My local LGS has embraced the quick and easy to play Magic the Gathering, and its taken off really well with over half the locals kicking in.
As a long time on-off lover of the card-crack, I dusted off my archived collection of dirty decks and started to show them some moves as well as getting schooled by newer mechanics.
We had out first official DCI tournament yesterday, and Im happy to say I won with an old green/white/blue allies with some proliferate added.
I thought that as one of the most schooled MTGers, I would pass on some of my knowledge for the next generation, so here goes!
Part One - Know Thy Stereotypes
Next Time - Part 2 - Deck Design Theory
Magic's core mechanics are split between the 5 colours so that each one has specialism and personality.
Knowing these can aid you in figuring what colours you'll most enjoy when ou start out, and for starting to see how mixing colours can help immensely.
So here is a quick intro to each of the colours and their most common Stereotypes for you to consider and discuss....
Green
One of my fav – its nature at her most aggressive.
Green is renowned for big stompy monsters of huge proportions, although whether they started out huge or not matters not to a green player – there are lots of ways to pump some arcane steroids into creatures. And with many a way to regenerate their creatures, Green can through them into combat knowing the opponent is always on the wrong end of the bulls horns!
Being a fan of all things green means you have an affinity for lands, with land search and mana creating abilities galore. This can either let you play bigger stuff than you should really be able to, or play the speed game and plays lots of moderate stuff earlier than the opponent can cope with it.
And being one intune with the natural rhythms of life, you don’t like people messing with Gaia’s plans (unless it you doing it of course) so Green has many a way of dealing with both enchantments and artifacts, a powerful pair of denial abilities.
Those are the core traits of Green, but that’s not all there is to find. Living lands, a hatred of flyers, token creature generation and more tricks beside are there to be found, making Green a lot more tricksy than many people would give the apparantly simple stomper Green credit for.
Blue
Where Green is the muscle power, Blue is the mental power.
Blues is hugely known for the large array of counterspells, frequently quashing any plans you may have as your spells fail and fizzle. Even if you get a spell through, Blue may well just return it to your hand next turn.
And to make sure they always have a counter for all occasions, Blue is well known for its card draw and card seeking abilities, which can be used to build their own hand or be turn into an offensive weapon, draining and opponents hand or library.
But Blue is far from defenseless. No one has more unblockable creatures than Blue, whether it be an innate ability or spell induced benefit. Hard to win when you cant stop damage! Same works with fyers – Blue is probably equal with White for a fetish for flyers, swooping up and over defences to tear your apart. They also aren’t afraid of tapping or untapping all they can, ever the cunning Puppetmaster, misdirecting your creatures so that again, you can offer no defence.
These are Blue’s main tricks, but they are as skilled with artifact manipulation as they are library and hands. Through in the ability to clone and mutate, and things despite all your best laid plans, a Blue play can seemingly warp reality itself in the pursuit of victory.
Red
Red has no subtlety – it is a raging fire just aching for more fuel!
Burning, shocking, immolating, stoning – but a few words that sum up a lot of the Red players favourite activities. Using direct damage, they can sling damage at everyone and everything. And to maximize it, they can stoke the fires hotter and higher.
But they love a good fight. From the lowly but haste blesses Goblins, small creatures who en masse don’t wait to strike and are suicidally magnificent, to the raging elementals – the forces of nature given living form for one purpose – crushing you to sand! And as with the spell list, many of them can be stoked to greater levels of devastation.
Nothing is safe from the Wrath of a Red player. Artifact and Land destruction is a popular past time, reducing your options and forcing your hand, forcing mistakes in the face of such a fast flowing anger….
Red is what it is, and it does it well. Through a love of First Strike and Trample and the unleashing of mighty dragons, Red can catch you off guard and you will get burnt….
Black
Red is anger and passion, emotions now lost to the undead.
Death is not the end of the game where a Black player is concerned. If you fall, they shall simply raise you to fight once more, again and again until the task s complete. Doesn’t even have to be their own creatures – if it’s dead, its fair game for a Black player. Regenerating creatures are also a frequent sight, for how can something already dead truly die?
To ensure a steady stream of recently deceased, they have the most Destroy Target Creature spells, and many -x/-x inducing cards to weaken or finish of their targets. And then they feast, using Lifelink to literally nourish themselves on the damage they inflict. Just as well, for a Black players knows its a fine line walking between life and death, and that you must sometimes offer up your own life to get the greatest rewards.
Winged terrors, intimidating nightmares, all powerful Demons, Black command many weird and wounderful minions beyond just the undead, with which to wreck terror, siphoning you mana, your cards, you creatures or maybe just straight to your lifeblood….
With the ability to feed off the death of pretty much anything and to recover from seemingly fatal wounds, a Black player is as tricksy as that of Blue, only with a more grim approach and twisted methods.
White
Purity and honour in all things – only through noble act will White see victory.
White believes in the Greater Good and defending it at all costs. Preventing damage and healing life are the most obvious means to do so, but the use of Defenders, soldiers and ballistas also aid their cause. Line troops with First Strike, Vigilance and other martial skills line the walls of every White bastion.
But the attack can equally be from the air. Avians and Angels, all brethren of the wing, swoop down with righteous zeal to smite the attackers. Any that slip through frequently fall to White’s Destroy Target Attacker spells, frequently ensuring each attack costs the attacker far more than they bargained for.
Clerics work behind the scenes along with a wealth of powerful enchantments to bolster physically weak troops to the level of demi-gods in the defence of their realm. Direct colour protection can neuter an opponent, seeing all he has count for nought, the White player letting the enemy know that they are not to be trifled with.
Add in many ways to raise a small army from apparent thin air, or to pacify the enemy, rooting them to the spot, White will hold the line as you break harmless against its defences.
Colourless
Yes, not strictly a colour, but it is in vogue at the moment thanks to the Scars of Mirrodin block out currently.
Colourless usually means artifact, and these are usually used to bring in something you could not otherwise accomplish in the colour/s of your choice. Life gain, card draw, abilities not natural to your creed – all of these are now available, but it will cost you little bit more for the pleasure.
Artifacts, whether equipment, creature or non-creature, can through an opponent off balance with something they could never have predicted. This psychological perk alone can win a game.
But for the truly heroic, try an deck that is 85-100% artifacts. Lands, creatures, equipment – there is enough of them all to produce truly dominating decks that can use every trick aviable to all the other colours, and a few available to only the colourless, such as Affinity and Arcbound. Its also the greatest source of the covest Indestructibile key word. Costly, but used right, there is literally nothing that can stand in your way.
So whether you want some more hitting force, or your after a trick like a bolt of the ether, this is where you’ll find it – if you can afford it…
Multi-colour
Harnessing multicolour cards is a true skill, one worth learning. Much as with artifacts, it can provide new tricks and surprises, they often also offer two or three options from the one card. A Blue Green spell could at once counter a spell and boost a creature. Red Black may burn someone for direct damage whilst feeding you the dead creature immediately.
If you can handle to multiple mana costs, these cards can turn tides, or generate them to start with.
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