Comments on: Into The Magic Circle

By: Exploring Magic 2010 : DowntimeTown

Exploring Magic 2010 : DowntimeTown — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:57:31 +0000

[...] ago, I made my first tentative steps into the world of Magic: The Gathering, a tale detailed in this article. With the recent launch of Magic 2010, the new core set, I thought it might be worth looking deeper [...]

By: Capt Dieldugh

Capt Dieldugh — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:15:57 +0000

I remember getting a starter deck for Christmas, and off the bat comes a mighty Leviathan (10/10, trample)! I was such a neophyte I didn’t figure the card was actually crap (huge summoning cost, enters game tapped, must sacrifice TWO islands to untap, ALWAYS TAPS next maintenance phase). Yet I always tried to put it into my combat deck. And always I lost.
Good times, good times.

By: Magic 2010 – This Week : DowntimeTown

Magic 2010 – This Week : DowntimeTown — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:34:08 +0000

[...] week’s big launch is being staged as a jumping on point for new Magic players, so why not do as I did and try the game out? You might be [...]

By: Warhammer: Invasion Is Coming! : DowntimeTown

Warhammer: Invasion Is Coming! : DowntimeTown — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:24:51 +0000

[...] sooner do I start to see for myself the wonders of the card battle game (see my Magic article for more) than Fantasy Flight bust out a new card game with a Warhammer [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:15:26 +0000

If you can duck and weave past the collecting aspects, it’s a superb game. Try buying the pre-assembled theme decks and play those; that’s what I do – it’s my eldest daughter’s favourite game. If you want to try deck construction, buy some boosters on top of those; but you don’t have to, you can stop there. The complete set of those decks, for each new release, is about the same cost as a boardgame, and has more playability than most. Playing the odds and the market to assemble tournament standard decks is what will kill you.

Magic was heavily influenced at the outset by Cosmic Encounter – each card breaks the rules, or creates loopholes in the rules of the game. If you love CE, you should be able to love MTG, and it’s possible to play it for fun without burning a fortune.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:07:27 +0000

Glad you got the land ok Rab. If you need any help, you’ve got my details. Magic is a very very very expensive hobby. I’m lucky to have played is some amazing places around the world and must have somewhere approaching 100k cards by now.

It’s such a deep game. I’ve never found anything which comes anywhere near as close in all my (limited experience).

Lots of love,
midi

By: Ross (87th, if you prefer)

Ross (87th, if you prefer) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:28:40 +0000

In my experience, the easiest way out of any addiction is to find a more costly and addictive one. You’re fucked, mate.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:11:30 +0000

UPDATE:

A lovely lad sent me a load of Land Cards. (Cheers midi)

I bought Louise a starter pack for her birthday.

I bought Kenny a starter pack just out of kindness.

I bought loads more cards.

Help.

By: Mogster

Mogster — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:46:24 +0000

The new Live Arcade Magic game turned out to be a pretty great way to introduce yourself to Magic. You’re forced to use set decks, so there’s none of the initial confusion of working out how the hell you’re supposed to put one together. Winning games unlocks new cards locked to the deck you’re using, so you can tweak
those core decks with extra cards. It’s a little simpler to play than the real thing too.

Of course, once you get into a CCG, half the fun is cooking up your own decks and strategies. Magic Online is a frightening thing, especially when new booster packs are just a few clicks away.

By: Karl

Karl — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:27:47 +0000

Draft tournaments are a good idea if you’re ever after new cards in future. What happens is each player buys three booster packs, opens the first, chooses one card to keep and passes the rest to the player on their left. Then you repeat with the second and third packs once all the cards from the first set of packs are taken. You build a deck using only the cards you’ve got from the draft and whatever lands you need (if a game shop is hosting the draft, they’ll usually lend you the lands).

It’s handy because it lets you choose which kind of cards you want to buy instead of buying blind. And since everyone is playing with decks they’ve made with cards bought on the day, you don’t have to have spent thousands of pounds on cards to be in with a chance.