Three products were not included in this guide because I reviewed them VERY recently. You can watch those reviews here: MTG Game Night box: th-cam.com/video/s6ECLZIU_yU/w-d-xo.html Magic: The Gathering Gift Pack: th-cam.com/video/MP0mqm47JX8/w-d-xo.html Ravnica Guild Kit Deck: th-cam.com/video/cCX_k-d180Y/w-d-xo.html
@@tylerjohnson679 comment was a while ago, a 20-50$ enhanced, focused standard deck bought with specific cards is the best option to get your money’s worth
I introduced my gf to MTG by getting us both toolkits. We spent the night building our decks from them and playing eachother with them. I made a white/blue control and she made a green/black graveyard deck. It was quite fun.
@@Jackie89000 It gets better man. May not seem like it, but it will. Just started teaching my wife MTG today, and she helped me actually get plans/friends together to start DMing for DnD this past year. I hope you find someone who will treat your heart kindly and someone with who you can share fun hobbies or interests. Focus on yourself in the meantime!
With the way The Professor describes "Bundles", once again I'm reminded of the way this product was originally positioned. It wasn't about booster packs; it was about the novel, the life counter, the magazine, the player's handbook, the storage boxes with the panoramic art and the card dividers. Now all you get is a bunch of boosters and a spindown die. I'm not just disappointed that the Fat Pack went on a diet, I'm disappointed that so little fuss is made about it anymore.
BRING BACK PROPER NOVELS A GRRR RAGARAGAA! But yes, the fatpacks where awesome and I was sad when I realized that 1) there weren't going to be novels anymore and 2) that the fatpacks and later bundles where nothing more then an oversized prerelease pack.
agree, the point of the "Fat Pack" was a "FAT STACK OF GOODIES" as the kids used to say -handbooks and counters and novels...oh, and yeah, Packs at a bit of a discount, but mostly it was about getting cool extras at the same time you bought MTG cards already
@@leovaeg I fondly remember my Betrayers of Kamigawa fatpack. It was the first fatpack I was able to buy for my own and it was just full of goodstuff. Still have the novel and still even havr the play guide.
I still like getting them. I put up all my "posters" from them on my wall, love the boxes, collect the die and enjoy having a physical list of each card in the set, plus, booster lottery never gets old for me.
Hey professor! Make an updated version of this video, please! Things changed a lot on these turbulent years, and a have a diverse cast of friends with diverse interests. I need the help of your brilliant mind, prof!
@@paulgodenitz mostly the powerlevel, but actually there is no. Casual's powerlevel is higher because you want to play it with anyone, kitchentable is ment to play it with your friends at home.
I think this video highlights a major problem with MTG product. There are just way too many different kinds of product with slight variation that the majority of which only appeal to completely new players. Wizards' is saturating their own market, diluting what works with what doesn't.
They should make stricktly just one or two good products for new players, and pay more atention to the already existing ones, what is even worst products for beginers nowadays are often very underpower. I remember when I got my first (demo) deck: it contained 2 Lightning bolts, when I later discovered that it was considered the best burn spell ever made I was very pleased.
Remember: Hasbro are the parent and they have earnings quarters to meet. The trend has been and will continue to be to release as much product as possible and hoover as much filthy lucre as possible until they hit lint.
Am i wrong, as a pauper and modern (casual) player to only buy secondary market whatever cards i think i need might need? Buying boosters or whatever packs seems just crazy to me.
@@Drestlin i bought used cards recently. Searching how to build a deck and im very confused by the amount of cards.. rules.. etc... 60... at least 20 lands? a couple of instants, artifacts, enchantments... no more than 4 cards of the same creature. Im right? i have white cards.. red cards.. green cards and (i dont know why blue cards that i think i cant use cos i dont have blue lands). Pokemon cards were easier to understand.. but i think i will enjoy Magic a lot more.
Longer player and shuffle critic here. The best way to shuffle without sleeves is a full rifle. It's a more difficult one that needs to be practiced but there's simply put no better shuffle. There are plenty of tutorials online. With sleeves, like many players will have, a mass shuffle is the next best thing. Take half your deck and stick it into the other half (bottom corner first). The corners might bend a bit but after a little while, you'll figure out how to "drop" the cards in such a way to minimise this problem. If you do either of these a total of 7 times, you'll have a perfectly shuffled deck (there is some math backing this up, go to the numberphile channel for the explanation). Always end with a cut or let your opponent cut your deck. A pile shuffle might be used when playing with/against cards that might end up in the wrong deck. Only do this once to count your cards and never again. It takes ages. NEVER USE AN OVERHAND SHUFFLE. This is your regular shuffle that most people use. It's a terrible shuffle that takes atleast a minute to have a somewhat random deck. Hope this helps for now.
Professor, this is an amazing idea for a series. I don´t know how this was not a thing. I wish I could localize this content on the South America context.
Perhaps the best thing I've purchased for friends who want to learn MTG is Tabletop Simulator, you get access to every magic card and don't always have to be in person to play, it's a wonderful game/tool that I've used for a insane number of games.
As someone who is brand new to magic (we are talking about a week here) I picked up am arena kit to start learning how to play and this has helped me consider the next few steps I can take while learning Thank you
Hi professor, for someone who is starting out playing magic, I believe it would be quite helpful if you provide a brief explanation of the terms you use in your video, i.e. "standard legal" , "modern" and "commander" and perhaps what "formats" are currently in rotation. the only reason i bring this up is because since this video's intended audience is for both new and experienced players, explanation of those terms is worth bringing up since it can confuse new mtg players looking to enter the mtg community.
Well standard and modern are formats in magic where you make a deck witu cards from recent sets. They have to be at least 60 cards but have no maximum card limit so you could do 100 to any number if you wanted. Also you can only have 4 copies of the same card besides lands in the deck. The only difference between standard and modern are the card sets that are legal in it, you can look mtg standard and mtg modern and it'll show you what card sets are legal on those formats. Edh or Elder dragon Highlander, or commander is way different. In that format you have a commander, which usually your deck revolves around of. Your deck can only be in the colors of your commander. Other than your commander there's 99 other cards in the deck so it's a 100 card deck in total. Commander has a lot more rules so I'm not gonna state all of then here. But unlike modern and standard besides basic lands you can only have 1 copy of each card in the deck. I personally play commander as almost no sets and cards are banned from playing in commander. You'd have to look it up for more rules
The sets legal are the ixalan Block, dominaria, m19 and Ravnica, but during the next rotation ixalan block, dominaria, and m19 will be gone in standard. As for Commander every set is legal. Modern is everything from 8th Edition and up.
