Magic the Gathering: game rules, creature cards, zones in the game, stages and moves

Magic the Gathering is a card game that was published in 1993 by the American company Wizards of the Coast. It currently has over 20 million players worldwide. Since the first issue, the appearance of the card shirt has not changed, which allows players to use cards of any year of publication in their deck. Magic the Gathering (MTG for short) is loved by board game fans for its depth of gameplay, uniqueness, and the ability to exchange cards. It exists in the world of computer games for everyone who wants to play its electronic version.

Mana in Magic The Gathering

Mana is the magical energy needed to play a card from a hand. It is ensured by the presence in your deck of land maps, which are of 5 types: mountain (red), forest (green), plain (white), island (blue) and swamp (black).

Card cost

According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, in order to cast a spell, you must pay in the lands the cost indicated in the upper right corner. Cards can cost, for example, 2 forests or 1 gray mana and 2 forests. Gray mana means that value can be paid by land of any color.

There are land maps that give mana only gray, but have some unique properties. There are dual land cards for multi-color decks.

Map information

What does each MTG card talk about? For example, take the Shivan dragon, the Magic The Gathering card in Russian.

• The top line contains the name of the card and its value. To play the Sivan dragon, you need to pay 4 gray mana (land of any color) and 2 red (mountain cards). Rotate these 6 lands in a horizontal position in your playing area and lay out the card on the table.
• Below the image of the card is a line with a description of the type of card (artifact, earth, creature, spell) and a specific subtype of the creature (dragon, human, vampire, etc.). Nearby is a symbol of the issue of the card, which relates it to a particular edition and indicates its rarity (gray symbol is an ordinary card, silver is unusual, gold is rare, red is legendary). For example, a creature card - a dragon, a rare one, refers to the ninth edition, which was released in July 2005.
• Information from the MTG world that does not affect the gameplay in any way is highlighted in italics on the text field with a description of the active and passive abilities of the card. For example, a dragon with a flight that cannot be blocked by creatures without such an ability. He has an active ability: for one red mana, he gets a +1 bonus to attack. Active abilities according to the rules of Magic The Gathering are played at the same time as instant spells. The phrase "The indisputable owner of the Sivan Mountains" carries only a fantasy load and is not taken into account in the course of the game.

• Under the text box at the very bottom, you can find the name of the artist who painted the image (Donato Giancola) and the collection card number (219/350).
• The numbers at the bottom right indicate strength and endurance: the first shows the amount of damage the creature deals during an attack, the second shows the number of lives it possesses. This dragon deals five damage during an attack, and in order to kill it, it needs to deal 5 damage as well. For planeswalker cards, the counter of tokens with which the card enters the field is displayed on this corner.

Card abilities

A large number of cards in Magic The Gathering have a variety of abilities, which are explained either directly on the map or in the glossary of terms. Among them:

• passive, which are valid for the entire time that the card remains on the playing field (for example, “Flight”: the card cannot be blocked by non-flying permanents);
• triggered, which act when the condition described on the card is fulfilled (for example, “When a creature near this permanent dies, take a card”: you will take a new card from the deck every time this condition is met), etc. ;
• active, which are executed if the price indicated on the card is paid (for example, the Sivan dragon is a buff on the attack, standing on one red earth).

Keywords or card abilities

In addition to passive abilities, Magic The Gathering cards can have special keywords that also determine their behavior on the battlefield.

Using the Avacin card as an example, consider the “Vigilance” keyword: it means that during an attack this card does not rotate (when your opponent attacks you in the next turn, you can still block this card, even if you attack it with your turn). Among the keywords you can find such interesting abilities as:

• first strike - the card always deals damage first;
• piercing blow - if a card is blocked by several creatures, it continues to deal damage after the first blocking card for all subsequent ones until the attack digit is over;
• deadly touch - if the card attacked the target creature during the battle, then the creature that took the damage drops the number of lives to zero.

MTG Spell Cards

Any card that does not belong to the type of land, according to the rules of the game Magic The Gathering, refers to the type of spell. The spell can be cast instantly or at a certain point in the turn; can be laid out on the playing field as a permanent or go to the cemetery after it had an effect. Spells are divided like this.

• Creature Cards. They are played in the main phase of the battle if they do not have a passive ability to be played instantly. You can lay out a few per turn.
• Artifacts. Gray cards that can be played at the expense of lands of any color. Have permanent or instant magical effects. They may also be creature cards.
• Instant and sorcery spells. When cards of this type have been played, they are sent to the cemetery. The magic card is laid out in the phases of the main stage of the turn. In almost any phase of the battle, you can cast instant spells.
• Planeswalker Permanent heroes who fight on your side.

Planeswalker and their function

In Magic The Gathering, the rules for planeswalker are related to the rules for playing permanents. They are laid out in the main phase, have a counter of tokens, which varies depending on the activation of the abilities that they possess. May be attacked by other players. In the event that after the attack, the planeswalker has zero tokens, he goes to the cemetery.

Spell cards, especially magical effects, often have a goal, which can be absolutely any card on the playing field. The spell indicates the type of target. To play it, the target must be available at the time of its activation. The spell will wait on the stack (about the stack, see below) the phases of its rally. If at this moment the target of the spell becomes inactive (for example, leaves the battlefield), then the spell cannot be executed and nothing happens.

