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| Black - Swamps Death, decay, undead ressurection. Zombies, vampires |
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| Red-Mountains Elemental forces. Fire, earth, lightning, dragons, goblins. |
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| White - Plains Purity, combat, healing. Unicorns, soldiers, angels. |
| Green - Forests Growth, nature, wildlife. Elves, spiders, treefolk. |
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| Blue - Islands Air, water, illusion. Merfolk, birds, sea creatures. |
| Magic: An Overview and Some of the Basics |
| Magic is sort of a loose mixture of collecting football cards, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and playing poker all rolled into one. Cards are purchased in packages of 15. Each pack has one "rare" card, 3 "uncommon" cards, and 11 "common" cards. The rarity of the card can increase it's worth, especially when coupled with the popularity of the card (supply and demand, see also High School Economics). The cards come in 5 basic colors. Each color denotes a different "style" of spell casting. Each color also has a "basic" land type associated with it. Players look through their card collections and build decks based on the cards they own, the "format" they are playing in, ideas that they have concieved, or different themes. Once a player has built his deck, a certain amount of land must be added to it. Land is essential as it is "tapped" to produce mana. Mana is definable as "spell power". The land used in a deck is defined by the color of the spells used to build the deck. What type of deck you play is defined only by available cards and your own imagination. Deck types vary as much as personalities. Some are loaded with creatures, some are designed to just take other people's creatures, some are designed to run their opponent out of cards. Once a deck is built. Each player shuffles their own deck, or "library" each player then draws seven cards from their deck. During a players turn he may draw a card, lay a land, cast spells, or attack. Both players begin the game with 20 life points. The first player to reach zero loses. That's Magic in a nutshell. It starts to get tricky when you realize that many of the cards are meant to break the rules of the game in a different way. Land types are listed to the right. To begin playing, all you need is a deck, a table, a friend, and an imagination. A rule book will help and is available with "starter decks". |
| Here are some of the terms used in the game with brief explanations. Some of these are "official" terms, while some are slang. This is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, but will give newer players an idea of what is being talked about. "basic land" - Refers to any of the five land types. they are : islands, swamps, plains, mountains and forests. "non-basic land" - Refers to any land that is not a basic land. "tap" or "tapping" - To "tap" something is to use it for the given turn. Most creatures "tap" to attack. Lands, basic and non-basic, "tap" to put mana into a player's mana-pool. "mana" - Is generated by "tapping" lands (or in some cases creatures or artifacts). The mana is used for casting spells. |
| Glossary |
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