First up, do you have any buddies interested in MtG? If so, world's your oyster. Old Duel Decks or newer Challenger decks for out of the box experience; Commander if you have a few buddies. If you want to play limited, Booster box has you covered. No interested buddies? I feel your pain (getting back after 21 years Dec 18 - MtG Arena). FNM and/or MeetUp group to get a feel for playing and different formats (rotational and non-rotational) first before spending and deciding you don't like a format. Hope you've found buddies and a format that you enjoy.
At the age of 8, I started playing Magic: The Gathering. The pre constructed decks were perfect for this time. They offered great time with my friends for a very low price. At the age of 12, I started playing at my LGS. Quickly, I started to unterstand that the planeswalker decks had no use for me anymore... I started to buy some little decks for around 15€ each... They helped me getting better by a lot, while not beeing able to win at FNM... Now I'm 14 and spend a lot of money into Magic: The Gathering. I play budget Standard and edh, where a deck costs around 50€ each for me. I have a lot of fun with these and it's great everytime when I beat a very expensive (mostly control) deck. I usually just play jank. While knowing that opening booster packs is the worst thing I can do, I still do it, because it's just lot of fun. But I start to do it less. I just had and still have a great time with Magic: The Gathering and this is my story of what products I bought and how much they helped me. And yes, I'm from Europe (Germany, Berlin)
I really like this... You shared a heartfelt and endearing confession of your love for Magic that started at such an early age and got hit with hate for a profile pic featuring an "offensive right-wing flag". I'm sorry that these nu-Antifa manchildren are giving you a hard time. You're better off not taking their criticism to heart. Btw, it's great to hear about somebody who started out so early and loves the game this much. As for your decks, don't always try to netdeck those 2000 euro lists that you see in Pro Tours and Grand Prix. Stick to decks you like that can pull their weight. Especially since you mentioned EDH, you're way better off having fun with a deck than winning.
@@virgilthemob1242 That budget thing is one of the reasons why I love standard this rotation so much... There are like three competetive budget decks right now...
Call me crazy but i buy mtg cards & accessoires for the art any type of box from starter packs till booster boxes & display them . I live in a small villiage far from the closest mtg store or a gaming room where people play. I dont like playing it online so... i grew up with mtg as a kidd in the 90s always loved it but i moved for my wife & kidds.
@Nathaniel you can do drafts and don't have ti worry about legality If anything the legality system is there to let thwm make new stuff and make sure that new players don't have to buy old/out of print stuff to be able to not lose instantly, because there is some broken older stuff But yeah it can be intimidating
@Nathaniel I know this is 6 months old, but there shouldn't be too many issues. Honestly, as complex as it is, EDH/Commander is a really friendly intro, imo. You only can run 1 of each card, which may still lead to expensive decks, but there's only 1 copy of each card to acquire, and basically every card is legal. The other fun thing is that it's multiplayer usually and if you just have fun friends, you can play nearly however you want.
Appreciate this video very much. Succinct but detailed enough to make good decisions about how to spend your MTG dollars. As a returning player and one getting his kids into it, the advice here is directly affecting my holiday shopping.
I used to play back when Revised had been out a year or two, The Dark was the expansion at the time. Stopped playing a few years later. I can remember everyone seething over Chronicles reprinting cards from Arabian Nights, Antiquities and Legends. Only just got back into playing casually recently after discovering a local board game cafe had some free to use decks. Didn't even expect Magic to still be a thing really. Everything about Magic The Gathering today is a bit bewildering, there's a lot of products, formats and various related jargon. Planeswalkers didn't exist as cards when I last played. They seem to unbalance the game and basically suck the fun out of it in my experience. Anyway thumbs up for another good video.
For me, the Commander precons will always be worth it because they have always given me ideas for decks. Not only that but it is the second Commander product I ever bought as a new player. My Vampire and Dragon decks were the 2017 precons and are the 2 decks I can rely to put up a fight. The Commander precons can evolve.
As a Yugioh player that wants to try magic due to not liking the current tearlaments ishizu format I found this video very useful, I bought a MTG deck a couple of years ago (the Domri City smasher) and I just ordered only a commander deck (Kalheim commander deck)
Excellent rundown of the product line, Professor. This will be especially helpful for newer players trying to navigate and understand all the various MTG products and formats. Great work!
My first product purchase, besides packs, was a deckbuilder's toolkit. It gave me a wealth of commons and uncommons to start off my card collection. Being able to experiment with all these cards got me into deckbuilding. (And I still use the box even now)
Sound like I’d rather play with my friends and use whatever cards I feel like because buying a deck only to have it be illegal in 6 months sounds dumb as shit.
Yeah I totally agree, i think it’s really stupid to have to keep buying new cards to stay legal in tournaments. But modern format does allow cards from like 2003 onwards I believe and is a non-rotating format like commander. So those are the only two formats I would really consider going to a place to play besides maybe a prerelease event. I also liked the idea of legacy as it’s basically any magic set, but I don’t believe many people still play that format unfortunately.
It’s not as stupid as you think. Players want new cards and they want to be able to play with those cards. If all the most broken cards were always available, we wouldn’t see the new cards get played as much. That’s only one format, anyway. You can play historic or vintage if you want to keep using all the old cards.
MetroidMann i understand that some people prefer standard, and that’s fine. I just personally don’t want to have to keep constantly paying for a new deck to stay legal. I prefer modern and commander like I said, and If I buy a deck I want it because it’s a deck I want to play, not just cause I have to keep up with the set rotation.
MetroidMann also plenty of new cards get used in modern and commander as well. But like i said if someone likes standard thats cool, just not my thing.
