How to play Magic: The Gathering

How to play

Setup: Each player brings a deck. A Constructed deck has at least 60 cards and no more than four copies of any card except basic lands; a Limited deck has at least 40, built from packs opened at the event. Both players start at 20 life. Flip a coin or roll a die, and the winner chooses who goes first. Shuffle and draw seven cards. Don't like your hand? Mulligan: shuffle it back, draw seven again, then put one card on the bottom for each mulligan you've taken. The player who goes first skips their draw on their first turn.

Winning: You win when your opponent reaches 0 life. A player also loses by having to draw from an empty deck, by having 10 poison counters, or when a card says so.

Lands and mana: Once per turn you may play a land, in one of your main phases while the stack is empty. Tap a land (turn it sideways) to make mana, and spend it on the cost in a card's top corner. The five colours are white, blue, black, red and green, plus colourless; a coloured symbol in a cost needs that colour. Mana you don't spend is lost at the end of each step and phase.

Card types: Creatures, artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers, battles and lands are permanents: they stay on the battlefield. Instants and sorceries work once, then go to your graveyard. You cast sorceries and permanents only in your own main phase with the stack empty; instants can be cast almost any time, even on your opponent's turn. A creature can't attack or use a tap-symbol ability until you have controlled it since your turn began, unless it has haste. Planeswalkers enter with loyalty counters; each turn you may use one loyalty ability of each, when you could cast a sorcery.

Your turn: Beginning phase: untap your permanents, handle upkeep effects, then draw a card. First main phase: play a land and cast spells. Combat phase. Second main phase: cast more spells. Ending phase: the end step, then cleanup, where you discard down to seven cards, all damage on creatures is removed, and until-end-of-turn effects stop.

Combat: Choose your attackers; they tap unless they have vigilance. Each one attacks your opponent, one of their planeswalkers, or a battle they protect. Your opponent then chooses blockers: each untapped creature can block one attacker, and several can block the same one. Creatures deal damage equal to their power, all at once. Unblocked attackers hit what they attacked. A creature is destroyed when the damage marked on it this turn is equal to or greater than its toughness. Flying creatures can be blocked only by creatures with flying or reach; first strike hits first; any deathtouch damage destroys a creature; trample pushes damage beyond lethal through to what it attacked.

The stack: Spells and abilities go on the stack and wait. Each player may respond with an instant or ability, which goes on top. When both players pass in a row, the top item resolves; then players may respond again. Last in, first out. Playing a land doesn't use the stack, so nobody can respond to it.

Strategy

Deckbuilding is where most Magic strategy starts, because the deck you bring decides what you can do. Build a curve: Mana you don't use on a turn is wasted, so spread your costs: some cheap plays for the first turns, a solid middle at two to four mana, and a few expensive finishers. Most 60-card decks run somewhere around 20 to 26 lands, with fast decks at the low end; 40-card Limited decks usually run 16 to 18. Keep your colours tight: Every extra colour makes it likelier you draw the wrong lands. One or two colours is the reliable choice while you learn. Add a third only with lands that make more than one colour. Count cards, not just damage: Cards in hand are options. A spell that draws you two cards, or a creature that replaces itself when it enters, puts you ahead. Trading one of your cards for two of your opponent's is a good deal even when the board looks level. Tempo: Answering a threat with less mana than your opponent spent casting it buys you time. Cheap removal on an expensive creature is a good trade; an expensive answer to a cheap threat can leave you behind on board. Attacking and blocking: Before you attack, ask what the worst block for you would be, and what an instant cast with your opponent's untapped lands could do. Before you block, look at the race. If you are ahead on life and board you can take some damage; if you are behind, trade creatures. Remember that damage wears off at the end of every turn, so a big creature that survived a fight is back to full health next turn. Instant speed: If your deck has instants, keep mana open on your opponent's turn and cast them at the last useful moment, often in their end step. You keep your options, and your opponent has to play around cards you might not even have. Formats shape priorities: In Limited, removal and evasive creatures such as fliers are premium because the card pool is small. In Commander, judging which opponent is the real threat, and table politics, matter as much as your cards. In Standard and other Constructed formats, knowing the popular decks and planning your sideboard for them wins matches.

Tips

- Learn with ready-made decks, such as the Foundations Beginner Box or the free MTG Arena tutorial, before building your own. - Play a land every turn you can; missed land drops are an easy way to fall behind. - Read keywords carefully: flying, trample, lifelink, deathtouch, first strike and vigilance all change combat maths. - Don't tap out on your own turn if you're holding an instant you would rather cast on your opponent's turn. - When your opponent targets your creature, you can respond with its abilities or an instant before their spell resolves. - Damage on a creature is removed at the end of every turn, so chip damage doesn't carry over. - Keep both life totals where everyone can see them, and say changes out loud. - Say which step you are in before moving on, especially before blockers and damage, so your opponent gets their chance to respond.

Ways to play

Standard uses only recent sets and rotates once a year. There was no rotation in 2026; from the first set of 2027 it holds the sets released that calendar year and the two before. Pioneer, Modern, Legacy and Vintage never rotate and use larger card pools: Pioneer starts at Return to Ravnica (2012), Modern at Eighth Edition (2003), and Vintage allows almost everything, with a restricted list. Pauper uses commons only. Commander: 100-card singleton decks led by a legendary commander, 40 life, usually four players, and hugely popular for casual play. Limited: Draft (open packs and pass them round the table) or Sealed (build from the packs you open), both with 40-card decks. MTG Arena is the free digital version, with Standard, Limited and more.

The five colors

White: armies of smaller creatures, protection and rules that bind everyone. Blue: drawing cards, counterspells, fliers and tricks. Black: removal, and power bought with life or creatures. Red: speed, aggression and direct damage. Green: big creatures, extra mana and fight effects. Colourless artifacts can go in any deck. Most decks use one or two colours, and each colour can be played fast or slow, so pick the style you enjoy.

Getting started cheaply

Wizards points new players to Magic: The Gathering Foundations, which stays legal in Standard until at least 2029. Its Beginner Box holds ten themed 20-card packs: each player shuffles two together and plays, with how-to-play guides, playmats and spindown life counters in the box. MTG Arena is free to download and starts with a tutorial. Many local game stores run learn-to-play events and Friday Night Magic; the Wizards store and event locator lists them.

On Waypoint

Track your collection and build decks in the Forge — mana curve visualization, format legality checking, and import/export are built in. The Forge checks legality for Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Commander and Brawl.