Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Beginning the Game
Determine who will go first. The player who decides to go first will skip his first draw phase. Each player begins with 20 points.
Each player shuffles his deck and places it on the table in front of him. This becomes the player's "library." As cards are used in the game or are discarded, they will go to a discard pile called the "graveyard." Any card in play (on the board) is said to be "on the battlefield."
Each player then draws seven cards from the top of his library. If the player does not like the cards he has drawn, he may choose to "mulligan" his hand. To mulligan, the player shuffles his hand back into his deck and then draws one less card. For instance, if the player takes a mulligan, he may only draw six cards. If he takes another mulligan, he may only draw five cards and so on. Only mulligan a really bad hand. One reason a player may choose to mulligan his hand is if he did not draw any mana. Mana is the land cards in the game. There are five colors of mana and there is also colorless mana. They are used as the "energy" to summon other spells in the deck. To play a card from his hand, the player must have enough mana on the board to pay for the spell. Each player may play one mana card each turn from his hand.
The Turn
"Untap" any tapped cards, the first step of a turn. When you use mana or attack with creatures during your turn, they become tapped until the untap phase of your next turn. A tapped creature cannot block and a tapped mana cannot be used again until it is untapped. To show that cards are tapped, they are turned sideways on the board.
Draw one card from your library during the draw phase and add it to your hand. During the first round of play, each player (except the player who went first) should have eight cards in her hand. During the first turn, the first player skips her draw phase.
Decide whether to play a land card during the main phase. Creature, sorcery, instant, artifact or enchantment spells are played during this portion of the turn. Creatures that are played endure "summoning sickness" for one turn. The activated abilities cannot be used and they may not attack (unless they possess the "haste" ability) during the turn they are played. Many spells, including creature spells, cost more than one mana to play. Therefore, the first few turns of any Magic game is spent playing the mana you will need later in the game.
Remember the rules of the combat phase, which is broken down into three stages. The player whose turn it is declares which creatures are attacking. Next, the player who is being attacked may choose blockers (creatures that are in play) to block the attacking creatures. Finally, combat damage is assessed. If an attacking creature was blocked, the blocking creature takes the damage. If an attacking creature goes unblocked, the player takes the damage in the form of losing life points.
Take care in the second main phase,which is the same as the first main phase of the turn. If a player has already played a land card during the first main phase, he cannot play another one. The end phase is a "cleanup" step that occurs after the second main phase. Any damage that was done to blocking a creature dissolves (goes away) and the next player begins his turn at the untap phase.