I love this channel. It has helped get much better at MTG and it has helped me decide what products to buy for my card collection. Thank you SO much. 🙏🏻
As always a well made in depth video from the tolarian prof. These videos always provide great content as well as provide reliable information. I rely on your insight a lot.
I actually just got my friend into Magic with a spellslinger deck we found at walmart for $7. I've been going by his apartment and playing him for like the past week now
I got a selesnya theme booster, one of the uncommons was a golgari card (how I know is that the golgari have insects and undergrowth, which this card had, it was the Kraul Harpooner).
As a new player, I'm kind of overwhelmed. What should I buy to play with my friends in standard format? What packs or set or boosters do I buy, and what should I stay away from? Thank you in advance!
Thank you very much for this video. Got into magic from arena and want to start paper magic. New challenger decks on april 3rd seem like a perfect opportunity that I wasn't aware of. Thx again.
Just started 2 months ago, My first buy was a themed golgari booster, got a Underrealm Lich. Then as it is, it isn't unusuable. So I bought a Vraska Planeswalker deck. Now I was going somewhere. Finally Just 2 weeks ago, I bought Singles from an online store. I now have a fully functional deck. And I have fun having deals through a Facebook group. Now I'm thinking of buying a booster box as a present to myself. So I'm thinking of getting Ixalan, or GRN. Thanks for the guide!
Great video professor. Returning noob here and that was very useful info I was learning from my brother and a buddy about 2 and a half years ago and life wasn't so kind almost ended up homeless so I relocated to my folks house and there are no game stores near me and not in English:^() so I'm playing some magic duels and some arena when ever the internet feels like working right but now I know how to spend my money. Thanks a bunch, can't wait to get back stateside and get some cards.
Would love a retake on this. I played MTG 25 years ago. Kids are enjoying some promo packs I get them a few years ago now but the cuurent market is completely baffling to me.
I learned traveling creating my own decks along the way. They were way better than Planeswalker decks. When I first got a planeswalker deck and upgraded it I did a poor job. It was a tribal and I built it in a different way than how it would work best. Now I play Commander and I'm doing good upgrading those precons.
@Joseph Fruge You are the most recent comment, I'm hoping you can help me please. We are looking to start playing this game. We aren't interested in tournaments or retaining valuable cards, we simply want to play it at this point. What would you recommend to a noob? Once we get the game playing down I'll purchase better decks. Budget is $100 per person. Suggestions please? I did see a pre release of some deck coming in October, this video makes me think I should pre order it....maybe? Lol.
1st support your local game store. They can answer complicated questions or know someone who can. As for: Friday night magic and other MGT events are all very young guys in my city. I am a returning MGT player. I played before all of these guys were born in the early 90s. I recently revisited MGT to use as a tool for skill-building techniques with my disabled and neurodivergent clients. I forgot how much I love this game!! So, I thought I would go refresh my memory and play in an event at my local game store. It was so awkward, so much so, I went and upgraded my phone to be able to play MGT Arena app instead. This video is very helpful knowing how to buy packs for MGT Arena app too. (Why I watched) Anyways, I wish I knew people my age who play MGT. For me, it would be nostalgic because we know what MGT old school is! I would happily host!!
Something to note in Canada, I've seen many LGS in Canada still have prerelease sets even after the prerelease. So you don't have to wait till prerelease to get one of those products, Of course, you won't be able to play at prerelease if you buy it outside the prerelease time.
GREAT video sir. I wish the Magics "out of rotation,can't play them no more" rule, could be put in the trash. I would prefer not to buy any card, console, PC or board game that I was not allowed to play a year later. I started playing magic when ice age was out. But have only played in a local game shop maybe three times. I believe if we could remove the "rotation" rule it would open the doors to these Friday night games to a wider audience. Getting more people in stores,more people playing and making new friends. But since I can not play my old cards at the local store. I don't go there. And all the friends I grew up with have done the same and we no longer play at all. I bought some plains walker decks to try and get up to speed with the new stuff. But it's out of rotation now. Can't play again. Lol . Dont really know much about how they do things at the game shops. May be they have special days you can bring in older cards that older people have. Feel free to enlighten me everyone.
Trouble is, if Standard never rotates the format gets really dull. Less incentive to buy new packs, price of old cards goes through the roof and new decks stop emerging. It'd be pretty off-putting to most players. There are some non-rotating formats though! Modern, though that doesn't allow sets as far back as Ice Age, sadly, Commander, though that's a bit different than than normal Magic, and Pauper, which only allows common cards. And Legacy, which allows pretty much everything. Look out for one of those formats and you should be able to play with your cards again!
@@Dracinard Does Commander require this years current cards or can you have cards in a commander deck that are say 5 years old? Never played commander before but seems fun. Thanks
@@FalconWing1813 No worries! You can play Commander with just about anything. There's a very small number of really powerful cards banned, but no restrictions on when cards were printed or anything like that. If you've got 5 year old cards, you can definitely put them in a commander deck.
I like Izareth the Awakener - useful as a backup for graveyard retrieval of creatures. Also a backup way to cast creatures I don't have land colors for! :D
Just a heads up to everyone: some LGS's still sell the prerelease kits from Ravnica and M19 for $19.99 USD. So you can still buy them, depending on your lgs at least.
Thanks for this video, I just discovered a young cousin of mine started playing Magic while visiting family on Thanksgiving and was curious what to buy him. I'm thinking a couple of Planeswalker decks. :)
I'm fairly new and i find most aggravating that most of the products do not tell if you'll be able to construct a somewhat consistent deck. If any at all. So if you don't know what you're doing the best option is the planeswalker deck. Then once you get the hang of it tweak it with singles or build your own from singles bought online. I don't play competitive just with couple of friends and mtga so those decks have an additional value with the redeem code.
Funny, except for 1 prerelease event at a game store, Walmart has been the only place where I've had a chance to play magic. It os where I was introduced to the game.
I gotta be honest that one of my big takeaways is that booster packs are meant for draft and not really worth buying for deck building.. but... I’m not sure if I know what product to buy to start getting cards to build my own deck, rather than a pre-built deck.
