Guide Me Back To Magic

[Mr_Pleasington]

So I haven't played Magic in years.  Since like 1998 or so.  But looking at the art on some of the recent cards I was pretty blown away.  So I'm semi-interested in getting back in (at least until Pirates of the Spanish Main is back in stock).

But I have no idea where to start.  Guide me back!

[Spriggan]

I could probaly send you some cards.  I rarely use mine.  On top of that I cannot recomend much since I don't play much.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

hit salvation army. Or whatever serves for one where you are. That's how my collection when from 120 cards to something like 5000 cards in a day. Cheap cards. Get a ton of cards cheap so you can do stuff.

On the other hand, you want new cards, you have to spend money. Buy a starter of the expansion you want, and a ton of boosters. But since you're unfamiliar with the abilities of the newer cards, you'll want to talk to Prom or look up some strategy sites so you know how to apply the new cards.

[JP Dogberry]

Saturday is Magic day at Ace game and Comics. Try showing up and talking to the 10+ players there, possibly.

I asked my friend Krazy the same question. He advised I buy a starter if I wanted a semi decent deck, and if I wanted more cards, to buy a box of the next expansion.

I have two stacks of old cards (Ice Age and before) that I'm rather happy to get rid of.

[Prometheus]

As far as card acquisition goes, I'm holding off until the new Kamigawa block releases. It's looking to be really cool. The Prerelease is on September 18th and 19th, and those events are always fun. Over here it costs $25 to enter the tournament, which gets you approximately $20 in cards, with the opportunity to win more and a fun tournament to boot. I'll be trying to scrape together information for a Prerelease tactics article again.

That's the plan I'd follow if I wanted some of the new cards and was feeling confident in my (likely rusty) playing skills. If you feel you need a brush-up, you could try to arrange a TWG game on mtgplay.com or check out the local card shops. Detailed rules questions are answered in bulk on www.magicthegathering.com each Saturday.

If you have a fetish for artifacts, I definitely wouldn't wait to start picking up new cards. The recent Mirrodin block was stuffed full of them, and some of the artifacts they released are ridiculously good. I personally didn't like Mirrodin's metal-plane-largely-artifacts flavor and so I'm excited for Kamigawa, which it seems will have some fairly decent support for legendary creatures, lands, ect.

If you just generally want to get into Magic, the suggestion of getting a precon deck is pretty decent. I don't like them much myself, but it will get you a deck right away. Commons boxes available at most card shops is a good way to fill out the fledgling deck.

Fellfrosch is to blame for getting me started in Magic again. He gave me three boosters for a Christmas present one year, and after that I built up my collection by purchasing a fairly good number (4-5) Invasion tournament decks over time. Tournament decks only come out with the base sets, so your options are a bit limited, but they come with a full range of basic lands and a randomized selection of cards, with enough cards to equal three boosters aside from the basic lands included. Personally I favor this method for starting a card collection. You don't start out with a deck someone else built for you, but I'm not much into that anyway.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

I'm still debating buying back in as I have no idea how much I'd really play.  Plus, both the new Cthulu CCG and Marvel Vs. both seem pretty cool.  

That all said, I should probably just save my money for when Pirates of the Spanish Main is back in stock...

I'll do a little research though...

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

if JP has his way, you'll be buying shadowfist.

[JP Dogberry]

If I had my way, you all would be buying Shadowfist.

[Spriggan]

Kamigawa?  Realy, so magic is doing an asian theamed magic expansion again?  Whoot!  They're last one was based off of Romance of the Three Kingdoms but was a european/asian release only.  And this one is based off of Japanese lore, which makes it cooler.

[Prometheus]

They're actually starting the official card previews for the set tomorrow, and the Prerelease is on September 18th, so cards will be available for purchase probably about two weeks after that. Kamigawa looks to be sporting a lot of legendary permanents, as it's one of the themes of the set apparently. Cool stuff.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Legends, yay! I'll be buying from that expansion. I'm a big fan of legends.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Well, I broke down and bought a few starters and a handful of boosters.  I've always loved artifact so the Mirrodin block sets are pretty cool by what little I've seen.  Kamigawa sounds neat too.  

I'll be happy to take cards from all those who offered to donate too!  

[Prometheus]

We finally broke SE's resolve. Yes!

[Eagle Prince]

I was wondering how many cards do you think is needed before you can seriously play?  I guess it would depend on the quality of cards you had and what not, but I mean if you just went down to the store and bought a box or something, how many packs do you think you'd need before you could play?  I think you'd need more than a single good deck to seriously play, since you'll need to change around your tactics from game to game.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

to get started, I think you need around 150 cards to choose from. You won't get the best decks with that few, but that's how to start.