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

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

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 release, the look of the card back has not changed, allowing players to use cards from 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 ability to trade cards. It also 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 your hand. It is provided by the presence in your deck of land cards, which come in 5 types: mountain (red), forest (green), plain (white), island (blue) and swamp (black).

Card cost

According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, to cast a spell, you must pay the cost in lands shown in the upper right corner. Cards can cost, for example, 2 forest or 1 gray mana and 2the woods. Gray mana means the cost can be paid with earth of any color.

There are land cards that give only gray mana, but have some unique properties. There are dual land cards for multicolor decks.

Information on the map

What does each MTG map say? For example, let's take the Shivan Dragon, a Magic The Gathering card in Russian.

• The top line contains the name of the card and its cost. To play Shivan Dragon, you need to pay 4 gray mana (land of any color) and 2 red mana (Mountain cards). Rotate these 6 lands horizontally in your play area and place the card on the table.
• Under the card image there is a line describing the card type (artifact, earth, creature, spell) and a certain creature subtype (dragon, human, vampire, etc.). Nearby is the card's issue symbol, which refers to a particular edition and indicates its rarity (gray symbol for a common card, silver for an uncommon, gold for a rare card, red for a legendary one). For example, the creature card is dragon, rare, from the ninth edition, which was released in July 2005.
• In the text field describing the active and passive abilities of the card, information from the MTG world is highlighted in italics, which do not affect the gameplay in any way. For example, a dragon with flight, which cannot be blocked by creatures without such an ability. He has an active ability: for one red mana, he gains 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 undeniable master of the Shivan Mountains" carries only a fantasy load and is not taken into account in any way during the game.

• Under the text field at the very bottom you can find the name of the artist who painted the image (Donato Giancola) and the collection number of the card (219/350).
• The numbers at the bottom right indicate strength and endurance: the first shows the amount of damage that the creature deals when attacking, the second - the number of lives it has. This dragon deals 5 damage when attacking, and to kill it, it also needs to deal 5 damage. Planeswalker cards in this corner display a count of the tokens the card enters the field with.

Card Abilities

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

• passive ones that last as long as the card remains on the playing field (for example, "Flying": the card cannot be blocked by non-flying permanents);
• triggered, which take effect when the condition described on the card is met (for example, "When the creature next to this permanent dies, draw a card": you will draw a new card from the deck each time this condition is met) etc.;
• active, which are performed if the cost indicated on the card is paid (in the example of the Shivan Dragon, this is an attack buff that costs one redground).

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.

On the example of the Avacyn card, consider the keyword "Vigilance": it means that when attacking this card is not tapped (when your opponent attacks you next turn, you can still block with this card, even if you attack with it in your move). Among the keywords you can find such interesting abilities as:

• first hit - card always deals damage first;
• trample - if the card is blocked by multiple creatures, it continues to deal damage after the first blocking card on all subsequent ones until the attack number ends;
• deathtouch – If the card attacks the target creature during combat, the creature that took the damage is reduced to zero life.

MTG Spell Cards

Any card that is not a land type is a spell type according to the rules of Magic The Gathering. The spell can be cast instantly or at some point in the turn; may be placed on the board as a permanent, or sent to the graveyard after it has had an effect. Spells are divided as follows.

• Creature cards. Playable during the main combat phase unless they have a passive ability to be cast instantly. You can lay out several per turn.
• Artifacts. Gray cards thatcan be played with lands of any color. Have permanent or instant magical effects. May also refer to a creature card type.
• Instant and sorcery spells. When cards of this type have been played, they are sent to the graveyard. The sorcery card is laid out in the phases of the main stage of the turn. You can cast instant spells in almost any phase of combat.
• Planeswalker. Hero permanents that fight by your side.

Planeswalker and their function

In Magic The Gathering, the rules for planeswalkers are related to the rules for casting permanents. Spawned in the main phase, they have a token counter that changes depending on the activation of the abilities they possess. Can be attacked by other players. If a planeswalker has zero tokens after an attack, it goes to the graveyard.

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

Start of game party

How to play Magic The Gathering? At the beginning of the game, each player usually has a pre-made deck of 60 cards and a counter for 20 lives. The deck is shuffled and7 cards are de alt. If you get less than 2 lands, it is recommended to re-deal the hand. When you re-deal, you already deal 6 cards to yourself, at the next re-deal - 5.

