How to Play Magic: The Gathering

What You'll Need to Get Started

Magic: The Gathering has been going since 1993 and has over 27,000 unique cards — but don't let that intimidate you. Getting started is simpler than you'd think, and you definitely don't need to own a small library to play your first game.

• A deck — for most formats that's a minimum of 60 cards. If you're jumping into Commander (the most popular casual format), you'll need exactly 100. A preconstructed deck is the easiest way to start.
• A way to track life totals — you start at 20 life (40 in Commander). A pen and paper works, dice are great, or grab a free life counter app on your phone.
• Dice and tokens — handy for tracking +1/+1 counters, creature tokens, and various other bits. A handful of six-sided dice covers most situations.
• An opponent — grab a friend, head to your local game shop for Friday Night Magic, or try MTG Arena online for free.

The Seven Card Types

Magic has more card variety than most other TCGs, which is part of what makes it so deep. Every card in your deck falls into one (or sometimes more) of these seven types. Don't worry — you'll learn to spot them instantly after a few games.

The seven card types — from creatures to lands

Reading a Magic Card

Magic cards pack a surprising amount of information into a small space. Once you know where to look, reading any card becomes second nature. Let's break it down.

Anatomy of a Magic card — every section explained

• Name — top-left corner. Every card has a unique name (with a few exceptions for basic lands).
• Mana cost — top-right corner. The coloured and generic mana symbols that tell you what you need to pay to cast it. A number means that much mana of any colour; coloured symbols must be paid with that specific colour.
• Type line — middle of the card, below the art. Shows the card type (Creature, Instant, etc.) and any subtypes (Human Wizard, Equipment, etc.).
• Set symbol — right side of the type line. Tells you which expansion the card is from. The colour indicates rarity: black for common, silver for uncommon, gold for rare, and mythic orange for mythic rare.
• Text box — the rules text area. This tells you what the card does. Italic text in brackets is reminder text — it's there to help, not to add extra rules.
• Power/Toughness — bottom-right corner (creatures only). The first number is power (damage dealt), the second is toughness (damage the creature can take before it dies). A 3/2 deals 3 damage and dies to 2 damage.
• Flavour text — italic text in the text box that doesn't affect gameplay. It's world-building and lore — lovely to read, safe to ignore in a game.

The Five Colours of Mana

Magic's identity revolves around its five colours. Each colour has its own philosophy, strengths, and weaknesses. Most decks use one, two, or sometimes three colours — and your colour choice shapes everything about how your deck plays.

The colour wheel — White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green

How Mana Works

Mana is the fuel that powers everything in Magic. Unlike some other card games where resources build automatically, in Magic you need to play land cards to generate your mana. It's one of the things that makes the game so interesting — and occasionally so frustrating.

• Play one land per turn — each turn you may play a single land card from your hand. Lands don't cost anything to play, but you're limited to one per turn (unless a card says otherwise).
• Tap lands for mana — to produce mana, you "tap" a land by turning it sideways. A basic Forest produces one green mana, a basic Island produces one blue, and so on. Tapped lands can't produce more mana until they untap at the start of your next turn.
• Pay mana costs — every spell has a mana cost in the top-right corner. Pay the right colours and amount, and the spell goes on the stack ready to resolve.
• Mana empties between phases — any unspent mana disappears when you move to the next step or phase. You can't stockpile it for later turns.

Setting Up the Game

Setup in Magic is quick and painless. Once you've done it a couple of times, it takes about thirty seconds. Here's the drill:

The play area — library (deck), battlefield, graveyard (discard), and exile

Turn Phases — What Happens Each Turn

Magic turns have more structure than most card games, but don't let the number of phases put you off. Most turns you'll breeze through half of them without even thinking about it. Here's the full breakdown:

The full turn structure — from Untap to End Step

1. Beginning Phase

• Untap — straighten all your tapped permanents. This is automatic and no one can cast spells during this step.
• Upkeep — some cards have "at the beginning of your upkeep" effects that trigger here. Often nothing happens and you move straight through.
• Draw — draw one card from the top of your library. Mandatory (unless it's the very first turn of the game for the player who goes first).

2. First Main Phase

This is where most of the action happens. You can play a land (one per turn), cast creatures, enchantments, artifacts, sorceries, planeswalkers — anything that isn't restricted to a specific timing. Most beginners do everything here before combat, and that's perfectly fine to start with.

3. Combat Phase

Combat has its own sub-steps (we'll cover those in detail in the Combat section below). The short version: you declare which creatures are attacking, your opponent declares blockers, damage happens. It's where games are won and lost.