My introduction to magic was a few weeks ago I went to my lgs and I got one of the arena duel boxes with the two decks meant to be played against each other and a midnight hunt pre release I also plan on pre ordering a bundle for crimson vow it looks really cool
Bought a lorehold commander deck my first commander deck. I won my first commander game at my lgs on Friday. Upgraded the hell out of it. Teferis protection won me the game.
Grade C is too harsh for Spellslinger Starter Kit. It is only $11 and it was a successful way to teach my girlfriend how to play as well as relearning myself because I hadn't played in 20 years. Also she won! Now to try and get her to play game 2...with shuffled cards...
NO - the cards are almost allcrap, and you might get duplicates - only one copy of card allowed in a commander deck besides basic lands. For commander, you should seriously either get a commander preconstructed deck, or just buy singles.
Thanks for this! I’m really glad you do these kinds of things. Can’t wait to see what comes with Ravnica Allegiance and which promo card you get. A few weeks ago, command zone did a video about an informal way to “play magic” where you use a pack and make a 3-card deck with unlimited mana and 5 life. Do you have any other incredibly informal ways you like to play games with magic cards? I’d like to hear about them. Also, I love your deck techs! Especially pauper and commander. I put together most of your Feldon deck and loved it once I had played it a few times. I did end up selling some of the more expensive cards to help with an Izoni deck though, so we’ll see how that goes.
Alexander Neimeth it was a very recent one. It was in the End Step portion (at the very end) and it was titled after some style or gambling game. I think it was Pai Gow Magic they called it.
Exactly. ALSO, a big part of magic imo is about trying different things, putting together things that maybe are not competitive-ready but teaches the people what every color is about, how they combine together and so on. If you buy one deck you are stuck with that until you have more money to throw at the game.
Don't know if you're aware, but rhey actually brought Theme Boosters back for Guilds of Ravnica, seems like it's going to be a normal thing for non-core sets moving forward.
I disagree about Planeswalker decks not being for established players. I have played competitive Magic for around five years, and my friend has played it longer. We have a large array of Planeswalker decks between us, and get together once a week to play a couple. The games are fun with all the different mechanics, and relaxed because the decks are reasonably balanced (although we've had to stop using the OP Huati). It's a perfect way to have a beer, play some Magic, and not get stressed about winning or losing.
Did in the same in '95, and whilst it was fun, games amounted to whomever got out a Serra Angel. The rules back then were on a very small booklet, were not as streamlined, and full of errata. Also, the net - like MtG - was a vastly different place.
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Three products were not included in this guide because I reviewed them VERY recently. You can watch those reviews here:
MTG Game Night box: th-cam.com/video/s6ECLZIU_yU/w-d-xo.html
Magic: The Gathering Gift Pack: th-cam.com/video/MP0mqm47JX8/w-d-xo.html
Ravnica Guild Kit Deck: th-cam.com/video/cCX_k-d180Y/w-d-xo.html
Wrong numbers on booster pack contents: not "11 commons", but "10 commons and 1 land (even if it is common)".
Why not just buy whole WOC? Problem solved.
Amazing!
Do a next one with Pokémon, please
What about planeschase and archenemy
Good stuff
As im barely getting into magic I could not thank you enough for making this video
TIMESTAMPS:
Planeswalker deck: 1:14
Booster packs & boxes: 2:47
Theme boosters: 4:12
Deck builder’s toolkits: 5:29
Spellsplinger starter kits: 7:03
Bundles: 8:09
Challenger decks: 9:22
Commander decks: 10:53
Signature spellbooks: 12:18
Prerelease kits: 13:42
itsCode a savior has risen
Prerelease is soooo good
@@W-mans26 for standard what should i buy? pre release and maybe the bundles?
@@tylerjohnson679 singles
@@tylerjohnson679 comment was a while ago, a 20-50$ enhanced, focused standard deck bought with specific cards is the best option to get your money’s worth
I introduced my gf to MTG by getting us both toolkits. We spent the night building our decks from them and playing eachother with them. I made a white/blue control and she made a green/black graveyard deck. It was quite fun.
@@detsavage4332 Since I posted that comment, my gf dumped my and shattered my heart ;_;
@@Jackie89000 It gets better man. May not seem like it, but it will. Just started teaching my wife MTG today, and she helped me actually get plans/friends together to start DMing for DnD this past year. I hope you find someone who will treat your heart kindly and someone with who you can share fun hobbies or interests. Focus on yourself in the meantime!
@@Jackie89000 well that's sad :/
I was just about to ask how's the magic relationship going and this dude done already been dumped sheesh keep your head up king
@@Jackie89000 F
With the way The Professor describes "Bundles", once again I'm reminded of the way this product was originally positioned. It wasn't about booster packs; it was about the novel, the life counter, the magazine, the player's handbook, the storage boxes with the panoramic art and the card dividers. Now all you get is a bunch of boosters and a spindown die. I'm not just disappointed that the Fat Pack went on a diet, I'm disappointed that so little fuss is made about it anymore.
BRING BACK PROPER NOVELS A GRRR RAGARAGAA!
But yes, the fatpacks where awesome and I was sad when I realized that 1) there weren't going to be novels anymore and 2) that the fatpacks and later bundles where nothing more then an oversized prerelease pack.
And don't forget being charged twice the MSRP if there are full art lands inside.
agree, the point of the "Fat Pack" was a "FAT STACK OF GOODIES" as the kids used to say -handbooks and counters and novels...oh, and yeah, Packs at a bit of a discount, but mostly it was about getting cool extras at the same time you bought MTG cards already
@@leovaeg I fondly remember my Betrayers of Kamigawa fatpack. It was the first fatpack I was able to buy for my own and it was just full of goodstuff. Still have the novel and still even havr the play guide.
I still like getting them. I put up all my "posters" from them on my wall, love the boxes, collect the die and enjoy having a physical list of each card in the set, plus, booster lottery never gets old for me.
Remake this
Please
I agree
Don't buy any, MTG is bloated and Hasbro has corrupted it. Play and collect sorcery contested realm instead!
Please
Yes please love ur vids TCC
Hey professor! Make an updated version of this video, please! Things changed a lot on these turbulent years, and a have a diverse cast of friends with diverse interests. I need the help of your brilliant mind, prof!
