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Getting Back Into the Game

by Boldo

So, it has been a while since you last played Magic, but you thought it might be nice to try to flop the cards around again. After all, you have a nice large collection and it was lots of fun. Well, unfortunately, much has changed since you last played. Classic Edition brought a whole new set of rules and a new basic card set while both the Tempest and the Urza’s block introduced new abilities. With such major changes, just to enjoy yourself seems a daunting task, but do not dispair as it is a lot easier than you think.

The biggest difficulty facing the returning player is the confusing and senseless rule changes. What you must remember is that the basics of the game did not change. What did change though was major, but really comes down to five things.

  1. When ever something use to happen during a phase they now happen at the beginning of that phase.

  2. Tapped creatures deal damage in combat and this damage is first assigned and only once both players have no more responses is the damage dealt.

  3. Everything can be responded to and they are added to a stack which can be interrupted as the stack resolves.

  4. A player losses when their life reaches zero.

  5. All damage prevention is done before damage is dealt. These may seem confusing but they only make the game slightly different.
As for the new cards, it would be best if you sat down with card listings and read every card, but who has time for that. To cover these, it is probably important to understand the new concepts of each set and this can be done with a starter or a few boosters from each set. These cards should be worked into your already existing decks to create new decks. Many of the new cards may seem like weaker versions of the older cards with some silly special ability but you need to try it to get a better understanding of the new abilities. With these new cards, your older decks could be revivied and played. Finally, the best thing to do is to try to come back with a few sealed decks as these are less risk and will get you the new cards you need.

With all this in mind, I hope you enjoy returning to the game you love and we look forward to seeing you again. [an error occurred while processing this directive]