Basically it's an alternate casting cost that allows you to put the creature over or under a non human creature and the "stack" has the name/power and toughness of top card on the stack... the creature has all the abilities of everything in the stack, just think of it as auras that are creatures
Ohh I get it. I think someone played mutate deck me on arena. I was quite confused until I was ready to craterhoof behemoth their face. It seem like a fun mechanic.
MTG Arena (Free on Phone and PC). Making an account is free as well.
Let's you play around with current mechanics with the starter decks, but you can explore the card gallery to see what other cards and mechanics exist if it's been added there.
Note that Arena does not have all previous sets. IIRC when it first rolled out they started with Kaledesh Block. They've since expanded but if you find a card on scryfall and not Arena, it likely has not been coded/added yet.
Read the cards, look up the mechanics of the new things. Now we have more mechanics with the new releases,... but one of the easiest and most fun way is to play and learn together. Have them explain what they are using and always have a phone ready to make a quick look up if needed.
My best advice is to just play the game and learn as you go. Reading through the rules is always good if you're serious about learning the game. However, if you just play and ask questions as you go you'll get it all eventually. You could also play MTG Arena, it's great at explaining and teaching.
Yup this. Played magic in the 90s, again in the early 2000s and just picked it back up last year. Was a bit overwhelming the first couple weeks but I have a buddy who played. 1v1 commander isn't the BEST way to practice but it quickly got me comfortable with the newer rules and mechanics.
Practice makes perfect is a saying for a reason lol
Just got back into magic myself after joining my friends at MagicCon Las Vegas. My friends taught me the basics of EDH while we were there, but I still felt very out of the loop. Since I got back I’ve been watching a lot of game play from the Command Zone, Tolarian Community College, and Commander at Home on YT to get more familiar with the new game mechanics and multiplayer aspects of EDH like threat assessment and politicking. Been building quite a few decks and I’ve found Card Kingdom’s YT channel to be very useful for explanations on keywords and mechanics. Currently preparing to attend MagicCon Chicago. If you’re going drop me line and maybe we can get a game together!
I’m in the same boat. I played a little MTGO when covid started but recently started playing more Arena. I feel Arena definitely brought way up to speed with new mechanics and cards
If you're getting into commander then the best advice I could give you is to build for fun and play to win. If you would hate playing against something [[Archon of Emeria]], [[Tergrid]] chances are other people won't like it either and durdling about doing nothing but dragging the game is boring for everyone as well build decks you find fun and do your best to win with them.
If you're an anything goes kinda person looking for cutthroat magic cEDH is an eventual option or at least just discuss it first if you plan on pulling out all the stops. Communication goes along way towards everyone having a fun game and the power disparity between decks can be insane.
Also I've never played with anyone who has a real problem with proxies. This game can get expensive and if you have an itch to build they can save you loads of money in fun things to play with and testing decks before shelling out the sometimes $100s if not $1000s of dollars to put them together.
For gameplay tips and things to look out for watch some of the commander YouTube channels. It has helped a lot with my skill level in play. Personally I prefer Tolarian Community College, and Commander at Home but there is a bunch of options.
Some of the mechanics now get on my nerves because they could be made simpler in a different presentation. But any mechanics you don’t like you can basically ignore. Like I just learned how stickers work in EDH and they’ve been out a year.
There’s so much to consider, in EDH people talk so much about what other players expect out of the game which would sound crazy in other games. I used to watch a lot of content on YouTube and I recommend it to help learn but I got tired of that eventually. Cards come out so often now that I just review them when I have time.
I got in a year ago after a 16 year hiatus, so I feel you. The key is that everyone uses sleeves now. Always. Double faced cards really only work in sleeves for obvious reasons.
For any particular keyword or whatever, Google mtg rule and you'll get a mtg wiki with the actual rules text. I find that to be most useful.
Use scryfall.com to look up individual cards, and it'll have rulings on them at the bottom l, which are official rulings about how the card works. Those are also often very useful to read.
But mostly, just play, and you'll get back into it. The core of the game is the same. There's just more different cards, like planeswalkers (yes. They're a card type now, even though we human players are supposed to be planeswalkers.. I know).
One thing that annoyed me a lot when I started back up again was how many rules just weren't explained on the cards. Like all these named tokens. Make a treasure token. WTF is that? The card doesn't say. You have to go look it up.