"You cannot play MTG @ Walmart and Target."
Oh yeah? Then how did I get banned from the store? Answer that Professor!
Deez Nits
*Nuts
I was banned of a store, but I was playing on the ground, on the door
@@scott-e5548 nailed it
Lol
More of such videos please :) Especially for casual players and kitchen table
I agree but I have a question. What is the difference between casual play and "kitchen table"?
@@paulgodenitz mostly the powerlevel, but actually there is no.
Casual's powerlevel is higher because you want to play it with anyone, kitchentable is ment to play it with your friends at home.
Should do an updated video based on current catalogue of products.
9:20 When this music starts playing you know something good is coming up
I think this video highlights a major problem with MTG product. There are just way too many different kinds of product with slight variation that the majority of which only appeal to completely new players. Wizards' is saturating their own market, diluting what works with what doesn't.
Actually, they should take exemple of pokemon tcg...
Don't like it the game, but products are awesome...
They should make stricktly just one or two good products for new players, and pay more atention to the already existing ones, what is even worst products for beginers nowadays are often very underpower.
I remember when I got my first (demo) deck: it contained 2 Lightning bolts, when I later discovered that it was considered the best burn spell ever made I was very pleased.
Remember: Hasbro are the parent and they have earnings quarters to meet. The trend has been and will continue to be to release as much product as possible and hoover as much filthy lucre as possible until they hit lint.
Am i wrong, as a pauper and modern (casual) player to only buy secondary market whatever cards i think i need might need?
Buying boosters or whatever packs seems just crazy to me.
@@Drestlin i bought used cards recently. Searching how to build a deck and im very confused by the amount of cards.. rules.. etc... 60... at least 20 lands? a couple of instants, artifacts, enchantments... no more than 4 cards of the same creature. Im right? i have white cards.. red cards.. green cards and (i dont know why blue cards that i think i cant use cos i dont have blue lands). Pokemon cards were easier to understand.. but i think i will enjoy Magic a lot more.
EARLY PLANESWALKER HERE
Btw Prof, can you make a video on how to properly shuffle your magic cards I’m worried I’m gonna bend mine or something.
Same
I would watch the prof teaching people how to shuffle.
That would be a good video... the corners of my sleeves keep getting bent. It doesn’t affect the cards, but I want the sleeves to look nice
Would like to see this!
Longer player and shuffle critic here. The best way to shuffle without sleeves is a full rifle. It's a more difficult one that needs to be practiced but there's simply put no better shuffle. There are plenty of tutorials online.
With sleeves, like many players will have, a mass shuffle is the next best thing. Take half your deck and stick it into the other half (bottom corner first). The corners might bend a bit but after a little while, you'll figure out how to "drop" the cards in such a way to minimise this problem.
If you do either of these a total of 7 times, you'll have a perfectly shuffled deck (there is some math backing this up, go to the numberphile channel for the explanation). Always end with a cut or let your opponent cut your deck.
A pile shuffle might be used when playing with/against cards that might end up in the wrong deck. Only do this once to count your cards and never again. It takes ages.
NEVER USE AN OVERHAND SHUFFLE. This is your regular shuffle that most people use. It's a terrible shuffle that takes atleast a minute to have a somewhat random deck.
Hope this helps for now.
I love when any youtuber forgets to cut out a different take of the same sentence. I find it endearing and shows that even the best are still human.
Professor, this is an amazing idea for a series. I don´t know how this was not a thing. I wish I could localize this content on the South America context.
Go negotiate with your LGS and just do it!
@@Unrealbr thats a great idea.
Perhaps the best thing I've purchased for friends who want to learn MTG is Tabletop Simulator, you get access to every magic card and don't always have to be in person to play, it's a wonderful game/tool that I've used for a insane number of games.
I started with a deckbuilder and i think its a great entry into the hobby
As someone who is brand new to magic (we are talking about a week here) I picked up am arena kit to start learning how to play and this has helped me consider the next few steps I can take while learning
Thank you
Hi professor,
for someone who is starting out playing magic, I believe it would be quite helpful if you provide a brief explanation of the terms you use in your video, i.e. "standard legal" , "modern" and "commander" and perhaps what "formats" are currently in rotation.
the only reason i bring this up is because since this video's intended audience is for both new and experienced players, explanation of those terms is worth bringing up since it can confuse new mtg players looking to enter the mtg community.
Well standard and modern are formats in magic where you make a deck witu cards from recent sets. They have to be at least 60 cards but have no maximum card limit so you could do 100 to any number if you wanted. Also you can only have 4 copies of the same card besides lands in the deck. The only difference between standard and modern are the card sets that are legal in it, you can look mtg standard and mtg modern and it'll show you what card sets are legal on those formats. Edh or Elder dragon Highlander, or commander is way different. In that format you have a commander, which usually your deck revolves around of. Your deck can only be in the colors of your commander. Other than your commander there's 99 other cards in the deck so it's a 100 card deck in total. Commander has a lot more rules so I'm not gonna state all of then here. But unlike modern and standard besides basic lands you can only have 1 copy of each card in the deck. I personally play commander as almost no sets and cards are banned from playing in commander. You'd have to look it up for more rules
The sets legal are the ixalan Block, dominaria, m19 and Ravnica, but during the next rotation ixalan block, dominaria, and m19 will be gone in standard. As for Commander every set is legal. Modern is everything from 8th Edition and up.
I appreciate that he encourages the viewers to purchase their Magic stuff at local games stores.
Always.
I'm a new player looking to buy my first deck and after wathing the video i'm more confuse than before haha
First up, do you have any buddies interested in MtG? If so, world's your oyster. Old Duel Decks or newer Challenger decks for out of the box experience; Commander if you have a few buddies. If you want to play limited, Booster box has you covered.
No interested buddies? I feel your pain (getting back after 21 years Dec 18 - MtG Arena). FNM and/or MeetUp group to get a feel for playing and different formats (rotational and non-rotational) first before spending and deciding you don't like a format.
Hope you've found buddies and a format that you enjoy.
@@putonghua73 "If you want to play limited" Imma be honest, me and all the rest of the new players don't even know what that means
@@gm08351 Oof! My post was a case of "Tell me you're old without telling me you're old,". Brutal.
