Ludd wrote:Dr. Shades wrote:. . . Magic: the Gathering is the most entertaining card game ever invented.
Never heard of it. Don't want to derail this thread, but I'm really interested in the game because you recommend it so highly. We're sick of Phase10 in my family and have been looking for a new favorite game. Could you start a thread about it in the Off Topic forum?
Certainly.
Unlike Poker, wherein everyone is dealt cards from a single deck and all the cards therein are pre-determined, in the game of Magic: the Gathering (hereafter just "Magic") each player brings his own deck and decides, in advance, which cards to put into it.
It's a fantasy-based setting, so there's a bit of Lord of the Rings-style imagination behind it. The cards all represent something, like a creature you recruit into your army, a land that you add to your domain, or an enchantment that alters the game state or rules somehow. Other cards are one-time-only effects, representing acts of nature or other surprises.
When you buy a pack of cards, you don't know which ones will be inside. The cards come in common, uncommon, rare, or mythic rare regularities. Some cards are better than others; the rarer they are, typically the better they are. Nevertheless, the trick isn't just to amass all the best cards; the idea of the game is to get the cards in your deck to synergize as much as possible: Two cards that might be mediocre on their own might create an incredible effect when paired or used together. In other words, the object of the game is to make 2+2=5 or more. The problem is, the cards themselves almost never tell you what they go well with; each player has to figure that out on his or her own--thus making deck construction a highly intellectual enterprise before the game even begins.
The cards come in different colors, and each color has a different theme: White cards correspond to protection and defense, blue cards correspond to manipulation and trickery; black cards correspond to death and decay, red cards correspond to chaos and mass destruction, while green cards correspond to nature and balance. Load your deck up with the color--or colors--of whatever style of play you enjoy most.
TL;DR: Here are several cards that will make their appearance in the upcoming print run. Hopefully you'll agree that the artwork is incredible. IMPORTANT: Be sure to click on the link that says "ALL CARDS," otherwise you'll only see the white ones:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/produc ... c2013/cig#
If you're up for learning more, then here's the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_the_Gathering
If you ever find yourself in the Provo, Utah area, hit me up and I'll teach you how to play. I have five decks that I made specifically for this purpose.