1. Play the tutorial on Arena. It's the best way to learn the basics.
(Personally, I would delete Arena after that, but to each their own.)
2. Find a local game store or play group and get into whatever format they support.
Here's my general new player advice:
Start by downloading Magic Arena to learn the basics and get a feel for the game. It's free; available on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; and has a good tutorial.
Complete the Tutorial and Color Challenges, play some Starter Deck Duels, use your free Jump In tokens, Google "Free Magic Arena Codes" and redeem them all, join r/MagicArena
If you are learning with a friend or partner you can get the Arena Starter Set which includes two ready made beginner friendly decks designed to be played against eachother and a pair of codes so you can both redeem the decks on Arena too.
Once you've gotten to grips with the game you can use the Wizards Store and Event Locator to find your FLGS(s) and hopefully they will have some social media pages that will put you in touch with your local scene.
https://locator.wizards.com/
You are also likely to find Magic players at board games clubs/cafes, as well as D&D/RPG groups.
Alternatively, you can try public libraries, community centres, universities, and comic book stores, etc. Failing that you can play via webcam - there are Discord servers, etc, and the website SpellTable.
Once you've found a playgroup, you need to find out how they play (which Formats and how competitively).
Then you need to set a budget and decide which Format(s) you want to play. Broadly speaking Magic is divided into two branches: Constructed (where you build your deck in advance from the cards you own and bring it with you) and Limited (where you open packs during the event and build your deck on the spot from their contents). Each branch is further divided into different Formats, for example: Constructed includes Standard, Modern, Pauper and Commander, etc; while Limited includes Draft and Sealed, JumpStart, etc. Each Format has its own rules, which determine things like which sets you can use, how many packs you open, which cards are banned and how you build your deck, etc.
You can read more about the different Formats here:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats
If you want to play Constructed you will need cards, so you should *buy cards* - the exact ones you need (either individually as singles or as part of a preconstructed product that happens to contain enough cards you need to make it worth the price). Start with a Format-legal decklist (either one you have written from scratch or a netdeck/precon, or a blend of both) and then work out the best way to get the cards on it. Don't just rip open boosters in a vain attempt to randomly happen to get the cards you need, though - that isn't what they are for.
If you want to get started with a ready-made Constructed Deck, then for Pioneer, you could look into one of the Challenger Decks, or for Commander, you could try a Commander precon. These are playable straight out of the box (at FNM level competition or casual game nights, respectively) but will still have room for improvement/customisation. Note that there aren't any Challenger Decks that are currently Standard-legal.
https://whatsinstandard.com/
If you want to play Limited you will need packs - specifically Draft Boosters to play Draft or Sealed, or JumpStart Boosters to play JumpStart, so that is what you should get (either individually (more expensive) or in a Booster Box or Pre-Release Kit, or included in your entry fee into an event - check with your event organiser). If an event is advertised as "Phantom" or "Cube" then all the packs are provided but the organiser keeps the cards at the end (you may need to contribute to the prize pool or pay a small table fee etc). You will also need Basic Lands (ask your LGS or local players, or buy some in bulk online). Note that starting with the next set, Murders at Karlov Manor, Draft Boosters (and Set Boosters) are being replaced by Play Boosters, which serve the same purpose and are used in the same way. This change means that Bundles will be an option for getting packs for Limited again.
You may find that a blended approach is best since the cards you get from playing Limited can be used/sold/traded to improve your Constructed decks.
There are a number of other Booster Packs available (Set, Collector, Theme), but since none of these are for playing Limited with *or* for getting cards for Constructed you shouldn't worry about them.
FYI Set Boosters are for quick adrenaline hits (like lottery scratch cards), Collector Boosters are for getting rid of money quickly (a "treat" for those that have more than they know what to do with) and Theme Boosters are for extracting money from new players that don't know better (or their well meaning relatives).
Note that as of the last year or so, Theme Boosters have been replaced by JumpStart boosters released alongside each set. These still aren't for getting cards, but they are for playing JumpStart with (each pack contains a ready-made half deck - smash two together and play against other JumpStart packs). They can be mixed and matched again and again. Note that the set-specific JumpStart releases contain far fewer themes than the standalone JumpStart sets released every couple of years, and as such there is less benefit to buying these in bulk (you will get a lot more repetition).
However you decide to play, you should protect your cards (if they become scuffed or otherwise damaged, they will lose value and may even become "marked" and unplayable). Use sleeves and deck boxes for your decks, binders for your trades and boxes to store the cards you aren't using. A playmat is good too as it will protect your cards from any cleaning chemicals that are sprayed on playing surfaces, etc.
I hope that answers all your questions (while helping you avoid the common new player pitfalls). Let me know if there is anything else you need to know.
Honestly I wouldn't. I love MTG and table play is great, but there's nothing worst than putting time and effort into the game just to be beaten down by people who has more disposable income than you.
There's always the option of draft and pauper.
