it was a matter of money. Those who could afford the best desks by far and large got further. However, it's not too bad to build a few decks and play with friends.