Apologies, Limited = Draft.
At the age of 8, I started playing Magic: The Gathering. The pre constructed decks were perfect for this time. They offered great time with my friends for a very low price.
At the age of 12, I started playing at my LGS. Quickly, I started to unterstand that the planeswalker decks had no use for me anymore... I started to buy some little decks for around 15€ each...
They helped me getting better by a lot, while not beeing able to win at FNM...
Now I'm 14 and spend a lot of money into Magic: The Gathering. I play budget Standard and edh, where a deck costs around 50€ each for me. I have a lot of fun with these and it's great everytime when I beat a very expensive (mostly control) deck. I usually just play jank.
While knowing that opening booster packs is the worst thing I can do, I still do it, because it's just lot of fun. But I start to do it less.
I just had and still have a great time with Magic: The Gathering and this is my story of what products I bought and how much they helped me.
And yes, I'm from Europe (Germany, Berlin)
@insignum
It isn't meant as the way the most remember it, there were two german countries that used this flag... I remember the not-dictatorship...
I really like this... You shared a heartfelt and endearing confession of your love for Magic that started at such an early age and got hit with hate for a profile pic featuring an "offensive right-wing flag". I'm sorry that these nu-Antifa manchildren are giving you a hard time. You're better off not taking their criticism to heart. Btw, it's great to hear about somebody who started out so early and loves the game this much. As for your decks, don't always try to netdeck those 2000 euro lists that you see in Pro Tours and Grand Prix. Stick to decks you like that can pull their weight. Especially since you mentioned EDH, you're way better off having fun with a deck than winning.
@insignum
Yeah, I now about this big right with thing (especially here in Germany). I know not do cetera in there and things like this...
@@virgilthemob1242
That budget thing is one of the reasons why I love standard this rotation so much...
There are like three competetive budget decks right now...
God, I miss those.
Call me crazy but i buy mtg cards & accessoires for the art any type of box from starter packs till booster boxes & display them . I live in a small villiage far from the closest mtg store or a gaming room where people play. I dont like playing it online so... i grew up with mtg as a kidd in the 90s always loved it but i moved for my wife & kidds.
Friday Night Magic sounds aweful... I'm so grateful I have friends I can play with at home without bothering about what's legal and what's not...
Beleg Cuthalion I was thinking the same thing I don’t have anyone to play with thow
I'm so confused.
meh. just go to drafts. 100% luck, 2% skill
@Nathaniel you can do drafts and don't have ti worry about legality
If anything the legality system is there to let thwm make new stuff and make sure that new players don't have to buy old/out of print stuff to be able to not lose instantly, because there is some broken older stuff
But yeah it can be intimidating
@Nathaniel I know this is 6 months old, but there shouldn't be too many issues. Honestly, as complex as it is, EDH/Commander is a really friendly intro, imo. You only can run 1 of each card, which may still lead to expensive decks, but there's only 1 copy of each card to acquire, and basically every card is legal. The other fun thing is that it's multiplayer usually and if you just have fun friends, you can play nearly however you want.
This helped me a ton as a brand new player. Thank you.
Wow Magic products have changed so much since this aired
Great video as always. I think the Challenger decks and Guild Kits are the best products this year which are still available for sale.
Appreciate this video very much. Succinct but detailed enough to make good decisions about how to spend your MTG dollars. As a returning player and one getting his kids into it, the advice here is directly affecting my holiday shopping.
Thanks for guiding new planeswalkers such as myself through the daunting world of magic products. This is going to save me such a headache.
I used to play back when Revised had been out a year or two, The Dark was the expansion at the time. Stopped playing a few years later. I can remember everyone seething over Chronicles reprinting cards from Arabian Nights, Antiquities and Legends.
Only just got back into playing casually recently after discovering a local board game cafe had some free to use decks.
Didn't even expect Magic to still be a thing really.
Everything about Magic The Gathering today is a bit bewildering, there's a lot of products, formats and various related jargon.
Planeswalkers didn't exist as cards when I last played. They seem to unbalance the game and basically suck the fun out of it in my experience.
Anyway thumbs up for another good video.
For me, the Commander precons will always be worth it because they have always given me ideas for decks. Not only that but it is the second Commander product I ever bought as a new player. My Vampire and Dragon decks were the 2017 precons and are the 2 decks I can rely to put up a fight. The Commander precons can evolve.
Someone who wants to have a laugh should read through the holiday gifts guide by wizards of the coast
Ha!
@@turtleanton6539 they make absolutely terrible recommendations
As a Yugioh player that wants to try magic due to not liking the current tearlaments ishizu format I found this video very useful, I bought a MTG deck a couple of years ago (the Domri City smasher) and I just ordered only a commander deck (Kalheim commander deck)
Thanks prof, your channel truly is the quintessential magic player’s guide. Appreciate all your reviews man
Excellent video for returning players! I was completely lost with that huge offer
What a good video my friend, a big hug from Chile from a returning player, this was sensational info...
Total newbie to magic have had a few games using the game night box of my mate
Now this has helped what to go for thanks 👍
Excellent rundown of the product line, Professor. This will be especially helpful for newer players trying to navigate and understand all the various MTG products and formats. Great work!
My first product purchase, besides packs, was a deckbuilder's toolkit. It gave me a wealth of commons and uncommons to start off my card collection. Being able to experiment with all these cards got me into deckbuilding. (And I still use the box even now)
In the world of MTG Arena as introduction to MTG and I want to get into paper rectangles, this should be the defacto get started video
Sound like I’d rather play with my friends and use whatever cards I feel like because buying a deck only to have it be illegal in 6 months sounds dumb as shit.
Yeah I totally agree, i think it’s really stupid to have to keep buying new cards to stay legal in tournaments. But modern format does allow cards from like 2003 onwards I believe and is a non-rotating format like commander. So those are the only two formats I would really consider going to a place to play besides maybe a prerelease event. I also liked the idea of legacy as it’s basically any magic set, but I don’t believe many people still play that format unfortunately.