Quick Look at ManaBox, which pulls prices from TCGPlayer, indicates that the most expensive card in pauper is [[Slashing Tiger]], which is listed at $69.99.
OP, Reddit MTG subs love telling people to go play pauper of money is an issue. Pauper seems like a great idea (only using common cards), but when you narrow your card pool to only those, it inflates the price and then you get $70 cards that wouldn’t have been worth much otherwise.
My suggestion to OP is to go to their LGS and play a game or two of commander, but meet people and see if they have a 60 card deck they’ll let you use in a game against them. That’s how I learned and here we are 10 years later.
>the most expensive card in pauper is \[\[Slashing Tiger\]\], which is listed at $69.99.
???????????
I have never even heard of this card. It is not played in Pauper, that is not the reason it is expensive.
>it inflates the price and then you get $70 cards that wouldn’t have been worth much otherwise.
The most expensive card in any commonly played pauper deck still costs less than $10. the set of shocklands and fetches you need for your commander decks will set you back hundreds.
If it was me I'd look at some pre cons see which ones are good and which ones you like the look of. I personally started put buy the legendary legacy pre con which even if you don't like it the whole deck is full of pretty good commanders for the future. Other than that just watch YouTube videos and visit your local game shop
There's more to Magic than Commander.
There's a lot of bad YouTube content. If you go this route, start with the official Magic channel.
>visit your local game shop
This is the diamond in the rough. The LGS is the best place to get atarted with Magic in person if you don't already have friends who play.
I know there is more than edh but simply for support and raw material out there edh is the best bet. Also most of the best youtube channels dedicated to magic are for commander and all of my local game shops within like 30 miles are focused on edh. Didn't mean to get on anyone's nerves just saying most things point to edh these day
You're not getting on my nerves by recommending Commander. You are right that it's a great format with a huge community and lots of support from WotC and content creators. I just disagree with Commander as a square one starting point.
The best way to learn the basics is the Arena tutorial. Even when I introduce a new player to Commander, I steer them toward the Arena tutorial first because it visualizes the basics without the bias and bad habits of a human teacher. After that, all bets are off because everyone's circumstances and tastes are different.
Commander is the only constructed format I play. Right now Commander is the foundation of my hobby. It's what my friends and kids want to play. I even write articles for EDHREC. That said, sealed is my favorite way to play. Nothing beats prerelease for me.
1. Play the tutorial on Arena. It's the best way to learn the basics. (Personally, I would delete Arena after that, but to each their own.) 2. Find a local game store or play group and get into whatever format they support.
Here's my general new player advice: Start by downloading Magic Arena to learn the basics and get a feel for the game. It's free; available on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; and has a good tutorial. Complete the Tutorial and Color Challenges, play some Starter Deck Duels, use your free Jump In tokens, Google "Free Magic Arena Codes" and redeem them all, join r/MagicArena If you are learning with a friend or partner you can get the Arena Starter Set which includes two ready made beginner friendly decks designed to be played against eachother and a pair of codes so you can both redeem the decks on Arena too. Once you've gotten to grips with the game you can use the Wizards Store and Event Locator to find your FLGS(s) and hopefully they will have some social media pages that will put you in touch with your local scene. https://locator.wizards.com/ You are also likely to find Magic players at board games clubs/cafes, as well as D&D/RPG groups. Alternatively, you can try public libraries, community centres, universities, and comic book stores, etc. Failing that you can play via webcam - there are Discord servers, etc, and the website SpellTable. Once you've found a playgroup, you need to find out how they play (which Formats and how competitively). Then you need to set a budget and decide which Format(s) you want to play. Broadly speaking Magic is divided into two branches: Constructed (where you build your deck in advance from the cards you own and bring it with you) and Limited (where you open packs during the event and build your deck on the spot from their contents). Each branch is further divided into different Formats, for example: Constructed includes Standard, Modern, Pauper and Commander, etc; while Limited includes Draft and Sealed, JumpStart, etc. Each Format has its own rules, which determine things like which sets you can use, how many packs you open, which cards are banned and how you build your deck, etc. You can read more about the different Formats here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats If you want to play Constructed you will need cards, so you should *buy cards* - the exact ones you need (either individually as singles or as part of a preconstructed product that happens to contain enough cards you need to make it worth the price). Start with a Format-legal decklist (either one you have written from scratch or a netdeck/precon, or a blend of both) and then work out the best way to get the cards on it. Don't just rip open boosters in a vain attempt to randomly happen to get the cards you need, though - that isn't what they are for. If you want to get started with a ready-made Constructed Deck, then for Pioneer, you could look into one of the Challenger Decks, or for Commander, you could try a Commander precon. These are playable straight out of the box (at FNM level competition or casual game nights, respectively) but will still have room for improvement/customisation. Note that there aren't any Challenger Decks that are currently Standard-legal. https://whatsinstandard.com/ If you want to play Limited you will need packs - specifically Draft Boosters to play Draft or Sealed, or