In Magic, players represent powerful wizards battling for control on one of Dominia's planes. The object of the game is to drive your opponent from the plane, leaving you in sole control.
The cards in Magic represent lands, spells, creatures, and artifacts, all which you can use to defeat your opponent. Players begin with 20 life ponts each. Some spells can boost you life to more than 20. You win if your opponent's life drops to 0 or less or if your opponent can no longer draw a card.
Types of Cards (you can tell the card type by looking between the picture and the text)
Lands - these are the primary resource of Mana in Magic. Lands are classified as Basic and Non-Basic.
Basic Lands - these are the Swamps, Plains, Forests, Mountains, and Islands. Each land produces a certain kind of mana. Snow-covered lands are considered Basic lands.
Swamps - black mana (Skull)
Mountains - red mana (Flame)
Forests - green mana (Tree)
Plains - white mana (Sun)
Islands - blue mana (Water)
Non-Basic lands - any lands that are not a Swamp, Plains, Forest, Mountain, or Island. An example of this is a Sulferous Springs. Some Non-Basic lands have special effects; and example of this is the Maze of Ith (untap target attacking creature. That creature neither deals nor recieves damage).
Spells - basically, all nonland cards are considered as spells; but to make it simpler we seperate creatures and artifacts, since they have their own sets of rules.
Spells are classified as Sorceries, Instants, Interrupts, and Enchantments. Sorceries, Instants and Interrupts, once cast, takes effect immediately unless countered or somehow disrupted. These spells go straight to your discard pile once used.
Sorcery - can be cast only during your turn
Instants and Interrupts - can be cast during your turn, and also during your opponent's turn
Enchantments remain in play unless destroyed. They are classified into Local and Global enchantments.
Global Enchantments - enchantments that remain in play with (usually) no specific target
Local Enchantments - must be cast on a specific target, such as a creature, artifact, land, or another enchantment
Local Enchantments remain in play until destroyed; or when the enchantment's target no longer becomes valid. An example of a Local Enchantment is Unholy Strength. If the creature that Unholy Strength enchants is destroyed or removed from play, then Unholy Strength, with no more valid target, will go to your Graveyard (or discard pile).
Creatures - All summon spells in Magic are creatures. As long as the card says "Summon ___", it is a creature. You can also tell which cards are creatures by looking for 2 numbers seperated by a slash at the bottom-right corner of the card. The first number is the creatures's attack ability, or how much damage it can deal. The other numbeer is the creature's toughness, or how much damage it can recieve before dying.
Some creatures are also artifacts and vice-versa. See Artifact Creatures for more information.
So what are creatures for? Creatures are used for attacking your opponent, and for blocking your opponent's attacking creatures. When you attack, you're always attacking your opponent. You cannot declare an attack against your opponent's creatures, though he/she might decide to block your creatures with one of his. In this case, your creature doesn't deal any damage to your opponent, only to the creature blocking it.
Artifacts - these are items imbued with special powers, or abilities. Artifacts have no color, and therefore considered colorless. They are a good addition to any deck because they grant the player special abilities and options. An example of an artifact is a Howling Mine. This carde lets all players draw an additional card during their draw phase.
Artifact Creatures - for the most part, artifact creatures are considered as creatures. The advantage of artifact creatures is that they are colorless, so they won't be effected by cards that target a specific color. Also, for all it's worth, artifact creatures are fun to use so why not try them out? Most, if not all artifact creatures have a special ability. Sometimes the abilities are a compensation for a low cost (Phyrexian Warbeast) but most abilities are helpful ones that can help you achieve victory!
One of the things you must learn in Magic is tapping. To tap cards, you turn them sideways. Just like "bowing" in L5R, tapped cards show that you have used them for that turn and cannot be used again until your next turn.
During a player's turn in M:tG, the player can play 1 land, make 1 attack, or cast any number of spells. You must learn to utilize your spells carefully in order to achieve Victory!
That is all there is to learn in the Nether Void. Thank you for visiting and Good Luck in conquering Dominia!