4. Second Main Phase

Identical to the first main phase. You can cast anything here that you could cast before combat. Experienced players sometimes hold back on playing certain cards until after combat — but as a beginner, don't overthink it.

5. End Phase

• End Step — "at the beginning of your end step" effects trigger here. Some players cast instants at end of turn to keep their mana open during combat.
• Cleanup — if you have more than 7 cards in hand, discard down to 7. Damage on creatures wears off (creatures heal at end of turn). Then the next player's turn begins.

Combat — Attacking & Blocking

Combat is the heartbeat of most Magic games. Creatures attack your opponent (or their planeswalkers), the opponent chooses how to block, and damage is dealt. It sounds simple, but the decisions here are what separate good players from great ones.

Combat — attackers, blockers, and damage resolution

Key Combat Mechanics

• Trample — if a creature with trample is blocked by something smaller, the excess damage "tramples over" to the opponent. A 5/5 with trample blocked by a 2/2 deals 2 to the blocker and 3 to the opponent.
• Flying — creatures with flying can only be blocked by other creatures with flying or reach. This makes flyers incredibly strong in attacking.
• First Strike — this creature deals its combat damage first, before normal damage. If the first strike damage kills the blocker, the blocker never hits back. Very nasty.
• Double Strike — deals damage twice: once during the first strike step, then again during regular damage. Absolutely brutal with power-boosting effects.

The Stack — Magic's Secret Weapon

Right, here's the bit that makes Magic unique among card games. The stack is a zone where spells and abilities queue up before they actually happen. When you cast a spell, it doesn't resolve immediately — it goes on the stack first, and your opponent gets a chance to respond.

The stack — spells resolve last-in, first-out

Think of it like stacking plates. Each spell or ability goes on top, and they resolve from the top down — last in, first out. This means the most recently cast spell resolves before anything beneath it.

How It Works in Practice

• You cast a creature spell — it goes on the stack.
• Your opponent can respond — they might cast a counterspell (an instant that cancels your spell). The counterspell goes on top of your creature on the stack.
• You can respond to that — maybe you have your own counterspell. It goes on top of their counterspell.
• When both players pass — spells start resolving from the top down. Your counter resolves first (countering their counter), then their counter fails, then your creature resolves and enters the battlefield.

Creature Keywords You'll See Everywhere

Magic creatures often have keyword abilities — single words or short phrases that represent specific rules. You'll pick these up naturally, but here's a reference for the ones you'll encounter most often:

MTG Formats — How People Play

One of the brilliant things about Magic is that there are loads of different ways to play. Each format has its own rules about which cards are legal, deck size, and how games work. Here are the main ones:

The most popular MTG formats at a glance

How to Win the Game

Most games of Magic end the same way — someone's life total hits zero. But there are actually several paths to victory, and some decks are built entirely around the alternative ones.

Building Your First Deck

Once you've played a few games, the itch to build your own deck is inevitable. Deckbuilding is half the fun of Magic — it's where creativity meets strategy. Here are the fundamentals to get you started on the right foot.

A balanced 60-card deck — the right mix of lands, creatures, and spells

The Golden Ratios (60-Card Decks)

• 24 lands — this is the starting point for almost every 60-card deck. Aggressive decks with cheap spells can drop to 20-22. Control decks that need lots of mana go up to 25-27. When in doubt, stick with 24.
• Max 4 copies of any card — except basic lands, which have no limit. Running 4 copies of your key cards improves consistency massively.
• Stick to 1-2 colours — more colours means more versatility but also a more complicated (and expensive) mana base. Start with one or two colours and branch out later.
• 15-25 creatures — varies wildly by strategy, but most decks need some creatures to win. Even control decks usually have a few finishers.
• Have a plan — "good cards" doesn't equal a good deck. Know what your deck is trying to do and make sure every card supports that plan.

Understanding the Mana Curve

Your "mana curve" is the distribution of mana costs across your deck. You want a healthy spread — plenty of cheap spells to play early, a core of mid-cost cards, and just a few expensive bombs at the top. If every card in your deck costs 5+ mana, you'll be dead before you cast anything.

• 1-2 mana — a solid handful. These let you do something on turns one and two while more expensive cards sit in hand.
• 3-4 mana — the bulk of your deck lives here. This is your mid-game engine.
• 5+ mana — keep these to a few powerful finishers. Too many expensive cards and you'll be staring at a hand you can't cast.

Top Tips for New Players

Frequently Asked Questions