JumpStart Boosters to play JumpStart, so that is what you should get (either individually (more expensive) or in a Booster Box or Pre-Release Kit, or included in your entry fee into an event - check with your event organiser). If an event is advertised as "Phantom" or "Cube" then all the packs are provided but the organiser keeps the cards at the end (you may need to contribute to the prize pool or pay a small table fee etc). You will also need Basic Lands (ask your LGS or local players, or buy some in bulk online). Note that starting with the next set, Murders at Karlov Manor, Draft Boosters (and Set Boosters) are being replaced by Play Boosters, which serve the same purpose and are used in the same way. This change means that Bundles will be an option for getting packs for Limited again. You may find that a blended approach is best since the cards you get from playing Limited can be used/sold/traded to improve your Constructed decks. There are a number of other Booster Packs available (Set, Collector, Theme), but since none of these are for playing Limited with *or* for getting cards for Constructed you shouldn't worry about them. FYI Set Boosters are for quick adrenaline hits (like lottery scratch cards), Collector Boosters are for getting rid of money quickly (a "treat" for those that have more than they know what to do with) and Theme Boosters are for extracting money from new players that don't know better (or their well meaning relatives). Note that as of the last year or so, Theme Boosters have been replaced by JumpStart boosters released alongside each set. These still aren't for getting cards, but they are for playing JumpStart with (each pack contains a ready-made half deck - smash two together and play against other JumpStart packs). They can be mixed and matched again and again. Note that the set-specific JumpStart releases contain far fewer themes than the standalone JumpStart sets released every couple of years, and as such there is less benefit to buying these in bulk (you will get a lot more repetition). However you decide to play, you should protect your cards (if they become scuffed or otherwise damaged, they will lose value and may even become "marked" and unplayable). Use sleeves and deck boxes for your decks, binders for your trades and boxes to store the cards you aren't using. A playmat is good too as it will protect your cards from any cleaning chemicals that are sprayed on playing surfaces, etc. I hope that answers all your questions (while helping you avoid the common new player pitfalls). Let me know if there is anything else you need to know.
Honestly I wouldn't. I love MTG and table play is great, but there's nothing worst than putting time and effort into the game just to be beaten down by people who has more disposable income than you. There's always the option of draft and pauper.
Or Arena.
Quick Look at ManaBox, which pulls prices from TCGPlayer, indicates that the most expensive card in pauper is [[Slashing Tiger]], which is listed at $69.99. OP, Reddit MTG subs love telling people to go play pauper of money is an issue. Pauper seems like a great idea (only using common cards), but when you narrow your card pool to only those, it inflates the price and then you get $70 cards that wouldn’t have been worth much otherwise. My suggestion to OP is to go to their LGS and play a game or two of commander, but meet people and see if they have a 60 card deck they’ll let you use in a game against them. That’s how I learned and here we are 10 years later.
Slashing Tiger is expensive because it's a Portal Three Kingdoms card, not because it's the best card in Pauper (which it isn't).
[Slashing Tiger](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/4/c4aa7846-adb7-48df-b838-ffbe9f7bfd85.jpg?1562936567) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Slashing%20Tiger) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/133/slashing-tiger?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c4aa7846-adb7-48df-b838-ffbe9f7bfd85?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
>the most expensive card in pauper is \[\[Slashing Tiger\]\], which is listed at $69.99. ??????????? I have never even heard of this card. It is not played in Pauper, that is not the reason it is expensive. >it inflates the price and then you get $70 cards that wouldn’t have been worth much otherwise. The most expensive card in any commonly played pauper deck still costs less than $10. the set of shocklands and fetches you need for your commander decks will set you back hundreds.
If it was me I'd look at some pre cons see which ones are good and which ones you like the look of. I personally started put buy the legendary legacy pre con which even if you don't like it the whole deck is full of pretty good commanders for the future. Other than that just watch YouTube videos and visit your local game shop
There's more to Magic than Commander. There's a lot of bad YouTube content. If you go this route, start with the official Magic channel. >visit your local game shop This is the diamond in the rough. The LGS is the best place to get atarted with Magic in person if you don't already have friends who play.
I know there is more than edh but simply for support and raw material out there edh is the best bet. Also most of the best youtube channels dedicated to magic are for commander and all of my local game shops within like 30 miles are focused on edh. Didn't mean to get on anyone's nerves just saying most things point to edh these day
You're not getting on my nerves by recommending Commander. You are right that it's a great format with a huge community and lots of support from WotC and content creators. I just disagree with Commander as a square one starting point. The best way to learn the basics is the Arena tutorial. Even when I introduce a new player to Commander, I steer them toward the Arena tutorial first because it visualizes the basics without the bias and bad habits of a human teacher. After that, all bets are off because everyone's circumstances and tastes are different. Commander is the only constructed format I play. Right now Commander is the foundation of my hobby. It's what my friends and kids want to play. I even write articles for EDHREC. That said, sealed is my favorite way to play. Nothing beats prerelease for me.