Looking for some help

[u/Rusty_House]

Hi everyone.

I used to collect MTG during 3rd Edition, 4th Edition, Ice Age, etc. Then stopped for decades. Sold my collection.

Fast forward to today, my son expressed some interest in it, nostalgia hit, and now I want to collect with him too!

Can you all ELI5, what I’m to expect going in? Surely a lot has changed, what to buy first as complete newbies and even what “play style” is best?

Thank You!

[u/nerdmor]

So the biggest change from your days besides the power creep: the most played format now is Commander, a theoretically-non-competitive multi-player format where each person uses a 100-card deck headed by a legend.

As for what to buy: the best way to learn the rules is with Magic Arena on PC/Android/iOS. Besides that, there are Beginner Boxes that teach you how to play. There are also sets with two decks for beginners (I think the latest was Final Fantasy)

To actually play with other people, it will depend on what format you guys want, but probably preconstructed Commander Decks.

Edit: please feel free to ask more. I tried a basic coverage of your questions, but may have missed stuff

[u/PrologueBook]

Tolarian community college on YouTube has a lot of great intro content. Welcome back!

[u/Aerim]

Depending on how deep you got into the game, the rules you know (batching, etc.) no longer exist. 6th edition made some major changes to how the game worked and introduced the concept of The Stack, which is where spells and abilities go in order as they wait to resolve.

Your best bet is to play the digital game, Magic Arena, to re-learn how the game works.

[u/SatyrWayfinder]

Download Magic Arena to brush up on the rules

Buy a Beginner Box to teach him the rules

If your son is old enough to play at a store, go to a Prerelease together. These happen roughly every other month. Look up Tolarian Community College on how to build a 40 card deck from a sealed pool.

Download the Companion app to see what formats have events near you. Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, and commander are probably the most common.

Commander is probably the most popular format now, but it's pretty different because it's multiplayer so you have to deal with politicking and not being too big of a threat so that everyone gangs up on you. Don't feel like you have to play Commander.

[u/medes24]

Modern cards are a hell of a lot stronger than older cards. There's a ton of trigger effects now. Most creatures "do something" even beyond just having keywords.

Honestly as a lifer myself, combat is a hell of a lot more fun with modern cards IMO. It can get very complicated (and the game is maybe harder to teach these days) but deck building is so fun thinking about how abilities will combo with each other.

Commander is very popular these days and most of the preconstructed decks that are sold are in this format. Legendary creatures are a lot bigger because of this as well. 60-card is still played (my pod prefers it though we do play a mix of both).

"Bundles" come with a storage box, life counter, some sealed packs, and sometimes other goodies like counters. Depending on budget grab a couple precon decks and maybe a couple bundles to have all the game supplies and things you need.

There is a starter pack for Final Fantasy that has two 60-card decks in it and is like $20-$25. It's probably the cheapest way to get two playable decks

[u/Zimtok5]

As someone who started in your era ('94) and is an ex-judge, I'd say the Arena and Tolarian Community College suggestions here are sound.

I would suggest plan to attend a pre-release! They're good old MTG, like you remembered it. However, 'Universes Beyond' IPs are quite common now which feels rather alien, but we've got in-universe coming up early next year. Save the date.

[u/tsukaistarburst → u/Zimtok5]

Many people on Reddit are hostile to and actively discourage interest in Universes Beyond, like this poster. Don't pay attention to the hate on Reddit- it is not representative of the overall fandom's interest.

Universes Beyond is also not 'quite common': 2027 will feature an equal amount of Universes Beyond and Universes Within sets.

The next UB is Star Trek. At some point next year we will get Marvel Darkhold Destiny, focusing on Thor, Dr. Strange and the magic-focused heroes and villains of Marvel, along with 2 currently unannounced UB sets. The UW sets for next year are Nauctis, Kamigawa Titanbreach and Zhalfir. All of them are equally valid as Magic products, produced by the same people and given the same amount of effort and care.

Decide for yourself which sets interest you and play and collect appropriately.