It’s not as stupid as you think. Players want new cards and they want to be able to play with those cards. If all the most broken cards were always available, we wouldn’t see the new cards get played as much. That’s only one format, anyway. You can play historic or vintage if you want to keep using all the old cards.
MetroidMann i understand that some people prefer standard, and that’s fine. I just personally don’t want to have to keep constantly paying for a new deck to stay legal. I prefer modern and commander like I said, and If I buy a deck I want it because it’s a deck I want to play, not just cause I have to keep up with the set rotation.
MetroidMann also plenty of new cards get used in modern and commander as well. But like i said if someone likes standard thats cool, just not my thing.
Is this only for pro tournaments or something? I cant imagine telling my homie "can't use that card its out if season"
I love this channel. It has helped get much better at MTG and it has helped me decide what products to buy for my card collection. Thank you SO much. 🙏🏻
1:27 then there is me who gets a Core 2019 bundle, as my very first set of cards, and pulls Nicol Bolas, the Ravager in the first pack. 😎
Too😂
Yep.
As always a well made in depth video from the tolarian prof. These videos always provide great content as well as provide reliable information. I rely on your insight a lot.
As always I'm blown away by how you've managed to cut this video to such a reasonable length given this much info.
9:20 what I found is that if you have amazon prime bundles usually go on sale for prime members. About $25 for the prime price.
I actually just got my friend into Magic with a spellslinger deck we found at walmart for $7. I've been going by his apartment and playing him for like the past week now
I got a selesnya theme booster, one of the uncommons was a golgari card (how I know is that the golgari have insects and undergrowth, which this card had, it was the Kraul Harpooner).
I'm not mad at wizard's, just shocked and surprised
Why did I not know this video existed? I watch each of your videos and yet somehow missed this one.
As a new player, I'm kind of overwhelmed. What should I buy to play with my friends in standard format? What packs or set or boosters do I buy, and what should I stay away from? Thank you in advance!
Thank you very much for this video. Got into magic from arena and want to start paper magic. New challenger decks on april 3rd seem like a perfect opportunity that I wasn't aware of. Thx again.
Thanks prof! Watching your vids helped me get back into MTG with my girlfriend! Keep making these amazing vids :))
I'm just now getting into Magic the Gathering this video is very helpful
ty u
Just started 2 months ago, My first buy was a themed golgari booster, got a Underrealm Lich. Then as it is, it isn't unusuable. So I bought a Vraska Planeswalker deck. Now I was going somewhere. Finally Just 2 weeks ago, I bought Singles from an online store. I now have a fully functional deck. And I have fun having deals through a Facebook group. Now I'm thinking of buying a booster box as a present to myself. So I'm thinking of getting Ixalan, or GRN.
Thanks for the guide!
Alvin Kae Cabato do dominaria it has a ton of good Rares and mythic
Great video professor.
Returning noob here and that was very useful info I was learning from my brother and a buddy about 2 and a half years ago and life wasn't so kind almost ended up homeless so I relocated to my folks house and there are no game stores near me and not in English:^() so I'm playing some magic duels and some arena when ever the internet feels like working right but now I know how to spend my money.
Thanks a bunch, can't wait to get back stateside and get some cards.
Would love a retake on this. I played MTG 25 years ago. Kids are enjoying some promo packs I get them a few years ago now but the cuurent market is completely baffling to me.
I learned traveling creating my own decks along the way. They were way better than Planeswalker decks. When I first got a planeswalker deck and upgraded it I did a poor job. It was a tribal and I built it in a different way than how it would work best. Now I play Commander and I'm doing good upgrading those precons.
From all i would pick Guild Kits.
Perfect for this season, thank you profesor, great to start my friends in a great game
Of all the products featured here, prerelease kits are my favorite!
I'm seeing this in 2021 and this was really good. I'm assuming the basics of it are still relevant and this was a great starter info dump for me
Excited for your holiday gift accessory round-up video!
Please make a video of how to get into magic with 2020 prerelease around the corner
@Joseph Fruge You are the most recent comment, I'm hoping you can help me please. We are looking to start playing this game. We aren't interested in tournaments or retaining valuable cards, we simply want to play it at this point. What would you recommend to a noob? Once we get the game playing down I'll purchase better decks. Budget is $100 per person. Suggestions please? I did see a pre release of some deck coming in October, this video makes me think I should pre order it....maybe? Lol.
@@blackwidow8412 Game Night box, depending on player amount
This has been so helpful thank you! I’m a brand new player and have yet to make my first purchase as there are so many products to choose from!
1st support your local game store. They can answer complicated questions or know someone who can.
As for:
Friday night magic and other MGT events are all very young guys in my city.
I am a returning MGT player. I played before all of these guys were born in the early 90s.
I recently revisited MGT to use as a tool for skill-building techniques with my disabled and neurodivergent clients.
I forgot how much I love this game!!
So, I thought I would go refresh my memory and play in an event at my local game store. It was so awkward, so much so, I went and upgraded my phone to be able to play MGT Arena app instead.
This video is very helpful knowing how to buy packs for MGT Arena app too. (Why I watched)
Anyways, I wish I knew people my age who play MGT. For me, it would be nostalgic because we know what MGT old school is! I would happily host!!
got into magic about 2 weeks ago, thanks for this video
Something to note in Canada, I've seen many LGS in Canada still have prerelease sets even after the prerelease. So you don't have to wait till prerelease to get one of those products, Of course, you won't be able to play at prerelease if you buy it outside the prerelease time.
GREAT video sir. I wish the Magics "out of rotation,can't play them no more" rule, could be put in the trash. I would prefer not to buy any card, console, PC or board game that I was not allowed to play a year later. I started playing magic when ice age was out. But have only played in a local game shop maybe three times. I believe if we could remove the "rotation" rule it would open the doors to these Friday night games to a wider audience. Getting more people in stores,more people playing and making new friends. But since I can not play my old cards at the local store. I don't go there. And all the friends I grew up with have done the same and we no longer play at all. I bought some plains walker decks to try and get up to speed with the new stuff. But it's out of rotation now. Can't play again. Lol . Dont really know much about how they do things at the game shops. May be they have special days you can bring in older cards that older people have. Feel free to enlighten me everyone.
