Guest Author - Lynn Little

Magic the Gathering is a collectible card game from Wizards of the Coast. It has been around for a few years. A lot has changed since the first release of the core cards. Countless expansions and revised editions are now on the market. Here is a beginner's guide to Magic the Gathering, the core information about the game.

The premise of Magic the Gathering is very simple. You are a great wizard, and your opponent is your challenger. You both start out with 20 life. The person who drops down to zero life loses. Games can also be played with more than two people. Then the last person with life points wins the game.

Cards come in one of five colors.: red, blue, green, black, and white. Each card has a casting cost. Basic lands include:

Mountains (Red Mana)
Water (Blue Mana)
Forest (Green Mana)
Swamp (Black Mana)
Plains (White Mana)

Each deck consists of basic land(mana) cards that players "tap" to produce one mana of that color. Tapping land is how you pay the cost of casting a card. If a card costs 2 red mana to cast, then the player needs to have two mountains in play that are untapped to cast the card. You can un-tap cards at the beginning of your turn to use their mana producing abilities again.

Other type of cards are: creature, instants, artifacts(some are called equipment), and enchantments (now called auras). Your deck will have a mixture of these cards in it. You can put whatever type of cards you like into your deck. There is no rule as to how many of each type of cards you need to put in your deck. A good land ratio is important because it's terrible to have really good cards in your hands but not have enough mana to play them.

Players will place creatures into play then attack their opponent. An opponent can choose either to defend or to take the damage. The defender chooses which of his creatures will go to battle and defend the attack. Each creature has an attack and toughness score. If the attacking creature's attack is larger than the defending creature's toughness, then the defending creature dies and goes to the graveyard. If the reverse is true, then the attacking creature dies. If the defending player chooses to take the damage, then he/she subtracts the creature's attack from their life points.

As you look at Magic cards, you will notice some colors are known for certain generalities. An example would be that red cards are notorious for their direct damage, white cards for their healing abilities, and blue cards for their numerous spells. Some of the expansion sets blur this distinction, but a look at the "old school" cards really show this pattern. So, before building a deck, think of the strategy behind it. Some colors are better for big creatures like green. You can also rely heavily on direct damage and go with red as one of the colors in your deck.

Some upcoming articles will focus on deck building and game play as well as strategy when playing Magic the Gathering.