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

Position of players

According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, if you play one on one, mirror your deck, life counter, graveyard, lands on the table. In the gameplay, you need to watch not only your own cards, but also the number and location of your opponent's cards.

Tip: It's convenient to use a d20 die as a life counter, don't forget about additional counters, which can be used right on the playing field for convenience. They can also be d6.

Playing field areas

• Hand - cards in your hand that you can play for mana. Their number cannot exceed 7.
• Library is your deck from which you draw a card at the start of your turn (unless it is the first turn of a game session).
• The graveyard is the place where killed creature cards from the battlefield, cast spell cards that are not permanent (do not remain on the battlefield) are sent.
• The battlefield is the place where the lands and "armies" of the players are located. Permanents are actively used (tapped) at certain stages of the turn.
• Stack - a place on the battlefield where spell cards are stacked in the order they are played. For example, after the announcementattacking and blocking phases, you can cast instant spells that stack. In the next phase, this stack is played starting with the last card. After each spell on the stack is cast, it is possible to recast instants or activate abilities. They also go onto the stack, which is played again from the last card.
• Exile - a place on the battlefield where you can go instead of a graveyard. A card can be exiled by a special spell or ability upon its death. In exile, cards are also face down.

Stages of the game

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

1. The initial stage consists of the following steps:

• Turn step. At the very beginning, all your permanents lying on the battlefield (lands, artifacts, creatures) are untapped to their original vertical position. (If this is the first turn, this step is skipped.)
• Step to support and draw a card. You may now draw a card from the deck. During this phase, you can cast instant spells and activate abilities. (If this is the first turn of the game, then the player does not draw a card, because he already has an advantage.)

2. The main step (1) is to play any land, creature, spell, planeswalker cards that you can pay the cost of. However, the second player can also cast instant spells and activate card abilities.

Advice! Not required to postcreature cards in the first phase of their turn (unless they grant bonuses to other cards when they exit). It is better to attack, see how the opponent responds, and then lay out the creatures. So there is a chance that your spell will not be counterattacked by another player's instant spell.

3. Battle stage. Its stages are as follows:

• Start combat to cast instants and activate abilities.
• Declaration of attackers. Cards that you use to attack an opponent are untwisted horizontally (unless they have the Vigilance special ability, which allows you to attack without untwisting). Instant spells can be cast again. Cards that attacked will remain tapped at the end of your turn (you cannot block your opponent's turn with them).
• Declaration of blockers. Your opponent announces which attack cards he will block. If one card is blocked by several, then you decide in what order. You can cast instant spells and activate abilities.
• Combat damage. After blocking order is determined and instants are cast, combat damage is de alt to all cards simultaneously after casting spells from the stack. If a creature has taken damage that is greater than its toughness, it is sent to the graveyard. Unblocked creatures deal damage to the opponent, which should be displayed on the opponent's life meter.
• Completion of the battle. Casting instant spells and card abilities.

4. Main stage (2) - the sameactions as in the main step (1): you can play a land if you did not play it (you can only play one land per turn), play a creature card, artifact, sorcery.

5. The final stage is the cleansing step, returning and healing cards from the battlefield, casting instants and activating abilities of cards related to the end of the turn, ending effects that last one turn. According to the rules of Magic The Gathering, if you have more than 7 cards left in your hand at the end of your turn, you must discard the extra ones.

Golden rule of the MTG game

So, you have passed all the stages of the turn, 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 endlessly varied. A large number of cards have been published that allow you to vary it and change 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 card is preferred.

How to play MTG with 3, 4, 5?

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

Another game mode of Magic The Gathering in Russian is called Commander (Commander): it can be played from 3 to 6 people. Each player has their own deck, which is led by a legendary creature, and the deck is selected taking into account the characteristics of its commander-in-chief.

For a large number of people, the Archenemy mode is recommended: one of the players has an oversized deck and twice the number of lives. The rest team up to try and defeat him.

But you shouldn't just read the rules of Magic The Gathering and try to remember them - it's best to do it in the gameplay itself, so everything becomes clear and memorized faster. Have fun!