Trouble is, if Standard never rotates the format gets really dull. Less incentive to buy new packs, price of old cards goes through the roof and new decks stop emerging. It'd be pretty off-putting to most players.
There are some non-rotating formats though! Modern, though that doesn't allow sets as far back as Ice Age, sadly, Commander, though that's a bit different than than normal Magic, and Pauper, which only allows common cards. And Legacy, which allows pretty much everything. Look out for one of those formats and you should be able to play with your cards again!
@@Dracinard Does Commander require this years current cards or can you have cards in a commander deck that are say 5 years old? Never played commander before but seems fun. Thanks
@@FalconWing1813 No worries! You can play Commander with just about anything. There's a very small number of really powerful cards banned, but no restrictions on when cards were printed or anything like that. If you've got 5 year old cards, you can definitely put them in a commander deck.
@@Dracinard Great to hear,Thanks for the info, Big help!
I like Izareth the Awakener - useful as a backup for graveyard retrieval of creatures. Also a backup way to cast creatures I don't have land colors for! :D
Just a heads up to everyone: some LGS's still sell the prerelease kits from Ravnica and M19 for $19.99 USD. So you can still buy them, depending on your lgs at least.
I like the beat to the opening of your video. It’s soothing !!!!!!!!!
Thanks for this video, I just discovered a young cousin of mine started playing Magic while visiting family on Thanksgiving and was curious what to buy him. I'm thinking a couple of Planeswalker decks. :)
I'm fairly new and i find most aggravating that most of the products do not tell if you'll be able to construct a somewhat consistent deck. If any at all. So if you don't know what you're doing the best option is the planeswalker deck. Then once you get the hang of it tweak it with singles or build your own from singles bought online. I don't play competitive just with couple of friends and mtga so those decks have an additional value with the redeem code.
Funny, except for 1 prerelease event at a game store, Walmart has been the only place where I've had a chance to play magic. It os where I was introduced to the game.
I gotta be honest that one of my big takeaways is that booster packs are meant for draft and not really worth buying for deck building.. but... I’m not sure if I know what product to buy to start getting cards to build my own deck, rather than a pre-built deck.
singles
My introduction to magic was a few weeks ago I went to my lgs and I got one of the arena duel boxes with the two decks meant to be played against each other and a midnight hunt pre release I also plan on pre ordering a bundle for crimson vow it looks really cool
thanks, this was a helpful overview for someone just starting out
I miss playing against my friends during recess in school. The game seemed so magical back then.
Just in time for the Holiday season. Have a good one!
Seriously a great idea for a video. So informative!
Bought a lorehold commander deck my first commander deck. I won my first commander game at my lgs on Friday. Upgraded the hell out of it. Teferis protection won me the game.
With chrismas looming on the horision this video is a really nice idea.
Grade C is too harsh for Spellslinger Starter Kit. It is only $11 and it was a successful way to teach my girlfriend how to play as well as relearning myself because I hadn't played in 20 years. Also she won! Now to try and get her to play game 2...with shuffled cards...
Will there be an updated version of this video? Or is there one that I am missing?
One thing that should be mentioned......Theme boosters are amazing for Commander players.
NO - the cards are almost allcrap, and you might get duplicates - only one copy of card allowed in a commander deck besides basic lands. For commander, you should seriously either get a commander preconstructed deck, or just buy singles.
thanks, just got back into mtg and literally havent bought anything because I dont want to buy the wrong thing
So can I have a 16 part shuffling series
Also tl dr
Commander and challenger good
Rest bad
Thanks for this! I’m really glad you do these kinds of things. Can’t wait to see what comes with Ravnica Allegiance and which promo card you get.
A few weeks ago, command zone did a video about an informal way to “play magic” where you use a pack and make a 3-card deck with unlimited mana and 5 life. Do you have any other incredibly informal ways you like to play games with magic cards? I’d like to hear about them.
Also, I love your deck techs! Especially pauper and commander. I put together most of your Feldon deck and loved it once I had played it a few times. I did end up selling some of the more expensive cards to help with an Izoni deck though, so we’ll see how that goes.
Andrew Laverghetta do your rember the episode they did that in or what the “format” is called
Alexander Neimeth it was a very recent one. It was in the End Step portion (at the very end) and it was titled after some style or gambling game. I think it was Pai Gow Magic they called it.
I love the Kerbal music in the background 😬
I think you may be forgetting that many people play magic the gathering casually against friends or family
Exactly. ALSO, a big part of magic imo is about trying different things, putting together things that maybe are not competitive-ready but teaches the people what every color is about, how they combine together and so on. If you buy one deck you are stuck with that until you have more money to throw at the game.
Don't know if you're aware, but rhey actually brought Theme Boosters back for Guilds of Ravnica, seems like it's going to be a normal thing for non-core sets moving forward.
One of my friends once brought a green and red theme booster from eldraine. They pulled questing beast and embercleave.
Those exclusive cards in the planeswalker decks are also found in deck builder's toolkit
15:11 We can't play Magic at Wal-Mart? That sounds like a challenge!
Never buy liliana (from planeswalker deck amonkhet) as a single. It is as much worth as the planeswalker deck.
“Has no cards of value.” Front card is a ten dollar rare.😂
Primal hungers price fell like a rock tho
I disagree about Planeswalker decks not being for established players.
I have played competitive Magic for around five years, and my friend has played it longer.
We have a large array of Planeswalker decks between us, and get together once a week to play a couple.
The games are fun with all the different mechanics, and relaxed because the decks are reasonably balanced (although we've had to stop using the OP Huati).
It's a perfect way to have a beer, play some Magic, and not get stressed about winning or losing.
TCC is trying to say that if you are hoping to get a competitive product, it is not for you. These and duel decks are great for casual play, though :)
WOTC has confirmed that there will be 2019 Challenger Decks.
Did in the same in '95, and whilst it was fun, games amounted to whomever got out a Serra Angel.
The rules back then were on a very small booklet, were not as streamlined, and full of errata. Also, the net - like MtG - was a vastly different place.
Awesome video for a christmas time guide. I'll be sure to know what to get friends now. :)
Very helpful for new players. Thanks!