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An Easy Way To Get Into Magic: The Gathering

By Rob Baer | September 12th, 2018 | Categories: Magic The Gathering, Miniature Wargaming Editorials

nicol bolas magid the gathering

If you’ve been thinking about getting into a fun Magic the Gathering format, but don’t know where to start, this article is for you!

Guest Post by Andrew Schrank.

Magic, or MTG, is all over hobby stores. Warhammer and MTG easily take up the majority of LGS sales and time.
We all know plenty about Warhammer but let’s take a look at MTG, as you have probably seen it by now at your local store and at least wondered what it was all about.

Magic and Commander

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Magic has multiple formats, but one of the most friendly to get into is Commander or also known as EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander). This is a 99 card singleton deck with one big creature or Planeswalker in charge of it, kind of like Warlords in Warhammer. The Commander shares the relationship with the deck like a Warlord to your army in Warhammer. While they don’t dictate your strategy, it helps if they work together.

Getting into the Game is a Breeze

commander precon


The sole reason EDH is easy to get into isn’t necessarily due to the format but, more so due to the product Wizards of the Coast (the owners of MTG) puts out. The commander pre-constructed decks come out once a year and so far each set has been very successful. They introduce exclusive tools and unique play styles in each release. It’s the single product EDH players look forward to every year. The product is also relatively balanced. Meaning if you and a small group of friends get together, you can each pick up a box and have a fair game ready to play fresh out of the boxes. The 2018 and 2017 products had four decks released. The years prior had five.

Optimizing Your Decks is Laid Out

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These decks not only offer a good starting point but also have clear pathways to improve them. While they aren’t competitive or tournament ready out of the box, each usually has a clear upgrade path. For example, 2018’s Enchantment deck has a single theme in mind; Enchantments. This lets you bypass the struggle of finding a potential theme and having to build around it. With a Precon so centrally focused, you have a much smaller pool to choose from. If your deck is all about Enchantments, you don’t have to waste time looking at all the spells in those colors, only those that deal with Enchantments.

So, my recommendation to you is to look through the Commander Precons, find a theme you like and buy it. Then head to your LGS to play a pickup game and learn. There is only so much you can learn without trying it yourself.

Also remember it’s a game, learning something new can be frustrating, but rewarding if you make it through. If you can learn Warhammer, you can learn Magic. 

Do you play Magic yourself? What format do you play? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.

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About the Author: Rob Baer

Virginia Restless, Miniature Painter & Cat Dad. I blame LEGOs. There was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all... Twitter @catdaddymbg