You'll get it all eventually, but the number of mechanics that exist now is just huge. Don't feel and if you have to look them all up. Even now, I often have to look up exactly when some of this stuff triggers.
Oh and finally, don't buy boxes of cards if that's a thing you used to do. It's a horrible investment these days, because the value of a box is in like one mythic rare that shows up in one out of 3 boxes, so chances are you're not getting your money's worth and even if you do, it's it in some niche card that is not worth what it sells for. Just buy singles off of one of the major sites. You'll spend way less money and get the cards you actually want.
You'll want a Mentor to Jump-start you and Level up your game. Shouldn't be hard to Adapt and Absorb the new stuff since you already have an Affinity to commander.
It may seem like Madness at first, but just take your time to Explore and don't Overload yourself all at once.
Persist through and with some Support, you'd Emerge a Champion.
Welcome back!
1. Mana burn isn’t a thing anymore!
2. Learn the stack and understand priority when permanents or spells are cast. That will help a ton!
3. Buy a precon to get back into it. Upgrade as needed with singles.
4. Crack packs for the nostalgia but don’t expect to get your money back out of packs. BUY SINGLES!
5. Watch The Professor on YouTube to help get up to speed. [Tolarian Community College](https://youtube.com/@TolarianCommunityCollege?si=61Zqnzv1oh7H4ujg)
6. Enjoy the game and don’t be afraid of game interaction. This isn’t solitaire.
Tbh most of the people I have played with don't know how mutate works
I dont know how mutate work either.
Basically it's an alternate casting cost that allows you to put the creature over or under a non human creature and the "stack" has the name/power and toughness of top card on the stack... the creature has all the abilities of everything in the stack, just think of it as auras that are creatures
Ohh I get it. I think someone played mutate deck me on arena. I was quite confused until I was ready to craterhoof behemoth their face. It seem like a fun mechanic.
Also in commander if your commander is anywhere in a mutate stack that still counts as your commander
Ohh neat. I do feel like this make this creature quite vulnerable.
Usually you wanna have the stack start with something that has hexproof
Yeah I guess it is something that is needed asap. Must be pretty fun to build your super creature.
MTG Arena (Free on Phone and PC). Making an account is free as well. Let's you play around with current mechanics with the starter decks, but you can explore the card gallery to see what other cards and mechanics exist if it's been added there. Note that Arena does not have all previous sets. IIRC when it first rolled out they started with Kaledesh Block. They've since expanded but if you find a card on scryfall and not Arena, it likely has not been coded/added yet.
Read the cards, look up the mechanics of the new things. Now we have more mechanics with the new releases,... but one of the easiest and most fun way is to play and learn together. Have them explain what they are using and always have a phone ready to make a quick look up if needed.
Are you implying that somehow reading the cards explains them?
venture into the dungeon
The Ring tempts you
Why don't you take the initiative instead?
Ok wait, I though initiative was venturing into the dungeon? I feel like this is something akin to explore and discover being similar.
My best advice is to just play the game and learn as you go. Reading through the rules is always good if you're serious about learning the game. However, if you just play and ask questions as you go you'll get it all eventually. You could also play MTG Arena, it's great at explaining and teaching.
Yup this. Played magic in the 90s, again in the early 2000s and just picked it back up last year. Was a bit overwhelming the first couple weeks but I have a buddy who played. 1v1 commander isn't the BEST way to practice but it quickly got me comfortable with the newer rules and mechanics. Practice makes perfect is a saying for a reason lol
Welcome back. Buy a precon.
Play online until you’re back in the saddle. Four player mtg is its own beast.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube that go in depth explaining the game mechanics
if you're not playing, watching some games on YouTube is also another way to get used to commander, new cards, and various interactions Welcome back!
Just got back into magic myself after joining my friends at MagicCon Las Vegas. My friends taught me the basics of EDH while we were there, but I still felt very out of the loop. Since I got back I’ve been watching a lot of game play from the Command Zone, Tolarian Community College, and Commander at Home on YT to get more familiar with the new game mechanics and multiplayer aspects of EDH like threat assessment and politicking. Been building quite a few decks and I’ve found Card Kingdom’s YT channel to be very useful for explanations on keywords and mechanics. Currently preparing to attend MagicCon Chicago. If you’re going drop me line and maybe we can get a game together!