Game Party Start

How to play Magic The Gathering? At the beginning of the game, each player usually has a pre-created deck of 60 cards and a counter for 20 lives. The deck is shuffled and 7 cards are dealt. If you have less than 2 lands, it is recommended to retake your hand. When you redeal, you are already dealt 6 cards to yourself, the next time you redeal - 5.

Tip: out of 60 cards in a deck, the composition of 24 lands, 15-25 creatures with different values ​​are considered balanced, the rest are magic cards or artifacts.

Players Location

According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, if you play one on one, mirror your deck, life meter, cemetery, land on a table. In the gameplay, you need to monitor not only your cards, but also the number and location of opponent cards.

Tip: it’s convenient to use the d20 cube as a life counter, do not forget about additional counters, which can be used directly on the playing field for convenience. They can also be d6 cubes.

Game Zone

• Hand - cards in your hand that you can play for mana. Their number cannot exceed 7.
• The library is your deck from which you draw a card at the beginning of the turn (if this is not the first turn of the game session).
• Cemetery - a place where dead creature cards are sent from the battlefield, cast spell cards that are not permanent (do not remain on the battlefield).
• The battlefield is the place where the lands and "armies" of the players are located. Permanents are actively used (rotated) at certain stages of the course.
• Stack - a place on the battlefield where they stack in the order of playing a spell card. For example, after declaring the attacker phase and the blocking card phase, you can cast instant spells that stack up. In the next phase, this stack is played, starting with the last card. After playing each of the spells from the stack, it is possible to re-cast instant spells or activate abilities. They also go on the stack, which is again played out from the last card.
• Exile is a place on the battlefield where you can go instead of a cemetery. A card after its death can be cast out with a special spell or ability. In exile, cards also lie face down.

Game stages

Each player's move according to the rules of the game Magic The Gathering in Russian is described in the next few stages.

1. The initial phase consists of the following steps:

• U-turn step. At the very beginning, all your permanents lying on the battlefield (lands, artifacts, creatures) unfold to their original vertical position. (If this is the first move, this step is skipped).
• Support step and draw a card. Now you can take a card from the deck. In this phase, you can cast instant spells and activate abilities. (If this is the first move of the game, the player does not take the card, because he has an advantage.)

2. The main stage (1) is to play any cards of lands, creatures, spells, planeswalkers, the cost of which you can pay. In this case, the second player can also play instant spells and activate the ability of cards.

Advice! It is not necessary to lay out creature cards in the first phase of their turn (only if they do not give bonuses for other cards at their exit). It’s better to attack, see how the opponent will answer, and then spread the creatures. So there is a chance that your spell will not be counterattacked by another player’s instant spell.

3. The stage of the battle. Its stages are as follows:

• Start a battle to cast instant spells and activate abilities.
• Declaration of attackers. The cards with which you attack the opponent unfold horizontally (only if they do not have the special “Vigilance” ability, which allows you to attack without turning around). Again you can cast instant spells. The cards that attacked will remain rotated at the end of your turn (you will not be able to block your opponent’s move).
• Blocking ad. Your opponent announces which attack cards he will block. If one card will be blocked by several, then you decide in what sequence. You can cast instant spells and activate abilities.
• Combat damage. After determining the order of blocking and casting instant spells, combat damage is applied simultaneously to all cards after casting spells from the stack. If a creature sustains damage that is greater than its stamina, it goes to the graveyard. Unlocked creatures cause damage to the opponent, which should be displayed on the counter of his life.
• The end of the battle. Casting instant spells and card abilities.

4. The main stage (2) - the same actions as in the main stage (1): you can lay out the earth if you haven’t laid out (you can lay out only one earth per turn), play a creature card, artifact, magic.

5. The final stage is the cleaning step, returning and healing cards from the battlefield, playing instant spells and activating the abilities of cards related to the end of the turn, termination of effects lasting one turn. According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, if at the end of the turn you have more than 7 cards in your hand, you need to discard the extra ones.

The Golden Rule of MTG

So, you went through all the stages of the move, passed the turn to the opponent ... and all over again! Despite the fact that the rules in Russian Magic The Gathering seem a bit complicated and too categorical, the gameplay is infinitely varied. A large number of cards have been published that allow you to vary and modify it. And here we are faced with the Golden rule of Magic The Gathering: if the text of the MTG card is contrary to the rules of the game, then the map is preferred.

How to play MTG three, four, five?

One of the very popular formats for Magic The Gathering games is the Two-Headed Giant. Two on two game session, where you and your partner represent a team of two people. They can see each other's cards and discuss a strategy that they will use against the enemy team. You have 30 lives, walk, attack and block at the same time. Each of you at the same time has its own deck, its permanents, for which it pays with its lands. Needless to say, this is a very fun format for a board game.

Another mode of the game Magic The Gathering in Russian is called Commander: it can play from 3 to 6 people. Each player has his own deck, at the head of which is a legendary creature, and the deck is selected taking into account the characteristics of his commander in chief.

For a large number of people, the Archivrag mode is recommended: one of the players has a deck of increased size and twice the number of lives. The rest are teaming up to defeat him.

But you should not just read the rules of Magic The Gathering and try to remember them - it is best to do this in the gameplay itself, as everything becomes faster understandable and remembered. Good game!