The first Magic the Gathering noob shock and some advice

Previously: I started to play MTG after i stopped playing for 15 years.

And today, i’m starting in the midst of thousands of other players with new rules and of course many new cards. It‘s exciting to see so all those new cards and possible combinations but it was also very difficult start i have to say. But what was so difficult?

I started with the Wizards of the Coast (WotC) web page and read the new rules and came across those huge grand prix events with different play formats, winning prices and my first thought was: What is this? The world WotC created was a huge world with more than 20 years of progression. I understand that if a company wants to keep a player, they have to deliver new content. The content that was created the past 20 years is overwhelming and one thing that prevents new players to enter the game properly.

A new player like me sees thousands of cards where some cards would be called a really good card and others are more or less useless. Where should i really start my MTG journey?

I checked out where the next official magic store is went the next day to just check it out and maybe ask a few questions. When i entered the store around 6pm after work and the store was just packed with young people who seem to play a tournament or something similar and some were just sitting around talking to others. I was standing there and the guy was literally doing everything on his own. He was managing the tournament, selling Magic cards to others and also helping some with some advices.

I was standing there and thought, should i really ask him some noob questions? I actually went home with some mixed feelings and checked if there are more stores somewhere nearby. Unfortunately the next store was too far away to just check it out. It was maybe the wrong time to go to the store but where should i know what the best time is to check out the store as a new player?

I then just checked the latest sets which were Dominaria and Ixalan and bought a Planeswalker starter deck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What should a new player do to get into mtg? I think this is a real problem for mtg to onboard new players! There is no real starting point and if you go to the next shop nearby you will get overwhelming insights from the hardcore local mtg scene where you not are at the moment.

Now, after a few months, i still have mixed feeling when i think about the shop and in my next blog posts where we participated in a friday night magic booster draft just approves that feeling.

My advice for new MTG players:

1. Talk to your friend with whom you want to just try out MTG
2. Check the latest set here (Currently in 2018: Ravnica)
3. Buy 2 started decks of any color
4. Just play a few rounds with your friend.

If you think that this is maybe too expensive, then just compare the price of a deck to a cinema movie which could sometimes be more expensive than a starter deck and you probably spent more time on playing with your friend than the move time.

In short: Enter the world of Magic with your friends and have fun while playing! You can then check out other cards which fits into your deck with this Slack bot. Here are some examples to find the right card:

/mtg creature with lifelink #ravnica
/mtg black creature with graveyard
/mtg green enchantment with +3

Have fun playing!

upcoming stories:

• What i think is missing in the Magic the Gathering Community
• Our first MTG Draft experience and why everyone else hated us
• Why MTG is not only for hardcore gamer

Curious about our project? Check out Just Magic
And try out our slack bot.