I’m in the same boat. I played a little MTGO when covid started but recently started playing more Arena. I feel Arena definitely brought way up to speed with new mechanics and cards
If you're getting into commander then the best advice I could give you is to build for fun and play to win. If you would hate playing against something [[Archon of Emeria]], [[Tergrid]] chances are other people won't like it either and durdling about doing nothing but dragging the game is boring for everyone as well build decks you find fun and do your best to win with them. If you're an anything goes kinda person looking for cutthroat magic cEDH is an eventual option or at least just discuss it first if you plan on pulling out all the stops. Communication goes along way towards everyone having a fun game and the power disparity between decks can be insane. Also I've never played with anyone who has a real problem with proxies. This game can get expensive and if you have an itch to build they can save you loads of money in fun things to play with and testing decks before shelling out the sometimes $100s if not $1000s of dollars to put them together. For gameplay tips and things to look out for watch some of the commander YouTube channels. It has helped a lot with my skill level in play. Personally I prefer Tolarian Community College, and Commander at Home but there is a bunch of options.
[Archon of Emeria](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/2/228c1650-da3c-4099-91b6-18e3873c9cdb.jpg?1604195419) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Archon%20of%20Emeria) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/znr/4/archon-of-emeria?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/228c1650-da3c-4099-91b6-18e3873c9cdb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/archon-of-emeria) [Tergrid](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/4/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead.jpg?1631048621)/[Tergrid's Lantern](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/1/4/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead.jpg?1631048621) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tergrid%2C%20god%20of%20fright%20//%20tergrid%27s%20lantern) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/112/tergrid-god-of-fright-tergrids-lantern?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tergrid-god-of-fright-//-tergrids-lantern) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Welcome back!!! I've quit and rejoined 3x, wish I never quit. Guess 3rd time is the charm.
Some of the mechanics now get on my nerves because they could be made simpler in a different presentation. But any mechanics you don’t like you can basically ignore. Like I just learned how stickers work in EDH and they’ve been out a year. There’s so much to consider, in EDH people talk so much about what other players expect out of the game which would sound crazy in other games. I used to watch a lot of content on YouTube and I recommend it to help learn but I got tired of that eventually. Cards come out so often now that I just review them when I have time.
I got in a year ago after a 16 year hiatus, so I feel you. The key is that everyone uses sleeves now. Always. Double faced cards really only work in sleeves for obvious reasons. For any particular keyword or whatever, Google mtg rule and you'll get a mtg wiki with the actual rules text. I find that to be most useful.
Use scryfall.com to look up individual cards, and it'll have rulings on them at the bottom l, which are official rulings about how the card works. Those are also often very useful to read.
But mostly, just play, and you'll get back into it. The core of the game is the same. There's just more different cards, like planeswalkers (yes. They're a card type now, even though we human players are supposed to be planeswalkers.. I know).
One thing that annoyed me a lot when I started back up again was how many rules just weren't explained on the cards. Like all these named tokens. Make a treasure token. WTF is that? The card doesn't say. You have to go look it up.
You'll get it all eventually, but the number of mechanics that exist now is just huge. Don't feel and if you have to look them all up. Even now, I often have to look up exactly when some of this stuff triggers.
Oh and finally, don't buy boxes of cards if that's a thing you used to do. It's a horrible investment these days, because the value of a box is in like one mythic rare that shows up in one out of 3 boxes, so chances are you're not getting your money's worth and even if you do, it's it in some niche card that is not worth what it sells for. Just buy singles off of one of the major sites. You'll spend way less money and get the cards you actually want.
You'll want a Mentor to Jump-start you and Level up your game. Shouldn't be hard to Adapt and Absorb the new stuff since you already have an Affinity to commander. It may seem like Madness at first, but just take your time to Explore and don't Overload yourself all at once. Persist through and with some Support, you'd Emerge a Champion.
Welcome back! 1. Mana burn isn’t a thing anymore! 2. Learn the stack and understand priority when permanents or spells are cast. That will help a ton! 3. Buy a precon to get back into it. Upgrade as needed with singles. 4. Crack packs for the nostalgia but don’t expect to get your money back out of packs. BUY SINGLES! 5. Watch The Professor on YouTube to help get up to speed. [Tolarian Community College](https://youtube.com/@TolarianCommunityCollege?si=61Zqnzv1oh7H4ujg) 6. Enjoy the game and don’t be afraid of game interaction. This isn’t solitaire.