WotC has also printed numerous multiplayer sets like Planechase and Conspiracy, which aren’t included in the Standard rotation. Outside of those core and expansion sets, Wizards of the Coast has also introduced some sets that were meant to stay outside of the standard rotation like Modern Horizons, which reprinted cards regularly used in Eternal formats like Modern. There are also 87 “expansion” sets to the game, including the most recently released Strixhaven: School of Mages set that dropped in April.ĭungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms will be the 88th expansion set for MTG, coming in July. The 28-year-old card game has 21 “core” sets.
Great place to start and to evaluate what a good card is and isn't.Magic: The Gathering is the longest standing and most established trading card game with sets of cards being released as early as 1993. M12 and M13 are designed for newer players, so they have fewer keywords (things the cards can do that other can't). The next set looks to be very newbie friendly with some great themes and focus (two-colored guilds fighting each other). If you are at the casual level, don't worry too much about powercreep, but make sure that you balance the mana going in. They are more realistic and more from the POV of the player example than some older cards so be aware of that if it matters. The cards can be, frankly, scary in their pictures. Innistrad had great flavor if you like vampires, werewolves and whatnot. If not, ebay always wants to sell 'bad' cards (read-non competition level but still useful) for cheap. Mention you're looking so you and your child can play and you should be in for some good deals.
Your FLGS usually can give you a lot of new cards for cheap-depending on how big it is, often people will give free commons and uncommons after their drafts on Friday night. There are good deals for bad cards everywhere. I am happy to see someone come back to the fold for MTG as long as it's for a deck or two and not every paycheck you'll ever see again.ĭo you care about deck building? If not, the intro packs are great, and the M13 ones come with 2 booster packs to add to the joy, rather than a single one that comes with M12 intro packs. Reading through other comments, you've gotten most of the answers. Some old cards are really overpowered when combined with new ones. The reason for rotating out those other cards (other than making you buy more) is to maintain balance and let the metagame grow. You can play the game with any cards that have ever been printed just fine. There are also "sealed deck" tournaments where you buy a certain number of packs, then use all the cards in those to make the best deck you can.Īll of that being said, the rules of the game haven't changed much since it was started to be published. The idea is to get the best deck you can out of the cards you draft. You open your first pack, choose one card from it and set it aside, then pass the rest of the cards to the person next to you. At a draft, you buy something like 7 booster packs and sit down with 6 other people. The most common formats you'll run into are booster drafts. I'm sure if you look up something like "current mtg standard format" or ask around your FLGS, someone can tell you what's legal. All the cards depicted a part of a story taking place in a place called Zendikar. Last time I played, they were in the middle of the Zendikar block, which contained the sets Zendikar, Worldwake, and Rise of the Eldrazi. A block consists of three sets that share a common theme or storyline. Core sets are released every year (Magic 2013, or M13, was just released) and a new block is released every six months or so. The most common constructed format is "Standard" which allows for the current core set, the current block, and the previous block. They're there so that someone who is new to the game can start playing immediately without having to dig through a bunch of packs, or so they can start a collection and have something to build off of with packs.īasically, there are constructed (pre-built deck) and limited (built-at-tournament) formats. Those are meant to be able to be played right out of the box, but they're not always tournament-legal. You'll also see constructed decks and stuff like that. The information isn't that hard to find on Wizards.Īre you not sure what products are what? The main way the game is published and people get cards are booster packs, which are packs of 15 cards from the same set.